READING, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Access-IS MRTD (Machine Readable Travel Document) readers have just been deployed in insurance kiosks designed and manufactured by leading provider, Sentios Technology. The kiosks operated by Columbus Direct are located throughout Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal and offer a hassle free solution for travellers who have either overlooked or forgotten travel insurance.
To have these kiosks located ‘Airside’ is unusual in that many insurance companies do not operate past security and passport control. It is often considered that ‘travel’ begins at this point and it is therefore too late to take out insurance.
However, Columbus Direct take a different view and feel that, even at this late stage, the ability for travellers to protect themselves is worthwhile. Indeed, the presence of the kiosks acts both as a reminder and a solution, allowing travellers to take a tailored insurance policy in under 3 minutes, choosing from options including gadget and sports cover.
Integrated into each kiosk is an Access-IS OCR601-MK2 High-Performance Flatbed MRTD reader, which automatically detects when a document with an MRZ (Machine Readable Zone) has been inserted. Its advanced recognition engine provides highly accurate and instant data capture reducing user input to a minimum. By taking data directly from the passport the possibility of errors is removed and therefore so is the prospect of a policy being invalidated.
The OCR601-MK2 offers a number of benefits when compared to alternatives. Unlike a top-of-the-range full-page passport reader, it delivers a low cost, but high performance solution for reading the MRZ and chip information where full page image capture is not required. When compared to a simple swipe reader, the highly intuitive design means customers are easily able to place their document correctly - first time, every time.
Speaking about the Access-IS document scanners, Adam Measor, Project Manager at Sentios Technology said “Having installed Access-IS barcode readers in retail kiosks previously, we selected their innovative half-page passport readers for this application because of its ease of integration, high performance and reputation for delivering years of trouble free, frontline, public use”.
