Restaurant - Preparing for Live-Sync Connections
After carrying out the steps listed on the
Preparing the Main Database page, you will be ready to prepare each till, cash machine and hand-held device for live-sync connection. Tills and devices that will use a live connection should not be prepared as described here: instead, refer to the
Preparing a Till or Device for Live Connection page
Many of the settings controlling the operation and appearance of the Restaurant module are found in the User Settings module. Most of the settings and registers in this module are stored locally in the databases on each till and device, allowing various tills and devices to behave in different ways.
Storing information locally usually means that you will need to configure each till and device separately. However, it may be inconvenient to work on each till and device separately, if there are many of them and if they do not have conventional keyboards. To get around these problems, you can log in to the server from a desktop client and create separate records for each till and device in the Local Settings and Login Shortcuts settings in the Technics module (steps 1 and 2 below). When a till or device logs in for the first time, the relevant records from those settings will be sent to the till or device automatically.
To begin with, log in to the server from a desktop client as a system administrator (i.e. as a Person belonging to an Access Group that explicitly grants full access to the Technics module) and follow the steps described below:
- Local Settings (Local Machine setting) In the Local Settings setting in the Technics module, enter separate records for each live-sync till and device. Use these records to configure the Local Machine setting for each till and device. Please refer here for details.
- Login Shortcuts Similarly, in the Login Shortcuts setting also in the Technics module, enter separate records for each live-sync till and device. Use these records to configure the Login Shortcuts register for each till and device. Please refer here for details.
- Synchronised Number Series When Bar Tabs are created on live-sync tills and device, they should be given Bar Tab Numbers from different Number Series, to ensure each Bar Tab Number is unique. Otherwise, if the server goes offline, there is a risk that the same Bar Tab Number could be used by more than one till or device as in this situation the Bar Tab Numbers will be generated by the tills and devices themselves. To avoid this problem, you should use the Synchronised Number Series setting in the Technics module to define separate Number Series for each live-sync till and device: please refer here for full details. As well as Number Series for Bar Tabs, you should also use the Synchronised Number Series setting to define Number Series for Cash Events, Credit Card Slips, Deferred CC Transactions, Gift Receipts, Gift Vouchers Issued and Received, Kitchen Orders and POS Sessions for each till and device.
- Number Series for Live Tills and Devices If you have live-sync tills and devices and therefore have filled in the Synchronised Number Series setting as described in the previous step, you should also fill in the standard Number Series settings for the same registers (Bar Tabs, Cash Events, Credit Card Slips, Gift Receipts, Gift Vouchers Received, Kitchen Orders and POS Sessions). This will ensure that records (e.g. Bar Tabs) created on live tills and devices will not have Numbers that will clash with records created on live-sync tills and devices.
- Legal Record Numbers If you are in a country where an Official Serial Number should be assigned to each Bar Tab, you will need to define separate number sequences for each live-sync till and device. This will ensure that each Official Serial Number can only be used once. Use the Legal Record Numbers setting in the Sales Ledger to define these number sequences, specifying a Local Machine in each row to make the sequences specific to each till and device.
- Synchronisation Options Open the Synchronisation Options setting in the Technics module, select the Activate option and specify how often the server should check the tills and devices for updated information. Please refer to the Live-Sync Details page for more details.
- Optional Features Open the Optional Features setting in the System module and select the Export Sequence numbers option. This option is necessary for synchronisation to operate. Please refer to the Live-Sync Details page for more details.
After carrying out the previous steps, you will now be ready to create the databases for the tills and devices. Carry out the configuration work itemised below separately on each till and device. If your tills do not have keyboards, you may need to create and test databases for each one on a desktop client and then copy those databases (i.e. the "HANSA.HDB" files) to the tills over the network.
- Create a new live-sync database on a till or device Ensure there is no "HANSA.HDB" file in the folder containing the Standard ERP client application, and launch the application. When the 'Welcome to Standard ERP' window appears, click or tap the [Synchronize with Server] button. A 'Server Address' window will appear: this is the normal 'Server Address' window, with the addition of a Local Machine field:
Select the server or enter its IP address and port and, if you are using it, enter the Encryption Key, all as normal. Then, enter the Local Machine Code that you want to assign to the till or device in the Local Machine field. Finally, click or tap the [Connect] button.
- Choose a Company and then log in in the usual way. The server and the till or device will be synchronised: everything needed for the till or device to act as a sales terminal when the server is offline will be sent from the server to the new database on the till or device. This includes the Local Machine and Login Shortcuts settings on the till or device, which will be updated as described in steps 1 and 2 above. The Local Machine Code that you specified in the previous step will also be copied to the Local Machine setting on the till or device i.e. it will become the Local Machine Code of the till or device.
- After connecting a till or device to the server for the first time over a live-sync connection, it is recommended that you quit, restart and log in again. The first synchronisation will copy details such as Login Shortcuts and Access Groups to the client, but they may not be implemented in full immediately after being copied until you restart.
- Connecting Drawers to the Till Connect a Drawer to the till by entering an opening POS Session record, quoting the till's Local Machine Code (from steps 8 and 9) and the relevant Drawer. Please refer here for more details about POS Sessions.
If you are not using the Allow Multiple Sessions per Machine option in the POS Settings setting (i.e. if each till has a single Drawer), opening a session will connect and lock the Drawer to the till. As a result, each Bar Tab that you enter on the till will be assigned to the correct Drawer. If you do not open a session, Bar Tabs entered on the till will not be assigned to a Drawer and so will not be included in the cash up routines.
If you are using the Allow Multiple Sessions per Machine option, you will need to open separate sessions for each Drawer. This will lock the Drawers to the till and also to members of staff. As a result, each Bar Tab that is entered on the till will be assigned to the correct Drawer for the member of staff currently logged in.
- Log-in Options The Login Options setting is not synchronised. If you need buttons and/or a keypad to appear in the 'Login' window on a particular till or device, select the relevant options in the Login Options setting in the User Settings module.
- Tab Item Groups The Tab Item Group register is also not synchronised. If you need food orders recorded on a till or device to be printed on a specific printer and/or a Tag/Object to be assigned to every Bar Tab entered on the till, create a record in the Tab Item Group register in the User Settings module and specify the details there.
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