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Start out the year right for your restaurant POS system. Let’s tackle some of the most common and crucial mistakes that retail business owners make in regard to some very simple and basic configuration aspects of the computer system. Some of these mistakes can cost restaurant owners hundreds or thousands of dollars in wasted time and money. And even worse… it can frustrate your customers and employees.
Whether you’re the one who’s going to do the configuration or not, or [getting somebody else to do it for you] — you better make sure that everything is done properly for your own sake.
Don’t let me give you the wrong message. I don’t always recommend configuring your own computer system! I recommend letting a professional do it for you. But I know some of you will do it yourself no matter what I say. So this is for those that insist on doing your own computer installations and for everyone else to double check and make sure everything was done properly. This could help you avoid some major problems and save hours of precious time.
So here’s your retail POS system configuration checklist for a Windows network:
1) Using a UPS
One of the main causes of your electronic component failure is due to fluctuations in electricity (up and down). A good UPS can solve this problem by providing clean power. I recommend that you at least put a good UPS on your server. And it’s a good idea to use them on all your workstations too.
2) Plug All Your Cables Into the UPS
Make sure all cables that power your computer and network are plugged into your UPS. It’s also important to make sure cables that can carry electrical charges are plugged into a surge protector or UPS. For example, the phone line for your modem can easily heat up and fry your computer if you don’t plug it into a surge protector. So make sure your modem line, network cables, and power cords are all plugged in properly.
3) Tightening Up Security
At the very least, I suggest locking down your server with a password on all Windows accounts so your employees and hackers have more difficulty messing with your server.
4) Intalling and Configuring Security Tools Like An Antivirus Software and AntiSpyware Software
It’s also very important to configure that software to update automatically every day, so you don’t forget.
5) Limiting Employee Internet Access
Employees that surf the internet can cause more problems than anything. Anti-virus and anti-spyware software does help but if an employee unwittingly downloads the wrong program or accepts the wrong message, it can cause some serious problems to your system. You can avoid this by disabling internet browsing on your computers. Or you could password protect internet access.
For a restaurant, this is very important! In order to protect secured files from evil hands, limiting employee internet access is a must. A retail business owner has to enforce rules to protect his business as well as his profit. Otherwise, what good will a restaurant POS system do if it’s run by a misbahaved or ignorant personnel.
6) Configure Your Back Up To Run Every Night
As well proven in many situations, it’s best to configure your back up to run after hours automatically. Don’t forget you still need to remember to change your back up device (like tapes) every day.
7) Test Your Backup By Restoring Files Once A Month
I have talked to a lot of people who think they have a good back up plan for restoring damaged files. But when they try to restore they find it hasn’t been working. That’s why it is very important to test your back up at least once a month by restoring files so you would know that it your back up is working as it’s supposed to be. By the way, you should restore to an alternate file location so you don’t mess up your existing software.
Avoid having regrest by forgetting to do these simple checklist. It’s not a waste of time and it’s not just for your business, employees and customers but for your own sake as well.
With over 20 years of restaruant experience, the author and Vice President of Customer Relations at POS-for-Restaurants.com, helps you use your technology to be more efficient and more profitable.
What is a POS System?
POS stands for Point Of Sale.
This is a rather broad definition which includes merchandising aids, displays and the methods used for transactions.
In our case, we’re talking about the hardware and software that runs your business from the front counter to your back office.
For a small craft store, a basic POS system would consist only of a computer, cash drawer, barcode scanner, receipt printer and the appropriate POS software. For a service organization, like a lawn care company, doesn’t need a cash drawer or a receipt printer.
Although, they might want to use a laser printer for their service invoices.
Again, you can easily customize a POS system for your specific needs.
Remember that the heart of your retail POS system is the computer running the POS software.
We understand the temptation of using an older computer or even those really cheap ones available at “superstores”.
But always remember, the moment it runs, it will be depending on these easily worn out equipments, so a good quality computer is a must.
All custom built-systems use high quality, branded parts will work reliably for years.
The same advice goes for all the other components.
A basic cash drawer can get the job done, but heavy duty models are built to last longer.
For barcode scanners, a CCD type will last longer than the pencil want type, but they’re still designed to work with flat, easy-to-read barcodes.
Let’s talk about laser scanners, not only have a greater range, but the laser can wrap around bottles, bags or follow irregular shapes much better than the CCD models.
Like barcode scanners, the printer technology is also improving. The workhorse of the industry is used to be a dot-matrix printer, and they’re still fairly popular, but thermal printers are faster, quieter and more affordable.
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS’s), or battery back-ups, are affordably priced and can keep your business up and running during power glitches or short outages. Remember, your business will be depending a lot on this equipment. If you plan to use it a lot, don’t hesitate to spend some extra money and buy the heavy duty UPS models and units.
