NCR Cloud - Aloha POS: FAQs

Audience

Operators, Technical Teams, Account Managers, Engineers, & Product Teams

Description

This article is iterative and lists the most common FAQs we get from brands that are using Olo with the NCR Cloud integration to Aloha POS.

FAQs 

1. What is Olo's NCR Cloud integration?

NCR Cloud is the all encompassing name Olo has assigned to our integration(s) to the following NCR products/terms:

• Cloud Connect (These API's are deprecated and will not be available for new brands)
• Business Services Layer (BSL - Formerly known as BSP)

2. Do my guests get charged tax from Olo or from NCR Cloud?

• POS is the final authority on charging tax thru a function called "Calculate Tax + Total" (CTT). The tax that shows in Olo during the process of building a basket is called an "Estimation". Once moving on to Checkout, POS responds with the correct tax according to the rules configured in Aloha.

3. Where does pricing in Olo come from?

• If the automatic updater is on, Olo pulls prices from the Catalog API, which is the connection to the above store CFC database. These prices are initially shown to the guest while building their basket (think of it as a sticker price).
  • Note: Items can be mapped properly, but show as a mismatch if there is no price associated in the data returned from Catalog. They may still basket test or result in successful orders since ordering may take place via Cloud Connect.
• If for some reason, the price reflected while building the basket is not the desired price, POS will respond with the correct price back to the guest on Checkout during the Calculate Tax + Total call (CTT) mentioned in Question #2.
• Understanding price update failures here.

4. Why am I getting a $0 price on my item on Checkout?

If you get a $0 price on a CTT call and you know the item is priced in CFC, one of these issues may be your root cause:

• Your ATO service may need to be restarted or otherwise addressed.
• The items may not be flagged as active in CFC for the store.
• There could be a mapping error on your Olo Company Menu pointing to a $0 priced item.

5. What do I need to configure in Aloha/CFC to support Discounts from Olo?

• Olo supports the use of Open Dollar Comps for our discounts. They are to be mapped in Olo using the Comp record ID with "c" as a prefix. For example, if you are using Comp 123, the reference would be c123.
  • These are used for either $ off Discounts in Olo or % off Discounts in Olo (where Olo calculates the percentage and then sends that value down to POS to the open dollar Comp).
    
    
• Olo supports the use of Promo Type "Check reduction" for our discounts. They are to be mapped in Olo using the Record ID with no prefix. For example, if you are using  Promo 123, the reference would be 123.
  • These are to be used only with specified/predefined $ off Discounts and the items on the check must be eligible in POS within the definitions of that Check Reduction Promo.
• How to understand Discount failures here.

6. How do I control printing via NCR Cloud to Aloha POS?

• All print routing rules in Aloha are controlled locally by the  configuration in ATO and CFC. If an item is not printing where you want it to, your item routing is likely the root cause. Please work with your NCR Support team for correction.

7. What is an interface terminal?

• An interface terminal is a terminal in Aloha that is not visible like a physical terminal in the FOH. It is a terminal that runs virtually in the background and is dependent on the proper function of the FOH with a running master terminal. For NCR Cloud, there needs to be an interface terminal configured to work with ATO. 

8. What is an interface employee?

• An interface employee is an employee that acts as a regular FOH employee in POS, but isn't visible like a real person. It is an employee that logs in and performs action in ATO via the interface terminal for order entry. For NCR Cloud, there needs to be an interface employee linked to the interface terminal that is configured to work with ATO. 
  
  

9. What do Connected and POS Order Ready mean in the Dashboard?

• It means that Olo has successfully authenticated the credentials to NCR's API's Cloud Connect or BSL API's for the store you are looking at.
  • At this time, there is not visibility for Olo into the local health of the location, such as: whether the local instance of ATO is online,  the Master Terminal is running, or if the Command Center Agent is in a running state. We are only able to confirm that we authenticate to the APIs successfully.

10. Why did my store get disabled automatically? 

• Stores will get disabled automatically if an error is received back from POS 5 times consecutively without any successful requests.
  
  
• We have a configuration key to avoid disabling the store, even if it receives errors.  
  • You will receive an escalation alert email if there are 5 consecutive failures, but the store will not disable. 

11. How do I troubleshoot failed order attempts ?

• Please check the following on Alohaboh  in services.msc for the affected location:
  • NCR Command Center Agent is running
  • Radiant Takeout is running
• Contact Olo support via an opened support ticket to have the error investigated by your POS Specialist. We can send that error to [e-mail] for guidance or resolution on the NCR side. 
• Reference articles: 
  • Failed Order at Checkout 
  • Failed Order (403 error)

12. Can credit cards be separated into individual tenders?

• Olo in its simplest form only needs one Tender to submit prepaid orders to Aloha (via a "general" tender type). However, if your business requires that prepaid order tenders are split up by type, then an additional "general" tender will be required for each on both POS and Olo. 
• Important to note about these payments via Olo is that they are processed above store and are, which means they are not part of your credit card batch through EDC. They will be on your Payment Detail Report from Aloha, but separate from Credit Card tender type. There is mapping setup required in ATO to implement these where ATO tenders are mapped to POS tenders.
  • Any required tender types other than the standard Visa/MC/Amex/Disc will need to be created as "Customer_Prepaid#" within the ATO Tender Types configuration.  Then mapped to the desired Aloha tender. 

13. Where will I see tips from guests on my checks once they are in POS?

• Tips will be allowed by the Aloha general tender type described in Question #12 (must be configured in POS to allow tips). As a result, the tip will be part of the tender on the check in POS just like a credit card that is processed in POS. The difference is that these tips are processed above store at the time the order is placed, therefore, these tips will not be part of your credit card batch through EDC.
  
  
• For Dispatch, tips are typically in the body of the check via an open priced revenue item. This allows you to address disbursing tips to the DSP on a routine basis that is not per order.

16. When I refund an order in Olo, will Aloha POS be updated automatically to reflect that refund?  

• No. All cards are processed above store and are mapped to a generic tender type in POS via ATO Tenders. There is no credit card data associated with it. Therefore, POS does not have the ability to refund back to the credit card a transaction that was processed above store. As such, these are the refund options:
  
  
  • Option 1 (2 steps)
    • Refund in Olo which communicates directly with the processor, but not ATO > POS.
    • Refund in POS and close the refund check to a generic Olo tender (only purpose is reporting parity and is restricted to same day refunds to accomplish that)
      
      
  • Option 2 (1 step)
    • Refund in POS and give cash back to the customer. In this case, no need to process in Olo as that would credit back the customer's credit card via the mag swipe (if card is present) or manual entry (if permitted). This will not ensure reporting parity between Olo and ATO or POS.

17. Can I accept payment in-store with Olo or do all orders have to be pre-paid?

• Yes, depending on your brand's requirements and approved operational practices, the integration will allow you to accept unpaid orders that are to be paid in-store. When your guest arrives, you will handle the check as you would any other open "Orders" in ATO/POS.

                       

18. What does this HTTPS error code mean? 

•  Here is an external link to standard HTTPS Error codes that are applicable to cloud APIs. This list should give guidance as to the root cause of the issue of an undesired response. 

Please check back frequently for answers to more questions!