How Do You Service a Kiosk That Has Stopped Working?

Updated September 15, 2025

Deployment isn’t the end of the road when it comes to kiosks. Because the nature of self-service involves interaction, most kiosks will need servicing at some point to keep them operating smoothly. Understanding what to do when a kiosk stops working, along with how to handle ongoing kiosk maintenance, is an important step in your deployment plan.

That’s because kiosk issues not only cost businesses money, but according to a 2020 Infrascale report, 37 percent of companies indicated they’ve lost customers due to IT downtime. Further, when kiosks fail, customers experience frustration, longer wait times, and a diminished perception of the brand’s reliability. Businesses should be prepared with solutions to get their self-service solutions back online as soon as possible.

Here, we detail the reasons why a kiosk might fail in the field as well as common protocols for kiosk repair.

Understanding Kiosk Wear and Tear

All kiosks will need servicing after time. Users generate wear and tear, and electronics all have lifespans.

There are many options for kiosk repair. Each self-service program’s demands will help orient the service needs. For instance, a self-order kiosk processing large volumes of purchases might warrant a higher service response due to more traffic than an informational kiosk with less engagement.

Fortunately, there are multiple ways to implement that service depending on complexity and timing needed, ranging from local employees to service technicians being sent onsite.

Planning Ahead for Kiosk Maintenance

Before a problem even arises, it’s essential to have a service strategy in place. The scope of that plan can focus on things such as the design of the kiosk to help protect the enclosure and its components, serviceability ease, and selection of electronics incorporated. From there, it’s time to organize how the kiosk will be serviced when needed.

Having a plan in place does not necessarily equate to having a large backlog of spare parts ready for immediate deployment. A business could elect to handle any issues as they arise and not implement any preemptive steps, meaning that every case would be treated individually. Necessary replacement parts would be ordered only as they are needed, not in mass quantities.

For some programs with lesser demands on the kiosks, this might be a logical approach and can save costs upfront. That said, it does sacrifice response times if an issue does arise, which is something to consider. There will also be larger individual costs to reconcile with the budget, once repairs are completed.

Some industries like healthcare, transportation, and government services can’t afford to wait on kiosk repair. They may opt to take more preemptive steps.

A business may elect to identify key components and purchase spares upfront which are then sent out as service requests come up. This route can cut down on the turnaround time for initiating service since the components are on hand as well as cut some costs since those spares are bought in volume.

With this option, though, there is an upfront cost and commitment to parts. For electronic components, manufacturer’s warranties typically start on the date of shipment from the manufacturer. So, components held as spares would have a running warranty as they sit. There are steps that can be taken to extend or delay warranty starts for additional cost.

There is no “one size fits all” solution to kiosk repair, so putting the right plan in place will be largely dependent on what works best for the brand or business, whether that means keeping a backlog of spare parts or waiting to order them on an individual basis.

Using Service Providers for Kiosk Troubleshooting

Some enterprise brands choose to assemble an in-house service team if they run large-scale kiosk programs. However, most businesses elect to work with a remote monitoring service partner to save on costs while still ensuring fast response times and the least impact on their operations.

These providers offer an array of services, including monitoring and triage of kiosk software and component sets to keep units up and running, which minimizes the need for service calls to be made at all.

The service provider has software installed onto the kiosk that provides them remote diagnostic information about the health and operation of the kiosk. And since they have these diagnostics running on the kiosks, the service provider can detect issues before the consumer or local ops teams notice an issue.

In situations where repairs can’t be made remotely, the service provider can send technicians to make onsite visits to either further diagnose or complete a repair. Service can be offered promptly and reduce headaches for local operators.

Partner service providers can repair kiosks in a timely manner because they’ll be familiar with the kiosk program as well as potential solutions for certain scenarios.

While not always necessary, making use of partnered service providers can cut back considerably on a kiosk’s time spent out of order.

Conclusion

Having a service plan does not mean the same thing for every company, or even every situation. However, having some kind of plan in place, whatever it may be, will allow for service protocol to run smoother when put into action.

Servicing kiosks and planning for routine kiosk maintenance can be scaled to meet whatever your needs may be. Discussing your use case and need for uptime with your kiosk provider will help determine which route is best.