A retail POS system not only gives you control over your transactions, it also puts a wealth of info at your finger tips.
Imagine being able to compare months and even years to date of sales with just a few keystrokes. You’ll begin to reliaze that a database of your customers’ information can be a powerful tool to boost your sales.
A POS system can also track your inventory, automatically creating order lists as needed, even adjusting quantities for seasonal demand.
To sum it all, POS systems can keep you on the race and not get left behind.
For more information to help you choose the right retail point of sale system provider visit Retail-POS-Solutions and you will receive information on a system designed for your specific business and retail business needs.
The author of this article is a retail POS sytem professional who has been counseling businesses of all sizes from single locations to national chains for over 20 years.
Point of Sale Equipment: Keyboards and touch screens
One of the first choices you will have to make about your POS equipment is whether to go with a touch screen or a programmable keyboard. Most businesses choose touch screens. The only market where programmable keyboards are more popular is grocery stores, since it has the ability to program individual keys for specific item codes and prices.
A growing number of touch screens today are designed by restaurant owners, and since many retail business owners aren’t tech savvy they prefer to use touch screens that are more intuitive to use and “user-friendly”. They also provide more flexibility in the user interface and programming. You will find most touch screens these days are based on flat-screen LCDs unlike the traditional CRT monitors. While LCD touch screens are a bit more expensive (typically $600 - $1,000 instead of $400 - $500), they are sturdier, saves electricity, and take up less space. They even look much better. With both CRT and LCD displays, avoid “overlay” touch screens that are added on to regular monitors - these monitors tend to breakdown easily and even causes unnecessary complications to your system.
For keyboards, some has the standard 101-keys model similar to any computer. For smaller keyboards, there’s the flat-panel membrane keyboard that’s more POS-specific, common in fast food chains. Often, they come in with built-in magnetic stripe readers for credit card processing. Programmable keyboards usually ranges between $150 and $300.
It doesn’t matter which POS equipment you use, make sure you consider the environment where it will be used. You’ll find both keyboards and touch screens available in the market that has varying levels of spills and dusts proofing.
Scanners
POS scanners reads an item’s barcode and sends the information back to the computer. Typically, scanners connect to the system through Y-connectors called wedges that make them function as an extension of the keyboard. Bar code scanning improves speed and accuracy during checkout.
Low-end scanners are based on CCD technology. They can be inexpensive, but usually have limitations - an item being scanned needs to be 1 to 3 inches from the scanner. In a typical retail setting, it should be fine.
Laser scanners, which use a beam of light to read bar codes, offer better scanning ability with the ability to scan at longer distances. You may find some laser scanners that automatically turn themselves on when scanning and then turn off again, this is called “autosensing”. The omnidirectional scanners can send out 15 or 20 lasers simultaneously, lets you scan bar codes from any angle. And the top of the line are embedded scanners, these are omnidirectional scanners usually seen in supermarkets located below the counter for easy access.
Properly use different types of scanners to serve customers. If the counter line has only one or a couple of customers, CCDs or entry-level laser scanners can help you out. A fairly constant flow of customers might call for an autosensing model, and very high volume businesses should investigate omnidirectional or embedded scanners. Prices range from below $100 for the most basic CCD scanners to $350 or more for omnidirectional laser scanners.
Handheld POS
One of the latest and most ingenious type of input device is the handheld, wireless terminal. Essentially a PDA, which wirelessly transmits orders back to its base station. A distinct advantage for restaurants is that they increase the amount of time servers spend on the floor taking orders and interacting with customers, because it eliminates the need to go back to a terminal to give the orders.
Write-on handhelds: think about combining touch screens with PDAs, this tiny input device allow servers to simply write the orders down. Handwriting recognition software parses the order then sends it directly on to the kitchen and bar as needed.
These handheld terminals are more expensive compared to a traditional touch-screen order terminal. However they can make up for the cost by allowing your servers to spend more time up-selling more desserts and drinks. When evaluating handheld terminals, make sure to take the “drop test” - these units are rated for toughness according to how much they can take a fall. You can easily find out if your business is a candidate for handheld POS terminals by comparing multiple POS equipment vendors to learn what products and services they offer.
For more info and free POS quotes or perhaps an online resource?
Visit POS-For-Restaurants.com
The author of this article is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving restaurants of all types throughout the U.S.
Start out the year right for your restaurant POS systems. Let’s talk about some of the most common and vital mistakes that are made in regard to some very simple and basic configuration aspects of the computer system. Mistakes can seriously damage a restaurant or any other retail business, not to mention the huge amount of time and money on repairs. Even worse than that… it can frustrate you, your customers and employees.
Whether you’re the one who’s going to configure your restaurant’s computer system or not somebody else to do it for you] — you better make sure that everything is done properly for your own sake.
