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Home »Point of Sale Systems » Choosing a Restaurant POS System

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CHOOSING A RESTAURANT POS SYSTEM

Introduction
Top restaurants invest heavily in top quality POS systems. They do so because high performance POS systems enable restaurants to run more efficiently. Staff can input customer orders more quickly, the kitchen makes fewer mistakes, customers get both their food and their checks more quickly, tables turn faster, wait staff can serve more tables simultaneously, the correct ingredients can be ordered week after week, servers are prevented from providing complimentary food to friends, and you can run reports to see which items on your menu are being ordered infrequently and should be replaced or repriced. Fortunately, there are POS software and hardware solutions that are affordable to small and mid-size restauranteurs that level the playing field in today's competitive environment. Please call us and let us personalize a POS system that's right for you

Contents:

Benefits of an effective POS system

General system considerations

Choosing a restaurant POS software

Choosing a restaurant POS computer

Choosing restaurant POS peripherals

Buying made easy

Benefits of an Effective POS System
An effective point of sale system will:

• Improve customer service
  A good POS system reduces the time your wait staff time spends entering orders and processing payment tenders. It also allows reduces mistakes in the kitchen. Customers get their orders quickly and accurately.  Today’s POS systems go much further, however. They enable reservations, waiting lists, guest paging, Caller ID, gift card management, frequent diners programs, house accounts, and VIP discounts. Don’t let a great menu be spoiled by an inadequate or overly-complicated POS system.
  
  
• Enhance staff teamwork
  Good POS systems are easy-to-use and easy-to-learn. A new employee without prior computer knowledge should be able to learn the basics of your POS system in 15 minutes or less. You can also implement enhanced communications options like server table assignment paging, internal staff email, and wireless handheld ordering systems.
  
  
• Increase Profits
  POS systems help you order the right amount of ingredients week after week, reduce kitchen mistakes, turn tables more quickly, eliminate inaccurate time cards and much more. They also allow you to run reports on your business so that you can better predict volume and schedule employees appropriately, see what’s not selling on the menu, and prevent servers from providing complimentary food to their friends.
  

General System Considerations
Setting up a POS system is not difficult, but it requires some thought. There are a few initial choices that drive most of the system requirements:

1. Select your software. Make sure the software you select adequately meets both your current and expected future needs. We recommend software that offers a complete suite of functionality included in the base price, so you don't have to worry about adding tack-on modules later on.
   
   
2. Choose the server computer. The first thing you need to do is select one computer to be responsible for maintaining the software and information database. This computer is usually faster and more robust than other computers in the network, but it does not need to be an enterprise lever “server” capable of millions of transactions per second. The computer used as the server does not require any special operating system or hardware other than those set forth under minimum requirements. In situations where there is only one computer in the POS network, then that computer will act as the server. The server computer is usually either (a) the back office computer, or (b) the most centrally located computer.
   
   
3. Determine how many other POS terminals are needed to enter orders and process payments, if any. These terminals are sometimes called client computers, as the transactions they process are communicated instantly to the server computer where the database of information is housed. You will need to buy additional POS software licenses for each of these additional terminals.
   
   For each POS terminal, we recommend that you have a configuration that includes:
   
   
   1. Computer
   2. Touch screen monitor
   3. Magnetic credit card stripe reader (we recommend choosing a monitor that has it built in, but it is also available with USB interface and can be attached to the monitor, keyboard, or counter.)
   4. Receipt printer. We recommend you use thermal printers as receipt printers, because they print faster and more quietly than impact printers.  They should also have parallel or USB connections, as these connections are easier to install.
   5. Heavy-duty cash drawer.   
   6. Customer pole display (if counter service). The Aldelo software that we recommend supports the Ultimate Command Set (UTC). 
   7. Note: While in general almost all POS peripherals integrate seamlessly with the POS workstation and POS software, some peripherals come with the necessary cables and some do not. We recommend that if you are uncertain, please call us and we will confirm the completeness of your order. Please also verify that there are sufficient ports in your computer to accommodate your choice of peripherals. 
      
      
4. Determine how many kitchen printers are desired, if any. Kitchen printers should be impact (dot-matrix). Thermal printer paper turns black when exposed to heat, grease, or oil in a kitchen.
   
