POS: emergency mode without internet (add-on)

If the internet fails or the server does not answer, the VidiPOS app carries on in emergency mode: you order, send to kitchen and bar and check out with cash or “Card (external)”. The bookings stay on the device and are sent to the server automatically as soon as the connection is back. This chapter explains how to recognise emergency mode, what works, what does not and what to do afterwards. Using the app itself is described in Using the till, the set-up in the back office in POS: registers, devices & journal.

Contents

• How to recognise emergency mode
• What works in emergency mode
• What does not work
• Signing in without internet
• Several devices at once
• Printer gone or router off
• Connect within 72 hours
• When the connection is back
• Z closing after emergency mode
• Outage report in the back office
• What the business documents
• Whom to call?

How to recognise emergency mode

At the top of the table plan, the order pad and the check-out screen a banner appears:

• “Emergency mode — receipts are finished provisionally and sent later” (with “as of <time>”): the device may check out without internet.
• “No connection — orders are saved, settling only once back online”: this device may not check out offline (“Offline allowed” is off for it in the back office, or it has no device number yet). Ordering and sending go on; check out on another device or once the connection is back.

As long as nothing waits to be sent, the app only shows “Offline — as of …” for the item catalogue. Menu ⋮ → “Settings” → “Device” shows “Emergency mode allowed: yes/no”, and “Queue” shows how many transactions are not sent yet.

What works in emergency mode

• Ordering as usual — with options, notes and courses. The item catalogue is the state of the last connection.
• Sending: the production ticket prints over the local network (LAN/Wi-Fi) at the station — no internet needed.
• Checking out with “Cash” and “Card (external)” (payment on a terminal that has its own connection, e.g. mobile data), split too, with discount and tip.
• Till receipt on the receipt printer in the local network. It is provisional: the app shows “Provisional — not yet confirmed by the server (emergency mode)”, the receipt says “provisional — not yet confirmed by the server” and, instead of the TSE data, “TSE not available” with the cause “the register ran without internet (emergency operation)” — this makes the outage visible on the receipt.
• Receipt numbers: offline every device hands out its own numbers in the form <register>-<device>-<no.>, for example VP-12-1-2-15 for the 15th emergency receipt of device 2. This way the numbers of several devices never overlap. Online, <register>-<no.> applies again.
• Switching operator and signing in — within the limits in the next section.
• Archive with this device’s receipts (status “provisional”).

What does not work

• Card terminal: the tile shows “No connection — use card (external)”.
• Checking and redeeming vouchers (“Checking a voucher needs a connection”).
• Remote approvals by the shift lead. Have the shift lead sign in on the device instead (“Switch operator”) — they then book with their own permissions.
• Voiding receipts in the archive, releasing tables, receipt by e-mail, the QR code of the digital receipt.
• Cash book, X report and Z closing (“Only possible with a connection to the server.”).
• Open back office, “Send now” and syncing with other devices: orders another device books offline at the same table only show up after the connection returns.

Signing in without internet

Without a connection the device checks the PIN itself; when you tap the tile it says “Emergency sign-in: no connection to the server — the PIN is checked on this device”. Limits apply:

• Signed in online once: every operator signs in online at least once on every device so that they can work there in emergency mode. Otherwise their tile shows “Online only — sign in online once”.
• 14 days: this operator’s last online sign-in on this device must be no more than 14 days ago.
• Lock after wrong attempts: after five wrong PINs the operator is locked on this device — first for one minute, longer after further wrong attempts, at most 15 minutes. Offline nobody can lift the lock; wait for the time shown.
• Session until the business day changes: an offline sign-in ends at the register’s business day change (e.g. 05:00) at the latest and as soon as the connection is back. Then sign in again. As online, it also ends after the register’s idle time (15 minutes by default) and when the app goes to the background; signing in with the PIN on the device works again afterwards.
• If an operator is locked, deactivated or given a new PIN in the back office, this applies on the device from the next connection.

