Monday, January 12, 2009

Planet Antares Inc And DEX Standards

Commonly, the equipment manufacturers have to take the blame for inadequate measures for standardizing the DEX hardware and software by vending operators. Several vending operators believe that the manufacturers did not adopt a set of standards and these are too broad.

In such circumstances, vendors like Planet Antares vending operators want to see NAMA adopt more stringent DEX standards. Even several vending equipment manufacturers agree that standards can be improved to a certain extent. During the first attempt to utilize DEX, some of the operators had to face problems.

Actually, the DEX standards have been too broad in certain cases. The more stringent ones may be able to sort out the problems that are being faced by some Planet Antares vending operators.
Manufacturers may indicate that not all machines require the same type of data. What’s more, not all customers want the same information from the machine. There is a risk of extra cost in excessive standardization without providing any additional benefits.

As a Planet Antares vending operator, you need to understand that standardization will not always assure that manufacturers will abide by new protocols. Some manufacturers even claim that DEX standards are not being adhered to by competitors.

This is a judgment based on technical interpretation. Moreover, equipment manufactures have observed that the task of gathering data in a usable form should be performed by the software company only.

NAMA is considering addition of standards to the existing list but manufacturers will surely add to that list for specific equipment needs. Whether minimum standards are essential to begin with is a matter of continued debate, since many protocols are already being followed for the sake of convenience and simplicity.

All vending machines, including those provided by Planet Antares Inc have to comply with certain DEX data standards. These include:

  • Coin mechanical fields
  • Coin to tube
  • Coin to coin box
  • Coin from tubes
  • Total coins
  • Cash from validator
  • Total vends
  • Total cash

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