5 KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL PAYMENT TERMINAL DEPLOYMENT PROJECT

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How can you make your next payment terminal rollout as smooth as possible? Read these 5 keys to a successful payment terminal deployment, as complied by George Westrup, POSDATA’s VP of Operations.

1. BUDGETING

A solid budget will give all the stakeholders in your project a clear picture of what successful completion of your deployment will require–in terms of both time and money. Some costs with the deployment are known, like the cost for each new terminal. Just be sure to account for any indirect expenses as well. These will be things such as shipping fees, terminal mounts, cables, power supplies, out-of-box terminal failures and support. Setting a realistic budget will help minimize surprises later and will provide for a successful deployment!

 

2. TIMELINE

Deployments happen across multiple locations and involving multiple companies. Covering all the necessary timeframes including the shipping/receiving times, product lead-times, configuration, kitting and testing is critical to getting the job done right and on time. Plan well ahead of time to make sure all expected and unexpected delays are factored into the timeline. Create a written deployment schedule that includes the data on each site and the expected shipment and delivery dates. POSDATA has tremendous experience in this and can help you set a realistic plan in place.

 

3. TESTING

All successful deployments depend on a complete testing of the entire process in a couple of stages. The first being the development processes where a few devices are configured and tested to ensure all the software, encryption keys and configurations work correctly in a controlled environment. Second is to plan on doing a controlled pilot location rollout to a limited number of sites. This is done to ensure that all work done on your rollout meets the necessary standards. Once the proof of concept is proven at the pilot locations you are ready for the full deployment.

 

4. DEPLOYMENT

Once your testing is completed and everything else is in place you will be ready to start the deployment. The deployment experts on the POSDATA operations team will work to complete receiving all the hardware. Once that is done, we will start to configure and kit the equipment per location. All your product will be packaged for shipment and shipped per the planned deployment schedule to arrive on time to each location. Your team members at the locations will then properly receive, check, prep and install all your new equipment. You need someone on your team who’s familiar with all the relevant information in each area your team will be working in. Once all equipment has been deployed and installed be sure to follow up with POSDATA on all the after-deployment service options available to you.

 

5. LESSONS LEARNED

This will not be your last deployment and you should take time after it is completed to document what went right, and any issues encountered along the way. These details will help you prepare for your next deployment and will help to avoid or minimize known issues.