Sectors Served

Retail/Point-Of-Sale

• FastNet is used in the retail industry where it is linked to Point-of-Sale terminals to save both time and money in obtaining card and cheque authorisations. A small radio-communication device provides an efficient radio communication link between the card-swipe terminal and the banks' computers by replacing the telephone line. The functionality of the card terminal does not change. On-line card and cheque verifications are typically concluded in less than ten seconds, including delays at the processing computers. Rapid card authorisations help to improve customer satisfaction and reduce queue delays at the checkout point, whilst delivering a cost-saving to the business owner.
  


• With the increased use of cards, such as debit cards, being offered for payment, telecommunications costs for retailers are sky-rocketing. FastNet is the ideal solution and offers a variety of tariff options with call charges that are cheaper than dial-up charges.

Healthcare

• FastNet is widely used in pharmacies and increasingly by other healthcare providers, such as doctors, for on-line medical aid verification and settlement. Fraud is reduced because the patient's details and scale of benefits are verified before services or goods are given to the patient. Cash flow is also improved as settlement from the medical aids is received and processed electronically. Where the patient has to contribute a portion of the cost, this can be obtained upfront instead of waiting for the patient to settle the amount not covered by the medical aid.
  


• In many instances, the patient will request to pay the excess portion by credit or debit card. Only one RadioPad is required for both the bank terminal and the healthcare terminal, saving the user two telephone lines.

Vending

• FastNet is commonly used in vending applications, especially for pre-paid electricity and cell phone airtime vouchers.

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Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs)

• FastNet is a cost-effective communications medium for connecting automatic teller machines (ATMs) nationwide to the banks' computers.

Security / Alarm Monitoring

• FastNet is increasingly being used for alarm monitoring because of its advanced capabilities compared to the original “one-way” radio transmitters generally used by the security industry for this purpose. Apart from the fact that the FastNet service is wireless, leaving no wires for perpetrators to cut or tamper with, the bi-directional facility means that security companies can remotely control and interrogate these installations.
  


• Another advantage is that there is an auditable track record of all calls or alarm signals generated by the RadioPad which contains details such as the date, time, call destination, call duration, and whether each call was successful or not. This is particularly useful for insurance purposes where the insured party might be required to prove the status of the alarm system at the time of a burglary, or where the victim wishes to query a lack of response to the alarm by a monitoring or security company.

• FastNet is ideally suited to data acquisition and control environments and is currently used for the gathering of information from remote sites for electricity, gas, water-flow and water-level metering. It is also successfully used for guard monitoring, time attendance, data gathering and television viewing research.
  


• The service is particularly useful in remote sites where neither electricity nor conventional dial-up exists since the radio-communication device only requires 12 volts to function.

Loyalty Programmes

• FastNet is used to transmit consumer data to update records and for the distribution of vouchers at terminals.

Micro-Lending

• FastNet is widely used in the micro-lending industry, where the account holder’s details, PIN numbers, credit status and bank accounts are verified or accessed when payment is due.

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