Dorm laundry goes high-tech
IBM connects washers, dryers at colleges to the Web
msnbc.com
ARMONK, N.Y., Aug. 30 — International Business Machines Corp. is rolling out new technology that may be powerful enough to stop college students from bringing laundry home to mom and dad for the weekend. The system, called eSuds and developed by IBM and USA Technologies, lets students swipe a credit card or punch a code into their cell phones to pay for washing or drying their clothes instead of scrounging in backpacks and desk drawers for quarters.
When the wash is done, kids can get an e-mail telling them to come and get it.
THE SOUPED-UP WASHERS and dryers also let students check a Web site for empty machines. From the comfort of their desktop or laptop, students can add soap and fabric softener that is dispensed by the washing machine. Finally when the wash is done, kids can get an e-mail telling them to come and get it.
IBM and USA Technologies said Friday they are connecting 9,000 washing machines and dryers at U.S. colleges and universities to the Web in an effort to make doing laundry at school less of a hassle.
At a pilot program during the spring semester at Boston College, students “just loved it,” said Dean Douglas, a vice president in IBM’s global services division.
A company that owns laundry machines in colleges in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky will install the machines during the fall semester, Douglas said.
The Laundromat owners will also have it a little easier with the hooked up clothes cleaners, IBM said. Owners can monitor machine performance, do some maintenance and check usage online. The chance of vandalism is also cut down because no cash is sitting in the machine.
IBM will host the eSuds transaction data and Web sites and integrate the technology that handles inventory, payment authorization and reports. USA provides the cashless technology, which was developed by IBM.
Owners should also see their revenues up as students are more likely to do their laundry if they do not have to kill time between cycles, Douglas said.
“The last thing want to do sit around in the laundry room all afternoon,” he said. “It’s just hot, nasty and a waste of time.”
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