ProView :: Delta

Reliable hardware and software coupled with timely detection and fast elimination of any malfunctions that may occur are key factors for successful operation of a self-service network. These aspects are essential for acceptance and satisfaction on the part of customers and network operators alike.

To satisfy these requirements, self-service systems must be monitored around the clock and service staff efficiently deployed in the event of trouble.

Self-service systems need to be monitored and administered, with different functional profiles, at all levels of a customer network, i.e. at branch level, at institution level, at third-party provider level and at the network operator`s head office (e.g. user help desk). The tasks to be performed include monitoring, retrieval of information from self-service machines, remote operating functionality, diagnostics and statistics. This scenario involves an application component that is specific to self-service on the one hand but that is also regarded as an integral part or extension of network and system management on the other hand.

Many networks operate not only with a central network management system but also with a specialized monitoring system that is specific to the organizational level in question, to the type and number of terminals involved or to the tasks of the network administrator.

With its ProView product, Wincor Nixdorf offers a monitoring system which has been optimized for the specific requirements of self-service systems. It is equally suitable for administration of self-service systems in the banking sector (automated teller machines, information and transaction terminals, statement printers) and in other application areas (e.g. ticket machines, airline and kiosk systems).

The scalable function offer, the number of self-service systems it supports and the possibilities of organizational embedding permit flexible use of ProView. The following application areas are ideal:

Central administration work (remote diagnostics, file transfer, remote operating)

Controlling and marketing functions (evaluation of statistics, analysis of sources of errors,
analysis of customer behavior, etc.).

ProView has already proved its worth in practice for national and international customers. Installations range from small network configurations with fewer than 20 systems to mid-size configurations with several hundreds of systems and even large networks with significantly more than 1000 terminals.

Support for all kinds of self-service systems (for Wincor Nixdorf and other vendor systems)

Reduced staff required on site through remote operating functions (e.g. reboot, activate/deactivate self-service system for customer operations, file transfer) and automated processes (e.g. automatic reaction to fault messages, automatic file transfer)

High availability of self-service systems as a result of monitoring the self-service network 24 hours a day

Gathering marketing data (utilization, frequency), enables self-service offering to be geared to customer needs

Using the self-service system for advertising purposes to address customers directly

ProView is a PC-based system for monitoring and administration of self-service systems. Administrators are given an overview of the self-service network so that they can recognize the status of the various terminals under their responsibility at a glance. Changes of status are indicated automatically.

ProView gives operators a number of different, convenient views of the self-service network.

In the chessboard view, the self-service devices are represented by symbols arranged like a chessboard. The states of the devices are shown by different colors, e.g. "red" for out of service or "green" for ready. The network structure cannot be seen in the chessboard view. The devices shown can be sorted by various criteria and filtered. The chessboard view is particularly good at presenting large networks linking several hundred systems. It gives a clear picture of the overall network even on this scale.

These views also represent the self-service devices as symbols. The network structure is shown. Subnetworks are represented by a particular symbol, the topology icon.

In order to monitor a growing self-service network, the administrator has to receive the information in compressed or filtered form. Here, ProView uses its "Alert view" facility.

This screen provides administrators with the most important data at a glance. Only devices that have encountered a problem are displayed together with the date/time of the problem and the reason for it. In addition, devices can be filtered according to additional criteria.

The alert view is thus ideal for carrying out special tasks in self-service networks, in particular for customer service or third-party machine fillers.

ProView allows administrators to split up the self-service network into more easily manageable regions or subnetworks. This option makes it much easier to monitor and navigate through self-service networks, in particular large ones. Devices can also be filtered according to certain criteria, making it possible to focus monitoring on certain device types or problem areas.

The views provide a picture of the status of the self-service network as a whole, or a subset of this network. The self-service machines are always displayed with information about their current status. Double-clicking on any selected device provides you with more detailed information about this specific device, e.g. master data, a list of HW and SW components for the self-service device, indicating their current operating status, a list of the different counts (e.g. cassette filling levels, number of retained cards, etc.) or a list of events that have occurred.

In addition, commands can be executed on individual devices or groups of devices. A range of

functions are available, including, "Start customer service on device", "Stop customer service on device", "Restart self-service device", "File transfer", etc.

ProView provides multiple language support and is suitable for international use.

The range of ProView functions covers the main areas of a monitoring and administration system for self-service systems.

The most important functions here are the monitoring functions. They serve ProView`s main task, namely remote monitoring of self-service systems and cover the areas

Counts (e.g. cassette filling levels, number of retained cards or documents, ...)

The monitoring functions depend on the properties and capabilities of the self-service agent systems.

In addition to monitoring functions, ProView provides functions for further processing and evaluation of incoming event messages.

ProView primarily supports further processing of its data by providing public domain access and publishing all relevant data structures, thereby ensuring that they can all be processed further at any time (e.g. generating statistics or a report about an individual program for a customer). Evaluation functions prepared by customers and superimposed on these structures can therefore only access the central data records of the ProView server.

The existing rule and job definition mechanisms provide administrators with a variety of options to react to events and initiate actions or responses automatically. For example, event messages can be forwarded via an existing mail system to a fax, pager or e-mail address. It is possible to combine one or more ProView commands in a job and to execute them automatically (e.g. transfer a file to the self-service device and then launch a program on the self-service device).

Critical events and alerts that occur at the weekend on a self-service system in Frankfurt are automatically forwarded as an SMS message to a predefined mobile phone number.

Devices which have not contacted ProView for 60 minutes are polled automatically.