With the explosion of portable information devices and the increasing use of wireless technology, more companies are connecting their frontline workers to complete transactions at the point-of-sale or point-of-service. As an example, retail store clerks can scan bar codes and check pricing or reduce check-out lines at peak times. Credit card payment helps close the total transaction much closer to the customers’ point-of-decision. This brings a new meaning to printing at point-of-service, requiring the retailer or food service provider to recognize that the server not the customer needs to be mobile. The transaction, including payment, can be completed anywhere in a store for example or right at the seat in a sports stadium.

The applications for the use of portable receipt printers in mobile computing however go beyond retail and food service as this article will demonstrate. The following are some ‘hot applications’ where use is literally exploding.

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