Posts Tagged ‘POS’

Introducing A New Payment Method That Could Make Credit Cards Obsolete

At Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open-standard contactless chip technologies, and First Data, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing services, announced that they have signed a three-year agreement to develop contactless payment stickers, which First Data will market as GO-Tag products. On their agreement, INSIDE is to supply the MicroPass payment sticker prelams only to First Data-qualified card manufacturers for production.

With this agreement, it helps leverage the core technology from INSIDE Contactless and First Data’s issuing and transaction processing power. GO-Tag products will be marketed by First Data to major U.S. merchants, financial institutions, and all other distribution channels in a variety of form factors.

“First Data’s GO-Tag Solution represents an important step in the evolution from today’s plastic cards and fobs, offering a bridge to the future of mobile payments,” says Barry McCarthy, general manager, Mobile Commerce and Point of Sale Solutions for First Data. “Our partnership with INSIDE Contactless enables us to offer consumers an opportunity to turn just about any personal item, from a mobile phone to an employee ID badge, into a payment device.”

As the executive vice president of payments for INSIDE Contactless, Charles Walton says also stickers, that highlighted this agreement].

You might also want to consider updating your restaurant POS system to Contactless credit card acceptance in the near future, because their technology is becoming more and more common in the marketplace. And we all know that customer service is all about the speed and fast transaction to a restaurant point of sale terminal, the better the service is the better your customer experience will reflect on the value of your services.

 

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The author of this article writes for POS-For-Restaurants.com, a VP of Customer Relations with over 20 years experience in restaurant point of sale system, helping restaurant owners nationwide increase their efficiency and bottom-line profits.

You may visit POS-For-Restaurants.com for more information on how our national network of restaurant point of sale specialists can help your business achieve greater success in these difficult economic times.

 

Keeping Point-Of-Sale Equipment Secure

On credit card commercials, we can see a line of dancing shoppers merrily swiping their credit cards, from store to store, and glorifyhow convenient it is to use, they don’t stress out the very real risk behind the cash register.

Monica Chauhan, director of embedded solutions for Solidcore (www.solidcore.com), a leading provider of real-time change control software, cites Gartner Group statistics showing that four out of five data breaches occur at POS (point-of-sale) systems.

Locking it Down

“These point-of-sale systems can be vulnerable to exploitation if not properly locked down,” Chauhan says. “For decades, embedded devices consisted of specialized hardware running proprietary software, but in recent times, there has been a shift towards standardization, such as Unified Point of Sale (UPoS) in the retail industry.”

Chauhan have also observed that the standardization has enabled devices to become increasingly interconnected , allowing the use of off-the-shelf software on commoditized hardware running commercial or open operating systems (OS) such as Windows XP Embedded, WEPOS (Windows Embedded for Point of Service), and also Linux.

According to her, the security risks for POS equipment owners came from greater system flexibility and quicker development time of these equipments.

Vulnerable Systems

The CEO of Trustwave (www.trustwave.com), Robert J. McCullen, a security firm specializing in information security and compliance management solutions, agreed to Chauhan that many but not all POS systems are vulnerable to exploitation.

“A little dial-up swipe machine is a low-risk device,” McCullen says. “POS equipment more prone to vulnerable exploitation are those that are computer-based and/or have Internet access; the risk lies in those two prime factors.”

If a POS system stores credit card track data, exploitation possibly will occur, and swipe terminals can be exploited through tampering, according to McCullen.

“Generally, hardware swipe terminals have low exploit risk, rather a higher risk of tampering, and thus the tampering will allow hackers to read the cards, whether through a Bluetooth device used later to get the card data or other efforts to retrieve the information,” McCullen explains.

As Chauhan discuss other vulnerabilities, she claims that because the POS systems today are similar to networked PCs, constant patching is required. She included that embedded systems have also become vulnerable to changes that are unauthorized and inappropriate as they are handed off to others in the distribution channel. With these, equipments often results to malfunctions and/or can cause the equipment to no longer meet PCI DSS (PCI Data Security Standard) requirements.

PCI Data Security Standard Challenges

Chauhan and McCullen both agreed that Point of Sale equipment is faced with unique challenges when it comes to complying with the PCI DSS.

