Point Of Sale Hardware

Monitor 

It is highly recommended that a touch screen monitor is used for the point of sale front end due to ease of use and speed because less movement is needed on a touch screen when ringing up sales, however, if this is not an option or if a regular non-touch screen monitor is available then this can be used as well. Monitor resolution MUST meet the Software requirements of 1024*768.

Computer 

A regular stand alone PC is necessary although if budget is not an issue then a All-In-One Point Of Sale PC is recommended. The absolute minimum requirements for a computer is : Processor; At least a 1.4 Ghz processor,  Windows operating system; (Win ME 2nd Edition, Win XP or Win Vista), Hard Drive; 40GB, Memory; 516 MB., Storage/Drives; CD Drive, USB for flash memory input, tape drive or remote backup location i.e. another networked computer.

Printer 

Back of the house printer can be a regular office paper printer but front of the house printer will need to be a receipt printer. below is a brief definition of different types of receipt printers your business could use.

Dot matrix produces characters and illustrations by striking pins against an ink ribbon to print closely spaced dots in the appropriate shape. Dot-matrix printers are slower, relatively expensive and do not produce high-quality output. However, they can print to multi-page forms (that is, carbon copies), something laser and ink-jet printers cannot do. Dot matrix printers are great for kitchen duty.

Thermal technology uses heat to register an impression on the receipt. These printers do not use ribbons and are generally faster printers. The receipt will fade over time or in sunlight. These printers are the most popular for retail and restaurant applications.

Inkjet technology uses ink cartridges to print an impression on the receipt. These printers do not use ribbons and can print in color. These printers are popular in retail applications where the receipt is used as an important marketing tool. Restaurants use inkjet technology in kitchen applications.

Print Server

A print server, or printer server, is a device to which a receipt printer or regular printer is  connected, which can accept print jobs from external client computers connected to the print server over a network. Connection is either wired or wireless and the first being the more affordable one. Print servers are great because they make possible the relocation of printers to other areas of the business i.e. kitchen, bar or back-office without having a direct connection to only one computer over a parallel connection, instead a ethernet connection is now possible.

Cash drawer

Simply put, this is where all monetary transactions end up and thus should be sturdy, secure and most importantly able to communicate with the receipt printer. You should ALWAYS buy a receipt printer and a cash drawer that match; able to communicate with one another. Most POS hardware vendors will match up these two items together or recommend which ones go together. A special code is needed within the point of sale software that enables the opening of the cash drawer from the receipt printer thus the two must match.

Credit Card Equipement

ProChef Point Of Sale does not have a dedicated credit card processing module and as such any and most credit card machines one the market today can be used separately to take credit payments during a sales transaction. A merchant account needs to be setup if  it has not been done already and most vendors will require some form of membership, signup agreement with the purchased machine, leasing options are also available. 

BarCode Scanner

A barcode scanner is highly recommended for item entry when ringing up merchandise/goods. Most barcode scanners will work with ProChef Point Of Sale so get the least expensive that has a stand