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Are you in the process of looking at a new computer system? Regardless of whether you are looking at a system for your office or retail business, there are a couple of things you must keep in mind when installing systems that will handle all your critical data and help you operate your business.

1. Network cabling. The majority of systems are PC-based, designed to run on MS Windows technology. This means that the workstations and peripherals most likely will communicate over standard Ethernet networking. Although wireless communications have been the talk of the town these days, it is still highly recommended to “hardwire” your computer stations. Some vendors include this service in their bid; others specify that cabling must be arranged with a third-party vendor.

In spite of who will work on the cabling, all must be properly plugged and tested before installing any equipment. Each peripheral will be needing a cable drop. A cable drop is the wiring between a computer and its Ethernet transceiver.

For POS systems, the retail business should be wired with CAT 5 or 6 network cabling that runs from every conceivable POS workstation, remote printer or KDS, office computer, hostess station, delivery order desks, cashier stations and network server to a “home run” area such as a central patch panel, preferably located in your telephone or electrical room or closet. Cabling routes need to ensure that cables are at least 24 inches from fluorescent fixtures, neon transformers and electrical motors, as these devices can cause communications interference.

2. Electrical. Installing a dedicated and isolated circuits for your equipmments such as your POS computers, network devices such as hubs and routers, and phone systems that can share. No other equipment should be on the same breaker switch. Preferably, your network, phone, and electrical service will be near one another. An isolated circuit means that the circuit has a ground separate from that of the main electrical service. This helps prevent spikes and surges that may damage motherboards and hard drives. Note, however, that you’ll still want to use surge protectors at each workstation.

3. Properly designed workspace. When designing workstation areas, be sure to leave some extra space to comfortably fit all needed equipments there. A flat roomy space for server stations should be large enough to hold a computer monitor, guest check printer, and possibly a credit card terminal if you plan to use separate credit card equipment. There should be enough space directly underneath the tabletop to hold the computer, surge protector, power strip and a battery backup (UPS).

If you plan to place your workstations on mill-manufactured top such as granite or woodwork, have your contractor pre-drill holes where to run cables or power cords beneath the surface. A 2-inch hole should give sufficient space for cords and cables on most POS systems.

For the cashier and bartender stations, the tabletop space should also be ample enough to perfectly fit a cash drawer and an order confirmation customer display. Most cash drawers have a footprint (space requirement) of 15- to 17-inch depth; 16- to 20-inch width; and 3.5- to 4-inch height. So better make sure you get the drawer specifications from your supplier in advance if you are building a custom countertop for your drawer to fit perfectly in.

4. Maintenance Plans. Many vendors may offer some type of service plan as part of your original purchase. The fact is, business grade systems are composed of hardware that are not built to last forever especially in retail establishments like a retail business. Printers will eventually break, fans will slowl fail, and hard drives will crash. How often depends on the environment that the retail POS system operates. Dirt, dust, heat and moisture are not friendly allies to office and restaurant POS equipment.

I’ve seen some systems that rarely experience problems while others deal with them constantly. The best thing an operator can do is to invest in good equipment and then protect that investment by maintaining it. Many retail business POS solutions provider will offer ongoing service plans that are basically extended warranties. The annual cost for these services usually ranges from 10% to 20% of the original purchase price.

A retail POS system represents a large investment. But if you set a time to make sure that the above steps are included in your checklist, then you are more apt to be rewarded a return on your investment by getting the most from your system in cost reduction, labor savings, and ensuring that you can account for all cash.

The Author is the Vice President of Customer Relations at Retail-POS-Solutions.com. With almost 25 years of retail business experience, Retail POS Solutions.com helps ensure that your technology is more efficient and your business more profitable.

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Your choice in a retail point of sale system is critical to the success, stability as well as the quality of your business. A central system where everything in your business revolves. You should have confidence in – and receive performance from – the system that’s responsible for all transactions, managing your inventory and every other action in your supply chain and tracking.

Let’s discuss some of the important questions you should be asking yourself when choosing a Retail System:

What Type Of Business You Own?

There are two categories of Point of Sale systems: The Restaruant/Hospitality and Retail. Restaurants are slightly of a different breed – what we are going to discuss is Retail POS Systems.

At the retail part, pricing on Point Of Sale Systems can range anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a couple of tens of thousands of dollars. There are POS systems customized for every type of business under the sun, from small Gift shops and Self-Service Kiosks to Convenient Stores and Bike Shops.

There’s a lot of custom features that are great BUT: the most important feature of your retail system is that it’s easy to use. What good can a custom feature if it’s too complicated or buried among so many other features that you can’t find it? Business owners are choosing a much simpler, stream-lined retail POS systems that focuses on the fundamentals and deliver them perfectly. This is why more and more entrepreneurs uses web based point of sale systems to meet their retail computer needs.

Choosing for the right POS computer & software

Still thinking whether to use Windows, Mac OS X or Linux? You’ll find great POS Systems that are equally powerful on any of these platforms, so that you may choose whichever you’re familiar with.

Years ago, POS systems were typically installed on business computers as software packages, much like MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint that come as packaged on Windows computers. Unfortunately, software based POS Systems have many problems and is exposed to vulnerabilities that several small and medium sized business have found worrisome.

How about software updates? What will I do if my computer breaks? How do I backup all my business files? What if the operating system needs patches or vulnerabilities have emerged in the operating system or software?

For business owners, afterall, you shouldn’t have to deal with these questions, why invest on POS systems that leads you to worse situations and even creates more problems for you? Web based retail systems are solving these problems for many small retailers.

Using Web-Based Retail Systems:

• It automatically add and update features and do software patches. You’ll never have to deal with software updates, downloads and changes. Someone else does this job for you.
• Because this POS solution is web based, you can access your inventory from any computer in the world with an internet connection. A computer that breaks becomes less of a problem.
• What are you going to do if your computer had a breakdown and it cannot be fixed? Using a web based POS can easily be recovered even if your actual computer crashes}.

Do You Have a Dedicated Retail IT Department?

Probably not! What small business can afford dedicating employees solely to fix their computers?

When something bad happens with your system, how long can you endure your business shut down its operation? How long will it take you to lay down your problems via telephone conversations or e-mail? How long will it take for an IT professional to arrive to fix your POS System?

That’s one one great feature of a web based POS system – the IT experts can log into your system and fix the problem for you. This alleviates many of the support problems inherent of typical desktop software based point of sale systems.

POS Packages or By Parts?

If you’re going to implement POS systems to your newly established retail business for the first time, you can buy a package that that has every parts and components you’ll need to be able to start immediately… from your computer to your barcode scanners and printers. You can realize great discounts for buying an all-inclusive bundle and for most entrepreneurs, this is the best idea.

Other businesses may have existing hardware they’d like to use with their new system. Or, they may be cost conscious companies that are would want to achieve affordability through the purchase of renewed hardware and use of existing hardware.

So What’s The Right Choice to Make?

While companies seeking POS Systems are typically looking for customized hardware and traditional software bundles, small and medium sized businesses “in the know” would prefer a web based POS solutions for their flexibility, affordability and overall ability to deliver complete and accurate results.

Want to have a qualified retail specialist discuss your needs?

More details can be found at Retail-POS-Solutions.com

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