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Machines Management: Monitoring, Settings & Remote Control

This guide walks through the Machines tab in the VTM Vending web portal — from monitoring machine status and customizing your list view, to managing an individual machine's full settings panel along with restocking aisles.

1. Get an Overview of the Machines Tab

  • Navigate to the Machines tab from the left-hand navigation

  • At the top of the page, you'll see four summary cards:

  • Machines — total number of machines on your account

  • Online — number of machines currently online

  • Offline — number of machines currently offline

  • Needs attention — number of machines with active alerts

📸 Screenshot — Machines Overview

  • ⚫ Black arrow — points to the Views dropdown, used to switch between saved filter presets

  • 🔴 Red arrow — points to the Columns button, used to customize which columns display in the list

  • 🟢 Green box — outlines the Status column, showing each machine's current online/offline state and aisle stock levels

  • 🟤 Brown box — outlines the Subscription Status column, showing whether a machine is On Trial, Expired, or Not subscribed

  • 🔵 Blue box — outlines the Operation column, containing the quick-action icons and the Manage button for each machine

  • Below the summary cards, use the List, Map, and Groups tabs to switch between different views of your machines

  • Use the filter fields (Machine Name, Machine Number, User Account) and click Search to find specific machines, or Export to download the list

💡 Tip: Click any machine row to open its details and controls directly.

2. Use the Quick-Action Icons

Each machine row includes three quick-action icons in the Operation column, plus a Manage button.

2a. Remote Login

  • Hover over the first icon (screen icon) to see the Remote login tooltip

  • Click it to remotely access the machine's screen

2b. Manage Aisles

  • Hover over the second icon (bag icon) to see the Manage aisles tooltip

  • Click it to open the Restock & Aisles panel for that machine (covered in Step 6)

2c. Revenue

  • Hover over the third icon (receipt/image icon) to see the Revenue tooltip

  • Click it to view the machine's takings (covered in Step 5)

3. Open Individual Machine Settings

  • Click Manage on a machine row to open its full settings panel

  • The Overview tab is the default view and displays the machine's basic information

  • 🟢 Green arrow — points to the Overview tab, currently selected

  • ⚫ Black arrow — points to the Renewal date, showing when the machine's subscription renews

  • 🔵 Blue arrow — points to the Fee history link, which shows past billing activity for the machine

  • 🟡 Yellow box — outlines the Enabled toggle, which turns the machine on or off within the portal

  • 🔴 Red box — outlines the Inventory log link under "More Actions"

From this tab, you can edit:

  • Name — the display name for the machine

  • Group — the machine group it belongs to

  • Service phone — a contact number associated with the machine

  • Enabled — toggles whether the machine is active

  • Address — the machine's physical location

  • Notes — free-text notes for internal reference
    ↳ Changes on this tab save automatically

  • Two quick-action buttons are available here as well:

  • Remote login — remotely access the machine's screen

  • Manage aisles — opens the Restock & Aisles panel (Step 6)

  • Under More Actions, you'll find links to:

  • Inventory log — a detailed history of stock and price changes (Step 4)

  • Takings — the machine's revenue history (Step 5)

4. Review the Inventory Log

  • Click Inventory log from the Overview tab to view a detailed history of every stock and price change made to the machine

The log includes:

  • Machine No and Aisle No — which aisle was affected

  • Product and Modified Product — the product before and after any change

  • Inventory Before and Inventory After — the stock count before and after the change, with changes highlighted

  • Max Inventory — the maximum capacity set for that aisle

  • Price Before and Price After — pricing changes, also highlighted when different

  • Modified Channel — where the change was made (e.g., Web)

  • Time — when the change occurred
    ↳ Use the Start Time/End Time, User Account/Name, and Modified Channel filters to narrow down the log, then click Search

💡 Tip: This log is useful for investigating unexpected price or stock discrepancies — for example, if a product's price shows as $0.00 unexpectedly, check here to see exactly when and how it changed.

5. Check Machine Revenue

  • Click the Revenue icon on a machine row, or the Takings link from the Overview tab, to view the machine's takings

Revenue / Takings Panel

The Takings panel shows:

  • Cumulative Income — total income collected from the machine

  • Credit Card Income and Paper Income — breakdown by payment type

  • Coin Return — total coin-based income

  • A transaction table below lists each order with its time, order number, income method, and actual amount paid
    ↳ Use the pagination controls at the bottom to browse through older transactions

  • Click Clear All Data to reset the recorded takings for that machine
    ↳ ⚠️ This action should be used with caution, as it clears the recorded income history for the machine

6. Restock and Manage Aisles

Click Manage aisles (from the list icon or the Overview tab) to open the Restock & Aisles panel. This panel has two views: Restock and Full edit.

