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A POS Maintenance Checklist Verifone's James Hervey had some similar words to the wise about tidiness. "It's really important to keep the store clean," he said. "Because dirt and dust can take down the system." Bryan Crossan, director of POS He added that Verifone builds their Ruby and marketing for Gilbarco Veeder-Root, Topaz systems to withstand a tough retail environment, which is why you can still walk into some offers the following for retailers looking stores with a Ruby that is over a decade old still in to setup a cleaning and care schedule: use. However, they are still electronics. "We know convenience stores are challenging • Monthly check the condition of cables and power cords environments, with high heat and lots of dust," (looking for cut, frayed or bent cords). If repairs are Hervey said. "But use common sense on cleaning required, contact a certified POS contractor for repair or equipment, if you see dust on it, wipe it down." replacement. A good way for retailers to think about it is to • Weekly clean and dust the surrounding area of the POS on a treat their store electronics as they do their perregular basis. sonal electronics. • Weekly clean the keyboard case with a damp soft cloth. Do "We build them tough," added Hervey, "but not spray liquid on the keyboard. they are still electronics." • Weekly clean between the keys by using a can of compressed The cleaner the store, the longer the run of the air to blow out dust and particles. system. If there are fans on equipment, it's a good • Monthly vacuum the power supply air inlet and bezel. Do idea to wipe down the fans to avoid intake valves not blow air into the bezel. getting clogged. For more tips on setting up a • Weekly clean the PIN pad card reader by swiping the cleaning maintenance and cleaning schedule, see the checkcard (available from POS provider). list provided by Gilbarco. • Weekly clean the receipt printer case with a damp cloth. Good cashier training can help prevent acciRemove printer paper dust by using a can of compressed air. dents and keep things running smoothly as well. • As needed, clean the monitor or touch screen with a micro"Tell your employees to keep sodas and coffiber cloth. Do no spray liquid or water on the screen, but fee away from the equipment," Hervey said. How rather use a damp cloth if necessary. Avoid abrasive cleaning many personal electronics have had a mishap with solutions and ammonia as this may damage the screen. liquids of some kind? But it can also be a matter of • Use a simple checklist and schedule these routine mainteclutter around the servers. nance tasks for optimal performance of your POS system. "Don't allow cashiers to put stuff on top of it, • Ensure that new associates are trained on properly maintainlike extra bags or even heavier things," he said. ing the POS equipment and who to call when the equipment "That can clog the ventilation and add stress." needs service. A suggestion from Bryan Crossan, director POS Marketing for Gilbarco Veeder-Root, is to use the POS system to prompt employees to do some maintenance activities. "Passport provides the ability to program alerts and reminders into the Passport for cashiers, managers or both," he said, Passport is Gilbarco's POS system. "That way if there is a routine task that the managers want to remind the cashiers to do (such as periodic maintenance), they can program it to occur on a routine basis and a message will pop up automatically to cashiers to remind them to do it." Hervey recommends that retailers consider moving any equipment that doesn't need to be in the front of the site, to the back. "It might cost more to have the server moved to the back with adding wiring, but could keep the server safer," he said. Photo courtesy of Gilbarco. www.npnweb.com n NPN Magazine APril 2013 1