eye_suc
Expert Member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 4,168
hey guys
i've been toying with the idea of constructing our own POS for the pub, but the motivation has never been there for the investor (father). however, after recent events he has seen the light and is fully backing me in this little side project.
the problem: bartenders give out "free" drinks and pocket the money, while we have no way of tracking it. also, major alleged spillage is taking place, way beyond expected limits. and of course, the tips they receive is way out of whack (i have worked there long enough to know how much you SHOULD get)
the solution: build a simple POS using an old PC and a new 17" touch screen. create simple POS software using .NET WPF
my questions at this point would be, where can i get a USB/RS232 cash drawer for relatively cheap? the catch is, how do i know i would be able to integrate it into the system before buying it? i saw a few floating around for about R1200 but for that kind of money i want to be SURE i can tap into the till
then, handheld scanners (not for barcodes, the image scanner type). the idea would be to get a scanned copy of the clients ID before they open a Tab, since that would facilitate tracking them down. this is especially a problem with non-regulars. the image would be stored in the DB as a blob, no mess, no fuss. do they even still make these things?
and finally, a USB/RS232 scale. once again, i find lots of links to these things in america, but over here they seem a bit more scarce. this will be needed to weigh the open bottles to determine the usage. i have a really old money scale which should work fine in the mean time, but i would prefer a more automated method instead of a manual weigh-click-type-save kind of thing.
any thoughts, ideas, recommendations, etc. please feel free to post
PS: those kiosk things are OVERKILL for us. they cost an arm and a leg and we do not need even half the features. for one, we do not cater for credit card payments. stricly cash only, and therein lies the problem with the thieves.
i've been toying with the idea of constructing our own POS for the pub, but the motivation has never been there for the investor (father). however, after recent events he has seen the light and is fully backing me in this little side project.
the problem: bartenders give out "free" drinks and pocket the money, while we have no way of tracking it. also, major alleged spillage is taking place, way beyond expected limits. and of course, the tips they receive is way out of whack (i have worked there long enough to know how much you SHOULD get)
the solution: build a simple POS using an old PC and a new 17" touch screen. create simple POS software using .NET WPF
my questions at this point would be, where can i get a USB/RS232 cash drawer for relatively cheap? the catch is, how do i know i would be able to integrate it into the system before buying it? i saw a few floating around for about R1200 but for that kind of money i want to be SURE i can tap into the till
then, handheld scanners (not for barcodes, the image scanner type). the idea would be to get a scanned copy of the clients ID before they open a Tab, since that would facilitate tracking them down. this is especially a problem with non-regulars. the image would be stored in the DB as a blob, no mess, no fuss. do they even still make these things?
and finally, a USB/RS232 scale. once again, i find lots of links to these things in america, but over here they seem a bit more scarce. this will be needed to weigh the open bottles to determine the usage. i have a really old money scale which should work fine in the mean time, but i would prefer a more automated method instead of a manual weigh-click-type-save kind of thing.
any thoughts, ideas, recommendations, etc. please feel free to post
PS: those kiosk things are OVERKILL for us. they cost an arm and a leg and we do not need even half the features. for one, we do not cater for credit card payments. stricly cash only, and therein lies the problem with the thieves.