How you can stay up and running with Lavu POS, even if other services go down.
Apps crash. Networks go down. You don’t have to let it wreck your day.
Cash flow is the heart and soul of your business and card transactions are a huge percentage of your everyday flow. You need your POS and credit card terminal to be up and running at all times.
Even the highest profile software companies experience outages. Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Alphabet (Google), and more can experience a service disruption at any time. So what can you do if the Lavu experiences any outages?
Subscribe to our Status Page
The first thing you can do is stay informed on our current status.
Sign up for text alerts on status.lavu.com so you can automatically be notified of any issues that could affect your POS. This site not only monitors the POS, but also tracks any issues affecting CardConnect, PayPal, Kiosk, Sourcery, and our API (online ordering through Menu Drive).
It's also important to know what you CAN do even if the POS suffers any performance issues.
- Conduct cash transactions
- Open the cash drawer
- Add food and drink to open orders
- Start new orders
- Send orders to the kitchen
- Print checks
None of the features above require an internet, or database connection. Most notably what is missing, are credit card and gift card transactions. Both of which require an active connection to the internet to validate card details.
So what can we do to keep card transactions going even during a POS outage?
Use a Virtual Terminal
If you are a Lavu Pay customer, you will have access to CardPointe, an online dashboard for your credit card processing.
If you are unable to run transactions through the POS, you can manually input these transactions into your CardPointe portal. With this method, you will sacrifice a bit of speed in accepting card payments, but you will get an immediate verification of any transactions you process (just like if you were to use your card reader connected to the POS).
- Select Sale as your transaction type
- Enter the name on the card exactly as it appears (the rest are optional)
- Enter the card number, expiration date, and CVV number
- Enter the total amount to charge (including any tips and taxes)
Before using the virtual terminal, you should create a custom payment method for your POS so you can close any orders that are taken while offline.
Click here to learn more about how to use your CardPointe account.
Store & Forward
If you prefer speed, you can use a Lavu Pay iDynamo card reader to use a system known as Store & Forward.
While offline, instead of using your normal Ingenico or VP3300 card reader, you would use an iDynamo plugged directly into your iPad. When you swipe the card, the details will be stored in memory within the iPad itself. Once you are back online, all card details captured will slowly begin to process.
With this method, you sacrifice immediate verification of any card and bank account details, in exchange for moving at your normal pace, even when offline.
Important Note: Before using this feature, you will need to agree to the following terms and conditions in your Control Panel, and on the POS.
Use a Failover Modem
In times when you Internet Service Provider goes down, it's important to have a back up source of internet.
While you can always use a hot spot on your phone as a temporary solution, a failover modem is a much more permanent backup, and requires very minimal maintenance
A failover modem is a device that can be connected to a wireless data provider (like Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile) and provide a 5G LTE connection to the internet for your restaurant.
This type of device is compatible with the networking equipment that we sell, so we highly recommend purchasing all of this equipment together.
Once you have acquired a SIM card and a data plan, all you need to do is plug the SIM card into the back of the failover modem, and then plug the failover modem into your router using an ethernet cable (just like your printers and card readers).
Once connected, the failover device will monitor the status of your internet connection, and will only activate once it has detected an outage. You shouldn't even notice that your primary Internet Service Provider modem has gone down, as the iPads network traffic will automatically be routed through the failover modem.
With a failover modem, there are no acknowledgments nor limitations on your software. Everything will exactly as it does normally, including credit card and gift card transactions.
For any further support, please reach out to our 24/7 customer support team at 505-535-5288 or email support@lavu.com.