Target Government Licensing Agencies For Kiosk Sales

Many people say their best ideas come to them in the shower. For Dan Cook, it could be said that his best ideas come to him while he is tracking elk on a mountain in Jackson Hole, WY. Cook is the founder of Outdoor Central, an integrator that automates almost every process that is required by state wildlife and park agencies. After personally experiencing the inconvenience of purchasing hunting licenses in his state, he resolved to improve the license-issuing process. In January 1999, he founded GameVisa.com with the goal of automating state wildlife hunting licensing. Now called Outdoor Central, his company specializes in products that help state wildlife agencies reduce their costs while improving the license- buying experience.

Outdoor Central has a long-standing relationship with the WDFW (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife). The company originally designed and implemented the Internet-based system that provided basic recreational licensing for hunting and fishing for the WDFW. To improve that system, WDFW issued an RFP to implement a new licensing system that would integrate all licensing channels (e.g. telephone, Internet, retail POS). The system would enable the purchase of standard hunting and fishing licenses, specialty hunting licenses, and specialty permits; the filing of game harvest reports; and the ability to accept donations. Outdoor Central bid and won the contract.

Design Kiosks To Fit The Retail Environment
The POS portion of the licensing system is most critical, since 90% of all hunting and fishing licenses in the state of Washington are sold via license dealers at retail location kiosks. With a volume of more than 1 million licenses sold per year, Outdoor Central was challenged to provide a system that was flexible for retailers, durable, and easy to use. In order to satisfy space and logistic requirements of retailers, Outdoor Central opted to provide the POS components individually, as opposed to assembling them all in an enclosure.

Outdoor Central chose the Elo 1529L touchcomputer, which is an all-in-one (computer and monitor in the same enclosure) system with the footprint of a 15-inch LCD monitor. The system uses Windows XP and includes a three-track MSR (magnetic stripe reader). The package also includes a TransAct Technologies Itherm 280 printer and a Metrologic MS1690 bar code reader. To print licenses, Outdoor Central uses a custom-made paper stock called EZtag produced by Film Creations. It is a special thermal stock created specifically for hunting and fishing licenses.

Telephone Support Can Eliminate The Cost Of On-Site Visits
“Typically, it is our responsibility to train the retailers how to set up and use the POS systems,” explains Cook. “As you can imagine, that can become very costly if we have to visit every retail site.” Outdoor Central is compensated with a small portion of every license purchased through the licensing system. In order to quell potential problems during the WDFW installation, Outdoor Central had representatives visit all 550 retail locations. Cook said as a result of other POS installations, he has learned that telephone support is as effective as a personal visit. However, he cautions that if the installation is performed incorrectly, the results can be disastrous. Says Cook, “If retailers have problems with a state-mandated licensing system, you can bet the governor will hear those complaints.

“When retailers open up one of our boxes, they see a great respect for the tradition of hunting and fishing,” concludes Cook. “Our instruction manual is filled with easy-to-understand instructions and color images of the outdoors. We want the customer to know that our company is not just a technology company, but we share the same respect for the sport.” Cook believes that approach puts the retailer at ease, creating an excitement about the POS system. Apparently that philosophy is successful, since Outdoor Central expects to triple sales this year by installing similar hunting and fishing licensing systems in California, Idaho, and Oregon.

www.greatlodge.com (Outdoor Central)

www.elotouch.com