NOVEMBER - 2022retailtechinsights.com8IN MY OPINIONPOINT OF SALE AND WIRELESS WANS By Joe Weyers, Director, IT Production Support, Harbor Freight ToolsModern point of sale systems are heavily reliant on highly available networks. There is a multitude of dependent functions that the point of sales (POS) systems service that must be executed or initiated with each transaction. First is the obvious; a fast, efficient, and complete transaction that is a part of the customer and employee experience at check-out. This can involve the ability to access pricing, payment processing, and receipt/invoice printing as well as updates to stock-keeping and inventory management. Returns processed via POS terminals also generate potential traffic to reverse logistics, financial, inventory allocation, replenishment, and omnichannel systems. With all of these dependencies, it's key that your point of sale systems are able to talk to back-end systems and payment processors without delay. All that said, a popular initiative with many companies is to rely more heavily on 4G LTE data and to look toward 5G wireless technologies to provide that connection from POS to back office systems as part of their WAN strategy. This paradigm provides a significant amount of value but comes with some very important caveats that require recognition as you consider a Wireless WAN as an element of your POS data transport strategy. If you listen to the carriers, LTE and 5G are nearly ubiquitous, provide highly available and fast connectivity everywhere you want to be and are inexpensive to install and maintain. As we're finding in recent congressional hearings on the topic; while there are elements of truth to these claims, there is also a significant gap between the marketing and reality. Let's look at some of these claims vs. reality:4G/5G coverage is ubiquitous. While the key providers of cellular services have antennae and backhaul networks in place to provide very wide coverage, these technologies still rely on radio frequency signals that work best in situations where the local device has a clear "view" of the tower. This effectively reduces the availability of a useable signal in a given coverage area. The aiming of the antenna elements on both tower and customer equipment must align, the signal must be accessible from within your internal space or you must plan with facilities or property management for additional antenna elements, whether inside your building or Joe Weyers
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