Prism Users Guide - Chapter 31. Centrals
31.1 About Centrals

Prism's Centrals feature enables retailers to designate a single server in the subsidiary as the validation point for any or all of the following POS tasks:

• Customer lookup
• Returns
• Gift Cards
• Store Credit

Using a dedicated Centrals Server for these tasks reduces risk of fraudulent transactions caused by communication lag time and helps to ensure a smooth customer experience. At POS, when needed, the Prism database will call out to the centrals server and request the information needed for the transaction. The Centrals Server provides the most up-to-date information (e.g., Central Credit Balance). 
Any Prism server can act as the Centrals Server. Other Prism servers that need Centrals services, will connect to the selected server as the Centrals server using the standard Prism APIs. Keep in mind however, that when acting as the Centrals server, the data Centrals can return to any request is limited by the data it has in its local database. For example, if the data from other stores is not being replicated to the Centrals server, it may not be able to find the data it needs to fulfill the request. For this reason, we recommend that the Point of Authority (POA) be selected as the Centrals server. Alternatively, you can have all data that will be needed by Centrals, replicated to the server of your choice and use that server as the Centrals server.
Basic Steps for Configuring Centrals at Stores
1.    Make sure Port 80 of the web server is open; otherwise, the store server will be unable to establish a connection to the Centrals server.
2.    At each workstation using Centrals, enter the Centrals Server information in Admin Console > Installation Defaults.
3.    Enable Centrals and configure desired centrals features (returns, lookup, gift cards, credit) in Admin Console > Node Preferences > Transactions > Centrals.
4.    (if using central gift cards) Enable the central gift card tender in Node Preferences > Transactions > Tenders > Requirements. 
5.    Configure security permissions for centrals.
6.    Add centrals-related fields to grid formats.
7.    Add centrals-related fields to document designs.
 
Requirements

• The Centrals server settings (Admin Console > Installation Defaults) must be configured on all machines, including the machine functioning as Centrals Server. 
• Port 80 of the web server must be open.

Sample Centrals Workflow: