Table of Contents
Timer Type Service Items are used to keep track of time used when selling a service. Timer Service Items are used in POS Open Tickets. For Example, a customer wants to use your garage bay to work on his vehicle. To allow for this, you create and a Timer Service Item and link it to your garage bay. The cost for the garage bay is $x/hr. In POS Open Tickets, the clerk starts the timer when the customer arrives. The clerk stops the timer when the customer is finished. The timer keeps track of the hours the garage was used and then modifies the quantity (hours and minutes) to calculate the correct fee.
The Timer Service Item is available in RecTrac 3.1.09.05 and greater. This document provides the basic steps required to set up a Timer Service Item and also offers a simple use case scenario. If you have additional questions regarding Timer Service Items after reading this document, please contact Vermont Systems Customer Service by phone at 887-883-8757 or generate a Support Case through the Customer portal of the Vermont Systems web site using your Customer ID and password.
Set Up
The following presents the basic component pieces that need to be in place to take advantage of Timer Service Item functionality.
POS Service Item Management
- Create a "Timer" Type Service Item. Vermont Systems recommends creating a new Service Item Code for this purpose.
- Record Type = "Timer."
- Fill out all other fields as you normally would.
- Create an Advanced Fee for your Timer Service Item
- Fee Type = "Standard."
- Amount = Amount charged per timeunit.
- Transaction Type = "Purchase."
- Default Quantity = "1"
- Time Base Settings Group – Determine how this Service Item will be charged.
- If Time Count Type is "Per Minute," then the Time Count Buffer does not apply.
- If the Time Count type is "Minute Block," then the Time Count Buffer applies. The "Minute Block" Time Count allows you to set up fees by the "increment," such as 15-minute increments, 30-minute increments, etc.
- If the Time Count type is either "Hourly" or "Hourly Rounded," then the Time Count Buffer applies.
Note: The Time Count Buffer allows you to stop the timer <x> minutes after the Timer Unit has expired without charging for an additional unit increment. Leave the field at 0 if you do not wish to allow a time buffer.
For Example: Your Time Count Type is "Minute Block" and is set to '30.' Your Time Count Buffer value is "3." You start the timer at 1:00PM. If you stop the timer any time before 1:33PM, the patron will be charged for 30 minutes only. If you stop the timer any time after 1:33PM (but before 2:03PM), the patron will be charged for an additional 30 minutes. So if you stop the timer at 1:32PM, the patron is charged for 30 minutes. If you stop the timer at 1:34PM, the patron will be charged for an hour. .
- Fill out all other fields as you normally would.
- Repeat these steps, as needed, for additional Service Items. You would do this in the event you charge different rates for different timed Service Items.
Note: If all of your timed Service Items use the same fee structure, then you need only one (1) Timer Service Item (barring potential exceptions, such as needing to assign different GL Codes and Cost Centers to sales due to having different locations etc.). However, if you have different fee structures for different timed Service Items (For Example: Timer Service Item 'A' is charged by the 15-minute block but Timer Service Item 'B' is charged by the Rounded Hour), then Vermont Systems recommends creating a separate Service Item for each separate fee structure. Vermont Systems does NOT recommend linking multiple timed Fees to the same Timer Service Item.
Touch Screen Management
- Create buttons, as you normally would, for your Timer Service Items.
- Add three (3) specific timer buttons with timer types of:
- Start Timer
- Stop Timer
- End Timer
Processing Example
- In Touch POS, select a Timer Service Item. This will add it to the cart, and the timer will start. The Description in the cart will read "<Service Item Description> Started."
- Once the timer is running, there are two (2) options:
- End the Timer - Highlight/select the item in the cart you that you want to finish and click the End Timer button. This will stop the time and calculate the fees owed. It will update the Total Due in the cart and on the Payment button. Ending the timer also updates the description to "<Service Item Description> Complete."
- Stop/Pause the Timer - Highlight/select the item in the cart and click the Stop Timer button. This will change the description in the cart to "<Service Item Description> Stopped," but it will not calculate fees. The Stop Timer button can be used to ‘pause’ the timer. If an item is stopped, it can be re-started by using the Start Timer button.
Note: Only one (1) Timer Service Item in the cart can be started, stopped or ended at a time. You cannot select multiple Timer Service items and start/stop/end them all at the same time.
- Update Fees, if needed. To update fees, make sure you have the Update Fees from Cart button on your POS Touch Screen. This button should be used only after the timer has been "Ended" and the status of the Timer Service item record in the cart is "<Service Item Description> Complete."