6a. Restock View (Quick Restocking)

  • This view is used for quickly updating stock counts without editing product details

  • Use the filter tabs at the top (All, Low, Empty, No product, Disabled) to narrow down which aisles you're viewing

📸 Screenshot — Restock Aisles (Quick View)

  • 🔴 Red box — outlines the Restock / Full edit toggle, with Restock currently selected

  • ⚫ Black arrow — points to the Fill all button, which fills every aisle to its maximum stock

  • 🟤 Brown arrow — points to the Fill low & empty button, which fills only aisles that are low or out of stock

  • 🔵 Blue box — outlines an individual aisle's stock field (Pill Mints), where you can manually adjust the count

  • 🔵 Blue arrows — point to aisles 4 and 5, each marked with a green dot indicating an active status

  • 🟠 Orange arrow — points to the Fill button for an individual aisle (aisle 6)

  • 🟢 Green arrow — points to the Reset link, used to undo unsaved changes

Other available tools in this view:
↳ One-Click Paste — paste stock values across multiple aisles at once
↳ Pick list — generates a list of what to bring to restock the machine (see Step 7)
↳ Export — download the current aisle data

Click Confirm to save your changes, or Cancel to discard them

6b. Full Edit View (Detailed Aisle Management)

  • Switch to the Full edit tab to manage product details, pricing, and stock limits for every aisle in a table format

This view shows the full aisle table with columns for Aisle, Product, Picture, Cost Price, Retail Price, Age Restriction, Maximum, Current Stock, and Operation (Copy/Paste)

  • Each row lets you edit:

  • Product — the product name assigned to that aisle

  • Cost Price and Retail Price

  • Age Restriction — minimum age requirement, if applicable

  • Maximum — the maximum stock capacity for that aisle

  • Current Stock — the current quantity, with a colored indicator (green check = stocked, orange = low, red = empty)

  • Use the Copy and Paste buttons on each row to quickly duplicate settings from one aisle to another

6c. Enable or Disable Aisles

  • Within the Full edit view, use the toggle switches to enable or disable individual aisles

🟢 Green box — outlines the column of toggle switches used to enable or disable each aisle

↳ Disabling an aisle prevents it from being displayed on the machine screen, without removing the product or stock data

7. Use the Pick List

  • From the Restock panel, click Pick list to generate a summary of what to bring to restock the machine

  • The Pick list shows each product that needs restocking, along with the number of units needed and how it breaks down per aisle (e.g., "2×10" means 2 aisles need 10 units each)

  • Click Copy list to copy the list for use outside the portal (e.g., a shopping or packing list)

8. Configure Machine Settings (Config Tab)

Click the Config tab within a machine's settings panel to access detailed machine behavior settings, grouped into several sections.

8a. Administrator

  • Enable Admin Menu — toggles whether the on-screen admin menu is accessible on the machine

  • Machine admin password — the password used to open the machine's on-screen admin menu
    ↳ Change this from the factory default to prevent tampering
    ↳ Refer to your onboarding email to locate this password

  • Enable Test Dispense — allows a test dispense to be run from the admin menu

  • Enable Coupons — toggles whether coupons can be redeemed on the machine

8b. Age Identification

  • Age Identification toggle — turns age verification on or off for the machine

  • Application Scope — sets which cargo lanes age verification applies to (e.g., Single Cargo Lane)

  • Age Verification Method — the method used to verify age (e.g., AgeRecognitionScanner)

  • Age Verification Schedule — a weekly grid where you select which days and time blocks require age verification
    ↳ Green cells indicate the times age verification is active; white cells indicate it is not

8c. Refund Sensor & Machine Mode

  • Enable Refund Sensor for Product Drop — detects when a product fails to drop and can trigger an automatic refund, reducing chargebacks and support tickets

  • Machine Mode settings control the core operating mode and screen behavior:

  • Operating Mode — e.g., buyMode

  • Prompt Title — the title shown for the verification prompt (e.g., "Age Verification 21+ Only")

  • Age Verification Prompt Message — the message customers see (e.g., "By selecting YES, you certify that you are at least 21 years old and of legal smoking age.")

  • Enable Prompt Screen — toggles whether this prompt displays

  • Show Confirm Button / Cancel Button — customize the button labels (e.g., "Yes" / "No")

8d. Online Payment, Tax, Lock, and Troubleshooting

  • Online Payment — Sms Switch — toggles SMS-based digital payment options on the machine screen

  • Equipment Tax Rate — toggles whether tax is applied to sales on this machine

  • Electronic Lock Switch — provides remote electronic door-lock support; click Click to Unlock to remotely unlock the machine

  • Shopping Tips — toggles optional on-screen prompts shown to customers

  • Shopping Cart — toggles multi-item cart behavior on the machine screen

  • Trouble Shooting — Hide Aisle(s) on Delivery Failure — controls whether an aisle is automatically hidden after a fault

8e. Other Settings (within Config)

  • Category Filter — toggles category-based ad filtering

  • Currency Symbol — sets the currency symbol displayed (e.g., $)

  • Enable Merge Aisles — toggles whether ad slots merge across aisles
    ↳ These settings are also editable from the dedicated Advertising tab (Step 12)

  • Click Save configuration to apply changes made in the Config tab

9. Manage Payment Settings

Click the Payment tab to configure which payment methods are accepted on the machine.

