Fast Contract Meals

The Contract Catering functionality of Commerce Cloud makes it possible to use the Fast Contract Meals feature, which allows customers to get catering service by scanning identification card with barcode scanner. Pre-created rules are used to check if the service is allowed for the customer. If the service is allowed, a receipt is automatically created. Charges from the service can then be deducted from the customer’s salary or invoiced by other means. Customer does not need to use money at the POS.

Instructions for configuring a HP HR2150 POS scanner for FastContractMeals App can be found here.

Requirements

The POS needs the following to be installed:

• Fast Contract Meals service

  • At least a barcode scanner is required.

  • The application also supports 2x20 customer display that will show status of each scan.

  • Devices need to support OPOS. Device-specific drivers and device name must be configured during installation.

If POS application is going to be used on same workstation, it will require own physical scanner.

• Solteq Commerce Cloud POS

  • POS needs to be installed on the same workstation even if it is not going to be used; it is required for data replication and creating the receipt.

Back Office Configuration

User Permissions

In User Groups, give Contract Catering Read and Modify permissions for at least one user group to display the Contract Catering in the Back Office Menu.

Store Configurations

In Store Configurations, the Kitchen in use setting must be set to OFF for Contract Catering to work in the store. It is disabled by default.

Workstation Configurations

Configure a new payment method to the workstation used for contract catering, in the workstation’s Payment Service settings:

1. Add a new payment method that will be used on automatic receipt creation.

   • Payment type needs to be Internal.

   • Name of payment will be shown in receipt at the Back Office.

     

2. Enable and configure FastContractMeal service in Workstation Configurations. Note there should be only one FastContractMeal service enabled per Store

• Choose the Payment Method that is used for automatic receipt creation.

• Enter the names of devices that are going to be used with the application at the workstation. Device names are assigned when drivers are installed at workstation. Barcode scanner is mandatory for application to work.

  

Products

Create a new basic product for each contract that is going to be used, for example breakfast, lunch, dinner. Assign correct prices for the products. This product and price are used on the automatic receipt that is created when the contract is fulfilled at the application

Use separate products for contracts that are valid during same day; for example, do not use general Meal product for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner contracts that are used during the same day.

Customers

Create or import customers which use contract catering.

• Customers need to belong at least one customer group.

• Customers need to have Hashed Social Security Numbers. The application will calculate the hash when identifying customer in application and fetch customer from Back Office with the calculated hash.

  

Contract Catering Rules

The Contract Catering view of the Back Office lists all the contract rules that have been created.

1. Add a new rule by clicking +Add new or modify an existing one by clicking the Edit icon (three dots) on the row of the contract.

   

2. Create new contract with the following settings:

   • Name: Enter a name for the rule. The name will be displayed in the application.

   • Description: Enter a detailed description for the rule (optional).

   • Stores: Choose on which stores the rule is applicable by selecting stores from the drop-down menu.

   • Settings

     1. Customer Groups: Select the customer group(s) the rule is applied to.

     2. Product: When the rule is used, a receipt is created with this basic product and its price.

   • Date And time

     • Date Between: Select the date from and date to when this rule is applicable.

     • Weekdays: Select Whole Week or individual days of the week when the rule is applicable. You can create different rule for example for breakfast at weekends.

     • Select time from and time to when the rule is applicable during day.

       

3. Click Save to save the rule.

Installation

After setting up the workstation configuration and rules, you can install the FastContractMeal service. Download the installer from Back Office:

1. Select POS Installers from the Back Office menu.

2. Click Install under FastContactMeal service, and run the installer on the workstation you have POS installed in.

   

Usage

After the service has been installed at the workstation, there is a shortcut on desktop of the user who installed application. As a default the application is also set to start when the user logs in if the service is enabled in the Workstation Configurations of the Back Office. The form of application is minimized to a system tray.

POS Service needs to be also running for the application to function.

From the tray, the user can either select to Show the form or shutdown the application.

Statuses of the application are shown in the customer display. If customer display is not configured, there will be no input for the customer.

The following statuses can be displayed:

• Welcome: There is at least one rule that is valid at the the moment. Comparison is made by date, time and configured weekdays.

• Closed: No rules are valid at the moment. Comparison is made by date, time and configured weekdays.

• Meal

  • OK: Customer group of customer matched one of the rules and rule is applied. A receipt is created.

  • Duplicate use of contract: Customer has already purchased a single contract meal during one day. No receipt is created.

  • Not Eligible For Meal: None of rules matched with customer group that customer is configured in. No receipt is created.

  • Customer Not found: No customer was found with the scanned input. No receipt is created.

  • Error With POSConnection: POSService is probably not running. Customer is allowed to use the rule, but the application was not able to create a receipt. No receipt created.

If the Meal status is other than OK, the workstation will make a beeping sound to inform the salesperson that something is wrong.

Contracts with OK status are created as receipts and replicated to the Back Office where reporting can take place.

Offline Mode

The application supports limited offline mode. Offline mode means that there is no Back Office connection available. In offline mode, customers are identified only as general “offline customers”. If there is any available contract active at the date and time of the purchase, the customer is allowed to use it. Receipts generated in the offline mode are replicated to the Back Office when the offline status is resolved.

Testing instructions

To test without real physical devices, you can install Pos for DotNet installer with SDK to get virtual devices. The Package can be fetched from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55758

• During the installation, select also SDK to be installed.

  

• After the installation, configure the service with Microsoft Scanner Simulator and Microsoft LineDisplay Simulator virtual devices. Devices will pop up when the application is started