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Your point of sale hardware represents a major investment, and it's also a major contact point between the POS, and your staff and customers.

It's no surprise that the restaurant environment can be hard on electronics. Here are some tips for ensuring your equipment gives years of reliable service.

Hardware Tips 

These six simple tips can add years to your POS hardware life:

1. Ensure Good Ventilation

When it comes to a lot of electronics, computers included, heat is your enemy. When computers get too warm, they limit power to internal components in an effort to self-cool. This can cause unexplained slowdowns, instability, or sudden shutdowns. Locate your SpeedLine stations away from direct heat sources like ovens, and allow at least several inches of space around the fan intake and exhaust areas (usually indicated by vents on the front or rear of the computer case).

2. Limit Exposure to Dust and Grease

Related to the ventilation issue above, air-borne dust and grease can coat the internal components of your computer and cause overheating. This is where the Posiflex™ all-in-one option sold by SpeedLine excels: recent models are fanless, so they have no vents or fans to draw in dust or grease. Read more about POS maintenance from Posiflex expert, Mark Turangan, in this blog post.

3. Be Gentle with Monitors

Touchscreen monitors are much more costly than regular computer monitors. Unprotected touchscreens can suffer scratching damage over time that may affect accuracy, or even make some portions of the screen completely unusable.

Train staff not to use pens, fingernails, or credit cards to tap the Terminal screen, and consider using a screen protector like this one from Viziflex. Check with the vendor that the protector will work with your specific touchscreen, as there are several different screen types (resistive, capacitive, etc.).

When cleaning monitor screens, use a non-ammonia cleaner (read: no Windex!) like a damp cloth with diluted dish detergent on it, and never spray anything directly on the screen—apply it to a soft, lint-free cloth first.

4. Maintain Printers

Epson recommends cleaning the printer heads on thermal printers every 3 months to maintain receipt quality. Turn the printer off, and after letting it cool, open the paper cover and use a cotton swab moistened with ethanol or isopropyl alcohol to clean the thermal elements (if not sure where these are, consult your user's guide).

It's also important to position both thermal and impact (dot matrix) printers away from splash zones and excessive dust. Many restaurants put them on a shelf well above counter height in kitchen prep areas.

5. Use Tape on Fingerprint Readers

The Digital Persona fingerprint readers sold by SpeedLine have a scanning window used to read fingerprints quickly from any angle. While regular cleaning is necessary in the restaurant environment, the window can be damaged by incorrect cleaning with abrasive material like paper towel. 

The easiest way to clean the reader window is to apply a piece of cellophane tape (like Scotch brand), and then peel it off gently. See more about reader use and care. If this doesn't remove residue, dab gently with a soft cloth dampened with an ammonia-based cleaner (Windex is OK in this case). 

6. Protect Keyboards from Food

In an environment where food is everywhere, keyboards can get unsanitary pretty quickly. Disposable or permanent keyboard covers like these are available commercially, or for an economical solution in the kitchen, simply wrap the keyboard in cling wrap. The keyboard is protected from spills and crumbs, and when you replace the wrap regularly, you can also help protect your staff from cold and flu downtime.


 How to Align Your Technology with
Your Chain Growth Strategy 

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