2: Introduction 
EDS Device Servers User Guide  19 
 
medical staff members to easily monitor and control equipment over the network, whether 
it is located at the point of care, in a laboratory, or somewhere else in the building, all 
resulting in improved quality of service and reduced operational costs. 
Retail Automation/Point-of-Sale 
Having the right solution in the store to manage deliveries, track orders, and keep pricing 
current are all improvements that the EDS can offer to make retail operations more 
successful. From big to small, one store to thousands of outlets, the EDS can empower 
point-of-sale (POS) devices to share information across the network effectively.  
With the EDS, retailers can increase and streamline productivity quickly and easily by 
network-enabling serial devices like card swipe readers, bar-code scanners, scales, cash 
registers, and receipt printers. 
Terminal Server/Console Management 
Remote offices can have routers, PBXs, servers and other networking equipment that 
require remote management from the corporate facility. The EDS easily attaches to the 
serial ports on a server, Private Branch Exchange (PBX), or other networking equipment 
to deliver central, remote monitoring and management capability. 
With the menu system on the EDS, connections to the console ports of the attached 
devices as well as Ethernet hosts, such as Unix servers or another EDS, can easily be 
picked from a user-defined menu. This allows console ports across multiple networks to 
be accessed from one EDS. 
Traffic Management 
With the ubiquity of Ethernet networks, managing cities over Ethernet is now within 
reach. The EDS provides an easy conversion from serial ports on traffic cameras, 
billboards, and traffic lights to Ethernet. The EDS obviates the need for long-haul 
modems and enables the management of traffic equipment over the network.