Aloha Stored Value FAQ Q: What is Aloha Stored Value? A: Aloha Gift Card is the next generation of web-based back-office applications for selling and redeeming gift cards. Aloha Gift Card uses the same sophisticated infrastructure as Aloha Insight to give you the power and flexibility to manage your gift card programs. Q: Will my Aloha reseller support Aloha Stored Value? A: Aloha resellers are certified to sell and support Aloha Gift Card. This means there is always an Aloha Stored Value expert available. Aloha resellers are certified after completing the Aloha Technologies’ Gift Card class and its prerequisites, and then passing the certification tests. Contact your reseller for more information. Q: What are the requirements for Aloha Stored Value? A: You need an Internet connection, Aloha v5.0 or greater, and Aloha Insight. Q: How do I install Aloha Stored Value? A: Aloha InsightInsight installs Stored Value remotely. You define the schedule for installing Stored Value. Refer to Online Licensing wizard for information on scheduling an Aloha Stored Value install. Q: Is Aloha Stored Value web-based? A: Aloha Stored Value uses the convenient reliability of the Internet to manage your gift card programs. You can configure any of the wizards through the Internet. Q: Are Aloha Stored Value upgrades automated with Aloha Insight? A: Any upgrades to Aloha Stored Value will be handled through Aloha Insight and via the Internet. Currently, Aloha Insight is updated quarterly. If Aloha Stored Value needs updates, it will be on the same schedule as Aloha Insight. Q: What is a gift card type? A: A gift card type is the unique name you assign the gift card in the Card Setup wizard. The settings you assign the gift card type control how the gift card interacts with the Aloha POS system. Q: What are the requirements for setting up a store as "virtual"? A: A virtual store requires a high speed continuous connection to the Internet, such as a digital subscriber line (DSL). A virtual store connects and verifies each transaction using the central database. You can view store sales and transactions in real-time. Q: What happens when a gift card is purged from a local database? A: Purging gift cards that are old, or below a specified amount can free up valuable hard drive space at stores. The purged card is not deleted from the central database and the data will still be reported. When a customer redeems a purged card, Aloha Stored Value uses the auto-approve settings to approve the gift card. If it is an amount over the auto-approve setting Aloha Stored Value connects with the central database for authorization. Q: What happens when a store is unable to connect to the central database to authorize a gift card? A: This depends on whether you are connecting to the central database to verify cards not in the local database, or if you are rejecting cards not in the database. If you are connecting to the central database to verify gift cards not found in the local database, you can enter an amount to auto-approve the gift cards not found in the local database. Aloha Stored Value verifies the gift card amount is less than the auto-approve amount and automatically approves the gift card or connects to the central database to approve redemptions greater than the auto-approve amount. You can optionally reject all gift cards not in the local database or auto-approved. Q: Can Aloha Stored Value authorize gift cards not in the local database? A: You can select the ‘Connect to the central site to verify card balance’ on the Approval Settings tab in the Store Configuration wizard to connect to the central database if a gift card is not authorized using the local database. You can also enter an auto-approve amount to approve a gift card if it is not found in the local database. This reduces connections to the central database. Q: What happens if the customer does not spend the entire amount of the gift card? A: Gift cards are flexible in that you determine if the customer receives cash back, remaining balance credited on the gift card, or if the customer forfeits the balance on the gift card. You select the option for the gift card in the Card Setup wizard on the POS Settings tab. If you decide the customer does not receive cash back or balance adjustment on the gift card, the remaining balance is reported as "not redeemed" on reports. Q: My restaurants have different hardware and connection types to the Internet. Can I use Aloha Stored Value? A: You can set up restaurants to have the same settings or you can configure each store individually. If a store has different operating requirements, you can access the Store Configuration wizard through Site Setup, choose the individual store, and make any changes necessary. Q: How do I control who makes changes to the store configuration? A: Aloha Stored Value uses the same powerful security features used in Aloha Insight. You assign rights to a security class. You assign security classes to users. Q:How can I view gift card transactions in real-time? A: You can view gift card transactions in real-time, if the stores are operating as a virtual store. Q: How do I add value to a gift card? A: You can create a gift card that allows your customers to purchase a gift card and add additional value to the card. Select the ‘Allow value to be added to card after the original purchase’ option on the Card Type tab in the Card Setup wizard. Select ‘POS should prompt for card value.’ If you add value to the card, the card can not have an expiration date. Select ‘No Expiration Dates’ on the Date Settings tab in the Card Setup wizard. Q: Can a store employee view the balance on a gift card? A: A store employee can look up the balance on a gift card through the Front-of-House terminal. Q: What happens if there is a hardware failure at a store? A: Aloha Stored Value provides users with redundancy, which is a way to process gift cards during hardware failures. To define redundancy settings, select the Store Database tab in the Store Configuration wizard. You can choose to warehouse the database on the Front-of-House terminals and the back-office file server Q: What is a gift card type? A. A gift card type is the unique name you assign the gift card in the Card Setup wizard. The settings you assign the gift card type control how the gift card interacts with the Aloha POS system. Q: How do I add value to a gift card? A. You can create a gift card that allows your customers to purchase a gift card and add additional value to the card after the initial purchase. Select ‘Prompt for card purchase value’ on the Card Type tab in the Card Setup wizard. Select ‘Allow customer to add value to the card’ to enable a customer to add value to the card. If you add value to the card, the card can not have an expiration date. Select ‘No Expiration Date’ on the Card Type tab in the Card Setup wizard Q. Can I create a card type that is used for Loyalty and Stored Value? A. Yes, you can create one card that a user can use as a Stored Value card and receive credit towards one of your bonus programs. When you create the card type, you have the option of selecting whether you want the card type to be Stored Value card only, Loyalty only, or both Stored Value and Loyalty. Q. Can I limit the stores that accept a specific series of cards? A. Yes, you can establish the stores that accept the card type on the Card Type tab. You need to create different replication groups in the Replication Group wizard. Create a replication group with the stores you want included in the card type, select ‘Stores in this Replication Group,’ and select the replication group from the drop-down list. Q. Can I put an expiration date on a card type? A. Yes, you can make a card expire on an exact date, or define the number of days after purchase the card expires. When you are creating your card type, select ‘Expires On’ and type the expiration date in the adjacent text box. If you want to create a card that expires after a defined amount of time after purchase, select ‘Expires In’ and type the number of days after purchase the card will expire in the adjacent text box. Q. Can I configure what happens to the remaining balance on a gift card? A. Yes. To configure the remaining balance options on your gift cards, select one of the following balance options on the Stored Value Settings tab: • Adjust the balance on the card and not give cash back • Give cash back • Do not adjust or do not give cash back. Q. What is a service charge? A. A service charge is a fee charged to the gift card balance to reduce the outstanding liability on the card. You can apply the fee to an inactive card for a specified amount of time or from a specified amount of time after the card was initially purchased regardless of activity. Because service charges may not be appropriate in all states, you can limit the service charge to a specific group of stores. Q. How do I add a bonus plan to a card type? A. When you create your card types, select ‘Loyalty’ on the Card Type tab. Select the Loyalty Settings tab and locate the bonus plan in the ‘Unassigned Bonus Plans’ list. Select the bonus plan and click the arrow to move the bonus plan to the ‘Assigned Bonus Plans’ list. Q: Why is the Store Database Settings tab unavailable? A: You selected the "virtual" option on the In-Store Database tab. A virtual connection does not warehouse the database and these settings are unnecessary. The store connects to the central database for authorizations. Q: Why does my store not disconnect after the time entered in Store Configuration wizard? A: Your store stays online with the central database for the number of minutes entered in the ‘Delay Disconnect’ text box on the Gift Card Store Configuration wizard. However, if you have another transaction within that time, the delay disconnect time resets back to zero and starts over. For example, your ‘Delay Disconnect’ time is 10 minutes. You authorize a gift card transaction that requires your store to connect to the central database at 12:00 pm. If you do not have any gift card transactions in the next 10 minutes, the line disconnects. However, in this example another transaction occurs at 12:09 pm, the disconnect time resets and would not disconnect until 12:19, barring any further gift transactions.