This article will guide you the checks to ensure you EPOS till units are functional and ready to be used for day to day business operations, it also contains troubleshooting / common error messages that may show when the devices have not been used for some time.
Subjects Covered In This Article
- Open EPOS Till software
- Make sure that you can log in to EPOS with your staff pin code.
- Check that you can open the cash drawer and print receipts.
- Check that the printer is working on each till.
- Perform a self-test on each receipt printer.
- Check your kitchen printers are working
- Order Till Printer & PDQ Card Machine Paper Rolls
- Check PDQ machines are functioning on each till
- Check EPOS Server is working
Check All EPOS Tills are working
1. Open EPOS Till software.
If for any reason the EPOS software isn’t open, you may wish to select the ‘Guestline EPOS’ shortcut on the desktop.
Alternatively, you can restart the till by pressing the power button down for 3 seconds to shut down the till. And then by pressing the power button again to power on the till. When the till powers back on the EPOS software should automatically re-open on start-up.
Should there be any error message when opening EPOS please refer to the below section (To Check EPOS Server is working), to ensure the EPOS server is working (if all tills are down) , or contact Guestline for further assistance.
2. Make sure that you can log in to EPOS with your staff pin code.
If you are unable to login with your staff code you can ask a colleague to try theirs to see If your login has potentially been forgotten/locked. Should you require your user pin code resetting please refer to the article ‘Configuring Users’.
3. Check that you can open the cash drawer and print receipts.
To test the cash drawer you can select the option of ‘open drawer’ or by processing a transaction which would also normally open the drawer on the processing of the transaction.
If you are unable to open the cash drawer on your EPOS till, firstly, check if the cash drawer is locked via the manual key lock! If not, check there are no loose cables going from your cash drawer to the till.
Some cash draws are not plugged directly into the till, instead they are plugged into the printer, which is, in turn, plugged into the till, check all cables between the till -> printer -> cash drawer. If your EPOS is configured in this way, try to print a receipt, if the does not print then the issue could be with the printer or the connection between the till and the printer.
4. Check that the printer is working on each till.
To test the printer you can select and item and press ‘print bill’ or by processing a transaction which would also normally print a receipt on completion of the transaction.
If you are unable to print receipts, you may wish to ensure that the printer has no error lights flashing to indicate any initial problems with the printer.
You may also wish to try restarting the till and printer, ensuring all cables are properly connecting any devices to the tills.
5. Perform a self-test on each receipt printer.
- Powering off the printer
- Holding down the feed button
- Whilst holding down the feed button, power the printer back on
- Let go of the feed button after 3 seconds
This will then print a self-print test indicating that the till roll and ink are successful.
Please note that not all manufacturers of printers will perform a self-print test the same, and should you require any assistance on this please contact Guestline support helpdesk.
Should these steps not be successful, you may also wish to make sure that the till roll is correctly been placed into the printer. And you may also wish to check that there is no debris on the print header of the printer that might cause faint print dockets.
Check your kitchen printers are working
To test the kitchen printer, you can select and item and assign this order to a table, this will then print out the order assigned to the table.
If you are unable to print any kitchen dockets, check the printer has no error lights flashing to indicate any initial problems with the printer.
You may also wish to try restarting the till and the printer, ensuring there are no loose network cables or power cables.
We would also recommend performing a self-print test to ensure that the printer can independently print.
You can do this by:
- Powering off the printer
- Holding down the feed button
- Whilst holding down the feed button, power the printer back on
- Let go of the feed button after 3 seconds
This should perform a self-print test indicating that printer, till roll, and ink are good to go!
Order Till Printer & PDQ Card Machine Paper Rolls
Please refer to our recommended third-party supplier at: www.mrpaper.co.uk
For any further queries on hardware and warranty status, please refer to our client sales department via Guestline Support helpdesk.
Check PDQ machines are functioning on each till
The PDQ machine should normally display ‘EFTPOS’ when viewing the screen on the device. This confirms that the device is connected and ready for payment/login.
In order to make sure that the PDQ machine is functioning you will need to log in using your staff pin code and ensure you can view tables once logged in.
You may also wish to perform a test transaction to ensure that the device is fully functional.
If you are NOT able to login or process any payment on your PDQ machine, please try the following:
For USB connected PDQ machine:
- Restart the PDQ machine (hold clear and function), put on the base and wait for the "waiting for init" message.
- Take out USB from till
- Wait at least 10 seconds
- Plug USB back in
- The machine will load back up on its own and be usable - Will go to wait for init -> processing -> EFTPOS
(This means ready for use - staff should be able to enter a pin and then pick up a table)
For Network / Ethernet connected PDQ machine:
- Restart the PDQ machine (hold clear and function), whilst the device is on the base unit.
- Restart the EPOS till.
Check EPOS Server is working
If you have not used your EPOS system for a while, especially if the EPOS server has been turned off, we recommend that you check this well in advance of your F&B services restarting.
In order for the EPOS tills to function, the server will need to be powered on and on the network. Should the server machine be powered off or experiencing any network issues you might see the below error on the tills:
(or SQL database is unavailable message)
In order to avoid this please ensure the server is powered on and that the server is online.
If you do receive the above message and you are sure that your server is turned on, please contact the Guestline Support Team who will be able to remote into a PC or Till at your property to do some further checks.
If the server requires restarting for any reason, we would always suggest checking this is okay with your own IT Support before doing so, just incase it is running other software which may require attention following a reboot.
If you require any assistance regarding any of the processes covered in this article, please contact the Guestline Support Team.