Configure and run the Order Status Display

The Order Status Display is the public pickup board for preparing and ready orders. It is separate from Customer Facing Checkout, which follows one POS transaction on a secondary monitor, and from Digital Signage, which plays scheduled menu boards and promotions.

Configure the pickup board

1. Open Admin → POS Settings → Channels and turn on Customer screens for the location.
2. Open Admin → POS Settings → Pickup screen.
3. Under Pickup display, choose whether to use Ready board mode, Show partially ready orders, Show customer names to guests, and Let staff announce ready items.
4. If staff announcements are enabled, choose Item names, Order number only, or Off, then select the permitted order sources.
5. Under Order screen appearance, choose the board template, design theme, order layout, and brand colors, or use the active kiosk design.
6. Configure Idle screen slides, Status messages, and the visibility timing for preparing and ready orders.
7. Save POS Settings.

For a screen visible to the public, turn off Show customer names to guests unless the location has an approved operational reason to display them. Preview the selected template from the guest's viewing distance: Hero can show item names, totals, and payment status; Minimal can show totals and payment status; Split can show totals while an order is preparing. For a broadly visible board, prefer order numbers, use Order number only or Off for item calls, and hide optional customer or payment messages unless the business has approved them. The full-size and compact waiting periods keep old preparing or ready numbers from remaining on the board indefinitely; POS history remains available for cashier follow-up after a row leaves the public screen.

Pair the physical screen

1. Open /tv on the TV, Android TV box, tablet, Windows device, ChromeOS device, or supported browser player.
2. Keep the six-digit code or QR code visible.
3. Either scan the QR code while signed in to the correct Admin tenant, or open KDS & Guest Displays → Signage Readiness and find Pair ellich Display Player.
4. Enter the Pairing code if the QR link did not fill it automatically.
5. Select Order Status Display, not Digital Signage.
6. Enter a stable lowercase Screen ID, such as pickup-zone-1, using letters, numbers, _, or - with no more than 32 characters, and add a recognizable Display Name.
7. Select Approve Screen on the QR approval page, or Pair Screen in Signage Readiness, and wait for the player to open the order status flow.

An Order Status Display does not show or require the Digital Signage TV Key. Approval stores the role-specific device pairing and creates a restricted display runtime session for the selected tenant and screen. The short pairing code does not authenticate the display by itself; Admin login, current tenant context, and device approval provide authorization.

Verify the live order lifecycle

Use a controlled test order and verify the active POS location scope:

1. Submit the order from POS or Kiosk and confirm kitchen production started.
2. Confirm the pickup board shows the order under Preparing.
3. Mark part of the order ready in KDS and confirm the partial-ready message appears only when that option is enabled.
4. Mark the required kitchen work ready and confirm the order moves to Ready for pickup or Now Serving, depending on the selected template.
5. Complete the physical handoff in POS or the permitted KDS handoff flow. The picked-up order should leave the live public board while remaining available in POS history.
6. When no active orders remain, confirm the configured idle slides appear.
7. Close and relaunch the player once. It should restore the approved Order Status Display and open the pickup board without asking for a new pairing code.

The pickup board reports order readiness; it does not send work to the kitchen, collect payment, or prove that a guest received the order. Kitchen completion, payment settlement, and physical pickup remain separate controls.

Understand reconnect and aging behavior

The display uses the live order stream and falls back to periodic snapshots during a reconnect. A recent local snapshot can bridge a short interruption, but order data older than five minutes is not restored. Templates can label the reconnect state Reconnecting, Offline cache, or Offline. When the Main POS heartbeat is offline, the display hides order numbers and shows Order status temporarily unavailable instead of leaving a stale ready number on a public screen.

Preparing and ready rows use the configured full-size period and compact grace period. After both periods, the public row is hidden; the order is not deleted from POS. Setting Ready full-size visibility to 0 disables automatic aging, so use that value only when staff have a reliable pickup-confirmation process.

Picked-up replay retention keeps recently handed-off rows available briefly to reconnecting data consumers; it does not keep them visible on the public board. A picked-up row leaves the live board immediately.

Correct common problems

• Display not available: confirm Customer screens is enabled for this location and the approved device belongs to the same tenant.
• Pairing code expired: select New Code on /tv and approve the new code. Do not reuse an expired code.
• The player does not restore after a restart: confirm the device still has browser storage enabled and can reach the Ellich runtime-session API. Use /tv?reset=1 only when you intentionally need to remove the saved role and pair the player again.
• The TV opens a menu board or promotion: pair it again with the Order Status Display role. Signage and pickup roles are not interchangeable.
• The display asks for a staff PIN: complete the approved device pairing, or use a permitted staff PIN for a temporary browser session. Do not leave a personal Admin session signed in on a public screen.
• An order is missing: verify the active location, customer-screen channel, order submission, KDS state, and the display's connection state.
• An old order remains: confirm the physical pickup in the permitted POS or KDS flow, then allow the live update to arrive. Avoid re-submitting or duplicating the order.
• The Main POS is offline: restore the store anchor and wait for a fresh display session and snapshot. Cached order numbers are intentionally cleared while the anchor is offline.
• Customer names appear unexpectedly: turn off Show customer names to guests, save POS Settings, and refresh the player.
• Pairing changes do not alter the pickup-board design: edit POS Settings → Pickup screen. Digital Signage scenes and schedules do not control this board.

When escalating, record the location, Screen ID, Display Name, role, pairing result, last successful update, Main POS status, affected order number, and the exact on-screen message. Never include the pairing token, runtime token, staff PIN, or customer personal data.