Connecting a cash drawer to the PC

[EnforcerGT]

Anybody got any information on this?? I need to hook up a bar-code scanner also to keep track of inventory and need a cash drawer to hold my sales.

 

[Tangent]

At my work we have several PCs hooked up to cash drawers. They're not actually hooked directly to the PC though. The PC has a receipt printer plugged into it and the cash drawer is plugged into that receipt printer via RJ-11 connection.

 

[jpmkm]

Cash drawers are pretty dumb devices. Most of the ones I've seen consist mainly of just a solenoid to open the drawer and possibly a sensor to detect when the drawer is open. It's really just a matter of interfacing the relay to your computer and getting your POS software to talk to the interface. If you could tell us which drawer and what software you will be using then we can probably provide more information. Or your vendor could probably hook you up with whatever interfaces you need. As far as barcode readers go, pretty much anything will do. Many of them hook directly up to the ps/2 keyboard port and require no additional software or drivers. I'd stay away from pen-style readers; they're not really the best for this situation. A wand-style reader would probably be more suitable.

 

[EnforcerGT]

Do most peripherals come with a software? If not, what are some recommended softwares?