Set Up the Kiosk
Turning a tablet into a self-service front desk: what it offers, what it collects, and how to stop clients wandering out of it.
The kiosk is Perceny running full-screen on a tablet at your door. Clients use it to join the walk-in queue, check in for an appointment, book one, or check the wait.
Get the device readyCopy a link to this section
- Sign in on the tablet as a kiosk user and put it into kiosk mode.
- Turn on Device Lock (Features Configuration → Device Lock) so the device is pinned to the kiosk and a client cannot browse into the rest of Perceny. On an unattended tablet this is not optional.
- Print the kiosk QR codes if you also want people using their own phones.
Decide what the home screen offersCopy a link to this section
Four switches in Kiosk Settings remove options:
- Hide Book Appointment from Kiosk
- Hide Check-In Appointment from Kiosk
- Hide Walk-In from Kiosk
- Hide Waitlist Status from Kiosk
Start by hiding what you will not honour. A Book Appointment button on a shop that only takes walk-ins is a promise you break.
Show Menu in Kiosk adds a browsable service list, worth it if people ask "what do you do?" at the desk.
The same choices apply when a client opens your kiosk link on their own phone in your app or Perceny Go: they see the same home (Check In, I'm a Walk-In, Book Appointment, View Waitlist Status, View Menu), minus what you hid, and can check in for an appointment by name or the last four digits of their phone. A link with ?flow= (for example ?flow=check-in) opens that option directly, or the home when you have hidden it.
Show Logo on Kiosk puts your logo above the welcome, so the tablet looks like your shop rather than a generic screen. Upload the logo first under Business Settings → Information → Business Logo.
Shape the walk-in flowCopy a link to this section
Choose Stylist Before Service, Hide Stylists in Kiosk and Skip Service Selection in Kiosk between them cover most shops:
- Salon, clients have a regular: stylist first, then service.
- Barbershop, first available: hide stylists, and consider Single shared waitlist (join the business).
- One-service shop: skip service selection entirely.
Required Client Fields (Kiosk Walk-in) decides what you insist on. Every extra field costs you a few percent of people who give up. Name and phone is usually enough.
Hide Prices from Kiosk Walk-In hides prices from these screens if you would rather quote in the chair.
Decide what you collectCopy a link to this section
This is the part that pays for itself. See Deposits and prepayment for the whole picture, but for the kiosk specifically:
- Require card for kiosk walk-ins: a card before joining the queue. Off by default.
- Walk-in card capture: save a card, or charge a deposit.
- Always require a card on file: every walk-in at least saves a card.
- Require a deposit from new clients: first-timers leave a deposit.
- Honor must-prepay clients at the kiosk: a client flagged prepay-required is charged in full.
And for booking at the kiosk: Enable card capture for kiosk booking lets clients add a card by tapping it on the reader or entering it on screen, following your regular appointment prepay rules.
TipsCopy a link to this section
By default the kiosk asks for a tip only when the client pays now by card or tap. Also Ask for Tips When Paying in Person extends it; Hide Tips From Walk-In Kiosk turns it off entirely and overrides the other.
LocationCopy a link to this section
Restrict Check-In With GPS with Allowed Check-In Distance (meters) stops someone checking in for an appointment from the car park down the road. Set the distance generously; indoor GPS is unreliable, and a check-in that fails at the door is worse than one that succeeds from the pavement.
While it is idleCopy a link to this section
Device Slideshows puts a full-screen slideshow on the tablet between clients: a price list, a promotion, your retail. Terminal Pictures does the same for your card reader.
Test it as a clientCopy a link to this section
Before you leave it out, walk the whole thing on the tablet:
- Join the walk-in queue as a new client. Did it ask for the fields you meant? Did it take a card if you wanted one?
- Check the estimated wait. Is it plausible?
- Check in for an appointment from the door.
- Try to leave the kiosk. If you can, Device Lock is not on.