Based on recent, hugely successful deployments in some high-traffic jurisdictions, court kiosks are now attracting plenty of attention from administrators of courts and other government agencies nationwide.

Court kiosks armed with up-to-date technologies are an ideal way to reduce operating costs, speed transactions and improve service in courthouses and government agencies worldwide.

Kiosks in courts have been quietly shouldering an increasing amount of clerks’ workloads since the early 2000s, yet the recent blending of several key new technologies has now made these “mechanical clerks” quite popular.

From basic check-ins and fee payments to complex legal filings

Earlier generations of court kiosks were dedicated to mundane tasks such as documenting the arrival of visitors, litigants and attorneys for scheduled court proceedings. Nowadays, even the most basic courthouse kiosks provide real-time notification of parties’ arrivals, plus docket information including case numbers, hearing dates and times, names of parties, judges and attorneys, and even wayfinding directions to reach courtrooms. By replacing costly human staffing resources with kiosks to answer repetitive questions from courthouse visitors, busy courts and government centers now enjoy faster throughput and more effective outcomes.

Best of all, self-service kiosks in courthouses and government agencies improve efficiency in collecting fees and fines. Many jurisdictions are using kiosks to provide a fast, convenient way to pay traffic tickets and fines in ordinary cases, while other courts use them to collect a range of revenues. Court kiosks make it very easy for the public to pay fines, assessments, taxes and other legal obligations, including registration and licensing fees, court costs, and even support payments, all without requiring direct intervention from busy staff.

Beyond fee-collections and fines, systems are even capable of supporting remote video interaction between judges, parties and counsel, or filing complex legal documents.

Instead of bringing people to court, take the court to the people

Whether the equipment is installed on courthouse premises, or placed in other public or retail locations, these powerful tools can prevent document-filing bottlenecks and speed the resolution of cases in traffic and domestic courts and other jurisdictions with high-volume caseloads.

Some jurisdictions are using court kiosks for outreach to under-served communities. The convenience and anonymity of remote kiosks make it easy for all community members to find court-related information such as court calendars, legal forms and instructions, and individual case information.

The public can also use remote kiosks to perform basic filings, print court-related documents, and pay court-ordered fees and fines, without the need to travel to the courthouse in person.

Complete courthouse-in-a-box

A complete “courthouse-in-a-box” solution can meet the needs of any court, whether large or small. The solution begins with a tough, sleek, abuse-proof enclosure featuring a rugged touchscreen and/or keyboard with trackball interface.

Court kiosk systems include PC components and Internet connectivity, and they often feature card readers as well as printers and scanners. Depending on the court’s needs, the equipment also includes a two-way video interface, audio connection with live staff, or fingerprint reader.

Do more with less

Across the U.S. and worldwide, the popularity of court and government agency kiosk systems is growing rapidly, as administrators discover their usefulness and cost-effectiveness at helping governments accomplish better results, while using fewer resources.

I am proud to announce the launch of the Automated Passport Solution, a touchscreen kiosk-based customs inspection system aimed at streamlining the airport customs process and reducing customs processing times. The APS kiosk system will be launching this fall at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, with 30 APS units in the initial launch.

Customs wait times across the country have been skyrocketing at nearly every international airport across the United States. Over the past 20 years, there has been a 117 percent increase in international travelers flying in and out of the U.S. At the same time, there has been a $754 million reduction in the budgets to the customs and border protection departments over the past year as a result of government sequestration. As a result, wait times have increased exponentially, leaving travelers forced to endure long lines at most international terminals, resulting in extreme wait times, such as 182 minutes to pass through customs at JFK's international terminal.

The APS kiosk system has been developed as a tool to automate and streamline the passenger-checking process of international customs by providing a high-tech solution to check and gather data. The APS software provides a touchscreen interface that allows the passenger to navigate through the software without needing human assistance.

The APS first scans the passenger's passport using the attached passport scanner peripheral. This retrieves the passenger's personal information from the integrated customs database. The passenger then must respond to questions that are similar to those that are asked by a human customs official. The thermal printer attachment allows the passenger to print their answers to the questions directly from the APS system. In addition, the webcam peripheral takes the passenger's photograph and stores that in the customs database for future retrieval.

The APS kiosk is built on Olea's Metrolite Kiosk framework. For the APS, the Metrolite has already been outfitted with the capability to attach a fingerprint reader peripheral to provide for a greater level of security.