Store Master Stocktaking Reconciling Software for Shops Stores Garages Retail Premises

Tills

SAM4s SER-7000

There are often a number of possible solutions to a problem, and the question of what type of till to use is no exception. Code Computing have conducted extensive research into the makes and types of tills available, and have made a number of observations:

We believe that the most reliable and effective hardware solution is the standalone till, as opposed to the PC-based till. Whilst the PC Till is usually easier to program and modify, it does suffer certain drawbacks:

• They are relatively quite expensive;
• They usually require a copy of the Windows operating system;
• They have multiple fans for the case, PSU and CPU, all of which are subject to mechanical failure, clogging by dust, etc.;
• As with any PC, they can be the subject of a virus attack, hard disk failure, etc.

Standalone tills are inherently much more reliable and robust. For example, a power cut causes few problems. When the power is restored, the till will normally resume in exactly the state it was in when the power went off. They also tend to be much cheaper and offer an enormous degree of flexibility and functionality. However, standalone tills do tend to be relatively difficult to program and update by the casual user.

We reached the conclusion that the very best solution, would be to have a standalone till, which is supported by a PC running the back office (Store Master) software. The two machines are connected together by a simple serial cable, allowing product information to be uploaded to the till, and financial information to be downloaded to the PC.

This scenario really combines the ‘best of both worlds’. The standalone till delivers a high level of reliability, whilst the supporting PC provides an easy-to-use interface, allowing the rapid entry of new product information, keypad modifications and product uploads, as well as accepting the download of key financial information, allowing it to be processed into meaningful reports.

A significant benefit of this approach, is that it allows the back office PC to become far less business critical, because the till is not dependant upon the PC being operational. It is only necessary for the PC to be connected and working when it is necessary to transfer data. At all other times, the two machines operate independently. This means, for example, that new product information can be entered into the PC whenever convenient, even whilst the till is in use. The upload operation can also be run while the till is being used for sales transactions. This allows new or amended information to be added to the till without having interrupt its use, and without having to wait till the close of business to update it.

A further benefit is provided by the PC acting as a till data backup. In the unlikely event of a complete till failure, it would be possible to upload all of the data and settings to a replacement unit, allowing normal operations to recommence with the minimum of delay.

With all of this in mind, Code researched the marketplace to find a till which would fulfill all likely present and future requirements. We wanted to make sure we could deploy the tills according to customers’ varying needs. This included the ability to have multiple tills networked together, remote printing, support for multiple Clerks, and so on. We also wanted to identify a supplier who would provide excellent support, training and business continuity.

The result of this work has been the selection of the Sam4s SER-7000 series. We recommend the 7000 model for pubs and other hospitality environments, and the 7040 for most other retail applications, the only real difference being the design of the keyboard.

Key Features of the Sam4s SER-7000:
Features a large easy-to-read operator screen and a user programmable keyboard.
Prints receipts and journal on fast, drop-and-print thermal printers.
Connects to industry standard RS-232C printers and peripherals.
Standard Ethernet networking (IRC).
8-line 32 characters per line backlit LCD.
160 key flat, spill-resistant keyboard.

Over 20,000 price look-ups (PLUs).
Up to 99 clerks.
Dual direct thermal drop-and-print printers.
13.3 lines per second.
Graphic logo printing programmable receipt message.
Eat-in, take-out and drive-thru keys.
Time-in/out with hours worked kept.