Links Related
to this Story:

• moxa.com

Answering the Call for Connectivity

I n today's colorful global payment-processing climate, typical point-of-sale system applications include PC-based POS cash registers, PC-based ATMs, PC-based kiosk machines, PC-based lottery machines, PC-based ticket-vending machines and many other self-service machine connections. Because POS terminals are placed at so many different locations, POS system providers demand highly reliable solutions to avoid maintenance problems.

Additionally, because a large number of multiport boards are needed for point-of-sale transactions, POS system providers also are concerned about cost. Reliability and competitive pricing are two key factors that are a big part of the mix for Moxa Technologies, a provider of multiport serial products that provide network-based serial communication solutions.

Headquartered in Taiwan but with a definite American presence, Moxa offers quality multiport serial connectivity with more than 14 years of development experience and more than 4 million serial ports installed around the globe.

Moxa products are CE and FCC approved and come with various interface configurations, such as ISA, PCI and CompactPCI for major operating systems, including Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 95/98, Windows 3.x, DOS, OS/2, Linux, UnixWare, SCO Unix, Solaris and QNX.

The latest member of the Moxa family is Smartio. By adopting Moxa-custom ASIC technology, the goal of the Moxa Smartio Multiport product line is to effectively reduce the number of conventional integrated circuit breakdowns and consequently dramatically lower the repairs rate.

Moxa Smartio multiport serial boards, with their Microsoft NT/2000 certification, low cost and high performance, hope to outrank offerings from all other major multiport serial product manufacturers. The new line includes the C168H Series of easy-to-use eight-port serial boards, the C104H Series of four-port serial boards and the CI-104J Series - the multiport boards specifically designed for POS systems.

Smartio is already being recommended by users for its advanced POS applications. Delta Airlines has more than 10,000 Moxa Smartio C168H/PCI boards to build its airline counter flight check-in system. IBM has used thousands of Smartio C168H/PCI boards together with advanced e-commerce technology for its MMS (Multi Media Station) system, providing information for locational as well as sales-services data.

For more traditional POS systems, Moxa offers the CI-104J Series of multiport boards. It is easy to configure by software because it doesn't incorporate switches or jumpers. It has on-chip hardware flow control with speeds up to 921.6 kbps. Its ASIC design guarantees lower repair rate. It is Moxa's answer to network-based serial communications solutions.

Moxa is heavily marketing its solutions in the U.S. and actively seeking partners via agents, distributors, system integrators and OEMs. For more information, visit www.moxa.com.