Install terminals

Set up terminals and stores · step 3 of 4

Every terminal must be installed, activated and tested in the store before you go live. You choose who does it: a field service company, or your own team. The technicians follow the Field service guide.

Plan the installation

1. Choose who installs and services the terminals. An external field service company, or your own team. Need help? Aera works with field service partners in several regions, and in some cases Aera can take on the installation itself.
2. Tell Aera's onboarding team who the installer's contact is. Aera sends them the technician passwords and the details for your stores.
3. Give each technician a user in the Aera portal, so they can order and activate terminal IDs. See Create new user.
4. Agree a store rollout schedule with the installer.
5. Decide who orders the terminal IDs: you, before the visit, or the technician, on site. See Order terminal.

Before the visit

Each store must be ready before the technician arrives:

• The network is open for the hosts and ports in Network requirements.
• Each checkout has power and a network socket (or Wi-Fi) for the terminal.
• The ECR runs a version with the Aera integration. See Prepare your release.
• Local integration: you have installed AIC, in Production mode, on each ECR or on a central server in the store. See Install AIC. Cloud integration: the ECR backend can reach Aera. See Cloud integration.
• IP over USB: Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is set up on each ECR, and the ECR can handle two network interfaces. See Requirements for the ECR.
• New terminals are checked for signs of tampering when they arrive, such as broken seals or odd cabling. See Check terminals regularly.
• Someone in the store can let the technician in and receive the handover. Only accept installation from the authorised technician you expect.

The visit

For each terminal, the technician follows Install a terminal: mounts and connects it, activates and updates it, makes a test payment and a refund, and hands over to the store manager.

What you get at the handover:

• A short walk-through of the terminal for the store manager
• Operate terminals, the everyday guide for store staff
• Security checks and cleaning, to go through with staff

Later: replace or return terminals

When a terminal breaks, or a store closes, your installer replaces or decommissions it. See Replace a terminal and Decommission a terminal.

For technicians