Setup Integrated Customer Display in HT-Retail

Description: The HT-Retail POS system has the ability to use an Integrated Customer Display when using the Elite II POS hardware. Go through the setup and configuration of the software to be able to properly use the display in the article below. 

• Configure the HT-Retail Software Settings
• Configure the Device Manager Baud Rate Settings
• Test the Pole Display
• Pole Display Functionality

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Configure the HT-Retail Software Settings

To configure the settings:

1. Log into the POS system.
2. Navigate to Setup > Printers and Local Settings.
3. In the top right corner of the screen, refer to the section titled Pole Display, which is used to configure the display settings.
   
4. Adjust the Com Port accordingly to match the appropriate setup:
   • Onyx uses COM 2
   • Elite A uses COM 4
   • Elite S uses COM 3
   • Elite II uses COM 6
   • HT-S uses a virtual COM Port; therefore, the port number is subject to change.
     • It is generally COM 7, COM 8, or sometimes COM 9.
5. Enter the Default Display messages with your Business Information:
   
   • Welcome Message: Welcome To (then exactly 11 spaces) DBA name
   • End Message: Thank you (then exactly 11 spaces), please come again
     • The display pole has room for 20 characters per line, 40 characters total
     • The software setup boxes only have one line, so use caution when entering
     • When entering either message, make sure it doesn’t split the words in half between the first and second line on the display itself.
6. Click Save to save the settings and welcome/end messages, and COM port settings.
7. Restart the software to apply the changes to the display.

Configure the Device Manager Baud Rate Settings

Change the “Bits per second” (aka. Baud Rate) using the Windows Device Manager. To do so:

1. Close the HT-Retail software and open the Start menu.
2. Right-click on the My Computer icon and select Manage.
3. Select Device Manager from the options on the left (if applicable).
4. Expand Ports (COM & LPT) and find the Communications Port for the Pole Display.
5. Double-click on the port to open up the Properties window.
6. Select the Port Settings.
   
7. The default Bits per second rate is 9600, but in HT-Retail, this should be set to 19200.
8. Press OK to save your changes, and close the Properties window.
   

Test the Pole Display

1. Log into the main POS screen.
2. The Pole Display should now display the Welcome Message.
3. Ring up an item, and it should show the item name and price on the pole display.
4. Click on the Payment button, and it should show the number of items, amount of tax, and total due.
5. Enter a payment as cash, and it will show the change amount due.
6. The End Message should display.

Pole Display Functionality

When you ring in a SKU and add it to the invoice, the Pole Display will show the customer the total price of the item prior to tax.

• The system cannot show the individual item’s prices with tax
• The price of the item displayed depends on the amount entered in the database
• Items marked “Price Includes Tax” will show the full amount since the price of the item in the database already includes the tax
• For Open Items, the price will depend on what value the merchant entered at the item at the time of sale

Once you press the "Pay" button to accept a payment, the Pole Display will show the grand total of the Invoice after taxes have been applied.

• You must press the "Pay" button in order to display the full Invoice total with taxes.
• This is the only time the system will display the Invoice’s full total
• When using Quick Pay, the customer will not be able to see the grand total because Quick Pay bypasses the Pay screen.
• Quick Pay does not work well with a Pole Display setup because the grand total only appears AFTER the payment type has been selected.