HARDWARE > POINT OF SALE

POSNOTES

Point-of-Sale Equipment for the Jewelry Shopkeeper

Note that the point-of-sale (POS) "terminal" must be an actual

computer. If you want a POS computer and an office computer you will

need to set your computers up in a "network". Networking two or more

computers requires special equipment, software and installation. If

you need them you can request from us more detailed notes discussing

networking.

Note that Compulink doesn't sell any point-of-sale (POS) hardware but

can make the following suggestions.

M.S Cash Drawer is a manufacturer of cash drawers. These

drawers are simple boxes that pop open when sales are rung up in the

Jewelry Shopkeeper. Cash drawers come in many sizes, colors and

materials. Some are made of wood, some are made of steel, some are

made for under-counter mounting and some for desktop use. Also,

different sizes of cash trays are available. Please contact Kassoy

for details on different drawer configurations.

Whatever drawer shape and size you decide on, be sure to order the

parallel-pass-through IPSTI) interface. This connects to your

computer's LPT parallel port and then your parallel port printer

connects to the cash drawer. If you don't have a paralle port

or a printer with a parallel port then other arrangements will

need to be considered.

While it is technically possible to use a cash drawer with a serial

computer interfaces, note that Compulink does NOT recommend trying to

use a serial cash draw because they have often proven difficult to

configure and to be unreliable with this program.

Another type of cash draw is neither parallel or serial, but instead

plugs into a special cash draw connector on the back of special POS

printers. These generally cost less than a parallel cash draw and are

generally reliable and easy to configure, however they are less

flexible since they can only work with special printers. The parallel

drawers will work with any parallel printer whether it's a regular

dot-matrix or laser printer or a POS printer.

A dealer for cash drawers

Kassoy (516) 942-8517 (516) 942-5514 (Fax)

16 Midland Ave

Hicksville, NY 11801

A dealer of Barcode and POS equipment:

Barcode Discount Warehouse

2950 Westway Drive Suite 110,

Brunswick, OH

(800) 888-2239

Contact Lisa Kramer Ext 202

Another Cash Drawer & POS Equipment Distributor:

MS Cash Drawer (800) 544-1749 Susan Peterson

California

An on-line dealer for MS Cash drawer is www.nurol.com

Receipt Printers and Pole Displays

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For receipt printing most jewelers prefer printing receipts on a

medium size receipt that is pre-printed with the store name, address &

logo. There is a special receipt available for HP LaserJet and InkJet

printers which has two receipts on each page with a perforation down the

middle - with a store copy and a customer copy. The receipts print

rotated such that you get two 8.5" tall by 5.5" wide receipts side by

side. This form is available from Hessler Enterprises

Otherwise there are dot-matrix receipts available. These receipts have

sprocket feed holes and with perforations and are often made of two- or

three-part paper. These forms require a regular 80 column dot-matrix

printer such as those made by Epson, Panasonic or Citizen (specifically

not Okidata printers). Hessler Enterprises makes a 6" wide by 8.5" tall

receipt which works well. NEBS makes one which is 4" wide by 7" tall (style

number 12209.)

If you order pre-printed receipts, make sure the store name, address,

phone number and logo don't take up much more than the top inch or

inch and a half; this it to leave adequate room for the receipt. Also

note that except for the store information, the receipt is completely

blank; i.e. it must NOT have boxes or lines pre-printed for the date

or customer name or prices, etc. This is because the Jewelry

Shopkeeper can dynamically change the printed positions of this

information depending on exactly what information is on the receipts.

You could however, have a thin border printed all around the edge

which would not interfere with the receipt that the Jewelry Shopkeeper

prints. Also having a design or pattern in the body of the receipt

would be ok provided it is light enough that it will allow you to read

the parts of receipt that will print right over this design.

Examples of 40 column receipt printers are Ithaca

Series 50 and 50+, Citizen DP3530, Star 300 Series and Epson 300

Series. Each of these printers prints on a 4 inch wide roll of receipt

paper like an adding machine. These printers can only print on rolls

of paper, not the larger Hessler or NEBS forms. The Ithaca 50 Series

50 has been extensively tested by Compulink.

The newer POSjet 40 column receipt printer uses 2-color inkjet printing

so it is quiet but prints a durable receipt and the red and black printing

adds a little pizazz.

The thermal printers are very quiet and quick but the receipts are fragile.

Jewelry Shopkeeper supports both the pre-printed form receipts and the

40-column receipt printers. Decide on the type of receipt you want

before buying a Point-of-Sale receipt printer.

ICD also sells special keyboards that support barcode readers and a

credit card swipe. Pole displays are those small displays on top of a

pole which shows the customer the items that are being rung up. The

Jewelry Shopkeeper supports the Ultimate Technologies pole display.

If you are going to place a cash drawer on top of the counter, you

might want to get a cash drawer shoe. A shoe is a plastic molding that

has a space for a keyboard, a 40-column receipt printer, a pole and a

platform for a monitor. These shoes keep the point-of-sale station

neat and professional looking, but you have to have a keyboard,

printer, shoe and cash drawer that were designed to fit together.

Cash Drawer Installation

1) Attach the parallel cable from the computer to the cash drawer

and then from the cash drawer to the receipt printer. Note the

which port you've attached the cable to. Parallel ports are LPT1,

LPT2 or LPT3. Serial Ports are COM1, COM2, COM3 or COM4. Parallel

cables have a 25 pin female connection on the computer; serial

cables have either a 9 or 25 pin male connector on the computer.

2) Start the Jewelry Shopkeeper. Go to the Store Information

Defaults [choice 8-8]. Page down several times until you get to

the page titled Customize Receipts (about page 14.) In the middle

of the screen the question: 'Enter the ASCII code sequence that

opens the cash drawer:............'. There is a long entry field

for this sequence. Try typing: 007,007,007.

(Some Epson receipt printers require 027,112,000,025,250 or

027,112,001,025,250; Ane 'APG' brand drawer used 027,112,048,040,040 )

(Some versions of the program have a short field for you to type

in the ASCII code where you can type in 07. Below that is a

prompt for how many times the code should be repeated, enter 3)

3) Most cash drawers pop open when the BELL character (ASCII

character 7) is sent to the cash drawer. Some drawers can be

configured to open on any character. The BELL character is best

because as its sent to the cash drawer its also sent to the

printer; since the BELL character is a non-printable character it

won't ruin your receipt. If you have a configurable cash-drawer,

there will be several tiny switches called DIP switches. The cash

drawer manual shows you which switch settings correspond with

which ASCII characters.

4) From the Main Menu, select Printer Redirection [choice 8-B].

Select a printer that most closely matches your receipt printer

(1 for Epson and compatibles, 4 for IBM Graphics printers, 6 for

Ithaca Peripheral 40 column printers). Make sure the third column

titled 'PRINT_PORT' is filled in with the appropriate printer

port name (LPT1, LPT2, LPT3.) Remember the printer number to the

left of the printer name that best describes your printer. Press

<Esc> to proceed to the next page, titled Customize Printer

Destinations. On the receipt printer line and the Cash drawer

line, type the printer number you just remembered from the

previous page.

5) To test the printer, exit to the Main Menu and press the letter N

for No-sale. This should pop the cash drawer. If you're using the

Shop-Pro version, select No-Sale from the Miscellaneous Options

menu [choice File-M-N].

The program will send the cash draw ASCII code at the same time a

receipt is printed after a payment is recorded.