PCI DSS requirement 5 states that a regularly updated antivirust software must be used, according to Chauhan. Antivirus software can be very high overhead for a low-footprint POS system, she notes; inspite of that, you can eliminate the need of an antivirus with change control software.

As an example, NEC Infrontia installed and uses a change control software on its POS offerings whein it prevented unauthorized code from breaking unpatched systems. With this software, it allowed NEC Infrontia to remove the antivirus software that was affecting the performance of their devices, according to Chauhan.

PCI DSS Requirement 6, “Develop and maintain secure systems and applications,” presents unique challenges, Chauhan notes.

It’ll be a very challenging on the part of POS equipment providers to ensure their systems sustain PCI compliance after shipping them to the dealer network and put into production at the retail location.

A large supplier of technology and POS systems for independent grocers and small chains, StoreNext (www.storenext.com), have solved their patching challenges with PCI DSS Requirement 6 by embedding Solidcore change control in its systems.

By simply reducing its patch frequency to quarterly, StoreNext was able to reduce the amount of their time on monthly test and patch distribution cycles. The PCI auditing requirement can be met through change control software, claimed Chauhan.

Other thorny areas include data encryption and user-based access controls, McCullen states.

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Do You Have Any Questions?

If you would like to know more about this topic or have a question in mind, you may ask for advice with our Restaurant POS
professional serving your area.

The author of this article is the Vice President of Customer Relations at www.POS-For-Restaurants.com with over 20 years experience in the restaurant point of sale industry.

 

Restaurant POS Software Overview

Find out about the best restaurant point of sale systems that will help your business grow! Compare and learn about online restaurant management softwares can further help your business.

Using a good restaurant POS system can greatly help restaurant owners, but between the confusion of hardware and software, monthly contracts,programming setup, leasing equipment and peripherals, that simple old cash register brings relief to all.

But don’t expect that much yet; that relief can even cause restaurant owners hundreds or thousands or even more than the cost of a POS system every month. It sure is nice to have that POS system that tracks staff schedules and kitchen inventory, keeps track of orders and wait times, maintains reservations systems and can even accept online orders, all in one convenient central computer system!

Restaurant POS software and hardware

A POS software, either an Aldelo, Aloha, FuturePOS or Micros, it’s the computer program that runs your restaurant POS system and not your computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, hand held PDA and other devices. As with any other expensive purchase, better think twice before closing a deal on the spot. Some vendors pitch the very low price of their software, while neglecting to inform the client that it only works with their very expensive computers, or their credit card processor.

If a company that works really hard to provide a high quality program doesn’t necessarily need to make a business of selling computer components. Even worse, leasing them at extremely high rates. Before you make a deal, figure out exactly what each component will be costing. Sure, that computer might only be a month but after a year, it’s likely paid off at $600 and the whose part is that the client will still continue to pay after another year since it’s a lease, and as technology changes they’re still paying for their outdated equipments as if they were new.

Managing Your Restaurant Online

The ability to access the system from a remote computer is a great feature. Imagine this – enjoying a lovely breakfast in Palm Beach, flipping open the laptop and seeing the security camera. Click a few keys and check that labor percentage, send out an email to your restaurant manager reminding him of the big party tonight.

Check the logs and see that the new server is online, too. She’s at home studying for her training exam. Imagine that, they’re training during their off-hours. It is such a relief! Close that laptop and get back to relaxing.

Restaurant Point of Sale System Programming

Many POS systems are specifically designed to be programmed by the end user, which can really be intimidating at first. Check to see if their company has a list of consultants or other help for programming to help you out. Many POS Software companies work with the restaurant owner to make sure each menu item is entered carefully, tax rates are imported and that the staff is trained to use the system.

It would be a wise decision to look for these companies that offers this kind of service for free as you get started with your business. Charging for a fee course a year later really isn’t out of line but charging for initial training isn’t standard practice with every company.

Finding The Best Point of Sale System for your Restaurant

Every restaurant has different needs. A burger drive through shop will be needing less options compared to a family style restaurants. A fine dining restaurants will require different features compared to a cafeteria. Every restaurant differ when it comes to their needs. So it would be much better to send away for every information packet. Is there a warranty or guarantee? Any trial period? Will the POS system work with your current credit card processor, or it or it needs a different one? Can you export sales data to your Quickbooks or other accounting software?

