When Terminal Status Alerts are enabled in your Retail POS account, real-time alerts appear on the Sell screen during a transaction to let you know if your payment terminal is experiencing connectivity or low battery issues. Basic troubleshooting steps are included to help cashiers better manage potential issues as they arise.

Terminal Status Alerts will only be visible when Retail POS detects certain issues with the payment terminal. The absence of these alerts does not guarantee network stability or full device functionality. Contact your network administrator or ISP for persistent connectivity issues.

Understanding Terminal Status Alerts

If Retail POS detects an issue with your payment terminal, you may see one of these statuses on the Sell screen:

• Terminal is busy: Payment terminal is connected, but is currently in the process of booting up or processing a previous transaction.
• Terminal has weak internet connection: Payment terminal is having trouble connecting to the local network.
• Terminal is offline: Payment terminal is unable to connect to the local network.
• Terminal battery is low: Payment terminal is connected, but the battery is under 5% and needs to be charged to maintain connectivity.

If you have multiple active payment terminals connected to the register, the alerts will indicate the name of the terminal experiencing an issue.

Viewing Terminal Status Alerts at the register

Terminal Status Alerts help your cashiers know if a payment terminal is ready to process a sale and steps to take if the device is experiencing connectivity issues.

Here’s how Terminal Status Alerts work at the register:

1. Cashier starts a sale and adds items to the cart.

2. Retail POS tries to establish a connection with the payment terminal. If there is a delay or low battery is detected, an alert banner will appear at the top of the screen.

   

3. If the Pay button is clicked and Lightspeed Payments is selected as the payment type, a pop-up will appear with more information.

   

4. Cashier can follow the basic troubleshooting steps to try and resolve the issue, then click Close (Terminal is busy and Terminal is offline alerts) or Attempt anyway (Terminal has weak internet connection and Terminal battery is low alerts) to try again.

5. Retail POS will try to establish a connection with the payment terminal.

   

6. If the issue can’t be resolved right away, Cashier has the option to Enter card details manually.

7. If the payment times out, the transaction will be cancelled. Cashier can Choose a different payment method or Retry to continue.

   

Resolving payment terminal connectivity issues

If Retail POS is having trouble establishing a connection with the payment terminal, a Terminal Status Alert will be visible at the top of the Sell screen.

Clicking Pay > Lightspeed Payments will load a pop-up with additional information and the option to enter card details manually, if needed.

Terminal is busy

To resolve a Terminal is busy issue:

1. Wait for the terminal to fully boot up or finalize the other transaction. When the terminal is ready to process payments, the Terminal is busy alert will no longer be visible at the top of the Sell screen.
2. If the alert pop-up is open, click Attempt anyway.

3. Click Pay > Lightspeed Payments to process the payment.

   

Terminal has weak internet connection

To resolve a Terminal has weak internet connection issue:

1. Move the terminal closer to your router.
2. Reduce network load by disconnecting other internet-connected devices or streaming services.
3. Verify that your internet connection is stable. If not, you may need to reboot your router, connect via Ethernet, or try connecting to a different (secure) network.
4. If the alert pop-up is open, click Attempt anyway or click the X to close.
5. When the network connection is successfully established, the Terminal has weak internet connection alert will no longer be visible at the top of the Sell screen. Click Pay > Lightspeed Payments to process the payment.

If you’re experiencing repeated connection issues, ensure you’re following networking best practices to optimize your setup.

Terminal is offline

To resolve a Terminal is offline issue:

1. Make sure your terminal is turned on with visible power indicator lights and all cords and plugs are securely connected and not damaged.
2. Check that your Retail POS and Lightspeed Payment devices are on the same network. If you have a dedicated network for Lightspeed devices, make sure your Lightspeed-enabled devices are connected and no other devices or services are on the network.
3. Power cycle your devices if needed.
4. Verify that your internet connection is stable. If not, you may need to reboot your router, connect via Ethernet, or try connecting to a different (secure) network.
5. If the alert pop-up is open, click Attempt anyway.
6. When the network connection is successfully established, the Terminal is offline alert will no longer be visible at the top of the Sell screen. Click Pay > Lightspeed Payments to process the payment.

Terminal battery is low

To resolve a Terminal battery is low issue:

1. To avoid payment interruption, put the terminal back in its charging dock immediately. Make sure the dock is plugged in and the charging light indicator is illuminated or the charging icon is visible on-screen when the terminal is docked.
2. If you believe there’s enough battery to process the payment, click Attempt anyway.
3. When the network connection is successfully established, the Terminal battery is low alert will no longer be visible at the top of the Sell screen. Click Pay > Lightspeed Payments to process the payment.

Finalizing a sale without the terminal

If you’re unable to troubleshoot an issue right away, you have the option to manually enter the card details to finalize the transaction.

1. Click Pay > Lightspeed Payments.

2. In the alert pop-up, click the Enter card details manually tab.

   

3. Enter the card details.
4. Click Process payment.

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