How to Handle an Internet Outage and Run in Offline Mode
Updated 5 months ago
This lesson cover's everyone's favorite thing... no internet. Good news Toast handles this well and you have a cellular backup so it should be very rare.
Offline Mode in Toast
Should your internet go down, your POS will continue to function. However, there are some important things to know and steps to take to ensure that you do not lose credit card authorizations.
STEP ONE: Please let someone know by opening a support ticket.
How will I know if I'm in Offline Mode?
If your tablets are in offline mode you will know based on an alert that will pop up on each terminal.
If you click on the alert you can also get additional information.
How do credit card payments work in offline mode?
Good News! you don't have much to do if your device is in Offline Mode, you can still process credit cards. Toast comes automatically configured to queue credit cards in the background. Toast will take the card's information, encrypt it, and store it to send out for verification when the device is back online.
What else should I know?
1. Do not close the toast app, you will not be able to log back into the app...
2. Do not shut the device off, you will not be able to log back into the app...
3. Do not clock in/out on separate devices. Each employee needs to choose ONE device to work from, this includes clocking in/out and entering orders.
All phone calls for To-Go orders should be handed to the Cashier on duty to enter in at the Cash terminal during an outage.
4. Gift Cards will not work in offline mode.
5. You will not be able to change customers on tickets or run shift review in offline mode.
This includes being unable to add Customers to To-Go orders during an outage. You'll need to take the order and ask the guest what they ordered when they arrive.
3. Please contact Hideaway Pizza Support as soon as possible so that we can help get your internet working.
4. Do not Auto-Capture Payments (Batching)
Auto-Capturing Payments is a process that occurs automatically overnight through Toast. The credit card payments authorized throughout the day are captured into a batch to be processed. Once this process occurs, the payments cannot be updated with tips or otherwise adjusted in any way. If you are in Offline Mode, it's important to contact Support so that we can disable auto-capture temporarily until your connection is regained. If you are nearing the end of service or your Offline Mode/Status is not resolved before close, we want to ensure that we do not capture your payments until you've had the time to properly update them. This will ensure that if you have no entered credit card tips, you will be able to do so when your services are restored and not lose the ability to get those tips.
Server Checkouts and Reports
When offline your Toast system will not allow you to run server checkouts or run reports. If you are offline during shift change or at close you will need to manually reconcile your servers.