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Selecting a touch screen monitor for the Volunteer Information
Center
If you're considering the optional Volunteer Information
Center (VIC) software you should also be thinking about a touch screen monitor.
Touch screen monitors look and work like regular computer monitors, but they
also recognize when and where people touch the surface of the screen. You've
probably used a touch screen monitor if you've checked a department store
bridal registry, or used or an information kiosk at an airport or mall.
Touch screen monitors used in combination with specially designed software
make it possible for people to interact with computers in a very simple way.
For example, just about anyone can use a touch screen bridal registry or
information kiosk even if they don't know anything about computers. VIC is
software you can use in combination with a touch screen monitor to make it easy
for volunteers to check-in and out (and more), even if they know nothing about
computers. What's more, the information gathered through VIC goes directly into
your VolunteerWorks database so you don't have to enter it yourself!
This article includes answers to these common questions about selecting or
purchasing a touch screen for the VIC system:
What should I know about touch screen monitors?
Where can I get a touch screen monitor?
How much are touch screen monitors?
Should I get a resistive or capacitive touch screen?
Should I get a flat panel or a regular monitor?
What size monitor should I get?
Do I
need a kiosk?
Must I use VIC with a touch screen
monitor?
Why can't I run the VIC system from the same
computer I use?
Can I have more than one touch screen
monitor?
What should I know about
touch screen monitors?
First, it is important to understand that the
touch screen monitor connects to a PC. In other words, the touch screen is not
free-standing. It must be connected to a PC which is, in turn, attached to your
computer network. We also recommend that the computer you use for VIC
not be used for any other purposes.
Generally, customers
purchase their touch screen monitor from one vendor, and they use it with a PC
that they already have, or with a PC they buy from another vendor.
Touch screen monitors come with software 'drivers.' These are small software
programs you install on the PC which the monitor is attached to. They interpret
the 'touches' and pass them along to specially designed software like the
Volunteer Information Center.
Installing a touch screen monitor and
its software driver is a fairly simple process. Anyone who has had some
experience setting-up PCs and installing software can usually setup a touch
screen monitor.
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Where can I get a touch screen
monitor?
Red Ridge does not sell touch screen monitors. However there
are several touch screen monitor vendors around.
If your organization
has an information services department, chances are they have established
sources for their hardware purchases. They may be able to purchase a touch
screen monitor through these same channels.
If your organization is
not sure where to purchase a touch screen monitor, consider these on-line
sources:
www.touchscreens.com
www.pixeltouch.com
www.elotouch.com
www.dell.com
While we do not endorse any
particular touch screen manufacturer or retailer, many of our customers have
purchased the MicroTouch brand monitor through on-line retailers.
Regardless of the source, be sure the touch screen monitor you purchase comes
with a software driver that is compatible with the version of Microsoft Windows
you will use on the computer you attach the monitor to.
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How much are touch screen monitors?
Touch
screen monitor prices are available from the on-line retailers listed above.
Red Ridge is not affiliated with these retailers, so we cannot guarantee their
prices. Wherever you choose to purchase your touch screen monitor, you'll need
to place your monitor order separately from your Red Ridge software order.
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Should I get a resistive or capacitive touch
screen?
Touch screen monitors come in two varieties, resistive and
capacitive. You can use the Volunteer Information Center (VIC) with either
variety, although capacitive monitors are generally recommended.
Resistive monitors respond to pressure from anything on the screen, but their
surfaces are a bit less durable. Capacitive monitors respond only to the touch
of an ungloved finger, but are more durable.
With a resistive
monitor, you can touch screen with just about anything: gloved or ungloved
fingers, the end of a pen or pencil, the edge of a credit card, and so forth.
Choose a resistive monitor if your VIC workstation will be in a location where
arriving and departing volunteers would be wearing gloves.
While
capacitive monitors respond only to the touch of an ungloved finger, their
surfaces are harder and better suited to the kind of un-attended, high-volume
access your VIC station may receive.
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Should
I get a flat panel or a regular monitor?
