Hand-held ordering

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Hand-held terminal

In a restaurant, getting the order from the customer to the chef needs to be quick and accurate. While the pad and pen will never go out of fashion, increasing numbers of restaurants are turning to more technological methods to speed up the process. Hand-held terminals are one way of doing this. >What is a hand-held terminal? Put simply, it's an electronic pad that the waiter holds in his hand while inputting the customer's order. The order is then transmitted to the kitchen, where it will be printed out or displayed on a screen for the chef to see. It is a way of bypassing the need for the waiter to either take the written order to the kitchen or to go over to a static terminal and input the order. New generations of hand-helds can also swipe credit cards and print receipts at the customer's table. How do they work? The order is then transmitted on a standard frequency to a terminal in the kitchen. In big restaurants, it is possible to have multiple terminals in the kitchen for separate parts of the order, e.g. starters, main course, etc.Á‚ In an average-size restaurant only one discrete aerial is needed to beam the signal around the building. This could be fixed to the ceiling, for example, or on a wall. What are the advantages? Efficiency. The order can go straight from the waiter to the chef in an instant, and so can any changes to the basic order. The system can also keep track of stock and availability, so if a customer orders fish but someoneÁ¢Â€Â™s just had the last one, the device will tell the waiter that the item is unavailable.Á‚ The waiter will not need to waste time going back and forth between the table, a static terminal and the kitchen.Á‚ The system will give all the reports of an ordinary EPoS (electronic point of sale) system, making it easier to track stock, turnover and payments.Á‚ If the device can take payments at the table then it increases security surrounding staff and credit cards. The card will not leave the customerÁ¢Â€Â™s sight, making Á¢Â€ÂœskimmingÁ¢Â€Â or card-copying very difficult.Á‚ What are the disadvantages? ThereÁ¢Â€Â™s always a danger with any technology that it will go wrong. No matter how much money youÁ¢Â€Â™ve spent you will need contingency plans that can kick in if the whole thing crashes.Á‚ You will also need to train staff how to use the hand-helds effectively. Plus, of course, a system like this will cost a lot more than a few pads and pens.Á‚ What will it cost me? The cost will depend on the size of restaurant. But for an average 100-seat restaurant a full package of hand-helds, transmitters, kitchen terminals, support and training will set you back by about Á‚£20,000.Á‚ How long will they last? When buying any piece of technology, you tend to worry that the whole thing will be obsolete as soon as youÁ¢Â€Â™ve bought it and youÁ¢Â€Â™ll have to fork out thousands of pounds every year for upgrades.Á‚ The truth though, especially with hand-helds, is that they last as long as they work for you. There are examples of less-sophisticated hand-held terminals still in use after 15 years. As long as you have a system with good support from the manufacturers and installers you shouldnÁ¢Â€Â™t have too many problems. What should I be looking for when I buy them? Make sure the package youÁ¢Â€Â™re buying includes good support in case it all breaks or crashes. ItÁ¢Â€Â™s also advisable to try to include training for your staff in the price.Á‚ Get some referrals form any installer: who else have they worked with?Á‚ Go and see the kit in the environment of a proper working restaurant. Ask the owner what they think of it. DonÁ¢Â€Â™t just let the salesman pick somewhere or take their word for it when they do a demo in your office.