Chapter 8
How customers get onto a PC
There are four different ways a customer ends up using a machine. They're easy to mix up because two of them look identical on the Agent's lock screen. Here's what actually happens in each one.
1. Self-service login
A customer with a real account signs in with their username and password on the Agent, then starts a prepaid session themselves. Requires Customer Login Mode to be set to Self-Service Only or Both in Center Settings → Customer Login. Account is fully unlocked: it's their own account. Ordering follows the Self-Service Ordering toggle (Center Settings → Orders), which is on by default: they can Add to Tab within their credit limit and Pay with Wallet.
2. Guest: Paid Walk-in
From Floor View, staff start a prepaid session on a device and just leave the customer field blank: a quick walk-up sale where nobody needs to give out real credentials. Always available, regardless of Customer Login Mode; it's pure staff discretion, not a setting. The Agent auto-attaches a lightweight guest account behind the scenes, the same walk-in mechanic as Guest: Free Play below, just paid for instead of free, so Account works normally (view balance, log out) with no extra step for the customer. This only applies to Prepaid: a staff-started Postpaid session stays customer-less on purpose, since the bill isn't settled yet and always needs staff to close it out, never a self-exit.
3. Guest: Free Play
One "Start" button, no username or password, no payment either. Requires Customer Login Mode set to Guest / Free-Play, which replaces self-service login entirely; the two can't show together on the same machine. Each device gets one dedicated guest account, reused every time someone taps Start on it (not a new one per session), so it doesn't pile up rows in Customers over time. Account works the same as a real login: the machine issues that guest account a real token behind the scenes. Ordering is off by default: turn on the Guest Ordering toggle (Center Settings → Orders) if you want free-play guests to be able to order; see "When a customer has a tab" below for how they pay.
4. Ticket redemption
A walk-in gets a prepaid ticket code from staff (see Chapter 4) and enters it on the Agent, or it auto-starts the moment they sign in. Always works, regardless of Customer Login Mode: it's already paid for. Each ticket gets its own dedicated account too, separate from guest accounts, so ticket sales and guest free-play never get counted as the same thing in reports. Ordering is off by default here as well: flip the Ticket Ordering toggle (Center Settings → Orders) to let ticket holders order; see "When a customer has a tab" below for how they pay.
Heads up
Self-service login and Guest: Free Play are the only two that live behind the Customer Login Mode setting, and they're mutually exclusive by design: turning on Guest / Free-Play always hides the self-service login button, even on a machine that used to have it. Guest: Paid Walk-in and Ticket redemption aren't affected by that setting at all.
When a customer has a tab
"Add to Tab" lets a self-service customer order food & drink now and settle it when they leave, rather than paying per order. Guest and ticket customers get the same idea under the hood (ordering, when it's on for them, always settles later), just without the "Add to Tab" name or a credit-limit check, since they have no credit history to check against. Optionally cap how far it can run (Center Settings → Orders → "Max unpaid order total for Guest/Ticket", 0 = unlimited). Either way, the session time itself is already paid up front, so the tab is purely the unpaid orders. Two things make sure nobody walks off with an open tab:
The customer logs out themselves
If their balance (plus any self-service credit limit) covers the tab, it's settled automatically and the session ends, clean and quiet, no staff needed. If it doesn't cover the tab, they can't self-exit with money owed: the session pauses so billing stops, and it's flagged for staff on Floor View to settle in person.
Staff end the session from Floor View
A device card with an unpaid tab shows a rose TAB badge with the amount owed. The End Session popup won't let the session close until that amount is collected: pick a payment method (cash, wallet, or a split) and take the money the same way you would for a postpaid session.
Note
Deposits: the other direction
A guest or ticket customer can also pay as they go instead of running a tab: top up their balance yourself (Customers → Adjust Balance, or the POS Wallet Top-Up action, works on any customer, no special step), then flip Allow Guest Deposit / Allow Ticket Deposit (Center Settings → Orders) and a "Pay from Deposit" button appears on their Agent alongside "Place Order." This is deliberately separate from self-service's Pay with Wallet: same balance column underneath, but a single-visit deposit rather than a persistent account.
Unlike a self-service wallet, a guest/ticket account doesn't stick around to carry a leftover balance into a future visit: it's cleaned up once its session is done. So any unspent deposit needs to actually be handed back, not just left on the row: Floor View shows a green REFUND badge (the mirror of the rose TAB one) whenever a guest/ticket session still has balance left, and Today's Summary has an Unrefunded Deposits list for anything left over after the session ends; one click there refunds it. Accounts holding an unrefunded balance are never auto-deleted, ticket expiry included, so nothing goes missing before staff get to it.