SAM Store Portal Suite
A T S A M G R O U P , we provide fast and flexible point-of-sale systems, customized to fit your needs and
backed by a team of technology professionals you can count on.
We offer the very best hardware, software and support for your retail POS applications, from IBM 4690 Remote
Management Tools, to troubleshooting and improving help desk issues and IT efficiency. Our services include system
integration, software development, staging, installation and training.
Most of all, we listen to you. We build systems according to your needs, and we don’t waste resources on speculative R&D. In fact, according to
an IBM Customer Satisfaction Survey, our average Customer Satisfaction Rating is an unparalleled 97%, compared to the industry standard of
82%. We have extensive, hands-on knowledge of retail environments, especially supermarkets. Our team brings that unique insight to the table to
customize innovative, big-picture solutions for your operation.
SA M S TO R E P O R TA L S U ITE OV E RV I E W
The SAM Store Portal Suite is a set of Windows-based products designed to operate on your current WAN infrastructure. These applications
represent a real-time online link for executive and support personnel into the IBM 4690 SA, GSA, CSA, and SUREPOS ACE applications.
The SAM Store Portal Suite consists of customer-driven products that are fully configurable based on your specific business requirements. The
SAM Store Portal Suite is designed with efficiency and simplicity at the forefront, utilizing today’s technology to streamline previously cumbersome
tasks. This product is truly unique. All of this system information is now available in real time on your desktop—only one click away.
HOW IT WORKS
The application that collects the data from your store
systems is a background task that resides on your 4690
Store Controllers. It collects information at intervals
you set and delivers the data to the Store Information
Server (SIS) at your headquarters. This server can be
any Windows-based PC that has access to all store
controllers on your WAN. The information collected on
the SIS mirrors the accounting information as it exists
in your IBM POS application. In addition, the SIS can
archive this information for as long as you want to
keep it. This allows a user to see current or previous
information, and users can easily access information
from any day in the data archive.
The data engine of the SAM Store Portal can consolidate
data from other systems, both within the store and the
enterprise, to create a custom reporting system that
goes beyond the information stored in your POS. The
Portal can also export information to a data warehouse
or database that has the ability to import XML data.
There are two client application modules to the SAM
Store Portal Suite that access the data stored on the
SIS: the SAM Store Portal Health Explorer, a tool to
proactively manage your IBM POS systems
remotely, and the SAM Store Portal Sales Explorer, an application
that provides store sales information, cashier information, loss
prevention information and transaction detail information when
and where it is needed. These client applications can be on any
Windows PC or server anywhere in your enterprise. User login
controls data access—you decide who has access and what they
are able to see.
SAM Store Portal Suite (continued)
SA M S TO R E P O R TA L H E A LTH E X PLO R E R™
The SAM Health Explorer can monitor your store controllers, applications, POS terminals and even the peripherals attached to the POS.
R E A L T I M E H E A LT H I N F O R M AT I O N
•Controller hardware errors
SAM Health Explorer can dramatically improve the effectiveness
• Terminal hardware errors
of your help desk. With Health Explorer, a help desk or corporate
• Monitor whether or not a store close has been performed
office can monitor alarms from the stores in the enterprise in a timely
based on user-defined thresholds
fashion, helping prevent down time during critical times of operation.
• Monitor EFT status within your stores of EPS link status,
check floor verification limit
CONTROLLER MONITORING
• Disk space available on CC and DD controllers
• 4690 OS Level
• 4690 SA, GSA, CSA, SUREPOS ACE Level
• Report back controller model numbers and serial numbers
• LAN status of CC and DD controllers
TERMINAL MONITORING
You choose how you want to organize your stores in the store
• Time of “last active status” of a terminal
selection tree. We work with you to define the thresholds for your
• Number of transactions on a terminal
alerts. The SAM Health Explorer displays a red status when any of
the alert thresholds are met by an event on the POS system. Events
• Time of last transaction on a terminal
notification occurs within 60 seconds of occurrence in the store.
• Number of times a terminal has been reloaded, and time and
• Instant email notification for critical health alerts sent to PC, date of last terminal reload
pager or handheld device facilitates quick response to high • Number of times options have been reloaded on the terminal,
priority issues.
and time and date of the last terminal options reload
• View and filter alarm information by status, store, severity, • Report terminal model numbers and serial numbers
name, description or time, providing clarity when it’s most critical.
