Setting up Mobile Terminal
Purpose: Point a counter workstation at a handheld so the handheld acts as the workstation's card reader. The order is rung on the counter; the customer taps or inserts on the handheld.
When to use this: When a counter needs to take payment on a mobile device instead of a fixed countertop reader, for example a bar, where the server carries the reader to the guest. This is one half of the setup; the other half is putting the handheld into Mobile Terminal mode.
What controls it
Two settings on the workstation's cloud config do the work:
- Enable Mobile Terminal: turns the feature on for this workstation.
- Mobile Terminal IP: the network address of the handheld that will act as the reader. The handheld listens on port 3036.
These live in the workstation's config in the cloud portal, not on the PC.
Steps
- Get the handheld onto the same network as the workstation, and note its IP address.
- In the cloud portal, open this workstation's config, see Provisioning configs.
- Turn on Enable Mobile Terminal.
- Set Mobile Terminal IP to the handheld's address (for example
192.168.1.52). Leave the port at 3036 unless told otherwise. - Save the config in the portal.
- On the workstation, open the dashboard at
http://localhost:3036/api/dashand press Reload Workstation Config. - On the handheld, put it into Mobile Terminal mode, see Handheld · Mobile Terminal mode.
[INSERT SCREENSHOT: cloud portal workstation config showing Enable Mobile Terminal and Mobile Terminal IP fields]
Verify
- On the dashboard, Service Stats shows EnableMobileTerminal: true and the handheld's address under MobileTerminalIP.
- Ring a small test sale on the counter, it should prompt for payment on the handheld. Approve, then void it.
Confirm the handheld is powered on, has the app open, is in Mobile Terminal mode, and is on the same network. A handheld that's off, asleep, or on a different network is the usual cause.
