Author: Dr.

Sönke Kannapinn, Reinhold Schneider

Berlin, 5 Jun 2007, 19 Sep 2007, 12 Nov 2008, 24 May 2009, 29 August 2016

A list of questions to be clarified with new SCO customers

1. Operating system
 Windows 7 Pro?
 POSReady 7?
 WNLPOS 3.0?
 Which other? Windows pos ready 8
2. SCO hardware / run-composites
 What SCO HW (and implied run-composite) is going to be used?
Some typical examples:
- Pos Tower 150, non-cash, security scale
- Pos Tower 150 R, cash, vertical scanner, security scale
- Pos Tower 150 R, cash, bioptical scanner, security scale
- Pay Tower 150, non-cash
- Pay Tower 150 R, cash, bioptical scanner
- Pay Tower 200 R
- iSCAN Easy
- iSCAN Easy Hybrid
- Attendant station (how many lanes observed: 4, 6, 8, …?)
- Mobile attendant (HTML client)
3. Store Management
 Where will the Store Server be run?
- One attendant station
- One of the lanes
- Dedicated server (what HW and OS?)
- Which database shall be used for the store server (Default: Derby,
Alternatives: MySQL, Oracle)
- Which functionalities are required for the store manager?
o Statistic Reports?
o Catalogue Maintenance?
o SW Maintenance & SW Deployment?
o Security Management?
- Which browser will be used to access the enterprise manager?
4. Enterprise Management
 Will any TPiSCAN Enterprise functionality be used?
 If so,
- Where will the Enterprise Server be run (HW and OS)?
- Which functionalities are required for the enterprise manager?
 o Enterprise Statistic Reports?
o Enterprise Catalogue (DIC) Maintenance?
o Enterprise SW Maintenance & SW Deployment?
o Enterprise Security Management?
o Destination Maintenance?
o Hierarchy Maintenance?
- Which database shall be used for the enterprise server (Default: Derby,
Alternatives: MySQL, Oracle)
- Which browser will be used to access the enterprise manager?