Please don’t let me give you the wrong message. I don’t always recommend configuring your own computer system! I recommend letting a computer professional do the work. But I’m sure some of you will do it yourself no matter what I say. So this is for those of you that insist on doing your own system installations and for everyone else to double check and make sure everything was done properly. This could help you avoid some major problems and save hours of precious time.
So here are some simple retail POS system configuration checklist for a Windows network you could follow:
1) Install a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
The number one cause of electronic component failure is from fluctuations in electricity (up and down). A good UPS can solve this problem by providing clean power. I would recommedn getting a good UPS for your server. And it’s also a good idea to use them on all your workstations too.
2) Plug All Your Cables Into the UPS
All cables that powers your computer and network must be properly plugged into your UPS. It’s also important to make sure cables that can carry electrical charges are plugged into a surge protector or UPS. For example, the phone line for your modem can easily heat up and fry your computer if it’s not plugged into a surge protector. So you better make sure that all cables are plugged properly. Your modem line, network cables, and power cords can cause severe damage if not plugged properly.
3) Tightening Up Security
At the very least, I suggest locking down your server with a strong password on all Windows accounts so your employees and hackers have more difficulty messing with your server.
4) Intalling and Configuring Security Tools Like An Antivirus Software and AntiSpyware Software
It is gravely important for you to make sure that these security tools are configured to updating automatically, so you would never forget.
5) Limit Internet Access
Employees that surf the internet can cause more problems than anything. You mave the lastest antivirus and antispyware software installed but if an employee unwittingly downloads the wrong program or accepts the wrong message, it can bring your system down. You can avoid this by disabling internet browsing on your computers. Or another option is to protect internet access with a password.
For restaurant owners, this is very important! In order to protect secured files from evil hands, limiting employee internet access is a must. A retail business owner has to enforce rules to protect his business as well as his profit. Otherwise, what good will a restaurant POS system do if it’s run by a misbahaved or ignorant personnel.
6) Configuring Your Back Up To Run Regularly
As well proven in many situations, it’s best to configure your back up to run automatically after work hours. But you still need to remember to change your back up device (like tapes) every day.
7) Testing Your Back Up At Least Once A Month
I have talked to dozens people who think they have a good back up plan for restoring damaged files. When they try to restore they find it didn’t properly funciton. That’s why you need to do a “real” test restore once a month to make sure it’s working. By the way, you should also remember o restore to an alternate file location so your existing software won’t be affected.
So please, start checking your computer systems now and do the neccessary updates, configurations and back ups.
With over 20 years of restaruant experience, the author and Vice President of Customer Relations at POS-for-Restaurants.com, helps you use your technology to be more efficient and more profitable.
The world as we see it today is now full of vast technological advances, everything seems to be easy and convenient. Cars are parking themselves, animals are being cloned, and humanoids are being developed. Your business needs to be updated with technology or you’ll get left behind in the competition. If you’re in the food-service business, we have suggestion that will help you step-by-step.
Amidst the era of ideas, a business doesn’t need to spend more time on the basic operational and record-keeping needs. A point-of-sales system (POS) is a computer software and hardware network that can immediately record sales as they are occurring.
With this advanced system at hand, it can provide businesses “real time” updates of inventory and serves as a better leverage when future business plans based on sales. Below describes the benefits your business can get from using POS systems:
- POS systems automatically record all sales. You may have been wondering why there is a deviation from using books. This will not be a problem any longer. A business cannot put a price on impeccably accurate sales tracking.
- Often a business will implement sales and other promotions to attract customers. It’s a nightmare if items, dates, and the reduction in prices are not accurately logged. POS systems can easily automate the process, so the tracking and calculations will not become an area of confusion and frustration.
- A small to medium-sized business owner (or owners) may not be able to be present at all times. This problem can create high anxiety for the owner and disarray for the business. The POS system basically runs the inventory and sales tracking portion of your business for you at all times whether you are present or not.
- For a small to medium-sized business owner with multiple locations, maintaining consistency can become a concern. Prices may or may not vary depending on location, but demographics and demand will always differ. Using a POS system will enable a business owner to keep track of all the inventories in multiple locations and affords the possibility of accounting for meeting different demands and product.
- With the rise of new technologies comes the hassle of having them all. Tools that come separately can be costly and confusing; a progressive POS system will offer many business tools in one package.
- A good POS system will not only help track inventory and pricing, but will grant more time for the owner and his employees to concentrate more towards the business, the customers, and generating revenue. Finding the root of a miscalculation and in remedying the problem can cause a great amount of time; with a POS system, will not be an issue!
Need more information or an online resource?
Go to POS-For-Restaurants.com
The author of this article is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving the automation needs of restaurants of all types throughout the U.S.