Preparing the store network
- For
- Administrator
- Where
- Installed register, Web register
- Permission
- No permission required
- Checked on
The installed register sells without a network, but it needs to reach the server regularly. This guide says what the store network must allow, what keeps working when it goes down, and until when.
Before you start
Each register computer must be able to reach the Braavu POS server over the Internet. The other devices of the station are described in Supported hardware.
What the register does with the network
When the network is there, the installed register:
- sends each sale to the server, in the order it was made;
- receives the up-to-date catalogue, prices and employees;
- looks for register updates (Updating the register);
- settles what is shared between stations (store credit, gift cards, loyalty points).
What works without a network
The register sells without a network, without the server, after a refresh or a restart, as long as the station is not locked (see below). The station header then says Offline, with the time of the last contact, and the number of operations waiting to be sent.
Sales made during the outage are kept on the station. When the network returns, they are sent on their own, in order and without duplicates.
Offline, a cash sale goes through normally. A return is only possible for a sale of this station that was never sent to the server (no send attempt): as soon as a send has been attempted, even without an answer, the server is considered to know the sale.
What needs the network
These operations touch a value shared between stations: two offline stations could spend the same one twice. Offline, the register refuses them and suggests paying in cash:
- paying by gift card or store credit;
- paying with loyalty points;
- creating a layaway, or paying a deposit on one, and picking it up or cancelling it;
- any return of a sale the server already knows, or of another station's sale;
- a refund as store credit.
The back-office web register does not sell without the server either: it says so, and invites you to open the computer's installed register, which sells offline.
Card payment is refused offline: the sale is settled in cash.
The 24-hour limit
A station that stays more than 24 hours without contact with the server locks: it does nothing until it has reached the server. Before that, the header warns: Locks in ….
The lock lifts as soon as the station reaches the server. If the network does not come back, a manager can unlock the station with their PIN, until the end of the day.
Troubleshooting
The header says Offline although the store network works
The station could not reach the server. Check that the register computer has Internet access, like any other computer in the store. The server itself may also be down: the register keeps selling and resumes sending when it is back.