FAQ
POS System FAQs
- Q: What kind of Internet connection do I need?
Halo secure restaurant pos system works best with a persistent Internet connection. You can mix and match as necessary and as availability dictates. Examples of persistent connections include DSL, Cable, ISDN, Frame Relay, and VSAT (Satellite). In all cases an external IP must be available.
- Q: What happens if the Internet goes down; do I lose my POS system?
No, the Halo Off Line Manager (OLM) keeps store operations running in the event of an Internet outage. The OLM buffers transactions and automatically resynchronizes with the hosted data warehouse once the Internet connection is re-established. In offline mode all POS functions are available as well as POS-based reports that will allow you to perform your end of day and cash out servers and cashiers.
- Q: Is broadband Internet truly required for this system? Will a regular dial-up connection be sufficient?
The issue here is not broadband (high bandwidth) but persistence. Typically dial-up connections are not “always on” connections. The Halo offline manager technology ensures perfect POS performance in the store regardless of the speed. If your dial-up provider can provide you with a permanent dial up connection, Halo will function fine.
If you are intending to use Halo integrated credit card processing, the dial-up scenario would reduce the impressive speed of processing credit transactions that are available over DSL or Satellite. And, the “cost” of a DSL or satellite connection may be much less than pure optics would suggest. Purchasers should evaluate their current communications costs associated with a polling line, a support line and credit card line as well as the costs of any polling software licenses and credit card machines. All of these costs could be displaced by the one Internet connection.
- Q: What is the format of the data? (i.e. SQL, Oracle)
The Halo Enterprise Manager runs on Oracle.
- Q: Who owns the data? Can we receive the data in electronic form once it is archived or upon request?
Clients own their Halo data. Data can be forwarded to the customer upon their request in standard formats such as ASCII, CSV and even XML. If alternative formats are required there may be a nominal fee.
- Q: Am I correct in assuming that there are no staging or installation costs, since the software configurations/menu items, etc. are “pushed down” to the hardware via the Internet connection? Clarify how this works.
Yes, you are correct. There are no installation costs to configure the POS on-site or install the system. All you need to do is unpack the terminals and printers place them where you like. Everything is pre-configured and ready to run for your unique business “out of the box”.
- Q: We record sales using a 13-period accounting year (4 weeks per accounting period). Can the system be configured to recognize the accounting periods and weeks so we can compare (for example) Week 3 of Period 6 for this year vs. Week 3 of Period 6 for the previous year?
Yes; there are several ways in which this can be achieved from the Halo reporting calendar.
- Q: How is my data protected?
Halo restaurant pos uses the top rated Cisco Pix hardware firewall to protect all servers and your data from unauthorized access. Port activity is strictly controlled, and web activity is restricted to only allow valid http requests, dropping any malformed and potentially malicious packets. Additional countermeasures include a real-time Intrusion Detection System which monitors all inbound and outbound traffic so we can proactively deny traffic from hostile hosts and confirm the integrity of our systems.
- Q: Can I access Enterprise Manager with a Macintosh?
Unfortunately, Halo Enterprise Manager is not currently supported in a Mac environment while running Firefox or Safari, a number of our customers have had a great deal of success accessing Enterprise Manager using a software called Crossover. This software emulates a windows environment allowing it to run Internet Explorer 6.
Although we do not officially support this application we do have a document that will assist you in getting the software installed on your Mac and getting you up and running on Enterprise Manager without having to invest in a PC or Laptop.
This software is typically sold for between $40.00 and $60.00 and can be purchased from the following website:
They even have a try before you buy option so you can test it and make sure it works for you!
There are other options out there for emulation software, but they are typically more costly.
Below you will find a .pdf document with detailed instructions to get you up and running with minimal effort.
If you find that you cannot open this file, all you need to do is go to the following website:
Select the version of Mac software you are using and install Adobe Reader. Once you have done this you should be ready to install Crossover and using Enterprise Manager on your Mac! This has been a highly requested change and we are looking at it for future development as the number of Mac users is growing rapidly!
