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POS system users face numerous challenges when it comes to managing and troubleshooting technical issues efficiently.

One example can be described as “Ghost Payments” – Ghost Payments happen when POS users are trying to post a payment. In most cases a payment that involves a 3rd party system such as a Property Management System, Casino Management System, or a Membership System, just to name a few.

Consider this example. A Cashier is closing out a guest check, and intends to use a “Comp” to apply payment for the guests order. The POS user initiates the payment by pressing the “Comp” button. They then swipe the guests Players Card, the redemption message is sent to the 3rd Party, but for ‘some reason’ an error occurs, and the payment (aka Tender/Media) is not posted to the guest check as expected. The user tries again, but the Comp has already been redeemed on the Casino Management side, and is no longer available. So the cashier is left with a Comp that’s been redeemed, a guest check that has not been paid for, and an angry guest to deal with. 

Often when a POS user sees an error message, they don’t know what it means, so they just ignore it, and press ‘Clear’ and then they try again, as if nothing unusual had happened. Not understanding ‘why’ the comp is no longer valid.

OTMS can help. OTMS has developed a “Tender Validation” utility that uses can be used with almost any interface that can detect any number of reasons why a payment ‘might’ fail, and can stop the payment from even being attempted, telling the cashier what the issue is, so that they can resolve it, before it becomes a bigger issue.

Another example to illustrate further. A Quick Service cashier (think Snack Bar Attendant) rings up a Burger Special. The Burger Special is programmed in Simphony to require a Meat Temperature (rare, medium, well-done) and the Cashier, in haste, neglects to fulfill that requirement before proceeding to the Payment Screen to apply payment to the guest check. In some cases, the interface to the 3rd party system, will allow them to begin the process, unaware that the payment is going to fail with an error of “Meat Temperature group is not complete for the Burger Special” OTMS’ tender validation software can look at the scenario to determine if the tender is going to fail or not, and stop the Cashier from proceeding  until they go back and select the required Meat Temperature for the Burger. 

The OTMS Software can prevent the “Ghost Payment” from occurring before the scenario leading up to it even starts.