thread COVID-19 Remote Control of Terminal Device in Archived Discussions (Read Only)

COVID-19 Remote Control of Terminal Device

HobbyHardwood — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 15:16:30 GMT

We have used several square devices and prefer the remote terminal device with its all in chip reader and printer. The problem is that it requires me to touch it to type in the sales data and then I have to turn it to the customer who holds it to swipe in their credit card, who then hands it back to me to print the receipt where I have to then hand the receipt back to them. So then I have to wipe down the terminal with a bleach wipe, and throughout all the interactions, have to violate the 6 foot rule. Even if they hit the buttons to print the receipt, they are still contaminating the screen, so I have to wipe it with a bleach wipe before I touch it to enter the next users sales info. Its basically impossible to do a sales interaction and not contaminate the device or violate the 6 foot rule.

I would really like a better way to do this, such as a way to keep the terminal on the counter facing the customer, and me being able to control it using a remote device such as my iPad. So the steps would be, I enter the sales data from behind the counter on my iPad or iPhone, the numbers appear on the remote terminal on the counter, the customer swipes their card, I hit print on my iPad, and their receipt comes out of the terminal. Or have the terminal to print the receipt automatically, after a sale, whiteout having to touch the screen. No violation of the 6 foot rule.

Is there a way to do this? Or a way to expedite remote control of the terminal station due to the COVID situation?

Re: COVID-19 Remote Control of Terminal Device

ashc — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 11:13:55 GMT

Hey @HobbyHardwood,

There's not a way to control the Terminal from another device the way you're looking to do like this.

I definitely see why you'd want to do this due to the times but unfortunately this isn't something we're able to offer at this time.

I'm more than happy to pass the suggestion along. Have you considered online ordering instead with our Online Store to avoid contact like this altogether and doing pick-up options?

You can also turn off the signature for now as well.

Here's a post from another one of our Community Managers on best practices and cleaning tips if you haven't seen it as well.

Re: COVID-19 Remote Control of Terminal Device

pessosices — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 14:30:27 GMT

Adding on to this, @HobbyHardwood, I know it would take buying a different piece of hardware, but the Square Register is perfect for this.

We have 4 of them, and they're absolutely fantastic with the dedicated Customer Facing Display that's on a 3 foot long USB cable!