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Showing posts from November, 2020

What You Will Need to Know About TLS 1.2 and SHA-2 Security Requirements

As of January 2018, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has mandated that all merchants and their clients have to be updated to TLS 1.2 and SHA-2 encryption standards to accept and process credit cards. Failure to switch won't result in a reversal of reliability, but it will lead to a complete disruption of service. Who's the NIST? The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is encharged by the U.S. government to create, set and enforce Internet security protocols. When security protocols are updated or created by the NIST, they are adopted by government institutions and then followed by public companies. What's TLS 1.2 and SHA-2? Transport Layer Security (TLS) and the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) are the principal tools and protocols for encryption security. The industry standard from 1999 to 2017 has been TLS 1 and SHA-1. In this time period, every merchant service provider had to provide services and products up to TLS 1 and SHA-1 c...

How to Run Transactions Using the VX 805

The key proponent for switching to EMV chip-card readers is for retailers to have the ability to run transactions quickly with no worry. Plus, these pinpads are less likely to be hacked -- keeping your customers' card and bank info safer than ever. In POS Nationwe match our cloud and neighborhood server-based point of sale solutions with the VX 805 chip-card reader. Our group put together instructional videos showing you how easy it is to complete a transaction using the VX 805 with our retail point of sale solutions. Whether you are using a cloud-based or local database POS system, it is essential for the small business to start using a pinpad to take payment. POS Nation Provides Cloud-Based Point of Sale Solution Tracy Ann's Events is located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Owned by Tracy Glynn, Tracy Ann's Events offers its clients complete event services, from small holiday occasions to large scale weddings. Implementing a system to help manage all three aspects of her comp...

Receipt Printers

a Summary of Receipt Printers Receipt printers are critical point of sale hardware which are used for printing sales transaction records. There are a few distinct kinds of receipt printers available in the marketplace. Impact, or sequential dot-matrix printers, are initially cheaper to buy -- but you should also buy pins and ink ribbons, which add up over time. While thermal printers are a bit more expensive, they are faster and quieter. What is the difference between impact and thermal printers? Thermal printers create a printed image by selectively heating thermal paper (receipt paper) as soon as the paper passes over the thermal print head, turning black at the regions where it is heated. Two-color direct thermal printers are capable of printing both black and another color (often red), by applying heat at two distinct temperatures. Since the newspaper is heat-sensitive, there isn't any need to buy ribbons. Thermal printers have a more defined print, are quieter, and are ...

Magnetic Stripe Readers

Everything You Use to Swipe Credit Cards Magnetic strip readers and card readers are POS hardware using an electric sensor which reads the magnetic strip on the back of a credit or debit card. What's the benefit of an integrated MSR? If you are going to take credit cards, then you want a magnetic strip reader however, not everyone chooses to have an integrated MSR. The image to the right demonstrates how an integrated MSR matches with a normal touch PC. The best benefit of this setup is the POS software will automatically read every time a card is swiped and understand the right amount to charge. The alternate setup is a PC connected to an outside credit card system, which necessitates the cashier to manually input the transaction amount. Does this create an additional step in the checkout procedure, but manual entry is prone to human error as the incorrect transaction total could be entered. For speed and accuracy, we always recommend an integrated MSR. When I have a pinpad t...

Touchscreens (All-in-Ones)

What Is a touchscreen? Also called a terminal or an all-around, a touchscreen is a version of a desktop computer. Touchscreens include all the standard elements of a desktop computer, with the inclusion of a touchscreen monitor. Touchscreens operate your point of sale and will be the most important piece of hardware in your system. What are the minimum specs for a POS touchscreen? Your point of sale software determines the minimal computing specifications you require. We recommend having at least 4GB of RAM and at least a 1.8GHz processor. As you increase the amount of POS stations at your organization, you will also want to boost the processing power of your touchscreen. We recommend at least a 2.0GHz chip for the server station if three or more stations are situated at exactly the exact same shop (the server station is the POS station that houses your database and acts as a server to the other terminals). Why do touchscreen prices change so much? Prices can fluctuate significan...

Barcode Scanners

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What's a Barcode Scanner? Barcode scanners are electronic devices used for reading printed barcodes. The hardware comprises a light source, a lens, and a light sensor which translates optical impulses into electrical ones. There are an assortment of scanners on the current market, including pen-type readers, laser scanners, CDD readers, and camera-based readers. How does a scanner work? Scanners typically use laser beams to reflect light off a barcode. To read the barcode, the scanner measures the intensity of the reflected light. Scanners only read what's put in front of them and they don't correlate UPC codes with a particular inventory item. This association is made through your point of sale applications. Scanners do be able, but to rearrange barcodes, drop top amounts, or drop-check digit numbers. What sorts of scanners are there? There are an assortment of scanners on the market. The most elementary scanner is a wired handheld 1D scanner. These scanners read...

