Payment Reminder in Self-Service Mode

In self-service mode, a guest holds their card to the terminal and walks off — often before the terminal asks for a PIN. The payment stays open, eventually gets cancelled, and the goods go unpaid. As of version 6.2.0, a Sales Point in kiosk mode therefore plays an announcement reminding the guest to complete the payment at the terminal for as long as it is open. The reminder is on as delivered; in bessa Manager you can turn it off or change how often it repeats.

What the guest hears and sees

As soon as the guest pays and the Sales Point addresses the terminal, the reminder starts:

1. Right at the start of the payment the Sales Point plays the first announcement.

2. After every further interval another one follows — by default after 20, 40, 60 seconds and so on.

3. From the second announcement on, the notice in the payment dialog asking the guest to follow the instructions on the card terminal is highlighted in yellow and pulses briefly with each announcement.

4. When the payment ends, the reminder stops at once — whether the payment was approved, declined, cancelled, timed out or failed with an error. An announcement that is playing is cut off.

The announcement asks in general terms to complete the payment at the terminal. It deliberately does not mention a PIN, because the Sales Point does not know what the terminal is asking for at that moment.

What the reminder applies to

• Every payment terminal alike: card and cash payment terminals get the same reminder, regardless of provider. There is no setting per terminal.

• Kiosk mode only: if the same Sales Point is staffed, it stays silent.

• Per Sales Point: the setting belongs to the Sales Point. A Sub-Terminal in kiosk mode follows its own setting, not that of its Main Sales Point.

Setting up the reminder

Without a setting of its own, the reminder is on and repeats every 20 seconds. You change this in bessa Manager on the Sales Point in question:

1. Open Location Management → Sales Points and edit the Sales Point you want, see Sales Points.

2. In the kiosk settings, find the Payment reminder switch.

   • Switch off: the Sales Point plays no announcement in kiosk mode and does not highlight the notice.

   • Switch on: enter the interval in seconds next to it, i.e. the time between two announcements. Only whole numbers greater than zero are allowed.

3. Save.

Choosing the right interval

The first announcement always plays straight away; the interval only decides how often it repeats.

• Shorter than 20 seconds reaches guests who are already turning away, but quickly feels intrusive during a payment that is going normally.

• Longer is more pleasant, but the second announcement may come only after the guest has left.

• Longer than the terminal's waiting time means it stays at the first announcement, because the payment is cancelled before the second one.

The terminal's waiting time still applies

The reminder does not extend a payment. The terminal and the Sales Point still wait for a result only as long as they did before. When that waiting time runs out, the Sales Point cancels the payment and the reminder stops with it.

This is intended: the waiting time makes sure a kiosk does not get stuck in a payment that nobody will complete any more — because the guest has left, for instance. The reminder is meant to bring the guest back within that time, not to stretch it. If a payment stays open despite the reminder, it ends just as it did before version 6.2.0.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change the wording of the announcement or upload my own recording? No. The announcement is a fixed recording in German and English.

Why can the announcement be heard although the kiosk is muted? It plays on the alarm channel, not at media volume. If the kiosk should be quiet, turn the reminder off in bessa Manager or lower the device's alarm volume.

Does the announcement play at a staffed Sales Point too? No. The reminder is tied to kiosk mode.

Does this also apply to the bessa Gastro Kiosk? No. The payment reminder concerns the Sales Point running in its own kiosk mode. For the difference between the two, see Term: Self-Service Mode.

Does the Sales Point detect that the terminal is waiting for the PIN? No. Most terminals do not report that intermediate state. The reminder is therefore time-based and runs as long as the payment is open.

Troubleshooting

No announcement plays. Check that the Sales Point runs in kiosk mode, that the payment reminder is on for this Sales Point, and that the device's alarm volume is above zero. The Sales Point needs version 6.2.0 or later.

Only one announcement plays. Then the payment ends before the first interval, either because the guest completed it or because the terminal's waiting time is shorter than the interval. Shorten the interval if payments mostly end by timing out.

The notice is not highlighted in yellow. The highlight only starts with the second announcement and exists only in the dialog for card payment terminals. Cash payment terminals and terminals that run as a separate app get the announcement only.

The announcement keeps playing although the payment is done. That should not happen. Note the time, Sales Point and terminal and contact Support.

Related topics

• Sales Points — editing the Sales Point in bessa Manager

• Payouts in Self-Service Mode

• Term: Self-Service Mode

• SoftPOS in Kiosk Mode

• Failed Card Payment and Automatic Void

• Payment Terminals