Weighing all of the hardware and software options before making a decision can can save any restaurant owner from the stress and headache of ending up with a restaurant point of sale system that doesn’t fit the bill. Listen well to every salesman’s 15 minute pitch and review all of the literature carefully. Finally, do consider the perspectives of other restaurateurs before deciding which one to go with.

For more info about point of sale systems, visit: www.POS-For-Restaurants.com

One important key to running a profitable restaurant is managing the controllable costs, such as food, labor and supplies. With these, you’ll probably experience more difficulties controlling food.

To handle food costs effectively, an operator needs to simultaneously monitor portion sizes, prevent theft, watch waste and order efficiently.

Inventory software will be able to aid you identify specifically where your food costs are out of line. With an inventory software, you’ll typically save 1% to 2% of sales, and can save even more. And it is savings that drops straight to your bottom line as profit.

A POS-based inventory control system, operators could easily spot and solve food cost hindrances apparent by just simply focusing on portion control. And when your employees know that the system is carefully keeping track, it stop waste as well as theft.

A single restaurateur will be able to realize this lesson, when it comes to food cost problems, at least a week of using inventory control software.

In his restaurant, he’s portion controlling, yield testing and conducting physical inventory, but it wasn’t until he uses an inventory software where he realized his inventory was out by exactly 20 pounds of lamb each week; coincidentally, it’s precisely the same weight as a box. Upon knowing, it was relatively that easy to specify where the problem comes from: a prep cook who was helping himself to a box of shrimp every Saturday evening.

Boosting the bottom line

In a typical restaurant point of sale inventory control program, the operator sets up the software by first entering their recipes and product costs. The system then can track ideal usage based on those recipes and the restaurant’s actual sales.

The software also can track product usage in situations where some orders don’t conform to a standard recipe. The operator then can do a physical inventory and generate reports comparing that inventory with the calculated ideal usage in order to see variances. The software can also be set up to track as many items as the operator wants.

Generally in restaurants, in their top 10 items 80 percent of their food cost problem. And you can schedule nightly counts of key items and weekly or even monthly counts of some other items.

Even an ounce of over-portioning 1 item per order can cause a restaurant hundreds of dollars. Eliminating over-portioning on 100 orders per day for 30 days on a .67 per pound of a single item, may well add up to more than 0.00 in savings or 00.00 in 12 months!

Keeping a better track and control also can help an operator reduce the amount of stock they keep on hand, reducing waste and freeing up cash for other things. Losses due to carrying too much extra inventory can add up to a loss of between 2 percent and 5 percent on an average operator’s profit-and-loss statement.

We’ve assisted a client before who’s menu is fairly extensive and had lots of work for setting up, but by helping them program their system as it should be, we were able to drop their food cost by 2 to 4 percent – a good addition to their bottom line profits.

So if you already have a restaurant POS system or are contemplating a purchase make sure you understand the additional profits that you can reap and the “how to’s” by learning and properly using the inventory module of the system.

 

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The author of this article is the VP of Customer Relations at POS-Fof-Restaurants.com with over 20 years experience in restaurant point of sale (POS) helping restaurants nationwide increase their efficiency and bottom-line profits.

Visit POS-Fof-Restaurants.com for more information on how our national network of restaurant point of sale professionals can help your business achieve greater success in these difficult economic times.

 

 

Click here for a video that explains the risk of non-PCI compliance

PCI & Credit Card Security: Background

Since magnetic strip cards were invented, both restaurant owners and their diners have been enjoying the convenience of accepting and using credit and debit cards. However, given the sky high and rapid increase cost and frequency of fraud on credit cards, well known card brands such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB have taken steps to safeguard all stakeholders.

The mag stripe on credit cards was invented by IBM in 1968 and became the industry standard. Given that the track data on the mag stripe is easy to read and duplicate, the card brands, through the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has built a set of standards to secure cardholder data, beginning with the directive: ‘Don’t store track data.’

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Standards

The PCI Security Standards Council had a three-pronged approach to protecting consumers, banks and merchants/restaurateurs:

• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) ? involves all entities that store, process, or transmit cardholder data (Merchants, restaurateurs, service providers, processors, etc.)

