It’s important that your POS system keeps your restaurant or retail store running smoothly, rather than disrupting your operations and displeasing your employees. Your system should not make the checkout process a difficult one or the training process a long one.

Here are three signs that your POS system is unreliable, and that it’s time to consider investing in a new one:

1. The checkout process can take several minutes and/or customers have complained about slow service.

Thirty seconds may not seem like a long time, but it can feel like forever during the checkout process. The customer should not have to wait thirty seconds or more for their debit or credit card to process or for their receipt to print. A slow checkout leads to slow-moving lines, which reflect poorly on your restaurant or retail store’s customer service skills, not to mention employee-customer relationships. Customers and employees alike can become frustrated with a slow checkout process, especially in fast-paced environments.

2. You training process can be lengthy and/or employees often have to ask for help with system errors.

Your touch screen interfaces should be easy for your employees use in both the training and checkout processes.  An organized, intuitive interface allows employees to do their job quickly and correctly, with minimal disruption to the flow of customers. Buttons should be easy to touch and select, without too much resistance or lag. For example, employees should not have to press hard on the interface to ring up an item and the screen should not lag for several seconds before registering a selection. Another clear sign is a screen that frequently freezes.

3. You often experience technical difficulties and/or payment processing errors.

When technical difficulties or errors occur, lines move much more slowly and customers can easily become frustrated or angry — especially when their debit or credit card is involved. Your customers should never have to worry whether or not their purchase went through or their credit card information is secure. For example, if credit cards are often declined, must be swiped several times to process correctly or card numbers must be manually entered, then your POS system is not reliable.