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Point of Sale (POS) Hardware

While the "brains" of a point of sale system is the software, your system will not work with out the necessary hardware. There are many types of POS hardware, working in cooperation to pass data to the software. You will require a variety of input and output devices from POS terminals to printers, scanners and display screens.

As with any computer system, the hardware is the physical devices where as the software is the programs that run on the hardware. POS systems run operating systems based on Windows and Linux, just like any ordinary computer. Your input devices such as keypads, scanners and barcode readers pass information in to the system. Output devices such as screens and receipt printers deliver data out of the system to you and your customers.

At minimum, you will need a piece of hardware called a POS terminal. This can be thought of like a high tech cash register. Unlike a traditional cash register, the POS terminal can accept credit card and gift card data, passing it to the software for processing. To print customer receipts, you will require another piece of POS hardware known as the receipt printer. Unlike old fashioned receipts, a POS receipt printer can add customer unique information such as the customers name or special deals selected by your POS system just for a specific customer. This level of "smart" computing is what makes the POS system special. Customers will appreciate the personalized touch and individually tailored specials while a retailer will appreciate the ability to reach customers in ways never before possible.

Your POS system wouldn't be complete without a piece of POS hardware to view the data such as a monitor or touch screen. Monitors and touch screens are available in a variety of sizes to suit your space requirements and needs. The monitor, with the addition of a keyboard or keypad will allow for the creation of reports and the ability to read data in the system. Touch screens can be both input and output devices because they accept data in to the system and display data from within the system. A touch screen can eliminate the need for further keyboards or keypads.

For retail use and inventory control, you should also invest in a piece of POS hardware known as the barcode scanner. The barcode scanner reads information in to the computer that is stored in a barcode on the product, shelf or in a warehouse. A barcode scanner works by associating the individual lines of the barcode with a symbol - a number or letter, depending on the system. It then passes that information to the main POs system which associates that series of symbols with a set of data.

All of these pieces of POS hardware work hand in hand with your POS software to provide a seamless transfer of data. Once the data is in the system, you can view in real time the status of your accounting, inventory, employee management and more. To create reports and issue transaction receipts, you use another type of hardware known as an output device. Output devices can be receipt printers, monitors and the like. Every link in the chain of a POs system is crucial to the functionality of the system.