Government Department Streamlines POS System Across 200 Offices

The 219 field offices of the Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) were using a hodgepodge of receipt printers and cash drawers. Years of ad hoc peripheral purchases and installations had resulted in many brands of printers and cash drawers working in varying degrees of harmony with department and state operating systems and applications. To get every office working together, ODPS reviewed how and where each printer and cash drawer were used, what shortcomings they had, and what needs the users were likely to face as the department grew and updated their systems. After the study was completed, ODPS looked to integrator Resource One (Columbus, OH) for assistance.

Since this was its first venture into the world of POS peripherals, Resource One Account Manager Heather Bapst turned to the POS experts at distributor BlueStar Inc. for help to make the appropriate choices. BlueStar Account Manager Bart Burke reviewed the requirements and suggested off-the-shelf products could be used. A call to Sales Manager Don Young at MMF Cash Drawer Company (Wheeling, IL) quickly resulted in the field testing of 20 MMF MediaPLUS cash drawers. A 17.5- by 18-inch model was selected in order to match as closely as possible the footprint requirements. The interior dimension requirements, including media capacity, accessibility, and security, were also addressed by the MediaPLUS drawers. After the field testing proved successful, an initial order for 867 cash drawers and Epson TMH6000 printers was placed and scheduled for a quick five-month rollout that started in January 2003.