Inkjet & Digital Printing

Next-generation Epson Receipt Printers for Quick and Easy Web-based Systems

Thursday 27. September 2012 - Expanding web services

From shopping to Internet banking to online trading, a vast range of web services has emerged in recent years. Web services have also spread into in-store systems used by establishments such as retail stores and restaurants, where systems based on web applications are being built to work with smartphones and tablet PCs. A major advantage of web-based point-of-sale (POS) systems is that they can be built much faster and at significantly less expense than traditional systems because there is no need to prepare and install applications on each terminal. Another advantage as far as system users are concerned is that Web-based POS systems require only a relatively small investment.
Intelligent receipt printers unbeatable for building inexpensive systems
Printing receipts from a web application normally requires the development of a complicated printing program and a print server on which to install it. The best match for web-based systems like this are the intelligent receipt printers in Epson’s TM-i series.
The TM-T88V-I (left) and TM-T70-I (right)
intelligent receipt printers
Intelligent receipt printers have XML Web service print functionality built-in. This means there is no need for users to install applications and drivers on each terminal within the system, and no need for a print server. Epson’s intelligent receipt printers come standard-equipped with the ePOS-Print API. This API can be used to easily write printing programs for intelligent receipt printers, programs that can be embedded in Web applications. Epson’s intelligent receipt printers are also equipped with a streamlined PHP web server. Web applications can be stored on an SD card, and PC-less systems can be built. In addition, you can connect and control up to 20 other TM printers on a network.
Intelligent receipt printers serve as a hub and control other TM printers.
Print requests from terminals are received by HTTP transmissions,
and the built-in Web server sends ESC/POS commands to the printers.
An example of what this actually means could be in a restaurant where a waiter is taking a customer’s order. In the past, the process ordinarily went like this: A waiter entered an order in a dedicated order terminal, the terminal transferred the data to the restaurant’s server, and the server sent the order information to a kitchen printer or other printer connected to the server for printing. Intelligent receipt printers enable a much simpler system, one in which an ordinary, all-purpose tablet terminal is used to enter orders, which are directly sent to a printer from a web application. On top of this, by providing web server functionality, Epson allows you to inexpensively build a system that controls multiple receipt printers and kitchen printers with a single web application stored on an intelligent receipt printer.
Epson ships more than 300 million mini-printers
A de facto industry standard, Epson mini-printers are sold in almost every country and region around the world. In fact, Epson has, to date, shipped more than 300 million units worldwide. Epson’s intelligent receipt printers have boldly and indelibly made their mark on the long, unbroken history of mini-printers by answering the needs of the times.