Cash Drawers

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Do People Still Use Cash Drawers? POS technology changes quickly, but the 1 POS hardware element which has remained constant is a metal box used to securely save money. Regardless of the motion to a cashless consumer market, cash drawers continue to be a crucial part of a point of sale system. A cash drawer has different compartments for coins and bills of unique values, which enables cashiers to rapidly and accurately count consumer change without shuffling through bills and coins. Cash drawers take the brunt of normal wear and tear, so it is common to need replacement parts such as tills, mounting brackets, and spare keys. How can cash drawers pop open? Interestingly enough, a cable from the receipt printer to the cash drawer prompts the device to start when a cash transaction is finished. The cable looks like a telephone line, and it is unique to the brand of printer. If a client's cash drawer will not open, 99 percent of the time it's because the drawer is not on the ...

Handheld Inventory Devices

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What are handheld inventory Apparatus? Handhelds, or stock apparatus, are portable POS hardware utilized to facilitate stock counts. How can a handheld help inventory counts? A handheld is a portable computer which enables the user to scan stock products one by one or scan a single item and enter a quantity. After the stock count, the device will then sync back with the POS system. After the stock count is synced with the system, a discrepancy report is where merchandise counts differ from what merchandise count exists at the point of sale. Is a handheld different from a scanner? Yes. Though both pieces of equipment are portable and can operate wirelessly, they function differently. Scanners just read barcodes. Inventory devices, however, count and store the information they've scanned. How much do stock devices cost? While scanners are relatively inexpensive, handhelds can cost nearly two thousand dollars since they're mobile computers using their own operating system ...

What Costs Are Associated with a POS System?

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 Have you started looking at POS options , or has your research been happening for months now? Irrespective of where you are in the process, you could know about the financial investment that includes buying a point of sale system. Luckily, if you put money into a point of sale system that's the ideal match, the hardware and software will pay for itself due to how much it is helping your company. While point of sale system costs and payment options differ, we can help give you an overall idea of what to expect. Are Monthly Payments Required? The brief answer is no -- monthly payments aren't required with ConnectPOS . You may benefit from several choices that have monthly payments, but it depends on what your company needs. It's well worth a conversation with one of our product specialists to see which choice will be most beneficial. Following are a few quick references that could help you make a choice! Local Database Program If you're contemplating local database softw...

3 Kinds of POS Systems for Retail

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44 percent of stores use Mobile POS to ring up customers, but 37 percent of these firms ended up spending more on their applications than they budgeted for. Deciding on a new point of sale system is overpowering. There are a lot of attributes to compare, and you are not sure whether you will need a system that's neighborhood or cloud-based. With 3 kinds of POS systems for retail to select from, how can you know which one is perfect for your company? To begin, you will need to analyze how that you take payments, the best way to monitor inventory, if you would like to offer a loyalty program, and a lot more. Then, you will have to compare POS suppliers to determine which one will best meet your needs in regards to functionality and equipment. Let us take a look at the 3 kinds of POS systems in more detail so that you can make an educated decision concerning which you use. 3 Kinds of POS Systems for Retail When searching for the ideal POS system for your company, there are som...

How to Get the Best Grocery Store POS System

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If you're trying to find the best grocery store POS system for your growing business but worried about overspending on an ineffective POS system, you are not alone. The simple fact is that hundreds of companies overspend on inefficient POS solutions . Generally, these POS providers do not provide the very latest features required to serve your distinctive business, industry, and clients. So how can you be certain you're buying the best grocery store POS system ? How to Get the Best Grocery Store POS System in 3 Easy Steps In this guide, we'll provide you the step-by-step guide to finding the best grocery store POS system for your business. As an industry-leading POS supplier , we have helped thousands of companies orient towards continuing POS success. 1. Take Stock of Your Present POS Begin by taking stock of your current POS system . When replacing an existing POS tool , document the tool's shortcomings. By performing this simple evaluation, you are able to be...

5 Awesome Grocery Store POS Systems [Reviews and Pricing ]

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If you're trying to find a grocery store POS system , there are some things that you will have to look at. With such a wide variety of grocery store POS systems on the market, how do you be sure that you've made the correct purchase for your distinctive business? You should certainly consult POS system pricing and testimonials to direct your decision-making. In this scenario, we recommend having a look at third-party tools, such as Capterra and ConsumerAffairs . Here's a list of the best supermarket POS systems (with pricing and testimonials ) to help you create the best possible buy for your growing grocery company. 5 Awesome Grocery Store POS Systems [Reviews and Pricing ] As an industry-leading POS system supplier, we might be somewhat biased when we state that we provide among the best POS systems for grocery stores. Needless to say, we know that we are not the ideal fit for every organization. Without further adieu, here's a list of top supermarket POS syste...

