Getting Ready With Your "New Year Computer Checklist"?

Sept. 10, 2009 - PRLog -- Start Out Right For Your Computer POS Systems!

Mistakes can seriously damage a restaurant or any other retail business, not to mention the amount of time and money on repairs. 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 properly.

Please don't let me give you the wrong message. I don't always recommend configuring your own computer system! I recommend letting a professional do the work. But I'm sure 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 POS system configuration checklist for a Windows network:

1) Using a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
One of the main causes of your electronic component failure is due to fluctuations in electricity (up and down). Having a good UPS can solve this problem by providing clean power. I would recommend getting a good UPS for your server. And it's also a good idea to use them on every worstations too.

2) Plug All Your Cables Into the UPS
All cables that powers your computer and network must be properly 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 heat up and fry your computer if you don't plug it 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 severe damage if not plugged properly.

3) Tightening Up Security
At the very least, I suggest locking down your server with a strong password on all Windows accounts so your employees and hackers have more difficulty messing with your server.

4) Install Anti-virus and Anti-Spyware Software and Configure For Automatic Updates
It is gravely important for you to make sure that these security tools are configured to updating automatically, so you would never forget.

5) Limiting Employee Internet Access
Employees that surf the internet can cause more problems than anything. You must have the latest antivirus and antispyware software installed but if an employee unwittingly downloads the wrong program or accepts the wrong message, it can cause some serious problems to your system. You may limit them by disabling internet browsing on their computer stations. 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 enforce 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 misbehaved or ignorant personnel.

6) Configuring Your Back Up To Run Regularly
As well proven in many situations, it's best to configure your back up to run after hours automatically. But you still need to remember to change your back up device (like tapes) daily.

7) Testing Your Back Up At Least Once A Month
I have talked to dozens people who think they have a good back up plan for restoring damaged files. But when they try to restore they find it hasn't been working for months or years. 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 also remember o restore to an alternate file location so your existing software won't be affected.

Avoid having regrets by forgetting to do these simple checklist. It's not a waste of time and it's not just for your business, employees and customers but for your own sake as well.

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Got a Question?

If you would like to know more about this topic or have a question in mind, you may ask for advice with our Restaurant POS professional serving your area.

The author of this article is the Vice President of Customer Relations at http://www.pos-for-restaurants.com with over 20 years experience in the restaurant point of sale industry.

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