Customise the Kiosk

The kiosk can print physical tickets using an ESC/POS printer. Tickets include the organisation name, location name, queue name, ticket number, and the ticket header/footer text you configured on the location.

Requirements

Printing requires a native kiosk app. Browser-only kiosk deployments do not support printing: they show each ticket number on screen with a phone QR code (see Follow the ticket on a phone). The supported connections depend on the app:

App	Network	USB	Bluetooth
Android kiosk app	Yes	Yes	Yes
Desktop kiosk client (macOS, Windows, Linux)	Yes	Yes	No

Desktop USB printing needs extra setup on Windows and Linux. See USB printers (desktop).

Only the kiosk prints tickets. The desk does not print; it shows a banner when a kiosk printer at the location is offline.

Set up a printer

After you pair a new Android or desktop kiosk, the kiosk opens printer setup if no printer is configured. The screen lists the printers that the kiosk finds, each marked with its connection type, and a form for adding a network printer by its address.

1. Under Printer language mode, choose the mode that your printer supports. Most printers use Western European (CP858). Choose Simplified Chinese (Epson GB18030) only for a printer that supports it.
2. Choose the printer in one of these ways:
   • Under Available printers, select the printer and tap Connect. If the printer is not listed, tap Scan for printers.
   • Under Add a network printer manually, enter the printer’s IP address and tap Connect.
3. The kiosk connects to the printer and prints a test slip automatically. There is no separate test or save step.
4. Check the test slip. If it printed correctly, tap Yes, continue. The kiosk opens its queue screen. If it did not, tap No, try again. The kiosk removes that printer and returns to the list so you can choose again.

If no printer is found, the screen shows No printers found. Connect or pair the printer, and then tap Scan for printers. You can also add a network printer by its address.

Network printers

A network printer must have a private IPv4 address, such as 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, or 172.16–31.x.x, and must accept connections on port 9100. The port field shows 9100 and does not accept another port. The kiosk rejects host names and public addresses. Give the printer a fixed address on your network so that the kiosk can still reach it after the printer restarts.

USB printers (desktop)

The desktop kiosk client sends tickets to a USB printer directly, not through the operating system’s printer driver. Check these requirements for your operating system:

• Windows — the printer must use the WinUSB driver. Windows normally installs its own USB printing driver or the manufacturer’s driver, and the kiosk cannot open a printer that uses either one. Use a driver tool such as Zadig to replace the printer’s driver with WinUSB. After the change, other Windows apps cannot print to that printer.

• Linux — the account that runs the kiosk must have access to the printer’s USB device. Run lsusb to find the printer’s vendor and product IDs. Create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/70-jonot-printer.rules with the line below, using your printer’s IDs in place of 04b8 and 0202. Then run sudo udevadm control --reload-rules and reconnect the printer.

  SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="04b8", ATTR{idProduct}=="0202", TAG+="uaccess"

• macOS — no driver setup is needed. Jonot has not yet tested USB printing on macOS with real printer hardware.

If the printer is listed but the test slip does not print, check these requirements first.

If the kiosk reports the USB printer as unavailable after you connect a second printer of the same model, or after you copy the kiosk settings to another computer, open the manager menu and choose Change Printer.

Bluetooth printers (Android)

Pair the printer in the Android Bluetooth settings before you set it up in the kiosk. If the printer is not listed, tap Open Bluetooth settings, pair the printer, return to the kiosk, and tap Scan for printers. By default, the list shows only paired devices that identify as printers. If your printer is paired but not listed, select Show all paired devices. The list then shows every paired device and marks the ones that do not identify as printers.

On Android 12 and later, Android asks for permission to connect to nearby devices the first time printer setup looks for printers. If the permission is denied, printer setup shows a message. To recover, open Android Settings, go to Apps → Jonot Kiosk → Permissions, and allow the permission. Then return to printer setup.

The Android kiosk does not enter its locked kiosk mode until a printer is connected, so you can open Android Settings during setup.

Change the printer

1. Open the manager menu: five rapid taps in the top-right corner (each within ~1.5 seconds of the last), then enter the manager PIN. See Exit kiosk lockdown for the full gesture.
2. Select Change Printer to open printer setup again. On Android, confirm the prompt that shows the current printer.
3. Printer setup shows the current printer. The kiosk keeps the current printer until you connect a new one. To keep it, tap Cancel — keep current printer.
4. Set up the new printer as described in Set up a printer.

On Android, the locked kiosk cannot open Android Settings. To change to a Bluetooth printer that is not paired yet, open the manager menu and choose Exit. Pair the printer in the Android Bluetooth settings, open the kiosk again, and then choose Change Printer.

If you tap No, try again after you connect the new printer, the kiosk has no printer until you set one up. If a customer joins before then, the kiosk switches to printer out-of-order mode.

Ticket content

Every printed ticket contains:

• Organisation name
• Location name
• Queue name
• Ticket number (large, prominent)
• Ticket header (up to 48 chars) — configured on the location in admin
• Ticket footer (up to 48 chars) — configured on the location in admin

To update the header or footer text, go to admin → your location → Edit location.

Reprinting a ticket

After a successful print, the kiosk shows a Reprint ticket button for approximately 30 seconds. Tap it to send an exact copy of the ticket to the printer, with the same number, header, footer, and timestamp. Use this option if a ticket jams or a customer needs another copy.

