BT to launch Touchpoint nationwide

BT is planning a nationwide roll-out of its interactive kiosk, Touchpoint. It is the first time a major communications player has attempted this method of selling at a national level.

Touchpoint is an interactive system that provides users with a mixture of leisure and consumer information and allows them to order goods or services direct on an attached phone.

About 30 companies have taken part in the six-month trial including Bupa, British Airways, Cellnet, Nationwide and Yellow Pages, while BT has also signed a deal with IPC to put versions of Loaded and Marie Claire on the kiosk.

Paul Gillooly, executive producer of Touchpoint, says: “The trial has gone well. We will finetune the system and then go national with it.”

At present, there are 200 kiosks placed in sites like shopping centres or train stations in London and the South-east. The company will begin a roll-out next year and plans to establish about 1,000 kiosks around the country in the next 12 months.

However, BT says this figure could vary slightly depending on how successful the sites prove.

The number of channels on each kiosk will be expanded from eight to 20. The recorded voices and images of celebrities like Alan Hansen, Kylie Minogue, and Mariella Frostrup will be used to present a football, a lifestyle and a movie channel, respectively.

BT says the aim is to popularise the system and make it easier to use.