Several devices at once

All devices of a register with “Offline allowed” may check out in emergency mode at the same time. Every device counts its own emergency receipts (the device number is part of the receipt number), so there are no duplicate numbers. Because the devices cannot sync without internet: serve a table on one device only while emergency mode lasts — the other devices see its new positions only after the connection returns. A table opened on another device before the outage is served and settled there.

Printer gone or router off

• Only the internet is down (router running, printer reachable in the local network): till receipts and production tickets print as usual.
• Printer not reachable: the receipt is finished anyway, nothing is lost. Check paper, power and network cable, then “Print again”; production tickets likewise with “Print again”. Online, the app shows the QR code of the digital receipt instead.
• Router off (no internet and no local network): the app keeps booking but prints nothing. Tell kitchen and bar the orders by word of mouth and discard the unprinted production ticket only afterwards. Print the till receipt once the router is running again, with “Print again” while the receipt is still shown; otherwise, once the connection is back, in the archive with “Print copy” (marked as a copy) — then the QR code and “Receipt by e-mail” are available too. Try restarting the router first.

Connect within 72 hours

Connect the device by then at the latest — via a phone hotspot if need be. An emergency closing sent later is refused: the transaction then shows as halted (cause “Error code TIME_INVALID”); its positions and payments booked on the server are kept, but the receipt has to be finished again with “Discard the refused step and settle again” — with a new receipt number and in the current business day. The provisional receipt already handed out then no longer matches the journal. In this case contact support.

When the connection is back

1. The banner disappears. An offline sign-in ends as soon as no check-out screen is open: sign in again with your PIN — online this time.
2. The app transfers all stored bookings automatically, in order. Under menu ⋮ → “Settings” → “Sync” the “Waiting (not sent yet)” count goes down; “Send now” starts it immediately.
3. Nothing is booked twice: every booking carries a unique ID; if it arrives twice, the server recognises it.
4. In the archive the receipts change from “provisional” to “finished”. The transactions appear in the journal with “register in emergency mode (offline)”; they are not signed afterwards.
5. If “Sync” shows “Refused (halted)”, the shift lead resolves it with “Resolve” (see Halted transactions).

Z closing after emergency mode

The Z closing needs a connection and only succeeds once all devices of the register have transferred their bookings and no operator is signed in on another device. Otherwise the app shows “Still on shift” with device, operator and unsent rows. Switch those devices on, connect them to the network and sign the operators out. Confirm only a device that really is lost or broken with “Confirm lost/broken” — if it books later after all, the bookings land in the next open business day as “delivered offline later”. The business day stays open until the Z is made; emergency receipts belong to the open day the device knows from its last connection. Details: Z only once all devices are off shift.

If a lost device still holds an open order, it holds up the Z as well. Once the device has not reported for 15 minutes or is blocked, the shift lead aborts it in the list Open transactions with a reason (such as “Device lost”). If the device reports back later after all, the register no longer accepts its bookings for this order; the device shows them as “not taken over”.

Outage report in the back office

VidiPOS logs every emergency mode automatically. Under POS → Closings → Outages the owner sees per outage the start, end, duration, cause (“internet/emergency mode”, TSE, server), the last successful signature, the number of transactions concerned and the reporting device — with CSV export. The Z detail shows the outages of its business day. More in “Outages” report.

What the business documents

Under the German application decree to the Fiscal Code (AEAO on § 146a no. 1.14) an outage must be documented, made visible on the receipt and its cause remedied without delay. VidiPOS takes care of the outage log and the note on the receipt. In addition, briefly note what you did — e.g. “restarted router”, “reported fault to the internet provider, ticket no. …”, “informed support” — with date and time, and keep the note with the day’s records. This is practical guidance, not legal or tax advice; if in doubt, ask your tax adviser.

Whom to call?

1. First help yourself: check or restart router and printer, restart the device (it loses nothing).
2. Then the owner of the business.
3. If that does not help, VidiPOS support — the contact details are on the contact page and on the fault card VidiPOS gives you to put up at the counter.