The customer

The computer scientist and businessman Micheal Maul is a ferry operators on the Rhine and works as a ferryman himself. Even today, passengers are often still given tear-off receipts as proof of payment on the ferries, which do not include essential information such as the date, prices for vehicles and people, or information about single or multiple journeys. As a board member of the German Ferry Association (Deutscher Fähr-Verband e.V.), Mr Maul recognised that there was a problem here and set out to find a more modern system for taking payment.

The voice of experience

Michael Maul is happy that he made the right choice: "That companies such as Deutsche Bahn employ the IT-3000 on a large scale, attests to the fact that we made the right choice."

Use

Michael Maul created a catalogue of requirements detailing the criteria that the new system would need to fulfil. On ferries, particular environmental conditions prevail: there is often no power supply and no protection from wind and rain when collecting payment. The payment process has to be carried out very quickly and the receipts have to be printed out straightaway in front of customers. As the device will be carried around all day it should be as light as possible and have a long battery life. Added to these basic requirements it would be an advantage if the cash register were able to correctly and securely log all payment transactions and all user data, in order to make this information available for subsequent analysis. The system must however also be capable of being used independently of a PC for months at a time. Michael Maul tested many different devices before he came across the CASIO IT-3000 hand-held terminal , which fulfilled his requirements to the utmost: quick, robust, long battery life, integrated printer, and a satisfyingly low weight.