Did you ever wonder why your Positouch hardware support costs were increased from last year? Do you want to know what you can do to keep these costs down?
In this article, Dan Scaricaciottoli, our Manager, Technical Services, explains some of the reasons why your maintenance costs may get increased and how you can help keep these costs down.

Helpful Tips on Keeping your Positouch Support Costs Low

When we evaluate your S ervice Contract, or Service Maintenance Agreement (SMA for short), we look at  many factors, including  the number , type, and age of the equipment and the past history of support  and on-site service calls. Each one has an important role to play in determining if  there will be charge s for  more support.

Equipment- We look at the  amount of equipment , the make and model of the terminals, and the age. This also goes for prep and check printers, office  computers , and all other hardware. Newer equipment fails less, and is easier to maintain. Older equipment fails more, and it's difficult and more expensive to get parts.  At times we a re forced to buy refurbished components for the older hardware.  While the parts are still certified by the vendor,  reconditioned parts won't last as long .

Location, location, location- For you New York City restaurants, this is part of the ticket to your success.  However, additional  unnecessary on site service trips  could also increase your maintenance costs. All of the things that go into on-site support- toll  s , traffic, parking, etc. factor into your costs. The rising cost of gas also figures in .

Number of Support Incidents- The decision to increase a service contract is also based on the amount of labor it takes to support your account. We'll look at the number of support calls and on site visits to determine if the  total support  labor is profitable for us.

But what can you do? Sometimes, one or all of these factors contribute on specific support incidents that could have been limited or eliminated entirely by the customer.

The biggest factor, according to CC Productions Director of Operations Joe Hahn, is environmental. “The effect that the restaurant environment has on its POS System can be a large contributing factor to any increase in maintenance pricing”, says Hahn. “Poor power and other equipment, such as blenders, ice chillers, or holiday decorations, plugged into outlets meant for the POS  system can have disastrous effects on the system performance ”. These devices can cause Common-Mode Voltage Problems and Electrical Noise, which will contribute to increased data loss, lock-ups, and eventual degradation of the equipment. All of these things lead to more service calls.

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But electricity isn't the only environmental problem. Cleanliness and basic equipment upkeep will add years to its life, and reduce the number of failures, support calls, and ultimately on site visits.You should also check to make sure the vents on the side of the monitors and terminals are free of grease, dust, paper, or anything else that will restrict air flow in and out of the machine. Most terminals rely on small fans inside the chassis that draw air over the processor and other components. When this air flow is cut off, the machine overheats. Prolonged exposure is not good. The best you can hope for is data loss, network interruptions and other problems that would lead to you computer “freezing up”. The worst case scenario involves smoke, flames, and damage to your furniture.

Be sure to keep those touchglasses clean and free of food particles or liquid. But don't use harsh chemicals, or cleaning solutions with alcohol to wipe them down. The alcohol will eventually dissolve the touch points on the glass, making it difficult to stay calibrated, and ultimately produce “dead” spots. CC Productions service department suggests using a moist, not wet, soft cloth to wipe the touch glass clean. And remember, servers should only use the pads of their fingers, not pens or other sharp objects to enter information on the screens. This will weaken the glass and eventually cause it to crack, which as some of you know, is not covered by your support contract.

Printers can also be checked periodically for debris. When your printer cuts paper, it creates a small amount of dust, which collects below the roll or near the cutter mechanism. After time, the dust, along with other debris, can cause the printer to jam, or can push the heads away from the paper, causing printing to look light or have gaps. Use care to clean these areas out whenever you change a paper role. A can of air or cue tip works wonders!

A periodic inspection of the connections and cables for the network, printers, or other peripherals such as cash drawers or pole displays can save calls for support. Often, as restaurants are cleaned, the equipment gets moved around. When the connections are loose, the equipment won't work as intended. Make sure everything is plugged in as it should be and some of your problems will go away.

But sometimes, your diligence doesn't pay off, and the equipment still fails. It may be time for an upgrade. If you have equipment that's five years old or older, it may have seen better days and you've probably gotten your investment out of it. Newer equipment will run faster and have fewer failures. Contact your Positouch Sales Rep or call 1-800-507-5554 for information on how you can invest in newer technology and reduce your service headaches.

Another factor that leads to increased costs, as well as increased down time with your system, is managers or staff not willing to work with phone support techs to get the problem resolved. Remember, the total labor involved in supporting your site is evaluated when your contract renewal proposal is generated. Calls that could have been resolved over the phone in a few minutes are often pushed to field service because the personnel on site are unwilling to work with us. It takes  much longer for us to get there, and your equipment stays down  while we sit in traffic. “It's a big deal”, says Christopher Kramer, Director of Customer Service. “Newer or inexperienced customers sometimes ‘just want someone out' for incidents we could have resolved  in minutes  over the phone or by dialing in. It slows down service and often  leaves the perception that we can't respond.” In reality we are looking for the quickest most economical alternative on every call.

So remember, you can have an effect on your support contract pricing by doing the following- keep you r equipment clean, free of debris, and on its own electrical circuit, and work with our technicians. If you have any questions, you can reach me at 1-800-507-5554, ext 236.

Call 1-800-507-5554, Ext 1 for general questions about support contracts.