Before continuing, the instructions explained here may be of a technical nature and be best handled by an experienced computer consultant.
This article is for those businesses that are wanting to implement the installation of a cash drawer that will open automatically after each cash sale is made in ManageMore. The instructions are specifically for a wholesale operation that has a cash and carry business doing B2B sales transactions. For a typical retail store doing B2C sales, the cash drawer implementation is much easier to accomplish since the drawer connects directly to a receipt printer and does not require a serial-to-USB device for opening the drawer. If you are a retail store using ManageMore, then this article will likely not apply to you.
Our recommended configuration for a B2B operation is to skip the use of a receipt printer because it does not work effectively in a wholesale business. Most B2B sales are lengthy transactions with a large volume of products being sold. A 3″ receipt paper roll is too limited in the amount of information that is often required to print on a B2B invoice. We recommend the use of standard laser jet printer which can provide much more detail of the product description, excise taxes, SRP, business licenses, previous balance, etc.
As a result, you will need some additional hardware so that your cash drawer can connect directly to your pc (versus to a receipt printer). Please see our POS hardware recommendation page for the required purchase of a BT-100U cash drawer USB trigger box.
There are two different setup methods for configuring ManageMore with an electronic cash drawer. These instructions will assume you are running under a Windows 10/11 operating system. The exact installation method you must use will depend on whether ManageMore Business Software is installed on your local network or if ManageMore software has been installed on a cloud server. We will discuss both setup options in this article.
Installing a Cash Drawer on a Cloud Server
Most wholesalers will likely be using ManageMore over a cloud server. So, we will begin with these setup instructions.
All instructions provided will be for a pc running on a Windows 10/11 OS connecting to a cloud server that is also running the same operating system. The key to getting the cash drawer to work correctly will start with ensuring that the local pc has identified the hardware properly and assigned the device a COM port to work with.
1. Please refer to the connection diagram shown above and connect the drawer RJ11 cable to the trigger box and then connect the trigger box to an available USB port on your pc.
2. Confirm that your pc has properly identified the device and assigned it a COM port. To confirm your pc has identified the drawer, please go to the Windows Device Manager. Press the Windows Key and X key together and then highlight ‘Device Manager’ from the popup menu. Click on the Ports (COM & LPT) devices to expand the device list and you should see “Prolific PL2303GC USB Serial COM Port (COMx)” with no warning symbol. If you do see a Warning symbol on the device, then this typically means that your operating system did not find the necessary driver for the trigger box device. You will need to update your Windows OS to ensure you are on the latest release. Please make note of the COM Port number that was assigned by the Windows OS, as you may need this in a later step.
3. Open up your Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) app that you use to connect to your Cloud Server.
4. Expand on the Show Options button (lower left of RDC window) and navigate to the Local Resources tab. Go to the Local Devices and resource section, select the More Button and then select the Ports checkbox to allow your ports to be seen by the RDC session. Select OK and return back to General Tab. Choose the Save button under Connection Settings to remember this configuration each time you connect to your cloud server.
5. Login to your Cloud Server with an administrator privilege account and proceed to the Device Manager for this RDC session (Windows Key and X key together and then highlight ‘Device Manager’ from the popup menu). Again, we want to ensure that there are no warning symbols and that your cloud session is identifying a “Communications Port (COMx)” device connected to this pc. Windows will assign the drawer device an available COM port (which may not be the same as the physical COM port assigned on your local pc). Although not necessary, we typically recommend you change the port to match the same COM port given from the local pc in Step 2. This will require clicking on the Communications Port device from the list and choosing the Advanced Button within the Ports Settings Tab.
NOTE: Reassigning the COM port may not always be possible if the COM port is already taken by another device. If so, just leave the assigned COM port as-is.
6. Run your ManageMore software and go to Setup… Application… Point of Sale… Cash Drawer. Select the “Cash Drawer is connected to this station” checkbox and choose Volcora for your USB drawer Model (this is our recommended drawer… any other drawer will require you to know the cash drawer signal of the device). Select the COM port number assigned by Windows from Step 5.
