jmcool-ga:
Thank you for your Question. I hope that this Answer provides you with
the information you are looking for so that you can get your pizza
shop up and running.
Summary:
--------
You requested help with setting up a point-of-sale system for your
pizza shop, including software, hardware, and phone service. You
mentioned one software package, POS Pizza, which is actually the best
option for your situation. The following information covers:
- hardware requirements and recommendations for where to purchase the
hardware
- suggestions on the required phone service
- pointers on how you should go about setting up everything
Details:
--------
->Consultants
First, please consider using the services of one of the consultants
listed at:
http://www.pospizza.net/poslinks.html
In particular, Micro Technologies Int'l seems to be very professional
(they help out in the POS Pizza user forums), and knowledgeable.
->Hardware
You will want to consider purchasing a complete POS system from one of
these consultants, so that they are obligated to help you get the
whole thing working. If you want to forego a consultant, check out
http://www.posworld.com/posbundles.html for some bundled deals (just
add a computer and Caller ID unit). I suggest the bundle at
http://www.posworld.com/resposbunwel.html .
For the minimum computer system, you will need:
- a PC running at least Windows 98SE or newer (min. Pentium 133, 16 MB
RAM, 1 GB HD), basically any new computer will do, just make sure it
has at least two serial ports and one parallel port, as well as an
Ethernet adapter. The serial ports will be the most difficult part, as
most new computers only come with one. It is possible to either add an
additional serial port using a PCI card installed in the computer, or
a USB device that adds additional serial ports, such as:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Product_Id=21004
If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, then the USB device is a
great way to simplify the connections to your PC.
You will also need a Caller ID unit, such as the Zeus PhonStuff Whozz
Calling? Lite 4-line unit:
( http://callerid.com/wclite.htm )
Note that this is only necessary if you have multiple phone lines
(which is what you mentioned you want), otherwise a basic internal
modem that supports the V.92 standard would handle a single line
system (it will not handle "Call Waiting" type of calls, though).
If you are not buying one of the hardware bundles, you will need to
purchase separately the following:
- a monitor or a touch-screen monitor (I love those LCD touch panel
units!);
- a receipt printer (check out http://www.posworld.com for options);
- a cash drawer that is compatible with the receipt printer (also
consider buying this from http://www.posworld.com at the same time as
the printer so that they will help you with the configuration)
->Phone Service
For the phone lines, contact either your local phone company, or a
competitive service provider, and ask them whether it is possible to
provision three business lines with a feature called "Line Hunt". This
is a feature that allows you to publish one phone number for your
pizza shop. This would be "line 1". If a customer calls while "line 1"
is in use, the phone company will automatically route the call to
"line 2"... and similarly to "line 3" if "line 2" is also busy. Don't
forget to also ask for the Caller ID feature!
To use these three lines, you will need to buy business phones that
support multiple incoming phone lines. An example of such a phone is
the AT&T 944:
http://cheaperphones.com/att944.htm
The Zeus Phonstuff Whozz Calling? Lite 4 will support up to four
separate incoming lines, and will communicate with the PC through a
serial port, so even if you are on the phone with a customer on "line
1", a new call will automatically hunt through to "line 2", and the
Zeus Phonstuff Whozz Calling? Lite 4 will detect the Caller ID info
and pass it through to POS Pizza.
->Setup
This is the most difficult part of your question to answer, primarily
because it all depends on what equipment you end up buying. As a
result, this section is mostly tips and pointers, instead of specific
instructions. If you buy one of the POS hardware bundles, setup will
be a lot easier.
The receipt printers and cash drawers are usually connected to the
PC's parallel port in series (ie. in a chain). In order to work
properly, you need to remember to set up the printer using a
"Generic/Text Printer" driver, so that POS Pizza can control the
printer and the cash drawer properly. Please refer to
http://pospizza.net/posprinters.html for some pointers about setting
up the POS Pizza printer configuration, and definitely make full use
of the POS Pizza user support forums at http://www.summitcn.com/forum/
. Some other users have had problems setting up their printers and
cash drawers, and have received excellent support from the Summit
staff who monitor the forums.
The Zeus Phonstuff Whozz Calling? Lite 4 connects to the PC's serial
port, and is configured much like an external modem. The instructions
that come with the Whozz Calling? Lite should walk you through this
without any problems. I recommend having the phone lines go through
the Whozz Calling? Lite 4 *before* they go to the phones in your shop,
so that you can use the "first ring suppression" option in the Whozz
Calling? unit to ensure that Caller ID (if available) is always
captured before you pick up the phone.
If you opt for a touch-screen, then that's when the second serial port
comes in, as the touch-screen acts like a serial mouse and uses a
serial driver.
The hardest part about setting up POS Pizza is if you decide to have
multiple computers set up as a network in your shop. While this is the
most powerful use of POS Pizza, it does bring you into the area of
Windows networking, something that is rarely easy to do for most
people. For this, you may want to consider hiring a student from your
local technical institute's IT program for a few hours to get this set
up and working.
Take your time in setting up the database for POS Pizza, including
configuring options such as delivery charges, special items, etc.
