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County Launches Upgraded Kiosk Structure for CRiS Program

On Saturday June 15, 2002 the Department of Information Technology's Public Access Technology Branch launched their first newly designed kiosk enclosure at the official opening of the new South County Government Center. The redesigned device provides a prominent, attractive appearance and is uniquely engineered to house the widest possible range of components to facilitate transaction processing and information sharing with constituents.

Some of the new or enhanced features include an LCD touch screen monitor, speakers, phone, credit card reader, bar code scanner, thermal printer, MICR reader for check processing (can read a customer's checking account number for direct debit), custom wiring channels to maintain the unit's aesthetics, and more.

The new kiosk also provides a light box that is used to display a custom designed graphic. The popularity of the new kiosk is evident because it has registered over 2000 touches in the first week of operation.

The smaller footprint of the enclosure, and revised screen and keyboard height of the new enclosure meets with ADA (American's with Disabilities Act) compliance and has provision for a future system. This feature will make the screen information easily available to individuals who have visual and auditory challenges.

Fairfax County leads a regional kiosk program called CRiS (Community Resident Information Services). Core partners also using the system include Fairfax City and Warrenton. In addition to content from three dozen County Departments, CRiS also hosts content and interactive processing for entities such as Economic Development Authority (EDA), Inova Health system, Council of Governments (COG), Northern Virginia Regional Commission, Red Cross, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Virginia Railway Express. A complete of Kiosk locations can be found at: http://cris.fairfaxcounty.gov/ASPapplications/locationhours/LOCHOURS.asp

CRiS is now fully Web enabled whereby we can deploy Web information and services through a custom designed browser. This feature has opened the door for many partners to easily deploy their Web information and services through the kiosk.

The CRiS Kiosk initiative is one component of the county's multi-technology platform approach to deliver information and transactions to constituents. Other platforms include the county's Web site, the Interactive Voice Response systems (IVR), and Cable TV Communications.