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Health Check Your Hardware

Alice Newton
Alice Newton
  • Updated

If it's been a while since you opened your doors to the public, it's important to make sure a few elements of your ticketing setup are up to date and working smoothly. Below are some key bullet points to help you health check your hardware, making sure you're ready to take card payments in person, and print and scan tickets.

 

Computers and browsers

If your computers haven't been switched on for a while, you'll want to start by making sure Windows is up to date. You can check for updates by hitting the Windows button to open the Start menu and typing Windows Updates.

You'll also want to check you're using the most up-to-date version of your internet browser  – the steps to do this will vary by browser, so look online for guidance.

 

The Spektrix Box Office App

  • Check the Box Office App is working on each computer that needs to connect to a printer or a Chip and PIN machine. Understanding and Installing the Spektrix Box Office App details all the steps you need to do this
  • Check the App has updated to the latest version automatically. Right click on the App in the taskbar – if it has a version number lower than 2.4, there has been an issue upgrading it to the latest version:

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  • If your App isn't on the latest version, you may need to ask your IT department for help, as the connection to the App may be blocked by an external firewall. Our article on How to Access Spektrix has all the firewall exceptions your IT team will need
  • If your App isn't connected and appearing green in the Windows taskbar, follow the steps in our Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App

Ticket printers

  • Test your printers, by printing an address slip or other document from Spektrix.
  • If this doesn't work, try printing a test ticket directly from the printer
    • Hint the Windows key to open the Start Menu, type Control Panel
    • Select Devices and Printers, right-click the printer and click Properties
    • Then click Print Test Page:

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  • Understanding where the fault lies in the printer should help when it comes to troubleshooting any issues. If you can't print tickets this way, you may need to contact your IT support for help, or the printer manufacturer
  • If the printer can print from Windows, but not from Spektrix, this guide should help you get to the cause of the problem: Troubleshooting a Ticket Printer
  • Once printing a single ticket or address slip from Spektrix is working, it is worth testing a batch print of multiple orders to make sure the cutting is working as expected. 

Chip and PIN pads

  • Update your Chip and PIN software so you can take contactless payments up to the new limit
  • You can attempt a test transaction without adding any tickets or other items to your basket; this makes it easier to return any successful payment, or delete an unsuccessful payment.

NOTE: you'll need a card with which to make this test transaction!

    • Start a new transaction in the Sales Interface, then select Chip & Pin:

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    • Enter £/€0.01 as the amount to charge, then hit Ok:

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    • Use a card to take payment. If this test transaction is successful, then you can go straight to the Refunds tab and refund it, before confirming the order.
    • If the transaction is unsuccessful (for example, if you are prompted to key in the card number, rather than to insert or tap your card), you may find that a Windows Update has caused your PIN pad to not recognise the driver being used. There are steps to resolve that issue in our guide to Troubleshooting a SagePay PIN Pad

Scanners

Whether you're using scanners for the first time now, or you may be experienced scanning users, these support guides detail the common troubleshooting steps to try if you do have any issues with scanning tickets successfully, for both Saveo and Zebra scanners:

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If any of these checks identify a problem in your hardware setup that you're having trouble fixing, please contact support@spektrix.com to book in some time to look at it with a member of the Support, Training and Consultancy team.

If you’re likely to need our help, please get in touch as early as you can. We know this isn’t always in your hands, so make sure you clearly flag urgent queries and we’ll do all we can to help you in good time.