• Report PIN pad status
• Telnet into the stores directly from the Health Explorer to
• Is the PIN pad on the terminal active?
specific problem stores and open multiple windows to
facilitate quick resolution, saving time and providing easy
access to critical data.
• When was the last communication from the PIN pad?
• Automatic Problem Correction. The Portal automatically attempts
to correct certain problems before user interaction is required,
A P P L I C AT I O N M O N I T O R I N G
saving time on unnecessary calls.
• Background applications running in your stores today
(checkout support, EFT link)
•System messages
Once you have identified an issue, you can take action immediately and practice proactive systems management to head off
problems before they impact customer service.
SAM Store Portal Suite (continued)
SA M S TO R E P O R TA L CO M M A N D W I Z A R D™
The Command Wizard is an extension of the SAM Store Portal Health Explorer. It is designed to allow users to execute commands on the 4690
Store System from a familiar Windows environment on your current WAN infrastructure.
AVAIL ABLE COMMANDS
USER SECURITY
• Increment or decrement the time on the 4690 by one hour. This • The SAM Command Wizard has built-in security features that could be used to manage stores in a Daylight Saving time zone.
allow an administrator to completely control the users, stores and commands.
• Stop or start any background application.
• Verify that all controllers are communicating by retrieving a list of active controllers on the network.
• All commands can be easily categorized as an administrator level command or an operator level command.
• All users can be easily categorized into the following categories:
• Get a list of configured controllers on the network.
• Administrator: can execute all commands in all stores.
• Retrieve disk free space on any, or both, controllers.
• Power User: can execute all commands in a single store.
• Reboot any, or both, 4690 controllers on the network.
• Operator: can execute operator level commands in a single store.
• Force a terminal sign off.
• Guest: none.
• Power off a terminal.
• Reboot all terminals.
• Execute and retrieve a performance trace. This will help determine if the system is being overworked.
O T H E R F E AT U R E S
• Users can select a starting date and time for the command.
• Users can control how many times a command can be retried if • Users can select an expiration date for the command if it doesn’t the first attempt fails.
get scheduled or executed by a selected time.
• Users can control the number of minutes between each
retry attempt.
Pick from the
list of commands.
Pick a start date
and an end date.
Pick a store or
group of stores.
Review the
command summary.
SAM Store Portal Suite (continued)
SA M S TO R E P O R TA L S A LE S E X PLO R E R™
The Data Engine for the Sales Explorer reads almost any file on the 4690 System. If you run 4690 SA, GSA, CSA, or SUREPOS ACE, the Sales
Explorer extracts the information from the stores, converts to XML, and delivers the data to a Windows platform server at host. Information on
store sales, cashier productivity, cashier loss prevention and cashier exception history is available to authorized users on demand.
REAL TIME STORE SALES REPORTING
• Report gross sales, item sales count, voids, refunds, discounts, store coupons
• Report all department sales information
• Track item movement on any item with a UPC in the stores (drinks, meats, coupons, etc.)
• Report EFT credit and debit information such as online approval count, SAF approval count, etc.
T R A N S F O R M I N G D ATA I N T O AC T I O N A B L E I N F O R M AT I O N
Formulas are defined and customized for your unique requirements that will not only report sales information by cashier but also have exception
thresholds to pinpoint areas of concern.
• Cashier Productivity Reporting
• Cashier Loss Prevention
– Cashiers with a scan percentage below 80%
– No-sale counts
– 20% of cashiers with the lowest items per minute
– Voids as % of sales
– 20% of cashiers with the lowest customers per hour
– Transaction voids
– Report the over/short for all cashiers
– Department sales exceptions
– Any other criteria you want to track
– Any other criteria you want to track
SAM Store Portal Suite (continued)
SA M S TO R E P O R TA L CAS H I E R P O I NT S
Cashier Points is a powerful loss prevention tool that provides early visibility to potential patterns of behavior to alert your loss prevention staff
to further action. Cashiers are flagged daily for exceeding any exceptions that have been configured. For instance, if a cashier exceeds the total
number of voids for a transaction or a total void amount for the day, that cashier would receive a point for violating that exception. Over time, the
accumulation of points for a cashier could indicate a training or theft issue. Point totals can be viewed across the enterprise by store to identify
problem stores or by cashier to identify the lowest performing cashiers.
