Donation Station Version 3.5.2
Internet Connection Error Reporting - Help staying connected
What's been happening?
We're constantly reviewing how our technology performs, and looking for ways to improve its performance.
Why? To make using and looking after our contactless tech less stressful, and ultimately better for your cause.
Our Donation Stations rely on internet connections to process the donations made through them. A stable internet connection ensures payments are processed correctly.
The quality of internet connections, sadly, does vary for many users. Environments, changes of providers, outages and planned engineering work can happen to almost all of us. And this means any device using your organisation’s internet connection will be affected.
Any loss of connection for the Donation Station may also mean a loss of income for your charity or fundraising activity. And we want to minimise this for Donation Station users, to improve fundraising performance overall.
What have we done to help?
We've made it obvious, on screen, when your Donation Station is affected by a drop or outage in internet connection.
We've updated our Donation Station software: this means the device performs automatic checks, in the background, to alert you if there's a problem with the device's internet connection.
If the software detects a loss of connection, this image will appear on screen.
If it's a temporary loss, the software will keep trying to re-connect, and once signal reappears, the Donation Station will reconnect.
If there's a new Wi-Fi connection, or something has changed, like the location of the device, you should follow the steps below:
Donation Station: Network Unavailable Error
What happens next?
If you see this screen, we have troubleshooting advice available, that you can share with anyone responsible for the Donation Station.
PS. If you're using the device in 'offline mode'* you won't see this screen, as your device is configured differently.
Having problems with a poor internet connection?
There will be Donation Station users whose fundraising sites and events will be in poor internet areas. And in these situations, it’s not always possible to improve internet connectivity, due to building restrictions or location.
Card Reader Connection Error Reporting - Flag hardware issues
What's been happening?
We've noticed some issues for customers using a specific version of our Donation Station, which uses a card reader that requires manual intervention to switch on, or to re-connect with the Donation Station tablet.
Keeping any contactless payment technology working well is necessary to meet fundraising targets nowadays, but sometimes painful when teams are under pressure or there's too much to do, and not enough time.
We believe fundraisers would rather be having valuable conversations with donors, or community members than fixing tech issues.
Through review and customer feedback we found some scenarios where it can be difficult to understand where the Donation Station has just been switched on, if the card reader also requires switching back on.
Reference: Donation Station: Card Reader Unavailable Error
What have we done to help?
We've made it easier to manage the upkeep of your Donation Station and therefore improve its fundraising performance.
We've released a software update on 9th April 2024 that means the device automatically performs background checks for if the card reader is switched on, and now tells you on-screen what you need to do to fix the issue quickly.
When affected, you'll see this image on screen:
And you and your team will then be able to swiftly switch on the card reader in these circumstances, and get back to what you were doing.
Want to check if you have this latest version? Get in Touch
Why have we done this?
We want to see willing donors able to make payments as much as you do; we want the smoothest possible experience for you as a Donation Station owner, as well as your donors.
We continually work to improve the experience of donors and Donation Station owners through our product development work.
We noticed some device owners were struggling to manage this area of their devices, and wanted to build more proactive reporting into the Donation Station to help reduce the risk of losing any vital donations income.
Need more help? Please get in touch.
Our team are already familiar with these issues, and are on hand to talk through any issues you have.
0114 553 1399