Editor’s note: ATM Network technicians have the experience to solve even the thorniest problems, and routinely go above and beyond to do so. This is one such story.

About a month after installing an ATM in a bar in western Minnesota, the machine stopped communicating with the transaction server, making transactions impossible. A tech went down to check it out.

The machine worked properly when it was installed, so the technician figured that a component must have gone bad. He replaced the communications cable and several circuit boards, including the mainboard, but it still didn’t work. So he called in our troubleshooting team.

The first thing the team did was re-replace everything, just to be sure. Nothing helped.

Then they examined connections. The bar had a local computer network. The machine was hooked into that, using the network’s Internet connection to transmit transactions instead of a dedicated phone line.

So they began to ask the bar owner questions: Had there been any additions or changes to the network? Any differences at all? No. Further, the owner’s computer used the network for Internet access, and it worked just fine. That suggested the problem was with the ATM, not the network.
Then the bar owner mentioned that he had installed some security cameras in the bar, and that they weren’t working, either. And come to think of it, the ATM had stopped working after the cameras were installed.

The team went to look at the cameras. They were hooked into the network so that they could send their images to the owner’s computer. But why weren’t they working? And how could they have affected the ATM but left the owner’s computer unharmed?

On the Internet, central computers called DNS (domain-name servers) keep track of the location – known as “IP addresses” — of everything connected to it. Think of them as a giant directory, listing the address of computers so that messages can be sent and received from them. If a machine isn’t listed in the DNS, it’s invisible.

Networks like the one installed in the bar connect to the Internet through a router. Each router does two things: it keeps a list of devices connected to the network, and serves as the gateway connecting those devices to the Internet. That way the DNS only needs to know the address of the router; the router takes care of distributing incoming and outgoing messages for everything on the local network.

There are two ways for a router to handle addresses for its devices. A device can have a fixed, “static” address that never changes, or the router can assign a new “dynamic” address every time a device connects to it. Dynamic assignment is generally preferable, because it doesn’t require manually setting addresses for each individual device. It’s managed using a DNS setting on the router.

A quick check showed that the cameras and the owner’s computer had static addresses, while the ATM used a dynamic address. Which was confusing, because of the two devices with static addresses, one worked and one didn’t. The problem wasn’t as simple as “static good, dynamic bad.”

Thinking it over, the team decided that maybe the problem was with the router. So they checked it – and discovered that the DNS settings weren’t enabled for dynamic addresses. As far as the ATM could tell, it was properly connected, but its communications were hitting a wall at the router.
The owner enabled the settings, and the ATM worked perfectly.

But how had the problem occurred in the first place? Remember that the ATM worked when it was first installed, then stopped working when the cameras were installed. And the cameras, despite being on static IP addresses, still didn’t work.

After another round of questions, it turned out that the camera installer inadvertently disabled the router’s DNS settings during installation, knocking the ATM off the network.

And the cameras themselves? They weren’t working because of a separate installation error. Their problem was totally unconnected to the problem that took down the ATM. But it *looked* related, complicating the diagnosis of the problem.

Over the past 3-4 weeks we have been converting our ATM machines to ATM Network. At first, the task seemed insurmountable. We were in a race against time with our previous vendor, who temporarily locked us out of the data-tracking website; shut down one of our machines; removed another one of our machines from a very profitable site and replaced it with his own machine without any discussion with us; and then, it appears, starting changing system and maintenance passwords….

Our initial contacts with Steve Fisher gave us not only confidence in your company, but hope to save our small business. He is diligent about returning e-mails and phone calls and communication was our lifeline. He, in turn, got (service manager) Tom James involved; and I cannot tell you how helpful, kind and patient Tom has been through all of this. With Tom walking me through every step, we did a whirlwind of conversions. I made mistakes, dumped screens, etc. but thankfully became more proficient with each conversion. Although I have not met Tom … he is one of the most decent, caring and helpful individuals I have ever communicated with.

I don’t know how many clients give you feedback; but I wanted you to know what a fine team you have put together. … Most of all, I don’t feel like a client; I feel like I am their friend.