7. Finally, select the “Test Cash Drawer” button and your cash drawer should open up automatically.
Installing a Cash Drawer on a Locally Installed ManageMore Computer
If the ManageMore software resides on your own local pc, then the steps to connecting the drawer are very straightforward.
Using the instructions provided above for a Cloud Server, simply do steps 1 and 2 as explained above and then skip to step 6 to complete the installation.
Troubleshooting Tips
If things are not working, there are several things that will need to be investigated. Cash drawers are considered a UART device and will be represented as a COM device when connected directly to your Windows pc. If your pc identifies a COM problem in Device Manager, then we must begin the cumbersome task of figuring out why. The Windows OS identifies COM device conflicts by showing a small warning symbol next the device driver installed when you connect your cash drawer. It will look something like this:
What does this mean? Let’s run down the most common culprits for cash drawer communication problems.
1. Update your Windows OS
It is critical that you are on the latest release of Microsoft Windows 10/11 OS. The trigger box device relies on Microsoft Windows having the latest drivers preinstalled to communicate properly. If this is a new pc, you will often have to run the Windows Update a few times to ensure that all incremental updates are downloaded and installed.
2. Manually Install the Prolific 2303GC Driver
The BT100-U trigger box uses the Prolific chipset for its Serial to USB communications with Microsoft Windows. After upgrading your Windows OS, if you are still encountering the warning symbol next to the COM device driver, then we will need to download and install the driver manually. Visit the Prolific Driver Download website directly and choose the latest Windows PL2303GC driver for your operating system. At the time of this writing, we found that certain older Prolific chipsets do not work very well. So, make sure the COM Device driver that is displayed in the Device Manager says it is using the Prolific PL2303GC driver.
NOTE: There are some other virtual Serial to USB trigger devices that utilize the Future Technology Devices International (FTDI) chipset instead. These FTDI manufactured devices along with the correct FTDI VCP Device Driver have been tested and appear to work as a cash drawer trigger device as well. However, use these other Serial to USB devices at your own risk.
3. Try a different PC with the Cash Drawer
This recommendation is more of a way to test if the problem is your PC, trigger box, or the cash drawer itself. Try doing Step 1 (and maybe Step 2) on a different pc and connect your drawer accordingly. If the Windows device manager shows the COM device driver with no warning symbol, then we know that there is something about the first pc we tested that is not right. This could be a result of an OS conflict, motherboard compatibility , USB port issue, or software installed on the other computer that is interfering with our Serial-to-USB COM driver. In some cases, antivirus software and/or firewall software may be to blame here.
4. Invalid COM Port Assigned in ManageMore Cash Drawer Setup
Under a Cloud Server situation, it is easy to get confused with the correct COM device to tell ManageMore to use. If Device Manager is not showing any COM device conflicts on the local pc and the remote desktop session, then make sure you use the COM port identified within the Remote Session and not the COM port assigned on the local pc. Better yet, to avoid confusion, change the remote desktop COM to be the same as the local pc assigned COM port. COM port reassignment is done within the Device Manager when you click on the Device Driver directly. An Advanced button the Port Settings Tab will provide a droplist for changing the COM port. DO NOT change any of the other settings such as the data bits, stop bit, parity and flow control.
5. Invalid Cash Drawer Command Code
ManageMore only recommends the tested Volcora cash drawer models listed on our ManageMore POS hardware page. The command codes are already pre-programmed to work with this drawer. If you are using any other brand cash drawer, it is your responsibility to enter the correct manufacturer’s command code that will open your drawer. The command code is like a remote control signal that opens the drawer (like a garage door opener is uniquely programmed to open your garage). It is a series of transmitted characters that tell the drawer to pop open the register. When selecting the Volcora cash drawer in ManageMore, you will see the designated command codes automatically fill-in for this brand drawer.