REPORT CASHIER POINTS BASED UPON:
• Daily and weekly points by store
• Exception points by store
• Daily and weekly points by cashier
• Exception view by cashier with history
U S A B I L I T Y A N D F L E X I B I L I T Y B U I LT I N
• Drag and drop columns to desired positions
• Click on column heading to sort
• Export data into excel spreadsheets with a single mouse click, or print
“as displayed” in the Sales Explorer client view
SA M S TO R E P O R TA L E N H A N C E D R E P O R T S
This reporting module enables consolidation of data from other sources with POS data, presented in a meaningful view for associates. This
powerful tool provides timely information that can have measurable impacts on performance to store associates and management. Reports
can combine information from multiple sources of data, and include the ability to create new calculations and creation of new actionable
information to be reported. For example, you could combine current sales information from POS, with last year’s information from a database
at headquarters, with current labor scheduling data from the labor scheduling
application in the store, with actual hours from the time and attendance
system, to create a comprehensive view of store sales labor. This report can
be viewed at the store level, district level, division level and companywide
views so action can be taken quickly to manage labor costs.
The example to the right shows a sample of a report showing “This Week,”
“Last Week,” and “Last Year” information. This Week and Last Week come
from the POS. Last Year comes from a database at headquarters, and the
variance columns are calculated and reported by Sales Explorer. The This
Week data can be updated as the sales are happening in the store at the
refresh intervals you select. This is only one example. You have the flexibility
to create views from any data sources in your enterprise.
SAM Store Portal Suite (continued)
SA M S TO R E P O R TA L TR A N SAC TI O N D E TA I L
The SAM Store Portal Transaction Detail module is a tool that allows you to view and query T-LOG transactions in an efficient and meaningful way.
Each item is displayed with its UPC number. Keyed items are identified, and transaction lines that contain exception items are highlighted. This
tool provides a more complete and easy-to-use way to view T-LOGs on a PC. You will never have to load a T-LOG from a store system or a lab
systems ever again. How much data, when to pull it, and how long to keep it is totally up to you.
TR ANSACTION WIZ ARD
TR ANSACTION VIEW
The Transaction Wizard starts with a click on the
Transaction View tab in Sales Explorer. The Transaction
Wizard takes you through the steps of selecting the store or
stores whose T-LOG information you want to view. This can
be any store or stores, a group of stores, or even all stores.
Next, select your starting date and ending date. Then
select your search criteria or just click Next to select all.
This screen can be designed to display any search criteria
you choose. This is one example of how it could look.
Once you make your selections, they are summarized in
the final screen of the Transaction Wizard. When you click
on Finish, the wizard will go get the data you requested
and display the screen on the next page.
The Transaction view screen will list your transactions in the bottom window.
The Transaction window will display the details of the transaction you highlight.
This screen contains a summary of the transaction as well as line item details
that include flag (tax, FS, other), how the item was entered, UPC code, Item
descriptions, other info (keyed) and amount. Tender lines are highlighted in
green. Transactions can be sorted by any of the column headings and can be
dragged to the grey box to group them in any sequence.
Click on any transaction to display it in the transaction window. Press F8 to
advance to the next transaction. Exception items are highlighted in yellow.
More serious exceptions and overrides are highlighted in red. At systems setup time, we work with you to define how these indications should be arranged
to best meet your needs. You can also print the transaction that is currently in
the transaction window.
TR ANSACTION SEARCH
Another powerful capability of Transaction Detail is the ability to do a text search on the T-LOG. To access transaction search, click on the view tab
and select transaction search, or press Ctrl F. The search window appears (as depicted above) and you can enter any text that you want to use to
search the T-LOG. In the example, the word “override” was entered in the text search and the first transaction in the T-LOG with this word in it was
displayed. To go to the next transaction that meets this search criteria, press F8.
LEARN MORE
For more information on the SAM Audit Explorer
or any other SAM Group products and services
please contact:
SAM Group, Inc.
Marc Lynn
4556 Allen Park Path
Vice President Sales
Suwanee, Ga. 30024
samgroup.com
Office: 864.286.7803
Cell: 404.915.5736
Fax: 864.286.6449
[email protected]