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Reliable Parts

As with most anything, reliable parts last longer.  Down time costs your business much more than replacement parts, and service technicians are expensive when you have inconsistent hardware or software.  For example, all computers running XP is a lot less overhead for a technician than some on XP, some on Vista and some on Win98.  Purchasing the same brand or model of computer for your business also allows parts to be interchanged, the buttons are in the same place, cabling is consistent - which means, making good decisions about your system early on makes later decisions decided.  Support issues take less time when the person on the end of the phone or email is only concerned with your software, and not what it is running on.  A good pointer is to make broad enquires of other satisfied local businesses.

Preferred

Minimum

For EPOS, add the following for stations.

Printers

Printers may be connected physically to the server, individual computer or to a print server, based on the company's printing requirements.  Usually, front desk staff require Point of Sale (POS) printers for confirmations, invoice and receipt printing.  Other staff may require access to a wide carriage printer for starter sheets or laser printers for reports, member statements or documents to hand out to customers, such as guest itineraries, certificates and vouchers.  Considerations involve the speed of the printer (statements), quality (reports), adaptability (font and paper control), cost (replacement ink cartridges), lifespan (parts, repair and warranty).

Receipt and Kitchen Printers

There are many reliable models on the market, including dot matrix and thermal (which tend to be more expensive but quieter - and prefered for customer front desks).  As an example,  low cost printers for point-of-sale applications offer modular user-friendly design, graphics capability and 3.5 lines per second print speed, reliable performance over a period of years.  Expect replacement ink ribbons and yearly cleaning because of paper and other types of dust.  Note that kitchen printers tend to become contaminated with grease so location is important.  Interface boards enable users to select bi-directional parallel, RS-232C, RS-422, RS-485, ethernet and USB connections.

Other features include paper end detectors that automatically alert the user when the printer is out of paper, an auto cutter and paper take up.  Some have the ability to print one original plus two copies.  Paper comes in rolls of different widths and lengths, 1, 2, 3 or 4 layer.  Consistency in the printer model allows consistency in the paper rolls you order.  Use your first months with a new systems to guage your depletion rate and re-order point.

Monitors

Monitors can take up valuabe desk space.  Consider an extra monitor for additional tasks on the counter or even make a hole for "counter based monitors" to sit inside and lay at an angle of 15-30 degrees.

Restaurants and Pro shops may use a "Lazy Susan" or rotating platform for touchscreen monitors; the CPU is hidden from view and the receipt printer location is static.  Ensure cable lengths are long enough and remember that extended or extension cables for keyboards, printers and monitors have maximum distance limitations.

Backup Systems

To prevent loss of data due to user, hardware or system failure, systems should always have a back-up system.  Systems and procedures can be put in place to backup your data and configuration on a nightly, weekly or monthly basis to tape or zip drive, or even off-site over the internet.  Backups are critical and if you are unsure of any process, equipment, backup procedures, recovery procedures or security issues, contact us.

Testing - It is imperative that you test your backup system occasionally, regardless what the on-screen software report is indicating to you.

UPS (Uninterruptible power supply) - It is recommended that the server and all computers and devices connected to the server be connected to a UPS.  This should ensure that even though power may fail, staff has time to switch down - move gradually into a "manual" mode until the power is restored.  Many rural locations have inconsistent power and many UPS units come with power smoothers that ensure power spikes or surges do not damage your hardware.

Cash Drawers

Electronic Cash Drawers designed to open with a key, at the touch of a button or automatically on closing a transaction.  The model of receipt printer may allow two cash drawers - check the model specification if you need this capability.

Cashout Drop Boxes

Many businesses use a drop box for storing cash and end-of-shift (cash-out) information including receipts, cheques, invoices, certificates.  Nightly deposits and reports may also be dropped here.

Bar Code Scanners

Use bar code scanners to read inventory bar coded labels.  They facilitate quick and efficient product sales at POS, ensuring the correct item is selected.  Also, consider building label books or catalogues for service items (there is physically nothing to put the label on).  Depending on the software, you can build a single label for used golf balls, most common tee times, even generate what is called a key macro to speed up a common process in the software.

Laptop Work Stations

While a laptop is a more expensive piece of equipment, its portability can be invaluable.  They are ideal for taking to trade shows but also as mobile workstations that can plug into a network socket anywhere in the facility.  Most laptops these days come with network cards built-in, older models usually have a socket to plug a slim network card.

Food and beverage carts or mobile stations may run off batteries with spares battery as needed.  These mobile stations can later attach to the network to perform a cash out procedure and download their sales information, upload specific inventory or run reports.

Hubs and Networking

A 10BaseT hub is a box with a row of jacks.  Most hubs have 5, 8, 12, or 16 jacks, but some have more.  Most hubs also have an uplink, which is a special type of port that allows the hub to be connected to other hubs.  By uplinking, you can add computers to your network in the future.  Wireless hubs are also popular and they are ideal for portable stations (Laptops).

10BaseT cabling is available in different grades or categories.  Some categories, or "cats", are required for fast ethernet, while others are acceptable for standard 10Mbps networks and are less expensive.  Most networks use standard unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) Category 5 10BaseT cabling because it offers a performance advantage over lower grades.  If you are using a 10Mbps network, category 3 is fine.

Cable Interference

Network cable can be run under floors, around offices and over dropped ceilings. When planning your wiring, keep cables away from power outlets, florescent lighting fixtures, power supplies, and other sources with strong electromagnetic interference.

Type of Cabling

10/100 USB must be connected to a standard 10BaseT or a 10/100 hub or switch with category 5 RJ-45 cabling. It cannot be connected directly to another computer.  Make sure that your RJ-45 cabling is straight-through. Pins 1, 2, 3, and 6 at the PC should line up pin-for-pin at the hub.  If you need more information about cabling, see our cabling guide.

Driver Software

There are files required for the setup and operation of a device.  With plug and play devices the system attempts to detect and install the software for the model automatically, using default files pre-installed with Windows.  If the system cannot determine the model, the software required and location of the software, you will need to load them manually.  This may involve installing driver files from a floppy disk, CD-Rom or downloading them from the internet, unzipping the files to a directory and then installing them through a "setup.exe", if one exists, else pointing Windows at the driver ".inf" file.  For example, with a 10/100 USB network card, the files USB100TX.SYS and USB100TX.INF are usually located in the root directory of a floppy disk but could be located in another directory on a CD-Rom due to multiple versions of files, depending on language and other parameters.  See the driver installation notes, usually a "readme.txt" file, to determine the location of any required files and any special instructions.

Hot Swapping USB Cable

USB cable length should not exceed 2 feet.  Although USB devices are hot swapable, if you remove its connection from the computer, you will lose its network connection.  To reconnect, try restart/reboot your computer.  If your PC has multiple USB ports the Network Adapter should be redetected.