This is matter of personal
preference. Consider a flat panel monitor if the space for your VIC station is
limited, or you would like to hang the monitor on a wall. Flat panel monitors
usually cost more than conventional CRT monitors.
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What
size monitor should I get?
Touch screen monitors come in a variety of
screen sizes, from 14 inches to 21 inches, or more. Since VIC will work with
any size monitor, monitor dimensions are a matter of preference. There is not
any significant advantage to a larger size monitor. Fifteen inch touch screen
monitors are probably the most common.
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Do I
need a kiosk?
A kiosk is a specially built cabinet used to enclose the
touch screen monitor and the PC it is attached to. Kiosks are by no means a
requirement for the VIC station, but they do offer a good degree of security
when the station is located in an unattended public area.
Most
customers do not use special kiosks. VIC workstations are often located at
information desks, on a counter in the volunteer office, or on tables or
shelves near the location(s) where volunteers arrive and depart.
In
some installations where security is a concern, the VIC computer and monitor
are secured to a counter or desktop with security cables or small, vented PC
cabinets instead of inside a kiosk.
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Must
I use VIC with a touch screen monitor?
Technically no, although a touch
screen monitor is strongly recommended.
The Volunteer Information
Center software will work with any 'pointing device,' including a standard
mouse. However, in our experience, the most successful VIC implementations
include a touch screen monitor. Since touch monitors are so easy to use with
VIC, just about anyone can use the system successfully.
These are the
disadvantages to using a mouse rather than a touch monitor: Volunteers who have
had no experience using a mouse may experience difficulty. Some volunteers may
be familiar with a mouse configured for left handed users, while yours might be
configured for right handed users. A mouse is more difficult to secure in a
public area than a touch screen monitor.
Since it is all screen
oriented, VIC has no functions that work with a keyboard.
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Why can't I run the VIC system from the same computer
I use?
We recommend that you setup VIC and your touch screen monitor at
a computer that you do not use for any other purpose. The VIC system is
normally left running continually at this computer. When a volunteer arrives or
is ready to leave, they simply step-up to the touch screen monitor and sign-in
or out without delay.
If you ran VIC from the same PC you use for
other work, you would be required to stop what you were doing, start VIC, then
wait for the volunteer to sign-in or out each time a volunteer arrived or was
ready to leave. Volunteers would be required to wait while you performed these
steps. This arrangement is not very effective.
You attach the computer
you use to run the VIC system to the same PC network you use for
VolunteerWorks. This is how VIC is able to interact in real-time with your
VolunteerWorks database. In this configuration, volunteers can be signing-in
and out at the VIC system while you're working in VolunteerWorks - or any other
program - at the same time on your computer.
The VIC system does not
place as much demand on a computer as many other programs, such as word
processors or spread sheets. For this reason, you may find that your
organization has a retired or unused PC which would be adequate for running VIC
(if you're buying a new computer in order to run VIC, consider using the new
computer for yourself and retiring your existing computer to the VIC system).
As a minimum, a computer will need to have Windows 95 or later, be 'Year 2000
Compliant,' and be capable of connecting to your organization's network in
order to support VIC.
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Can I have more than one touch
screen monitor?
Yes, however remember that each touch screen monitor
will need to be attached to a separate PC which is, in turn, attached to your
PC network.
The VolunteerWorks software license agreement permits the
installation of as many VIC workstations as you would like, as long as they are
all connected to a single VolunteerWorks database. Each VIC workstation must be
attached to the same network that supports your VolunteerWorks database.
While most of our customers use a single VIC workstation and touch screen,
others install multiple VIC systems. Some customers that have many volunteers
arriving and departing at the same time install multiple VIC systems in the
same location (while it can take as few as 20 or 30 seconds for a volunteer to
check-in or out, having more than one VIC system can help if you have a few
hundred volunteers who arrive or depart at about the same time). Other
customers who have large facilities or campuses place additional VIC
workstations at remote entrances.
If you install more than one VIC
workstation, volunteers may sign-in at one workstation and out at another.
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