Treat your employees like your most valued client

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 'A group of individuals get together and exist as an institution we call a business so that they have the ability to accomplish something collectively that they couldn't accomplish separately -- they make a contribution to society, a term that sounds trite but is basic.' -- David Packard, overdue co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (March 8, 1960) The early years of Hewlett-Packard are often regarded as having an innovative founding culture. Highlighted, by the late co-founder, David Packard's address to HP Managers in 1960, who enabled each person working at HP, to be their very best self. He wanted employees to understand they were doing something worthwhile, and desired that communicated directed at each level. Fast-forward a half-century afterwards, and reality television shows, such as'Undercover Boss', have shone a spotlight on that connection, between senior executives and their employees. The premise of this series is for high level executives to go'under...

How to Choose the Best iPad as your point-of-sale

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 Since its inception in 2010, the iPad has gone through several iterations. Apple didn't create something that would satisfy as a home entertainment device, but one which could potentially function as a laptop replacement for your company needs. From the multi-purpose iPad into the high-performing iPad Pro as well as the various sizes each come in, the choice consumers have when choosing an iPad is almost overbearing. At ConnectPOS , we are frequently asked by our customers whether our point-of-sale works on their iPad, and what are the benefits and drawbacks of each iPad. To answer this only, ConnectPOS POS works on any iPad -- since it requires minimal operating ability to operate properly. There are however, pros and cons to every device, which we will outline here to help you determine which iPad POS is right for you and your retailing needs. iPad Pro The first thing you'll notice when looking at an iPad Guru is that it comes in two different sizes: 5-inch iPad Guru 12.9-i...

Inventory counting 101

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 'Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection' It is a quotation attributed to the famed American author, Mark Twain, and it is interesting to consider in the context of inventory management . That's right. Inventory. The dreaded word that can send shivers down the spine of even the best retailers. Truly, the challenges faced by companies are certainly diverse, but stock management highlights a consistently tough procedure. A poor stock management system will lead to everything from inaccuracies to shrinkage and the time-consuming, labor intensive work is only going to end up damaging your companies bottom line. Finding a solution that is perfect however might be near on impossible, since there'll always be ways to improve it. That's why Twain's lineup is a pertinent one for companies to follow. A headline, if you will, that enables businesses to take significant steps in enhancing their inventory management methods, and ultimately their whole opera...

From new Market to International brand: your business could be the next big thing

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 Among the biggest mistakes made by business owners is assuming that their economy is rigid. They get complacent and believe that once they've carved out their place their job is finished. But when it comes to business there's absolutely no time to rest on your laurels. As a result of the rate at which technology is evolving, markets are more liquid than ever. Keeping up with these changes is vital and if you don't do, your company may fall by the wayside. By way of instance, businesses now have to make certain that their sites are optimized for use with mobile devices. Recent studies* have shown that more and more of us are getting the internet on mobile devices as opposed to laptops or desktop PC's. However, for sites to operate entirely on mobile devices they must be optimized for it. If your website does not work properly on a mobile then your clients are more inclined to proceed to your competitors! We can't always predict the direction the market will go in, b...

Why Cloud-Based POS system is the Reason Behind a Thriving Small Business

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 The cloud-based POS system has taken over the company sector to a different dimension. Its customers and subscribers are around the world. It doesn't matter if you're a small business owner or a multiplex, Franchise based business owner, The Cloud-based POS system is your ideal option for all your business solutions. Its functionalities, together with its second to none attributes, have made it the talk of the company town. With almost 250 million readers, both permanent to contract-based, the market value for these type systems is growing day by day. With its different modes of operations and techniques, Cloud-Based POS systems are being used in virtually every sort of business. The transaction techniques followed by the mode of payment it provides mainly gathered the readers about these systems because individuals would love to have happy go lucky sort of scenario while shopping and the most disturbing scenario they face while doing it would be to stand in a queue and await ...

Cloud-Based POS Systems & Retail Business, There Co-Existence at the Local Economy

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 Since its inception, the regional markets have proved to be a breeding ground for many soon to be large startups and companies since it's the exact same location from where these brands gained recognition, and by being a typical retail industry, they became world's leading businesses in their domain. The local market and retail companies have observed many things coming and going, which also includes how things are being handled in the financial department, the very first phase saw the cash book and retailing system. Which hold a good deal of disadvantages inside and then came the electronically controlled, Point of Sales system (POS), which not only makes the job fluent and easy to handle but also made it reliable in this manner that there should be no mistake in the transformation of knowledge. As time passed and businessman from the local market become more agile and technologically advanced, they need their financial systems to be accurate and hands-on. To the same purpose...