"Terminal Down!"

If Your Company Supplies Prepaid Products or Services,
or If You Market Prepaid Products to Resellers,
You Have a Major Stake in What Happens Next

By: Biff Matthews, President, Cardware International

“Terminal down!”  If your company manufactures or provides prepaid products or
services -  or if you market prepaid products to resellers – you have a major stake in
what happens next.  Sales to customers, and hence the use of prepaid products, is
the lifeblood of a retailer’s revenue stream.  What steps have you taken to anticipate
this scenario and minimize the damage?

A colleague once remarked that in instances such as this, he circled a problem like an
animal stalking prey, examining every input for which there was an output; considering
each potential action and reaction until he’d identified the optimal solution (or as he
often emphasized, solutions.)  It’s a classic “what if, then” situation.

A dead terminal is just that type of problem.

Do you or your company have redundancy?  Is there a documented (and more
importantly tested) disaster plan in place?  If you’re relying on another party,
do they have redundancy and a working disaster plan?  Pointing at someone else does
not produce sales or process the transactions that are, ultimately, your responsibility.

How quickly can the failure be identified and overcome?  If the terminal is “dead,”
how quickly can the reseller receive a replacement?  But, moving back a step,
shipping anything anywhere is always costly, and not always productive.  This is
not the time to discuss how many times fully functional equipment has been
shipped to us unnecessarily.  The short point is, DSL and internet phone systems
are more prone to failure than land lines and traditional systems.  Before concluding
that the terminal is the culprit, check each link in the communications chain –
hardware, software, where devices are plugged in, where the plug enters the wall,
the jack, the wire termination block, the central office. 

And have in your business arsenal the services of a qualified help desk.  It is the
second line of defense for down terminals, and virtually everything else that can
go awry.  If they’re a high quality shop, they will have encountered everything you
can describe about the situation.  And, through various well-developed protocols,
they will be able to apply what they know to qualify the symptom, cause – and cure. 
Of course, there’s always a new wrinkle: our industry is a continuous moving
technology target.  But a strong help desk will be able to apply proven tools and
techniques to understand, and help you understand, what’s wrong and how to
respond most effectively.   

If equipment return is warranted, an important consideration will be provisions for
receipt of replacement equipment outside normal business hours, or on weekends.  
We emphasize a two-hour response time, and 24-hour replacement for customers who
want that level of service.  The way to achieve this is to set the stage well in advance.

Let’s assume you have a documented, tested emergency plan and your back-up has
the same, right down to 24 hour, 365 day help desk and next-business-day replacement,
regardless of what day it is.  Fantastic!

If you’re the manufacturer, provider or seller, have you communicated the plan to
the reseller, the person who needs it when their terminal dies?  Is that information
written and readily available at the reseller’s place of business and your website? 
Equally important, have they been trained in the implementation of the back-up plan?

Yes?  OK, when was the last time it was updated?  Staffs change, as do the employees
of the reseller.  It’s important to reinforce back-up and other critical processes and
procedures at least annually.

Speaking of training and retraining as prevention (versus cure), an ounce of
prevention by the reseller is always worth a pound of cure on your part.

The terminal, whether PC, POS system or bankcard-style system, is a computer. 
And humans are the single greatest cause of computer failure.  Humans take out
their frustrations on the computer. They spill stuff in them.  They move them to
places where the terminal can’t properly vent heat.  They fail to clean them.  
And humans inadvertently or carelessly press the wrong keys or key sequences.

Training and retraining is the ounce of prevention.  And prevention needs to be
taught and reinforced, separately from training regarding the back-up plan.  Simply
pose the questions:  when was the last time your dusted your terminal?  Is air
circulation around it sufficient?  When was the last time your spoke to employees
about terminal operation and cautioned summarily pressing buttons?  You have
new employees; do they understand the back-up process?

What happens when the terminal fails?  If everyone has done their job, nothing
much, because there’s a back-up process that’s been communicated, is understood
by those who need to know, and has been tested for effectiveness.  When it’s needed,
it automatically comes into play, temporarily replacing electronic processing so no
transactions are lost. 

Its common sense - although there’s certainly nothing “common” about it.

Biff Matthews is President of Thirteen Inc, the parent company of
CardWare International.  He is one of 12 founding members of the ETA,
serving on its board, advisory board and committees.  (740) 522-2150.

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