Lori Manning
Independent OSO

Read more customer testimonials on our testimonials page, or by clicking on the “Endorsements” category in the left column.

The dotted line shows the route driven by our tech.

Early one spring, ATM Network got a call to install an ATM at a resort on an island in Lake of the Woods, on the Minnesota/Canada border. As you can see from the map, Lake of the Woods is huge and the border cuts back and forth through it several times, but generally the east and north sides are in Canada, while the United States owns a portion of the west and south sides.

The weird thing is that a large chunk of the western shore is a peninsula, known as the Northwest Angle. The peninsula itself is part of the United States (it happens to be the northernmost point in the United States, aside from Alaska), but the shore it’s attached to is Canadian. This odd situation is a result of a geographic mistake written into the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War and defined the boundary between Canada and the United States.

The resort was on an island just off the end of this peninsula, and much closer to the north shore than the south. That meant the installer had to cross into Canada, drive up the west side of the lake, cross back into the United States, drive to the end of the peninsula, and then get on a boat to reach the resort.

There was flooding all over northern Minnesota, and most of the hotels in the area were still closed for the season. Those that were open were booked up. So the installer spent the night in Grand Forks, N.D.

The next morning he tried to drive to Warroad to cross into Canada. But flooding had closed the roads around Roseau, so he backtracked and ended up crossing the border at a town called Pinecreek. After going through customs (in a van filled with tools and a large ATM), he spent 45 minutes driving toward the peninsula.

As he neared the peninsula’s border, he started seeing signs for a place called Jim’s Corner. They all urged drivers to stop there, saying “You must stop at Jim’s Corner.” “Be sure to stop at Jim’s Corner.” It sounded like the Wall Drug of northern Minnesota. By the fifth or sixth sign, the installer was really curious what Jim’s Corner was.

But when he finally reached it, “Jim’s Corner” was a plain, unremarkable shack on the side of the road. The installer shrugged and drove on past.

The shack at Jim's Corner.

He crossed back into the United States (there was no border crossing, just a sign) and drove to the end of the peninsula, where a water taxi service could take him to the resort. He wasn’t sure what tools he would need, so he unloaded his entire van (including the ATM) into the boat.

The boat made several other stops, so it was a couple of hours before the installer arrived at the resort.

The installation itself was quick and routine. After making sure everything was working and showing the resort staff how to use their new machine, the installer packed his tools back up and went to wait for the boat to return. A couple of hours later he was back on shore. He packed up his van and headed back toward Canada.

As he drove down the peninsula, he again started seeing signs for Jim’s Corner. It had been a long day, and he was still mystified at what Jim’s Corner had to offer that justified all the signs. So when the shack came into sight, he pulled over, stopped, and walked in.

Inside was a video phone with U.S. and Canadian flags, underneath the words “Where are you checking into?” Since he was heading into Canada, he pushed the “Canada” button. A customs agent appeared on the screen and began asking him standard customs questions: “Where are you going? Do you have anything to declare?”

Yep, it was the border station, run on the honor system and managed over remote video by customs agents based elsewhere.

After answering the questions — and hoping the agent wouldn’t notice that, according to their records, he had entered Canada twice that day without ever leaving it — the tech returned to Grand Forks for the night, ending a 14-hour day.

More on Jim’s Corner
In 2006, CNN’s Gary Tuchman visited the shack.
Photos of the inside of the shack.

At a celebration last week, ATM Network founder and owner Phil Rock presented Steve with a cake, a bonus and some time to reflect on the past eight years. Phil and sales manager Chad Woolson told stories about the company’s early days, from its founding in Phil’s basement to its first office in a strip mall in Minnetonka.

Steve has contributed greatly to the growth of ATM Network through his long and dedicated service. But he’s hardly alone. Our 25 employees represent nearly 120 years of combined experience in the ATM industry. Next month we will celebrate three more anniversaries with a combined 35 years of experience.

Such longevity and experience is why ATM Network continues to weather changes that have seen competitors come and go. Our staff of competent and committed professionals support each and every machine and transaction, a level of service that no other provider can touch.