Dr Pepper is using VendCast software, hardware and services from Isochron Data Corp. in Austin, Texas. Dr Pepper uses the VendCast sales and operations module. VendCast software collects inventory, sales and machine-health data via a connection to the machine's serial port. VendCast servers at the NOC typically poll vending machines daily, says Aruni Gunasegaram, president and co-founder of Isochron. On PCs with VendCast client software installed, users go to personalized Web sites and use browsers to access their data, which is secured by 56-bit Secure Sockets Layer encryption from VeriSign Inc. in Mountain View Calif., Gunasegaram says.
Users can query their data, view preconfigured reports and generate new reports.
They can also download data for import into their own applications, she adds. Isochron's similar PolarCast system is in use by bagged ice vendors, Gunasegaram says. When internal machine temperatures rise, the ice machine generates an alarm to summon an attendant. However, use of such services over telecommunications networks adds new requirements, says Pedro Fernandez, senior vice president of corporate strategy and marketing at Concero Inc. in Austin, Texas. You can't be generating a million hits an hour.