Point of Sale Equipment – types of input devices

Point of Sale Equipment – types of input devices 

Point of Sale Equipment: Keyboards and touch screens

One of the first choices you will have to make about your point of sale equipment is whether to go with a touch screen or a programmable keyboard. Most businesses choose touch screens. The only market where programmable keyboards are more popular is grocery stores, since it has the ability to program individual keys for specific item codes and prices.

A growing number of touch screens today are designed by restaurant owners, and since most restaurant owners aren’t tech savvy they prefer to use touch screens that are more intuitive to use and “user-friendly”. Touch screens also provides flexibility in the user interface and programming, where training is almost eliminated. You will find most touch screens these days are based on flat-screen LCDs unlike the traditional CRT monitors. While LCD touch screens are a bit more expensive (typically $600 – $1,000 instead of $400 – $500), they last longer, use less electricity, and saves up space. They also look much better. With both CRT and LCD displays, avoid “overlay” touch screens that are added on to regular monitors – these monitors are more prone to breakdowns, and even adds unnecessary complication to your system.

When it comes to keyboards, some has the standard 101-keys model that you can find with any computer. The flat-panel membrane keyboards are smaller and more POS-specific device which is you often see on fast food outlets. Often, they come in with built-in magnetic stripe readers for debit card processing. Programmable keyboards usually ranges between $150 and $300.

It doesn’t matter which POS equipment you choose, just make sure to take in consideration the environment where you would like to use it. You can find both keyboards and touch screens available in the market that has varying levels of spills and dusts proofing.

POS Scanners
POS scanners reads an item’s barcode and sends the information back to the computer. They typically connect to the system through Y-connectors called wedges that make them function as an extension of the keyboard. Bar code scanning can improve speed and accuracy during checkout.

Low quality, cheap scanners are based on CCD technology. They can be inexpensive, but usually have a very short range – the item being scanned needs to be 1 to 3 inches from the scanner. In a typical retail setting, this should be fine.

Laser scanners, which use a beam of light to read a bar code, offer better scanning ability with the ability to scan at longer distances. There are also “autosensing” laser scanners that turn themselves on automatically when an item is placed in front of them to scan a bar code, and then turn off again. While omnidirectional scanners can send out 15 or 20 lasers simultaneously, making bar code scanning from any angle easy. And for the top of the line, there’s the embedded scanner, which are omnidirectional scanners that are located below a counter, as is common in supermarkets.

Wondering what types of POS scanners to use when serving different volume of customers? If the counter line has only one or a couple of customers, CCDs or entry-level laser scanners should be able to meet your needs. In a fairly constant flow of customers you might want to use an autosensing model for speeding up sales transactions, and very high volume businesses should investigate omnidirectional or embedded scanners. Prices range from below $100 for the most basic CCD scanners to $350 or more for omnidirectional laser scanners.

Handheld POS
The latest type of input device is the handheld, wireless terminal. Essentially a PDA, it can take orders and transmits it wirelessly it back to its base station. A great advantage for restaurants is that they increase the amount of time servers spend on taking orders on the floor and interacting with customers, because they never have to go back to a terminal to process orders.

Write-on handhelds: instead of trying to compress a touch-screen interface onto a tiny PDA screen, these devices allow servers to simply write the orders down. Handwriting recognition software parses the order then sends it directly on to the kitchen and bar to prepare the orders.

Handheld terminals are more expensive than traditional touch-screen order terminals. However, these devices can make up for their cost by up-selling customers with more desserts and drinks. If you are evaluating handheld terminals, make sure you ask about the “drop test” – these units are rated for toughness according to how much of a fall they can survive. To find out if your business is a candidate for handheld POS terminals, compare POS equipment from multiple suppliers and check out their offered products and services.

Need more information or perhaps an online resource?

Go to POS-For-Restaurants.com

The author of this article is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving restaurants of all types throughout the U.S.