Start out the year right for your restaurant POS systems. Let’s talk about some of the most common and vital mistakes that restaurant owners make in regard to some very basic configuration aspects of the computer system. Mistakes can seriously damage a restaurant or any other retail establishment, not to mention the waste of time and money. Worse than that… it can frustrate you, your customers and employees.
Whether you already have a computer system or you’re going to configure a new one yourself — it’s important for you to make sure everything is done accordingly.
Please don’t let me be guilty of giving you the wrong idea. I don’t always recommend configuring your own computer system! I recommend letting a computer professional do the work. But I know some of you will do it yourself no matter what I say. So this is for those of you that insist on doing your own system installations and for everyone else to double check and make sure everything was done properly. This could help you avoid some major problems and save hours of precious time.
So here’s your retail computer system configuration checklist for a Windows network:
1) Install a UPS
The main cause of electronic component failure is from fluctuations in electricity (up and down). A good UPS can solve this problem by regulating the power. I recommend that you at least put a good UPS on your server. And it’s a good idea to use them on all your workstations too.
2) Plug All Your Cables Into the UPS
Check if all cables that power your computer and network are plugged into your UPS. It’s also important to make sure cables that can carry electrical charges are plugged into a surge protector or UPS. For example, the phone line for your modem can easily fry your computer if it’s not plugged into a surge protector. So you better make sure that all cables are plugged properly. Your modem line, network cables, and power cords can cause serious damage if not plugged properly.
3) Tightening Up Security
It is advisable that you lock your server with a hard-to-decode password on all Windows accounts so that no one will be able to access it especially hackers who love to mess up servers damage your server].
4) Install Anti-virus and Anti-Spyware Software and Configure For Automatic Updates
It’s also very important to configure that software to update automatically every day, so you don’t forget.
5) Limit Your Employees’ Internet Access
Employees will surft on anything they can on the internet. You mave the lastest antivirus and antispyware software installed but if an employee inadvertently downloads the wrong program or accepts the wrong message, it can bring your system down. You can avoid this by disabling internet browsing on your computers. Or you could password protect internet access.
For a restaurant, this is very important! In order to protect secured files from the hands of the dirty minds, limiting employee internet access is a must. A retail business owner has to strickly implement rules to protect his business as well as his profit. Otherwise, what good will a restaurant POS system do if it’s run by a misbahaved or ignorant personnel.
6) Configuring Your Back Up To Run Regularly
In many situations, it’s best to configure your back up to run automatically after work hours. But you still need to remember to change your back up media (like tapes) every day.
7) Test Your Backup By Restoring Files Once A Month
I have talked to dozens people who think they have a good back up for restoring damaged files. But when they try to restore they find it hasn’t been working. That’s why you need to do a “real” test restore once a month to make sure it’s working. By the way, you should restore to an alternate file location so you don’t mess up your existing software.
So please, start checking your computer systems now and do the neccessary updates, configurations and back ups.
With over 20 years of restaruant experience, the author and Vice President of Customer Relations at POS-for-Restaurants.com, helps you use your technology to be more efficient and more profitable.