Wireless Point-of-Sale Systems Hailed

At the RSA Conference 2000 show this week, Hewlett-Packard Co.'s VeriFone Inc. division and BellSouth Corp.'s Wireless Data introduced the Omni 3200M, a wireless point-of-sale terminal (POS) that accepts debit-card, credit-card, and electronic-banking transcription payments without the need to access a phone line.

The Omni 3200M is designed for businesses and merchants that want to "cut the wire" for quicker transactions and various points of payment capable of operating with surges in customer volume. It will function at places such as malls, airports, stadiums, sidewalk sales, and trade shows, according to VeriFone officials. The Omni 3200M also reduces the cost of installing and maintaining business-telephone lines.

By using the core Mobitex technology of the nationwide BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network, the Omni 3200M speeds up payment transaction times to 6 to 8 seconds, a huge jump when compared with land-based transactions that can take as long as 16 seconds, VeriFone officials said in a prepared statement.

The Omni 3200M is the first wireless POS solution resulting from the strategic alliance between VeriFone and BellSouth Wireless Data, according to Stuart Taylor, product marketing manager at VeriFone.

A pilot project using the Omni 3200M technology is currently under way at credit card processor Nova Information Systems Inc., in Atlanta. VoicePointe, a cell phone retailer in Norcross, Georgia, and a Nova customer, is a participant in the pilot.

VeriFone Inc., in Palo Alto, California, is at http://www.verifone.com/.

BellSouth Corp., in Atlanta, is at http://www.bellsouth.com/.

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