Point of Sale (POS) Reader Installation

Point of Sale (POS) Reader Installation

The Laundroworks POS Card Reader is a desktop reader that can be controlled by Point-of-Sale software such as Cents, WashDryFold, Clean Cloud, LaundroMAX, TMS/CleanTie, or the Point Of Sale Tool within the Laundro Portal.
This allows customers to pay for POS purchases using the balance on their Laundroworks Laundry Card/LaundryCat App account directly.

If you're trying to connect one of these packages to your Laundroworks system, ensure you have a Laundrowork POS Card Reader kit, as it is not possible to integrate this functionality with your POS system, without one of our POS readers!


Installing the Laundroworks POS Card Reader

Step 1 - Number the Laundroworks POS Card Reader as POS1



There are DIP Switches on the back of the POS Card Reader that are used to set it's reader number.
Most stores only require 1 POS Card Reader, so this reader should be numbered as POS1

To do this, set all DIP Switches to their DOWN/OFF positions,
except for the last one (#8) which should be in the UP/ON position.
This will address the Card Reader as POS1 (this is the same process as for assigning laundry machine card reader numbers)

In rare cases where you have more than 1 POS reader, you'll need to assign each POS reader a different reader number.
Review our: Card Reader DIP Switch Settings article for more details on assigning Card Reader numbers

Step 2 - Connect the Card Reader to Wall Power

The Card Reader does NOT need to be physically connected to your POS system, nor the Laundroworks system; the only physical connection required is wall power.
The reader will communicate with your VAC01 kiosk wirelessly, via VAC01's Zigbee Network, and VAC01 is what allows for communication with your external POS system.

Simply connect the POS Card Reader to any available power outlet, using the provided external reader power supply:


Step 3 - Activate the Card Reader using the Store's Activation Card

Once the POS Reader powers ON, it should display "POS1 - Not Activated" after booting up.
Place this specific location's Activation Card on the card reader for a few seconds to activate it to this location:

Notes
Note: you MUST use the Activation card for THIS SPECIFIC LOCATION,
or else the card reader will not appear on the Laundro Portal for this location

Once the Card Reader has been activated to this specific location,
it will automatically add itself to the Machines table, on the Laundro Portal:


Once a POS reader is activated to the store, this will also trigger the Laundro Portal to display the Point Of Sale section listed under the Management Tools section for this location:

The above Point Of Sale menu is required in order to configuring your choosen POS system to be able to communicate with your Laundroworks POS Card reader.

Do not proceed to configuring your POS software until you see:
 1) your Laundroworks POS Card Reader showing up Online in the Machines list
 2) you're seeing the Point Of Sale section in your Management Tools section.
Note: You will NOT see the Point Of Sale menu option in your Management Tools section until you've activated a POS Card Reader to your store, and it's showing up on your Laundro Portal's Machines list.

Configuring the POS Software

Select the Point Of Sale option found in the Management Tools section, and this will take you to a page where you may:
- obtain credentials/settings to apply to your external Point-of-Sale software
- test and run basic transactions against your Locations POS Readers
- view records related to previous Point Of Sale transactions made 

Step 1 - Select your POS Provider

At the top of the Point Of Sale page, you will find the credentials you'll need to enter into the external POS system you're integrating with.
Use the drop down menu to select your specific POS Provider 
Notes
The POS Provider Credentials section is ONLY used to display the correct credentials for a given POS Provider.
Anytime you navigate away from this page, the POS Provider will return to it's default value
this does NOT affect the POS reader's functionality in any way

You will then be shown the corresponding Configurations that would need to be applied in your external Point-of-Sale software, in order to link the Laundroworks POS Card Reader to your external POS System:


To actually configure your POS software to communicate with the POS Card Reader, you will copy the above credentials (they ARE case sensetive), and enter them somewhere within your selected POS system.

It is best to refer to your POS Provider' instructions to get specifics on where these credentials need to be entered;
however, it is strongly recommended that you test the POS reader, using the Laundro Portal directly, before moving on to configuring your external POS software.
If you're not seeing any credentials, and are instead presented with the following screen:
please contact the Laundroworks support team so we can setup Credentials that your POS Provider can use for this integration

Once you've confirmed that the Laundro Portal is able to communicate with the POS Card Reader correctly,
follow the instructions from your choosen POS Provider, in order to configuring their POS system to be able to communicate with the Laundroworks POS Card Reader.

When available, you will find a quick link to the external POS Provider's instruction article, listed just below the POS credentials themselves:

Step 2 - Running a Basic Test Transaction (using only the Laundro Portal)

Below the listed POS credentials, you'll be able to run a basic Transaction against your POS System;
this is useful to confirm the POS reader is communicating with your VAC01 correctly.

It is strongly recommended to test the POS reader, using the Laundro Portal, before attempting to configure the reader to work with your POS system.
Just below where the POS Credentials are listed, you'll find a Point Of Sale section which can be used to send transactions to the POS Card Reader from the Laundro Portal directly.

To run a Basic/Test transaction, you will:
  - Set a Transaction Amount (i.e. $0.01)
  - Chose the Command for the Transaction (i.e. Sale)
  - Chose the POS Device (the device should be displaying the "Device Online" message)
  - Optionally, write in a Comment to describe the transaction (i.e. Test Transaction)
  - Click Run Transaction



This will trigger the transaction to be sent to the POS Card Reader, and the Card Reader should then prompt for payment for this transaction's custom amount within a few seconds;
- At this point a Laundry Card (either a user card, or Management Card) must be presented to the POS-Reader within 30 seconds (if a Laundry-User-Card is not presented within 30 seconds, the transaction will timeout and will be automatically cancelled)

If a Laundry Card is placed on the reader within the 30 second window, the reader will charge the custom amount to the Laundry Card directly.
If the transaction was completed successfully:
 - the POS Reader will display an approved message
 - the Laundry Card's balance will be updated
 - and a Record of the transaction will appear in the Card-Tracker, Reader Logs, and in the Point of Sale Requests table at the bottom of the page:

Reviewing Previous POS Requests

Every transaction request made against the POS-Reader will create a POS-Record for the Transaction, which may be reviewed in the Point of Sale Requests report that can be run at the bottom of the Point Of Sale menu at any time.
If the POS-Reader interacts with an Account (either a Laundry-Card (User or Management) or Mobile App account (LaundryCat or WashLynx), a Reader-Log will also have been created.

You may filter the transaction records for the POS Requests Report;
- by Transaction Status
- by the Transaction Command
- to include corresponding Reader-Log(s) found to be associated with a POS-Record via the Reconcile with reader logs option
Note: the Reconcile with reader logs option is helpful to troubleshoot where unexpected results may have occurred for a given Transaction, for example;
- a Transaction may NOT have registered a Status of Approved, yet a Credit/Debit was done against the used Account (Laundry Card/Mobile App Account) by the POS-Reader, as evidenced by the Reader-Log
- more than one Credit/Debit was done against the used Account by the POS-Reader for a single Approved Transaction, as evidenced by there being more than one associated Reader-Log record for the same transaction

Typically these errors are a result of communication issues, either with respect to the Internet Stability on VAC01
~ see VAC Offline and Internet Issues
or Network Communication issues between VAC01 and the Readers
~ see Reader Network Communication Issues - Interference & Obstruction

You may also filter the displayed records by the Context field, which looks at the Comment & Requestor of transactions.



Supported 3rd Party POS Systems

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