Again, refer to the user forums for some ideas on how to handle
special situations such as "half toppings".
Additional Links:
-----------------
POS Pizza Homepage:
http://www.summitcn.com/
POS Pizza Support Forums:
http://www.summitcn.com/forum/index.php
POSWorld Online Sales:
http://www.posworld.com/
Zeus Phonstuff:
http://callerid.com/wclite.htm
Verizon info on Line Hunt feature:
http://www22.verizon.com/foryourbusiness/callingfeatures/additionalcallingfeatures/117.asp
Conclusion:
-----------
There's a lot of information here, so I hope it helps get you started.
Take full advantage of the POS Pizza user forums at
http://www.summitcn.com/forum/ if you run into any software setup
problems.
This overview covers the information you requested in your original
question, but barely begins to scratch the surface on your request for
information about the process of setting up the cash drawer, etc.
That's best left to the experts (either the consultants, or the fine
folks at the POS Pizza user forums), after you have chosen the
specific hardware that you want to purchase.
If you would like me to clarify any part of this Answer, please let me
know using the Request Clarification button.
Best regards,
aht-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
aht-ga
on
19 Aug 2003 22:20 PDT
The recommended way to hook up the Zeus is as per the following
diagram:
<Phone Line>==| |===| |
<Phone Line>==|Zues|===|Phone|
<Phone Line>==| |===| |
Telephones use two wires (ie. one pair) for each line. Telephone
cables for small business establishments typical have eight wires, or
four pairs, giving capacity for up to four lines. Older buildings may
only have six wires in a cable, or support for three lines.
When the phone company installs your 3 lines, they will ask you how
you intend to use the lines. The "standard" wall jacks used with most
telephones can handle four wires, or two lines. In your home, only the
middle two wires are usually used, however if you had a second line in
your house, the outer two wires would actually carry the second line.
For your pizza shop, since it is a small business, they will most
likely install "standard" four-wire jacks. That means there will be
one jack carrying Lines 1 and 2, and a second jack carrying Line 3.
You can request that a particular line be the "primary" line for a
particular jack, but for the purposes of this POS system, what you
want is for Lines 1 and 2 to be one jack, and Line 3 to be another
jack. Then, you would simply use a four-wire telephone cable (which
most telephone cables you can buy at Radio Shack are) to connect the
two wall jacks to the two "IN" jacks on the Zeus.
You would then use two more four-wire telephone cables to connect the
"OUT" jacks of the Zeus to your main multi-line telephone (this is the
one you will be taking your orders on most of the time). Depending on
the telephone, there will either be two RJ-14 four-wire jacks (one for
Lines 1 & 2, a second jack for Lines 3 & 4), or there will be an
eight-wire jack (RJ-45). If the phone has the latter, then you can get
an adapter from Radio Shack that lets you connect two four-wire cables
to a single eight-wire jack.
Initially, you are probably best off just getting two phone lines
(with Line Hunt) from the phone company. When business gets very busy,
and the two lines are no longer enough, adding a third and fourth line
is relatively easy as long as you already have the Zeus and a
multi-line telephone.
I hope that this eases some of your concern about the phone system. As
long as you let the provider of the phone service know what it is you
want, and that you intend to run all of the lines into a multi-line
Caller ID unit, they should be able to provide you with the right
connections.
|
Clarification of Answer by
aht-ga
on
21 Aug 2003 05:23 PDT
If you wish to start with a single phone line (ie., a single phone
number, and the ability to only take one call at a time), and to use
an internal computer modem (one that supports v.92 and Caller ID) to
provide POS Pizza with the caller ID information, then you don't have
to worry about how you've got things hooked up. You can have the phone
plugged straight into a telephone jack on the wall, or you can have
the phone plugged into the 'handset' jack of the modem if the modem is
so equipped. You can also just use a regular telephone (ie. a single
line phone) as the multi-line functionality requires that you actually
have multiple phone lines (ie. multiple individual phone services from
the phone company).
The important thing to note about using a computer modem for this
function though, is that the computer modem can only deliver Caller ID
information for a new call that causes your phone to ring. Also, it
can only deliver this information if you let the phone ring at least
twice so that the Caller ID information is delivered between the first
and second rings. If you pick up the phone too early, the modem will
not receive the information. As well, depending on the modem, you will
need to refer to its documentation to know what "initialization
string" you need to configure POS Pizza with so that the modem is set
up to deliver Caller ID information.
Just in case you were thinking of using a single phone number with the
Call Waiting feature to allow a second call to come in, this is not
compatible with the computer modem approach. The computer modem can
only detect the Caller ID information if the line is not in use, and
it detects ringing. When you are on a call with a customer, and if you
have Call Waiting, the modem will be oblivious to this and will not
pass any information to POS Pizza.
Therefore, if you want the ability to have a single published phone
number, the ability to accept multiple phone calls at the same time,
and the ability for the Caller ID information associated with each of
those calls to be delivered to POS Pizza, then you must use multiple
phone lines, the Zeus Phonstuff Caller ID unit, and a multi-line
telephone, as described in the Answer.
I hope this clarification helps!
aht-ga
|
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