Evoke, Worldline and Railway Children FAQs

Answered by Simon, Evoke

Each kiosk needs power and a basic internet connection. Ideally this should be wired if possible, but if not then a wireless connection is fine. For rural areas, or if WiFi is difficult, then we do install kiosks with built in 4G/5G connectivity. There is a small one-off installation charge required when we first install the unit, but ongoing support costs are really low. Using the evokeCloud platform both you as the owner and us can see how the kiosk is performing and immediately tell if any components are not working.

Answered by Mary, Railway Children

It’s still very early days for the kiosks as we’ve only had them live since March of this year (2021) and footfall is still (at the end of May) nowhere near where it was pre-pandemic. However, we have ran QR campaigns in the past and I can tell you that the kiosks are already easily outperforming those.

Answered by Simon, Evoke

Yes absolutely. We haven’t yet explored this with Railway Children as we deliberately wanted to make the transaction very fast, but asking for something as simple as a surname and postcode at the kiosk is very easy to do. It is a balance between speed and donations though. Right now, it’s literally tap to donate and go – the whole transaction takes seconds. We’re more than happy to explore these options.

Answered by Alan, Worldline

We provide detailed transaction logs, which are accessed via the evokeCloud platform. These include the amount donated, time, date, kiosk location and the verification code – i.e. was it successful or did it fail. We don’t provide any credit card information and so it’s completely secure.

Answered by Simon, Evoke

We’re definably not as cheap as a table-top “tap and go” machine as the two products are accomplishing very different things. Prices can start at around £1,500 per kiosk, but I think you have to look at the ROI that delivers. If that kiosk, in the right spot, was only taking £50 per day then it’s paid for itself within it’s first month – anything after that is pure donation profit.

Answered by Mary, Railway Children

No, it’s still very early days for us and we’re not keen right now (May 2021) on asking our volunteers to get back into potentially crowded spaces. As soon as restrictions are lifted then we will be looking to get volunteers back into the stations. We are planning to do an in-station fundraising activity (maybe a static cycle challenge) where station users will be then encouraged to donate via the kiosks.

Answered by Simon, Evoke

Great question. No they don’t, however, some building (such as listed buildings) so have very strict guidelines. For example, we installed one of the Railway Children kiosks in Edinburgh station and they insisted we couldn’t drill into the marble floor (not sure why!). We therefore cam up with a design that has a heavy, weighted base that could be free-standing.

Answered by Mary, Railway Children

It’s not an issue at all for us as we’re not currently collecting any data from those that donate. They simply press the amount they want to donate and tap their credit card. All the data we collect is completely anonymous.

Answered by Mary, Railway Children

Network Rail chose Railway Children as one of their charity partners with one of the benefits being access to stations for fundraising and awareness-raising activities. We’ve been working with them since April 2019 when they first approached us. We also work with The Big Issue, Shelter, Crisis and End Youth Homelessness as part of the Routes Out of Homelessness project.

Answered by Simon, Evoke

Yes absolutely. You couldn’t throw one under your arm on the tube, but they are moveable. We always recommend a two-person move for H&S reasons, but as long as guidance is followed they can be moved around a site or between sites pretty easily. They just need power and internet to work (see above).

Answered by Simon, Evoke

It certainly is. We current supply kiosks across the globe, from our HQ on the Wirral to Australia and everywhere in between. We also have a dedicated facility in North America.

Answered by Mary, Railway Children

It’s honestly difficult to say right now as it’s so early in the project, but I can say that we have already exceeded our original expectations. I’d be happy to share more details on this probably towards the end of this year (2021) once we have more transactions and data.

Answered by Mary, Railway Children

Similar to the question above, it’s really difficult to say as we are so early in the project. However, we know that we’re getting a healthy amount of donations at the moment in relation to the amount of people that are passing through the station. Importantly, the kiosks are also contactless cards, which has opened up a whole new audience of people who don’t carry cash any more.

Answered by Mary, Railway Children

I don’t see why not. The key is getting enough people walking past them, which is why the railway stations are perfect for us. The kiosks could easily be placed in shops or in the centre of a village though, especially if it’s a rural location that sees a lot of tourism maybe?

Simon from Evoke added, we also offer kiosks that are specifically designed to be outside – in all weather – which may be interesting for some locations.

Answered by Alan, Worldline

The payment device installed on the kiosk is secure and designed to be operated in a non-attended environment. Although it looks like a little black box with lights on, it actually has a lot of innovation and anti-tamper / security features built in.

Answered by Simon, Evoke

Absolutely no problem. The kiosks can actually be installed, supported and take donations in almost every country.

Answered by Simon, Evoke

The kiosks that we’ve installed at stations around the UK for Railway Children are extremely robust and designed to take years of wear and tear, but they wouldn’t be classed as being ‘vandal proof’. They are really designed for installation in public areas where other similar tech (like kiosks and video screens) would be present. We do offer much more rugged kiosks, but they do increase the cost.

Answered by Simon, Evoke

This would depend on your partner. The advantage that we have with Railway Children is that they are an official charity partner of Network Rail and so there were no charges. It’s really a question for the venue you want to get the kiosk installed within.