The International Forecourt Standards Forum is a UK-based European organisation which designs standards for connecting devices on a service station forecourt, such as dispensers, Tank Level Gauges, Price Signs, Car Washes and Outdoor Payment Terminals. In recent years additional standards have been added for Electronic Funds Transfer.
Formed in 1992 by a group of oil, pump and computer companies (including AGIP, BP, Petrofina, Mobil and Texaco), the principle of IFSF is to create standards so that devices from different manufacturers can interoperate without having to redevelop interfaces:
... there was great concern within the retail oil industry regarding the different protocols or interfaces used by equipment manufacturers Proprietary protocols effectively locked customers to individual suppliers – who could often not meet the changing computer system needs of the Oil Company.
A similar effort was undertaken earlier in Germany by oil companies and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, resulting in the European Petrol Station Interface (“EPSI”) standard, but this was not used much outside Germany.
Standards are only available to paid members of the IFSF organisation.
Read more about International Forecourt Standards Forum: Impact and Deployment, How IFSF Works
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