  • Coins Switch — toggles whether coins are accepted

  • Bill Acceptor — toggles whether bills are accepted

  • Card Reader Switch — toggles whether card payments are accepted

  • Poss — shows the connected point-of-sale device (e.g., Nayax-VPOS TOUCH)

  • Paypal Switch — toggles PayPal as a payment option

  • Coins Return Switch — toggles whether coin change is returned

  • Click Save payment settings to apply your changes

10. Send Remote Commands (Control Tab)

Click the Control tab to send remote commands directly to the machine.

⚠️ The machine must be online for these commands to work

Available controls include:

  • Remote login — access the machine's screen remotely

  • Electronic lock — remotely lock or unlock the machine

  • Ethernet — a dropdown for Ethernet-related connection commands

  • Restart — a dropdown to remotely restart the machine

11. Review Transactions (Transactions Tab)

Click the Transactions tab to view a summary of recent sales activity for this specific machine.

At the top, you'll see:

  • Revenue · Recent — total recent revenue for the machine

  • Transactions — number of recent transactions

  • Avg sale — the average sale amount

  • Below, a list shows each recent transaction with the product name, order number, amount, and date/time

12. Configure Advertising (Advertising Tab)

Click the Advertising tab to manage ad display settings for this machine.

  • Enable Top Advertisement Banner — toggles the top banner ad display

  • Enable Screen Saver Advertisements — toggles full-screen ads on the welcome/screensaver screen

  • Enable ad rotation — toggles whether multiple ads rotate automatically

  • Top ad rotation interval (sec) — sets how many seconds each banner ad displays before rotating

  • Click Save settings to apply changes

  • Click Manage advertising to go to the full Advertising section of the portal for uploading and assigning ads
    ↳ If no ads are currently running on the machine, this will be noted here

13. Customize Your Columns View

  • Click the Columns button above the machine list to choose which columns are displayed

  • ⚫ Black arrows — indicate that columns can be dragged up or down to reorder them in the list view

  • Check or uncheck any column (e.g., Machine Name, Machine Group, Status, Aisle Stock, Machine Number, Address, User Account, Lock Screen on Malfunction) to show or hide it

  • Click Reset to Default to restore the original column layout

14. Manage Machine Groups

  • Switch to the Groups tab to view and manage machine groups

This view shows existing groups, including the User Account and Group Name associated with each

  • Available actions for each group:

  • Edit — update the group's details

  • Transfer Device — move machines into a different group or to a different owner

  • Delete — remove the group

  • Click + Add to create a new machine group

  • Use the User Account and Group Name filter fields to search for a specific group

15. Link a Wireless Device (WTI) Serial Number

  • From a machine's Manage panel, locate the option to set the WTI Serial

  • Enter the WTI wireless device router serial number in the field provided
    ↳ Leave the field empty to unlink an existing WTI router from the machine

  • Click Confirm to save, or Cancel to close without changes

⚠️ Important Notes

🔴 Change the default admin password: The machine admin password should be changed from the factory default to prevent tampering. Check your onboarding email if you need to locate the original password.

💡 Restock efficiently: Use Fill low & empty instead of Fill all when you only need to top off aisles that are running low, to avoid overfilling aisles that are already stocked.

🔴 Disabling vs. deleting: Disabling an aisle stops sales from it but keeps the product and stock data intact — this is different from clearing or deleting a product entirely.

⚠️ Clearing takings data: Clicking Clear All Data on the Revenue panel removes the recorded income history for that machine. Confirm this is intended before proceeding.

💾 Save reminder: Changes made in the Restock or Full edit views, as well as the Config, Payment, and Advertising tabs, each require their own explicit save action — unsaved changes will be lost if you close the panel or click Cancel.

⚠️ Machine must be online for Control commands: Remote login, electronic lock, Ethernet, and Restart commands under the Control tab will not work if the machine is offline.

💡 Use the Inventory Log for troubleshooting: If a product's price or stock looks incorrect, the Inventory Log will show exactly when and how it was changed, and by which channel.

📧 Need help? If a machine shows unexpected subscription status (Expired or Not subscribed), a locked or unresponsive Config/Payment tab, or repeated offline status, reach out to a support agent.

📝 This guide is currently in DRAFT status. Please review and approve before publishing.

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