Customer Background
Hamilton Island, located in Queensland, Australia, is the largest inhabited island of the Whitsunday Islands. Like most in the Whitsunday group, Hamilton Island formed as sea levels rose, resulting in the creation of numerous “drowned” mountains near the east coast of Queensland. Hamilton Island is a popular tourist destination and the only island in the Great Barrier Reef with a commercial airport.
To continue providing visitors with excellent service, in July 2010, Hamilton Island authorities began a complete replacement of their integrated point-of-service (POS) hardware, as many of the existing systems had been in service for more than 5years. However, the increasing hardware failure rates and high cost of replacement parts prompted Hamilton Island authorities to upgrade to an entirely new POS System that could fulfill their service requirements. |
Challenges
As one of Australia’s most idyllic holiday destinations, Hamilton Island is committed to delivering premium customer service. They needed a POS System that not only provided the extreme computing performance required, but could also withstand the climate and usage environment typical of a tropical island resort. The environmental challenges facing the POS System included extreme temperatures and humidity levels, high sodium air concentrations, and high-risk installation locations (such asa pool bar), which all cause additional wear and stress.
Solution
To satisfy the customer’s use requirements, Advantech developed a POS System equipped with aluminum housing. The system’s fanless design protects the power supply and system boards from damage by reducing exposure to salty sea air (the previous systems were fan-based, which resulted in numerous operational issues). Additionally, the IP65-rated front panel protects the touchscreen from water and dust, which is ideal for semi-outdoor applications, particularly operations at food and beverage outlets located near swimming pools or bodies of water.
Advantech also supplied diverse POS peripherals, including a cash drawer, receipt printers, and wide range of modular components that facilitate other POS functions, in an effort to provide customers with a one-stop shopping experience.
Benefits