To get a better idea of POS software, you should first be familiar with the definition of POS. POS means "point-of-sale" or "point-of-service", basically anything from a retail shop, checkout counter, practically any location at which transactions are made. considering this definition, it's easy to understand why pos terminals can be located in hotels, restaurants, malls, bars, stores. POS stands for the hardware and software which make up a given system.



When we consider a POS system, it has to be divided into hardware and software. Since this article is focused on the software part of it, let's examine the history of pos software. Some of the early electronic cash registers had a special computer program loaded on them, providing additional functionalities, although quite limited according to our standards nowadays. Programmability made way for a lot of new concepts, as it allowed developers to be more creative and embed whatever features they can think of, including real time labor and food cost reports.

It's a well known fact that computers as well as pos terminals, communicate by using some kind of a protocol - a predefined set of rules followed by all machines when exchanging information. The protocol is like the language which computers speak. There are several protocols that are typically included in the pos software to control the peripheral devices, such as POS printer, a bar-code scanner, and a credit/debit card reader. Protocols such as AEDEX, Ultimate, DSP-800, UTC Enhanced.

The developers of pos software must follow standards, in order to insure an absolute compatibility between the different devices. Microsoft, NCR, Epson, and Fujitsu-ICL made the first standard in the industry, called OPOS. The advantage of OPOS is that it's language independent, as it's based on COM technology, because of which sometimes people call it "OLE for POS." Another standard was created by SUN, IBM and NCR, known under the name JavaPOS. Because it's programmed on Java, JavaPOS is platform independent, it can run on Windows and Unix based pos terminals.

The high-quality pos software can provide several benefits to your business. First of all, it will increase your profits. Second, it will lower the inventory costs. It will improve customer service. Automate repetitive tasks, maximizing efficiency by at least 20%.

If you just consider for a minute all the places where you can find pos terminals - all the stores in the country, then you will easily see that there is a huge competition in the pos software industry, there are a lot of products available on the market. Choosing the right one is never easy, but there several factors to consider before buying. First of all, take into account the turnover of your business, whether it's $1000 or $100,000, it all makes a difference. The second important factor is the industry in which your business operates, it could be a grocery store, or a sports store, car dealer shop, appliances. Bear in mind that they best way to find out if a given software is bug-free and stable, is to check with the retailers who are already using it.

Most POS software applications are for Windows. Linux and MAC come second and although they might be more stable and reliable, choices are fairly limimted as there isn't that many pos programs written for UNIX machines. Therefore, you will probably get a better shot at Windows pos software and if you have the system configured correctly, Windows systems can operate for months without a problem. POS software is available for support Windows 95, 2000, or XP, although some will support XP.