Point of Scale (POS) System

1.Advantages and disadvantages of POS system

Advantages of POS system are:

• The system improves the efficiency of transacting the amount at the present time which makes it easy to maintain many transaction records effectively.
• It helps to manage the stock of the firm efficiently which in turn has many benefits for it.
• It provide reports of every payment accurately with less chances of errors.
• It helps to keep the track of employees who works for the firm which keeps track on the transaction performed by them.
• Consistency of prices of various products and services are maintained.
• Possibilities of human errors has been decreased due to the implementation of this system.

Disadvantages of POS system are :

• The system is purely dependent on the internet connection which must be continued and reliable (Charalambous, 2014).
• There are frequent software update in the system which if not updated on time can create some disturbances in the procedure.
• They are very complexed and less preferred by people as they are in habit of old procedures of transaction handling.
• The implementation can be very costly which cannot be afforded by every business owner. Therefore less preferred to imply in their business as can create many problems for them .

2. Role POS for helping the business in gaining competitive advantages

POS System helps the business to provide some distinctive features that ultimately helps to gain some competitive advantages:

Tracking data of customers

POS helps to keep all the records related to every customers along with [roper date and time so that if any issue created can be solved immediately which provides the advantage to any business as it can resolve these common issues effectively.

Financial Reporting

Businesses that are small cannot hire financial experts who charges lots of money so for rescuing this aspect point of scale plays a major role in keeping up of all the records finncially which has features like book keeping and record keeping that helps to take financial decision very effectively.

Advanced Billing system

Now the traditional billing system are considered to be obsolete, now billing is not done manually every thing has been converted into automation which provides faster access to billing and the time which were consumed earlier is now saved.

Cheap and Portable Option

These systems are easy to carry which provides the one an option for performing transaction anywhere which provides the one to conduct their business activities any where (Chen and et.al., 2015.). Therefore, their availability is much stronger .

3. Advantages of having centralised Database

Following are the advantages of centralised database:

• Integrity of data is increased whereas Redundancy is minimise due to the storing of all the data and information at a single place which helps to maintain the accuracy of data effectively
• Security of data is the major benefit which can be achieved from centralised database as it helps to secure the files at one destination only.
• Fault in the file set up can be handled easily because it provides the better preservation of data which not only maintains but prevents any error in handling these files.
• It provides easy portability and administration of data.
• This database system is very cost effective as compared to other systems all the factors such as power supply, labour and maintenance cost get minimised (Huang, Li and Jin, 2015).
• Any updates or amendments in the file can be done in less time because all files are stored together.
• Data can be accessed more easily as compared on this database as compared to others from any location through the device which is linked to the centralised system
• Updates regarding the software or any data set is received by every user at the same time which results in having the update simultaneously .

4.Role of POS system in decision making

Decision making requires correct information on time. These information is provided by point of scale in very less time and without creating any problems. Contains all the records which are even old also therefore it provides every source for information at effectively. As all the files are stored together at single destination so it facilitate in providing access to multiple information. The decision regarding financial investment or any disputes with their customers can be immediately resolved with all the evidences required. The system contains all the track of transactions therefore any prediction related to it can easily be analysed therefore the concept can laid towards the effective resource planning in the business. Keeping check on all the transactions helps to reduce the chances of error in decision making process (Longo and et.al.,2017). One can also predict the sales forecast by analysing the records of past sales for producing the right amount of products .

5.Telecommunication options for POS system

Telecommunication plays a crucial role for every point of scale systems if the right kind of option is adopted is the very effective network that one should implement as the local area network is required for those business which is situated under one roof. This network is applied for those who have less devices but are situated in a small area. This network can be easily handled and the faults which are created can be easily rectified. These networks required less cost for implementation and also are least complicated.

The media which should be chose is wireless because it does not required much space and can cover all areas very easily. The device which can be used is Wi-Fi systems which are secure. Some of the benefit associated are they can be easily integrated and is convenient (Platbrood and et.al.,2014). These devices are mobile in nature can be shifted to any area and also has the feature of getting expanded very easily due to independence on the medium to transfer the data from. These are the features that provide many benefits to the small business that is why they are preferred over the other medium .

6.Risk possessed by POS system

There are many major risks which are associated with the point of scale system which are

Unauthorised Access

This is the serious issue which is related to safety and security of all the information stored in the point of scale system as any authorised individual can access these systems and can acquire important and confidential information for misuse. The misuse of these information can create harm to the owner of the business.

Malware attacks

The system is most prone to various viruses and malware which can corrupt the important information of the whole system or can create harm to the whole system by attacking it as a whole.

Security

Security of the information is questionable as it can be accessed by any one therefore its variability can created threats for its security. It is very important that the data should be secured.

Confidentiality

Some data are the most important which contains necessary information of the business therefore the confidential files of data can be accessed by anyone. There it is very important to keep these data protected.

Privacy

The privacy concept of every data is obvious as every departments keeps their data out of reach from any one as these data are confidential for that particular department and cannot be used by others.

The steps which can be taken for the management of these risk are by providing user identification number and passwords so that informational files can be accessed by them only. No unknown outsider can access them (POS Systems and Risk Management, 2018). Also these passwords must be change from time to time so that it cannot be hacked by anyone else.

CONCLUSION

It has been concluded that point of scale system has many advantages such as it makes the business activities more efficient an the disadvantages associated is the security risk of all the information related to it. Also the importance of this system has been acknowledged which helps every business to take proper decisions. There are many benefits of the centralised data base system as it provides one destination to every file for storing, maintaining and accessing. Also local area network is the best option for telecommunication for this system as it is more secure and requires wireless medium which are easy to integrate and has high conveniences. Also there are many risk which are associated with it such as security, confidentiality and privacy.

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