5. Item registration
 Do items sold by weight have to be weighed at the SCO?
If so:
- Does the POS control the item scale?
- Does the SCO control the item scale?
 Any “Direct Sell” items (button on scanning screen for directly buying a configured
item)?
 Are there any (so-called Item Catalogue) items to be sold by selection from menus
(typically no-barcode items)?
If so, how many different Item Catalogue menus are needed?
For each Catalogue menu, please give details:
- Structuring into categories needed?
If so,
o Which categories?
o Pre-select a category?
o Mixed item / category view?
- How many items are there in total or per category?
 Unreadable barcodes: Customers to be able to key in themselves?
(Danger of keying in arbitrary codes and PLUs!)
 How are department sales done (by attendants):
- Via registering special “open price items”?
- The POS passes a hierarchy of department codes; attendants select
department from department buttons.
- Attendants key in a numerical department code and then a price.
 Can customers buy immaterial products (“e-products”), e.g. to load cell phones?
If so:
- How shall customers choose the provider (e.g. O2, Vodaphone, T-Mobile,
…)?
a. By swiping a magnetic card?
b. By choosing from a menu of available providers?
c. Otherwise? (How?)
- Depending on the provider, customers can buy cell phone charges at
different available denominations (provided to TPiSCAN by the POS), from
which the customer must choose.
 Shall this choice be skipped if the chosen provider offers only one
denomination?
- Is a button for e-products needed on the scanning screen?
 Are there “crate items” (single bottle scanned to identify a complete box of bottles)?
If so:
- Are “mixed crates” also needed?
 Voiding:
- Customer to have button for voiding the last item registered?
- Customer to have button for calling the attendant for item void?
- Attendant to have a button for voiding virtual receipt entries?
 May items be returned via SCO?
 May complete transactions be returned via SCO?
6. Coupons
 What different sorts of coupons are used?
- “Simple coupons”, identified by a scan code?
- “Value coupons”: Attendant presses coupon button and keys in an amount?
- Other sorts of coupons?
If so:
a. What data is registered for the coupon?
b. Who may register the coupon (probably attendants only)?
 Registration:
- For “simple coupons” (scanned): May customers scan coupons?
If so:
a. Are coupons scanned during item registration?
b. Are coupons scanned during payment (“coupons” payment
button)?
c. Do customers have to put coupons in a coupon bin (checked
by a coupon sensor)?
d. How shall unreadable coupon scan codes be handled?
- May attendants scan or key in coupons?
a. Do attendants key in complete scan codes?
b. Do attendants key in only a partial scan code or id + an
amount?
7. Refunds
 To be handled at a SCO at all?
 If so: How to handle?
8. Security
 Scan & Bag? Scan & Pass (belt)?
 What type of sell security?
- Weight checked during complete transaction?
- Weight checked only during item registration?
- Only increase of weight checked (customer may remove items from the
security scale without alert)?
 - Check only arbitrary increase of weight?
- No weight checking at all?
 Are there age-controlled items?
 Can items have hard tags?
 Are there “non-weighed” items (registered, but not put on security scale)?
How many?
 Are there “light” items (weight 0-15g)?
How many?
 “Varying” items:
- Embedded price driven by item weight
=> Can the POS Adapter provide a security weight from a reference-price-
per-unit?
- Embedded price not driven by item weight
=> Manual weight limits?
- Items with varying weight, but within reasonable bounds?
- Or even items with really completely arbitrary weight.
 Items with problematic packaging (e.g. 6-packs wrapped by transparent plastic =>
wrong scan code possibly visible)?
 (Recommended to prepare all above special security information for preparation of
security DB.)
 Any “high-risk” items the registration of which shall notify the attendant (without
blocking)?
 Does the POS Adapter provide the “high-risk” information?
 Visualisation of any security-related item information in GUI:
- Where to visualize:
Not at all / on remote attendant station / in local attendant mode / on
customer screen?
- What to visualize:
Age-restriction / security class (varying, non-weighed, light) / high-risk?
- How to visualize (please clarify GUI aspects)?
 What database to use for security weights?
- Derby (standard)
- MySql (license fee)
- Oracle (using Retailer’s existing Oracle DB)
- Other (contact TPiSCAN development regarding integration efforts!)
9. Payments
 Name all payment media:
- minimum amount
- maximum amount
- overpay allowed?
- underpay allowed?
 For cash payment:
- What note & coin denominations are
a. dispensed?
 b. accepted?
- If not all coin denominations are accepted, how is the total rounded:
a. POS grants discount of 0,0x€ (or USD, GBP, …) upon entry
to payment (all tenders treated the same)?
b. Total rounded only for cash payment?
- For cash input, but not yet tendered:
a. Customer may get cash back by pressing ‘Back’ button?
b. Only attendants may press ‘Back’?
c. Cash not to be returned at all?
 Can a negative total ever occur?
How is this to be handled?
 Please describe other tenders.
10. Loyalty cards
 Are loyalty cards used?
 When must/may they be registered?
- Required at transaction start?
- Optional at transaction start?
- During item scanning?
- Just before proceeding to payment?
- At the beginning of payment?
 If loyalty cards are optional:
- Ask a Y/N question “Do you have a loyalty card” first?
- More than one type of loyalty card, customer must select?
a. Scanned card?
b. Swiped card (MSR at SCO)?
c. Card read by POS?
d. Offer a “no card” button, too?
e. Enable scanner on card selection screen?
f. Enable SCO MSR on card selection screen?
g. May customer key in an unreadable card?
h. May attendant key in an unreadable card?
- Is there any procedure for handling the case “I have a card, but I forgot it”?
- Are there staff cards?
What is special for them?
11. Gift cards
 Are gift cards used at the SCO?
 Please describe the card physics: scanned, swiped, read at the POS?
 Can customers buy gift cards at the SCO?
 Can customers pay with a gift card at the SCO?
 Can gift cards be re-loaded at the SCO?
Customers or attendants?
 Other business cases (e.g. check gift card value)?
12. Workflow
 If Catalogue Maintenance is used, when to check for a Catalogue configuration
update?
- At transaction start?
- After transaction end?
- At sign-on?
 Ask Y/N question “Have you finished item scanning” when proceeding to payment?
 Is it possible to go back from payment to scanning?
Please describe rules.
 Shall cash balances be transmitted to the POS regularly?
- After each transaction?
- At sign-on/sign-off?
 Ask whether customer has own bag at the beginning of the transaction?
- After bag has been placed:
a. Always call attendant for checking?
b. Never call attendant for checking?
c. Call attendant only if bag’s weight exceeds threshold?
 Hard tags: Make unconfirmed attendant requests block at end of item registration?
 High-risk items: Make unconfirmed attendant requests block at end of item
registration?
 Attendant station: Use tiled attendant screen, too (recommended)?
13. Attendant functions
 Which attendant function buttons are needed?
Please see chapter “TPiSCAN Buttonspecs” in document buttonspecs.pdf (generated
documentation).
14. Permissions
 What different roles of SCO users are needed? (E.g. normal attendant, head
attendant, cash manager.)
 What is each role able / not able to do?
Please see document permissions.pdf (generated documentation).
15. GUI
 Screen background (normal, training mode)?
 Button shapes (customer buttons, attendant buttons)?
 Logos?
 Language switch buttons (flags)?
 Special “popup” dialogues (special dialogues controlled by POS Adapter) ?
Individual designs wanted ?
 Which videos?
 Which audio messages?
 Which special sounds (sell security: success / problem; notes dispensed; attendant
request)?
 Item security attribute visualisations?
 Are advanced GUI interactions (such as wiping, glowing, etc.) required (JavaFX)?
 16. Mobile attendant
 On which devices should a mobile attendant be run ?
- Tablet (OS, Browser) ?
- mobile Phone (OS, Browser, resolution) ?
17. Miscellaneous
 Currency?
 Is the support for multiple currencies required (only accepted notes) ?
 Weighing unit?
 Customer default language?
 Training mode wanted?
 Training mode to switch from central to local security DB?
 Direct mode button for attendant needed (not recommended)?
 Additional directMode() calls to POS needed in workflow (not recommended)?
 Server offline capability needed?
Manual or automatic switch back to remote server?
18. Printing
 JavaPOS TP07 (Windows & Linux)?
 Direct write to TP07? (Not recommended. Linux: helper library for computing barcode
graphics available.)
 Other supported JavaPOS printer?

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