System and method for remote management of sale transaction data

Abstract

This invention discloses a novel system and method for providing retail point of sale terminals that are connected securely over the Internet to a back-office service that manages the retailer's data as a service using a system that supports more than one retailer, each of which will have one or more point of sale terminals. The system is adapted to provide a function to manage open checks that correspond to retail customers whose transactions are pending. The system is also adapted to permit service personnel to manage open checks by splitting them into multiple checks or merging multiple checks into one check.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method executed by a computer system comprised of a first register instance and a server for managing a first open check and a second open check comprising:
 receiving through the register instance user interface a selection of the first open check; receiving through the register instance user interface a selection of an at least one item on the first open check;   receiving through the register instance user interface a command to transfer the selected at least one item to the second open check;   updating on the register instance the first open check in order to remove the at least one selected item from the first open check;   updating on the register instance the second open check in order to add the at least one selected item to the second open check;   transmitting to the server data comprising the updated first open check and the updated second open check;   updating a first database record stored on the server with the updated first open check; and   updating a second database record stored on the server with the updated second open check.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 2  where the first and second open checks are displayed through the register instance user interface by listing the items comprising the first and second checks arranged in a corresponding first and second columns displayed on a computer screen comprising the register instance. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  where the register instance receives a selection of an item in the first column and detects that the selection is being moved to the second column by detection of a gesture input into the register instance. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  where the updating of the first open check step is comprised of updating an open check entry in an item table to refer to the second open check. 
     
     
         5 . A method executed by a first register instance for managing at least one open checks comprising:
 storing in a queue on the register instance at least one open checks;   automatically selecting an open check from the open checks stored in the queue, by the first register instance using a predetermined selection priority schema;   transmitting the selected open check to a server; and   synchronizing a copy of the selected check stored on the server with the selected open check stored on the register instance.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  where the priority schema determines the monetary amount of the selected open check relative to the monetary amounts of the other open checks in the queue. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  where the priority schema determines how long the selected open check has been in the queue since it was updated on the server as compared to the remaining at least one of the other open checks in the queue. 
     
     
         8 . A method executed by a computer system comprised of a first register instance being operated by a corresponding first user, second register instance being operated by a corresponding second user and a server for managing at least one open checks associated with the first user comprising:
 receiving a data message comprised of an identifier associated with first user and identifiers that correspond to the at least one open checks associated with the first register instance;   updating an at least one data structures stored on the server corresponding to the at least one open checks associated with the received identifiers to refer to an identifier associated with the second user as the authorized user associated with the at least one open checks; and   transmitting to the second register instance data comprising the at least one open checks.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 receiving an authentication token from the second user associated with the second register instance and confirming the token's validity as a condition to executing either the updating step or the transmitting step. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 changing a user-id entry in a row of a database table associated with one of the at least one open checks that is stored on the server to a user-id corresponding to the user associated with the second register instance. 
 
     
     
         11 . A computer system for managing a first open check and a second open check comprising:
 a first register instance running on a first computer and a server where the first register instance is comprised of program data that when executed causes the first register instance to:   receive through the register instance user interface a selection of the first open check;   receive through the register instance user interface a selection of at least one item on the first open check;   receive through the register instance user interface a command to transfer the selected at least one item to the second open check;   update on the register instance the first open check to remove the at least one selected item;   update on the register instance the second open check to add the at least one selected item;   transmit to the server data comprising the updated first open check and the updated second open check;   where the server is comprised of program data that when executed causes the server to update a database on the server to store the updated first open check and second open check.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  where the program data further causes the system to display the first and second open checks through the register instance user interface by listing the items comprising the first and second checks arranged in a corresponding first and second columns. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  where the program data further causes the register instance to receive a selection of an item in one of the at least one columns associated with the first open check and detect that the selection is being moved to a different column corresponding to the second open check by detection of a gesture input into the first register instance. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  where the program data further causes the updating step to be comprised of updating an open check entry in an item table to refer to the second open check. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  where the program data further causes the first register instance to: store in a queue at least one open checks;
 automatically select an open check from the at least one open checks stored in the queue, by using a predetermined selection priority schema; and 
 uploads the selected open check to a server in order to synchronize a copy of the selected check stored on the server with the selected open check. 
 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  where the priority schema determines the monetary amount of the check relative to the monetary amounts of the other checks in the queue. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 5  where the priority schema determines how long the selected check has been in the queue since it was updated on the server as compared to at least one of the other checks in the queue. 
     
     
         18 . A method executed by a computer system comprised of a first register instance being operated by a corresponding first user, second register instance being operated by a corresponding second user and a server for managing an at least one open checks associated with the first user comprising:
 receiving a data message comprised of an identifier associated with first user and identifiers that correspond to the at least one open checks associated with the first register instance;   updating an at least one data structures stored on the server corresponding to the at least one open checks associated with the received identifiers, to refer to an identifier associated with the second user as the authorized user associated with the at least one open checks; and   transmitting to the second register instance data comprising the updated open checks.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  where the server is configured to further:
 receive an authentication token from the second user associated with the second register instance and confirming the token's validity as a condition to executing the updating step. 
 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18  where the server is further configured to:
 change a user-id entry in a row of a database table associated with the at least one open check that is stored on the server to a user-id of the user associated with the second register instance.