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Free Publicity. More Customers
Checkout Counter Fingerprint Scanner
James Baxter Promoted To Support Manager
#7 of 10 Essential Things You Should Know About Your Computer

It only takes ten minutes. Here’s what we need.

1. A photograph (preferable a digital photograph) of one or more of the following: the outside of your business, the inside of your business, your computer system, customers within your store, items that are sold in your store. You choose what you feel will be most appropriate. You do not need to be a professional photographer. Just take a few pictures and pick the best one’s. We can edit your photo if necessary.

2. We need to know about your business. We can do this in one of two ways.

3. You can call us or we can call you and ask you about 10 minutes of questions.

Or

B. Answer any or all of the questions below. Email your answers to the email address below. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. We will do the editing and the spell check. You don’t need to be a writer. Just send us words, sentences, paragraphs or anything and we will put it all together for the newsletter.

Here are some things we can write about. Pick what you feel would be of interest to our readers.

Your name and business location. How you started your business. Where the business is located. What you sell. Who are your customers. How you grew the business. Your plans for the future. How you overcome competition. What makes your store unique. Your approach related to customers. What you do to make your business successful..and anything else you think would be helpful.

3. Tell us how you use Cash Register Express or Restaurant Pro Express in your business.

To participate and become part of our next newsletter, please email to or call (845) 634-4708.

Become a pcAmerica Reference

If you would like your business highlighted in our newsletter, please email to We just need a couple of photos and some information about your business. Your business will also be listed on our web site.

Comments or Ideas

If you have any comments or ideas you would like to share with our readers, please write to

pcAmerica Tidbit

Checkout Counter Fingerprint Scanner May Foil Underage Beer, Liquor and Cigarette Buyers.

The police are increasingly cracking down on bars, convenience stores and other businesses who sell beer, liquor or cigarettes to underage buyers. Because of the crackdown, many businesses check and double check the identities of anyone making a purchase of these items even if they are pretty sure that the buyer is over 21. The identity checks and age verification checking slows down the checkout line and irritates many customers.

A new solution developed by FSS solves the problem. Customers enroll in the system via a one-minute, one-time process where they volunteer their driver’s license number, date of birth, and license expiration date. The data is captured from the magnetic stripe on their license, and a clerk compares this to the card’s front for verification. This data is combined with a scan of the customer’s finger, using a small, countertop fingerprint reader.

The enrollment process takes 60 seconds. The next time the customer comes in, his fingerprint is instantly read and the transaction is approved. The customer no longer needs to provide ID or search his pocket, wallet or pocketbook for identification.

To read more about it, go to:

http://scs-mag.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=753&Itemid=88

James Baxter Promoted to Systems and Support Manager

James Baxter has been with pcAmerica for 5 years. He has the tough job of managing the department that people hate. After all, most people call customer support when they have a computer problem. James has amazing patience and empathy and manages to make sure that the majority of our customers are happy customers

Prior to coming to pcAmerica, James was the manager of a large retail record store and possesses a college degree in computer networking.

So James, why do people call pcAmerica technical support?

“Most of our calls are rather mild. We have a lot of people calling with ‘how to’ questions. How do you set up a printer? How do you print an inventory report? I call these mild problems since they do not affect the immediate operation of the business.”

What’s the number one serious problem users encounter with Cash Register Express?

“Network problems are #1. People have 2 or more computers connected together using network wires. The most common solution is to check the computer that contains the data (usually in a back room). If this computer is not turned on, then no one in the store can access the data. It’s also amazing that lots of people move their computers and never reconnect the wire attached to the network.”

“Technical support is a lot like being a doctor. You ask people what went wrong. Inevitably, most people say nothing has changed. Then we find out that a new printer has been added, wires have been changed, people have no virus protection, etc. It’s easier to find a solution if we know exactly what has changed.”

#7 of 10 Essential Things You Must Know About Your Computer Protecting Your Computer Against Power Outages

You need U.P.S. That is, you need a U.P.S.

U.P.S. is not United Parcel Service (those people In the brown suits). U.P.S. is a Universal Power Supply.

A U.P.S. is a battery backup for your computer. Just plug in your computer and monitor into a U.P.S. Battery Backup. If the electricity goes out, you have 5, 10 or more minutes to shut down your computer without any damage to your computer . Some battery backups will even shut down your computer automatically when a power failure occurs.

The odds of a power outage damaging your computer are about 1 in 20. So, start counting. That next power outage could destroy your computer (or at least damage your hard drive so that all of your data will be lost).

A U.P.S. also acts as a power surge protector to help prevent damage to your computer due to power surges and other electrical anomalies.

A U.P.S. sells for $29 and up. For most of you, a $100 U.P.S. will give you about 30 minutes of emergency power. In general, the more money you spend, the more time you will have to shut down your computer. The better U.P.S.’s also come with the ability to automatically shut down your computer without user intervention (normally through a serial or USB connection).

Don’t gamble. Every computer needs a U.P.S. Power surges can do damage to your computer without anyone knowing about it. A spike or surge can damage your data. For those of you who are penny pinchers, you can purchase a $29 U.P.S. at your local office supply store that will give you about 5 minutes of emergency power. When the power goes off, you should immediately go to your computer and shut it down. The $29 U.P.S. will also eliminate damage due to short (less than a second) power outages.

Don’t gamble. You really need one on every computer. By the way, the $29 U.P.S (made by APC) also gives you a total of 6 power outlets to connect. The Belkin unit pictured above sells for $69, gives you 25 minutes of protection, and looks really great (for those who care).

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