The MerchantOS Customer Facing Display feature allows you to open a special customer facing display window that will show the customer their transaction. It serves the same function as a traditional POS Poledisplay but instead uses a full computer monitor. You’ve probably seen something like this at your local grocery store.

This post will show you how to setup your register to take advantage of the customer display and explain some of it’s features. We are always looking for ways to improve so if you have any suggestions or find any problems with the customer display please feel free to contact us.

Setting Up Your Hardware

Before you can use the Customer Display you will need a second monitor connected to your register and setup so that your desktop extends on to that monitor. Most of the specifics of this setup are out side of the scope of this post, but we will go over the setup at a high level and provide in-depth resources.

You will first need to verify that the computer you are using for your register has two monitor ports. You can check on the back of the computer and look where your current monitor plugs-in to see if there is another port that is free.

Once you have verified that your computer can support two monitors, you will need a second monitor to attach to your computer. There are many places you can purchase monitors, we recommend purchasing a LCD Monitor at least 17 inches diagonal. If you would like to see examples of LCD monitors available visit Newegg.com Monitors.

Once you have your second monitor installed, you will need to follow the instructions for setting up your operating system to use both monitors.

The minimum supported resolution on the second display is 1024×768. If you are not able to set your second display to at least that size parts of the Customer Display will be cut off. If you set your display resolution larger there will be empty space to the right and below the items displayed. There is more information about the size of the customer display and the white space in the FAQ section.

If you need help choosing the right monitor or setting up your computer for multiple displays give us a call. We’ll try to point you in the right direction.

Using the Customer Display

Once you have your hardware setup, using the customer display is easy. Before you can use the customer display you will need to allow pop-ups from Merchantos.com in Firefox to allow the customer display window to open. Open the Firefox “Options” menu (On Windows Click “Tools” and then “Options”). Once the “Options” window opens click the “Content” button at the top. The first option under “Content” is “Block pop-up windows” this should be checked. To the right is the “Exceptions” button, click it to add an exception so that the Customer Display window can open.

Type “merchantos.com” in the “Address of web site:” box and click the “Allow” button.

Now that we have allowed pop-ups you can log-in to MerchantOS and start using the Customer Display. When you login to MerchantOs click on the Register tab. When the register tab opens there are several boxes with buttons. On the right is a box titled “Current Register is” and the name of the current register. At the bottom of that box is a button titled “Open Customer Display”.

When you click the “Open Customer Display” button a new window should open showing the customer display. Click on the title bar of the window and drag it onto the second monitor you have installed on your computer. Once the Customer Display window is on the second display you can press the “F11” key to make the window go into full screen mode. This mode hides the title bar and navigation bar so that the customer display looks nice for your customers.

With the Customer Display setup you can start using MerchantOS to ring transactions and as items are added to the transaction they will be appear on the Customer Display.

When you are ready close the Customer Display move your mouse to the top of the screen where the Customer Display is in full screen mode and a bar will appear. Click the red X and it will close the Customer Display. You will now need to logout of MerchantOS or the Customer Display will try and re-open.

Features

  • Updates when you add and remove items from a transaction.
  • Shows a Customer Name when you attach a Customer to a sale.
  • Customer Display “Blanks” after 10 minutes when you do not perform an action that updates the display.
  • Displays the logo image for your shop that we have imported in our system.
  • Shows the change for a transaction when you complete a sale.

F.A.Q.

Q. Why is the Customer Display not showing an Item I just Added/Removed?
A. This happens when the Customer Display becomes “disconnected”. This will happen if you logout of MerchantOS (but not when switching employees using a PIN). To “reconnect” the Customer Display click on the register tab and click “Open Customer Display”. This will reconnect the Customer Display window so that it will receive updates.

Q. I am using a resolution over 1024×768 on my second monitor. Why is there so much blank space on the Customer Display window when I put it in full screen mode?
A. The blank space on the Customer Display is there for an up-coming advertising feature that will allow you to put custom advertising in this space. At this time we do not have any content that fills this area, and there is not any way to expand the items to fill this area.

Q. Why does the Customer Display go black and have my logo/the MerchantOS logo moving around the screen?
A. This is the Customer Display blanking feature. If you do not add or remove any items or take any action that updates the customer display it will go blank after 10 minutes. As soon as you take some action that updates the display it will un-blank.

Q. Is there any way to customize the blanking feature?
A. There is no customization available to the blank feature.

Q. The Customer Display keeps reopening after I close it. How to I stop it from opening?
A. Log out of MerchantOS and then log back in. This will stop the Customer Display from opening.