   
5. Determine how you are going to connect the kitchen printers, if any. Make sure that you have a cabling solution that that reaches the kitchen. There are several cabling options:
   
   
   1. Parallel interfaces are easy to install (just install drivers) and can reach up to 100 feet. Parallel interfaces are most common for receipt, bar, or label printers.
   2. Serial connections reach up to 100 feet but involve a two-step set-up that requires both installation of the printer drivers and setting up of the COM port setting correctly. These settings can be downloaded from the manufacturers websites.
   3. USB interfaces are also easy to install (just install drivers) and have small connections but are limited to 15 feet.
   4. Ethernet connections can reach up to 300 feet but require about the same set-up as serial printers. Ethernet printers are typically a little more costly as well. 
   
   
   
6. Determine if you need a label printer for pizza or other take out and delivery options. These printers create labels for weighted food items, delivery addresses, barcode labels, and customer mailings. The Aldelo software that we recommend supports 1”x3” labels and 4” x 1.5” labels on Zebra LP 2844 printers.
   
   
7. The software that we recommend, Aldelo, supports caller ID functionality. To make this functional, you need to buy a 2, 4, or 8 port caller ID device that translates the phone number to the POS terminals. Single line Caller ID modems need to function with Windows HyperTerminal if the call information is to be distributed to all the client terminals; otherwise it will only appear only on the station it is attached to.
   
   
8. Make sure you get an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) that allows your equipment to continue running for 20 minutes after a power outage. This allows you to safely store all of your night’s transactions and safely shut down your equipment.
   
   
9. Consider how you are going to back-up your database information. You want to make sure that in the event of burglary or fire, you have all of your company information backed-up offsite.

Network configuration – if you are going to have more than one POS station, we recommend that you have a professional company come install the low voltage cables (CAT5e or better) for you.

Choosing a Restaurant POS Software
Restaurant POS software needs to be easy-to-use, easy-to-install, reasonably-priced and provide full functionality. We recommend restaurants use Aldelo point-of-sale products. Aldelo has over 20,000 installations around the world in virtually every imaginable type of restaurant. The software comes complete with all modules, so you don’t have to worry about which modules to buy now and which to buy later. Standard features in the Pro edition include restaurant and bar POS, hostess and guest paging, reservations and waiting list, gift cards, frequent diners, house accounts, VIP discounts, employee scheduling and payroll preparation, recipe control, inventory management and shopping list, order splits and combines, caller ID pop-up, delivery dispatch and map integration, kitchen production control, and more. The software is designed for touch screens, which makes it easy to use. The software also comes standard with 30 days of complimentary support to make sure you get up and running successfully.  Click on one of the product links below to see a more complete list of features.

Aldelo for Restaurants Pro: A low cost, feature-rich, easy-to-use total restaurant management software for table service and quick service restaurants.

Aldelo for Restaurants Lite: This is an exceptional option for take-out and delivery restaurants.

Compare Aldelo for Restaurants Pro to Aldelo for Restaurants Lite

Choosing a Restaurant POS Computer
A PC that satisfies the minimum hardware requirements set out below can suffice in some clean, low-traffic restaurant environments. However, there are computers built specifically for the stressful demands of the hospitality environment with stronger casings, oversized cooling solutions and power supplies, and more advanced internal monitoring systems.

HP Rp5000 – A POS workstation that optimizes performance/value, the Hewlett Packard Rp5000 gives restaurants the best of both worlds, restaurant hardening in a pos system at a PC price, all with an industry-leading 3-year warranty.

Partner Tech PT-5500 - The PT-5500 combines the PC, touchscreen monitor, and magnetic stripe reader into a powerful, yet small footprint, and includes a 3-year warranty.

Choosing Restaurant POS Peripherals
Just as there is a wide range of restaurant types, there is a wide range of options to choose from for POS peripherals. In general, hardware upgrades often cost a little to achieve a lot. For instance, it is possible to manage a restaurant with a normal CRT monitor, but a touchscreen monitor results in significantly faster order entry and payment processing. We have created a chart below that identifies each category of peripheral and we then identify what in our view is the best economy product and the best performance/value product for each category. Please note that the best performance / value is often only slightly more expensive than the economy selection.

Buying Made Easy
Often the easiest thing is to call us at 1-800-326-0393. We have a team of friendly product experts waiting to help you find the right solution at the right price. If you wish to shop online, we offer several pre-bundled restaurant solutions that offer the best-of-breed software, workstation, peripherals and all necessary cables and accessories to simplify the buying process. Please click on the appropriate link below:

Table Service Solutions

Counter Service Solutions

Take-Out/Delivery Solutions