Online tickets not printing when changing paper roll

[Creagle]

Hi 

When the printer runs out of paper it obviously doesn't print new tickets. When a customer orders in person this is obvious enough as we can see the ticket doesn't print as expected, however with online orders since there is no notification when an order is placed we don't know if an order comes in but hasn't printed. There is a small red box that comes up on the POS if an order comes in and the printer cannot print however this is easily missed unless someone is actively monitoring the screen. Therefore is there a way for square POS to make an audible sound, or a much more noticeable warning notification on the screen - one that would wake the screen up if it's asleep and fill the whole screen for example. Alternatively, can we connect 2 printers, one as the default and a second to use if the first fails (e.g. no paper, no power etc.) that way we would still get the ticket printed immediately and also know something is wrong with the default printer. 

Another issue is even if someone is monitoring the POS and sees the warning and then changes the paper roll, the orders that did not print have to be printed manually. Therefore it's easy for some orders to be missed if the till operative does not manually print all orders that have come in whilst the printer was out of action. Is there a setting to keep attempting to print an order indefinitely until it is successfully printed? 

[_Violet · Accepted solution]

Hello @Creagle and thank you for your detailed post. You've mentioned a few things here, so I'll separate them in my response:

1. Enhanced Notifications

Unfortunately, the current POS system has only the small red box notification which may be missed. You may be interested in requesting a feature to include configurable, larger, and potentially audible notifications.

2. Connecting Multiple Printers

Square POS supports the use of multiple printers. However, there isn't a way to setup printing to a secondary printer if the first fails to print. Although, you can set up multiple printers to print the same Order Tickets, so you have more than one copy, in the event that one of the printers fails. For more detailed setup instructions, check the Square POS printer setup guide, available here.

3. Automatic Reprinting Attempts

Currently, there isn't a direct setting in Square POS to keep attempting to print an order indefinitely until it is successfully printed. However, you can regularly check the order history on the POS system and manually reprint any missed orders. This would also be considered a feature request.

I hope this information is helpful but please do let me know if you have any additional questions.

[doc_choc]

hi @Creagle just a thought, we use thermal paper with the little printed red warning strip that indicates the paper is about to run out, as soon as the red line appears we change the roll and that way we never run out! Might be a simpler method.

[_Violet]

Great tip, @doc_choc! 🌟 Thanks for sharing! 😊