Electronics Company mainly active in the midrange server market.

NCR was founded 1884 as National Cash Register Company. It joins to the computer industry in 1950s. In
1991 it was absorbed by AT&T, only to be spat out again in 1996.

NCR mainframes of the 1960's are remembered by some for their hardware incompatibility with IBM
mainframes: NCR punched round holes in their punched cards while IBM punched rectangular ones. The
codes and machines were not compatible and information could not be easily shared between NCR and
IBM customers.

A technology company specializing in financial terminal transactions, retail systems and data
warehousing. Until the late 1990s, NCR was heavily invested in the hardware side of the industry, known
worldwide as a major manufacturer of computers and financial terminals. The sale of its computer
hardware manufacturing assets in 1998 signaled the company's shift towards solutions and services
offered to business customers. NCR's long and illustrious history began in 1884 when John Henry
Patterson purchased National Manufacturing Company of Dayton, Ohio, and renamed it National Cash
Register. It became the leading cash register company and, by 1911, had sold its one millionth machine.

Starting in the 1930s, NCR made accounting machines that posted customer accounts and became
successful in the banking and retail industries, in which it has remained ever since.

In 1957, it introduced the "304" transistorized computer. It accepted data from NCR cash registers and
banking terminals via paper tape. The 304 was very reliable and widely accepted.

NCR computer lines included the Century series (1960s), Criterion series (1970s) and the V and I series
(1980s). Starting in 1982 with the Unix- and Motorola 68000-based Tower series, NCR embraced open
systems and industry standards. In 1990, the x86-based System 3000 series was introduced, a complete
line from desktops to massively parallel machines running DOS, Windows and OS/2 at the low end and
Unix at the high end.

In 1991, AT&T acquired the company and ran it as a wholly owned subsidiary, renaming it AT&T Global
Information Systems (AT&T GIS) in early 1994. The NCR name did remain on ATM and POS terminals as
well as microelectronics and business forms. In 1996, AT&T GIS was spun off of AT&T, renamed NCR,
and it became an independent company once again. As the new millennium arrived, NCR focused on its
ATM business and its leading edge in enterprise data warehousing from its Teradata division
(www.teradata.com). At the end of 2007, NCR and Teradata officially separated into two different
corporations.

ECR

Electronic device used to calculate financial transactions. Most cash registers consist of a keyboard that
is used to input entries, a scanner of some sort, a drawer that is used to hold cash, and a printing device
for receipts. With the advancement of technology, cash registers are able to do a wide variety of
additional functions including credit card processing, personal check verification, and inventory tracking.
POS

Point of sale (POS) or checkout is the place where a retail transaction is completed. It is the point at
which a customer makes a payment to a merchant in exchange for goods or services. At the point of sale
the merchant would use any of a range of possible methods to calculate the amount owing - such as a
manual system, weighing machines, scanners or an electronic cash register. The merchant will usually
provide hardware and options for use by the customer to make payment - such as an EFTPOS terminal.
The merchant will also normally issue a receipt for the transaction.

For small and medium-sized retailers, the POS will be customized by retail industry as different
industries have different needs. For example, a grocery or candy store will need a scale at the point of
sale, while bars and restaurants will need to customize the item sold when a customer has a special
meal or drink request. The modern point of sale will also include advanced functionalities to cater to
different verticals, such as inventory, CRM, financials, warehousing, and so on, all built into the POS
software. Prior to the modern POS, all of these functions were done independently and required the
manual re-keying of information, which resulted in a lot of errors.

THEFTS AT THE POINT OF SALE

Cash registers are vulnerable areas in many stores. Dishonest employees can steal from you quite easily
unless you know the signs and how to prevent this kind of theft.

 Watch out for loose change, match sticks, or bits of paper with markings on them around the
cash register area. These are often used by cashiers to help them remember the amount of
extra money in the till that is to be pocketed later. For example, a nickel means five dollars, a
penny one dollar, and so on. When questioned about the loose change, the cashier can simply
say a customer forgot her change. Match sticks or bits of paper can be dismissed by cashiers as
trash. Click here for details on the techniques used by cashiers to get extra money in their tills.
 Be extra suspicious of cashiers who keep a small calculator close to the cash register. These can
be used to keep a running total of the amount of extra money in the till.
 Make sure customers can see the amount rung up on the cash register. If the display is turned
away from their view or is covered, this could mean the cashier is under-ringing purchases in
order to pocket the money later.
 Look out for an excessive number of "NO SALES." These can be used as a way of opening up the
cash drawer when there is no one around to take out money and pocket it.
 Also watch out for an excessive number of "VOIDS." This could mean the cashier is cancelling
sales that actually occurred in order to pocket that amount of money.

CASH HANDLING
Handling cash is a very important task undertaken at the point-of-sale area. However, since the
introduction of EFTPOS, the amount of cash handled has been reduced as funds are transferred
electronically directly from the customer’s bank account to the retailer’s bank account. This has had the
effect of making the point-of-sale area less vulnerable to theft. However, theft still occurs, as well as
honest mistakes, when handling cash.

Team members must be very accurate when handling cash. Mistakes when handling cash, honest or
otherwise, can upset the customer leading to a loss of future sales.

When customers tender cash for a purchase it is important to follow a few simple steps to help ensure
accuracy in cash handling. These might include:

 calling the amount of the purchase clearly to the customer

 calling clearly the amount of cash tendered
 placing the cash tendered on top of the register drawer (not in it)
 counting out the required change from the cash drawer (first count)
 counting out the change clearly to the customer (second count)
 placing the cash tendered in the drawer
 issuing a receipt to the customer
 fare welling the customer in a sincere and courteous manner

Anywhere cash is stored there is an increased risk of theft from dishonest staff and customers. To help
reduce the risk of theft sales assistants should:

 shut the cash drawer when not in use

 avoid being distracted by others when cash drawers are open
 keep the register locked if unattended
 always remove the key from registers which are not in use
 be alert when handling cash
 be observant of others around you and report suspicious behaviour
 never leave cash outside the cash drawer