A buzzer sounds an acoustic signal after printing and draws attention to a new ticket – useful at noisy stations such as the kitchen or bar, where a ticket would otherwise be missed. It has no interface of its own: the buzzer is plugged into the drawer connector of the receipt printer and triggered by the same pulse that would otherwise open the cash drawer.
Connection
-
The buzzer cable goes into the drawer socket of the receipt printer – usually labelled DK, Drawer or Cash Drawer.
-
The buzzer needs no power supply of its own.
-
Not every printer has this connector. On devices with a built-in printer it is present or absent depending on the model.
Buzzer or cash drawer – not both at once. The printer has only one connector for this and can serve only one of the two. In practice this is rarely a problem: the buzzer sits on the kitchen and bar printers, the drawer on the invoice printer. See Cash Drawer on the Receipt Printer.
Epson: switch off the printer's buzzer function
Epson receipt printers come with a buzzer function of their own (Buzzer Control). When it is switched on, the printer occupies the drawer connector for that function. An externally connected buzzer then stays silent, and a cash drawer can no longer be opened either.
For an externally connected buzzer, Buzzer Control on the Epson printer must be switched off. Only then does the connector work as a plain pulse output.
This is configured with the Epson utility on a PC or directly on the printer in software setting mode. See Epson Receipt Printer.
The Epson accessory OT-BZ20 is an exception. It is not a passive buzzer but is driven by the printer's buzzer function – for it, Buzzer Control has to be switched on. A cash drawer can then no longer be operated on that printer.
Troubleshooting
The buzzer stays silent on every printer. Then the buzzer itself or its cable is usually at fault. Test it on another printer or swap it for a unit known to work.
It beeps, but the cash drawer no longer opens. Both at once is not possible on the same connector.
The ticket prints but nothing beeps. Check the hardware first: is the buzzer plugged into the drawer socket? On an Epson, is Buzzer Control switched off? If both are in order, the activation in the product is missing – see below.
Activating the buzzer
Whether and where the buzzer is switched on depends on the bessa product in use. In bessa Kassa this is done per printer role or printing group – see Printer Settings.