• Reprinting extends the auto-dismiss countdown so the customer has time to collect the new slip.
• If the reprint fails, the kiosk shows the printer-unavailable card and can switch to printer out-of-order mode.
• Each reprint is a separate print job with its own job ID.

Follow the ticket on a phone

After a customer joins, the ticket card shows Follow your place on your phone with a QR code for that ticket. The code appears whether or not the ticket printed. The customer scans it with the phone camera, and the phone browser opens the same ticket so the customer can follow their place in line. Scanning the code never creates a second ticket: the customer keeps the same number.

• The code shows for 30 seconds. Each tap on More time adds 30 seconds, up to 10 times. When 20 seconds are left, the card warns that the code will hide soon. Other touches on the screen do not extend the code.
• On the success card, a tap outside the card closes the card, which also hides the code.
• When a phone opens the ticket, the code hides and the kiosk confirms that the ticket opened on the phone.
• The code also hides when the customer taps Done, when the card returns to the home screen, when the next customer joins, and when the kiosk loses its connection to Jonot. A hidden code does not come back for that ticket.
• A phone that opens the code after it stopped working shows This code is no longer valid. The phone does not offer to join the queue again, so the customer keeps the ticket they have.
• If the kiosk is not connected to Jonot when the customer joins, the card shows the ticket number without the code.

The code opens the ticket page with the same access as the customer’s own ticket link, including cancelling the ticket. A phone that opens the code can view and cancel that ticket until the ticket ends. The code keeps working for a short time after it hides, and more than one phone can open it. This is why the code shows only for a short time.

A customer without a phone keeps the printed ticket. If the ticket did not print, a staff member writes down the number for the customer.

The QR code on the home screen is a different code. It lets a customer who has not joined yet join the queue from their phone.

Idle return to home

The kiosk automatically returns to the home screen after a period of inactivity:

• Success card — dismisses 30 seconds after the last touch or after the customer taps Reprint ticket.
• Failure card — dismisses after 45 seconds. When a ticket is not printed, this card shows Ticket issued — printer unavailable and the ticket number, and asks the customer to have a staff member write down the number.

While the phone QR code shows, neither card closes on its own before the code hides.

The timer pauses when the app moves to the background and resumes when the app returns to the foreground. Turning the screen off briefly does not reset the timer during an interaction. This behaviour is always active and needs no configuration.

Customer language

When your organisation or location offers more than one language, the kiosk lets each customer choose a language for their interaction. When the kiosk returns to its home screen, it resets to the location’s default language for the next customer. Set the available languages and the default in admin; see Languages.

Printer out of order

One failed ticket print or reprint switches the kiosk to printer out-of-order mode. This includes a printer that is switched off, unplugged, or unreachable, a kiosk with Bluetooth turned off, and a kiosk with no printer set up. Failures that say nothing about the printer do not count: a browser kiosk that has no printer connection, a print job that is already in progress, or a ticket that the kiosk rejects before it reaches the printer, for example because the ticket has characters that the printer cannot print or is too large. The kiosk does not detect an empty paper roll: the printer usually accepts the ticket, so the kiosk shows the ticket as printed.

If the printer does not answer within 8 seconds, the kiosk shows the printer-unavailable card and waits up to 30 more seconds. If the ticket prints in that time, the kiosk stays in normal mode. A failed test slip during printer setup does not change the mode by itself.

In printer out-of-order mode:

• Customers can still join. The kiosk does not try to print. It shows the ticket number on the Ticket issued — printer unavailable card, together with the phone QR code. A customer without a phone asks a staff member to write down the number.
• The home screen shows a banner that the ticket printer is out of order, and the text above the Print ticket button explains that the ticket is not printed. The button keeps its label.
• The kiosk stores the mode on the device, so the mode stays on after the kiosk app reloads or restarts.
• Desk shows its printer-offline banner for the kiosk, and admin shows the printer as Offline. The kiosk reports the fault again each time it loads and each time a customer joins. If neither happens for 24 hours, desk stops showing the banner, but the kiosk stays out of order.

Only staff can end printer out-of-order mode, with a test slip:

1. Check the printer’s paper, power, and connection.
2. Open the manager menu and select Change Printer. See Change the printer.
3. Connect the printer. The kiosk prints a test slip. A slow printer can take up to 30 more seconds, so wait for the result.
4. If the test slip printed correctly, tap Yes, continue.

The mode ends only after the kiosk sends the test slip to the printer successfully and you confirm that it printed correctly. If the kiosk could not send the test slip to the printer, the kiosk stays out of order and shows Print test slip again instead of Yes, continue. Tapping Cancel — keep current printer keeps the kiosk out of order. A customer never needs to take a ticket to test the printer.

Printer status in admin

The current printer status is visible in admin under the location’s Devices tab. The status shows:

• Connected — the last ticket or test slip printed successfully.
• Offline — the last print attempt failed, with a brief reason.

If the printer shows an error, check the network, USB, or Bluetooth connection and make sure the printer has paper. The status returns to Connected after the next successful print. In printer out-of-order mode the kiosk does not print tickets, so the status returns only after a successful test slip ends the mode.