Many retailers have reached a crossroads when it comes to the POS terminal. Over the last few years, the use of cloud-based systems and mobile registers has grown, just as the technology that backs them has evolved. Apple's mobile-based operating system was still a novel concept as little as five years ago. Now it is commonplace.

Scott Lamb, the founder of a Utah-based point of sale solution provider, was recently interviewed in a Business Solution article about the current landscape of the point of sale industry. He covered several topics, but focused heavily on the use of tablet POS and cloud-based systems.

Lamb mentioned that a number of organizations are using a hybrid fixed/mobile environment by keeping at least one traditional POS station. This allows all customers to feel like they have a place to pay and keeps one system as a business hub for more complicated transactions. However, he added that mobile is still the future.

"Several customers are going totally mobile, whereby all the guest sees are mobile POS devices," Lamb said. "When we began deploying these devices in our local database environment, we saw firsthand that the infrastructure is solid. The network is stable, the customer doesn't have to give up any functionality, and the devices don't fail."

Making this switch to a mobile POS system and network can be a complicated process. This is where a payment solution provider can become a valuable resource and help ensure any new system can be optimized and successful.