Compliance Deadline: January 2007 (deadlines are long passed)

It Means – Restaurateurs, regardless of the size, must all complete and submit a PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire to their Acquiring Bank every year.

• Payment Application Data Security Standard or PA-DSS ? it includes all applications used to store, process, or transmit cardholder data as part of authorization or settlement. (Point of Sale (POS) application developers)

Deadlines for Compliance:

Oct. 1, 2008 ? Only the software that is compliant with the new payment application security standards must be used by agents, merchants and payment processors.

Oct. 1, 2009 ? Terminate any noncompliant payment applications that merchants might still be using in their environments will be required.

July 1, 2010 ? Mandates the use of only those payment applications that support the new standards.

What this Means – After these deadlines, merchants/restaurateurs that are still running a non-PA DSS-validated application, they automatically fail the PCI assessment and may lose their ability to accept credit cards.

• Pin Entry Devices (PED) Standard – covers all PEDs and it aims to ensure that the cardholder’s personal identification number or PIN, including any sensitive information such as resident keys, are protected consistently at a PIN acceptance device.

Deadline for Compliance:

Jan. 1, 2004 ? All newly purchased Point-of-Sale (POS) PIN Entry Devices must have passed testing by a Visa recognized laboratory and been approved by Visa.

July 1, 2010 ? Mandates that every Point of Sale (POS) PEDs must pass and get approved by PCI SSC from one of its recognized laboratories.

This Means ? All Merchants/restaurateurs will have 2 years to replace their old and unapproved PIN Entry Devices.

The Do’s With Payment Card Industry (PCI)

• Make sure you have a routine vulnerability scans of your POS systems.

• You must have a security awareness training for your employees.

• Do audits of system access.

• System activity logs should be monitored.

• Do remove access privileges of separated employees.

• Install software patches.

• When it comes to any threats, be serious – have an incident response plan in place.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) Don’ts

• You mustn’t store or archive whole credit card numbers.

• Transmitting credit card data unencrypted should not be practiced.

• PCI is not about making you compliant with the standards – it’s all about keeping your customers safe as well as your business.

What Restaurateurs Get From PCI

Given consumers’ expectation of ubiquitous acceptance of using credit cards, a restaurateur’s validation that they are protecting their customer’s personal information is good for business:

Reputation / Image

In any competitive business – a restaurant owner does not want to be named in the media as the place were a card data was breached.

Protects Ability to Accept Credit / Debit Card Payments – non-compliance and/or a breach can endanger a restaurant owner’s ability to accept credit/debit payments. There are cases that 80% to 90% of transactions are through credit/debit payments. Losing your store’s ability to accept credit/debit cards = reduced traffic/customers.

Impact of State Privacy Laws

Failure to comply with the set of rules that discloses individual’s credit card info in one of the 40+ States with privacy laws may have a double impact on a restaurateur. Being off-side with PCI could result in penalties and litigation costs. Being off-side with State Privacy Laws is a crime punishable by confinement with possibly more serious consequences.

Complying / Security Strategy

• Make sure your restaurant/store uses only PA?DSS or PABP validated POS systems

• Ensuring that you use approved PEDs

• Have regular security awareness training for your employees, especially for your supervisors

• Doing a background check on all employees that has administrative access to your system is a must

• Have a ‘Confidentiality Agreement’ contract with your staff

• When it comes to your PCI Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), carefully and accurately complete the form and when you’re not sure with your answers, just ask

• If gaps in PCI compliance are identified, develop a realistic plan to straighten it out

• Be matured in sustaining compliance

• Accessing controls

• Dual factor for system and device management

• Proper storing of your strong passwords and secure passwords

• Monitoring to detect attack and record evidence

• Controlling your wireless access points

• Maintain secure configuration

• Segment networks

• Maintain an Incident Response Plan and Test It

• Testing and auditing the cardholder environment

This can be a daunting task on the first run but when all the above are in place, an ongoing PCI compliance is not an expensive work. Besides, it’s good for you business to practice protecting the sensitive information that your customers trust upon you.

Do You Have Any Questions?

You can visit www.POS-For-Restaurants.com anytime for more information or advice about this topic, a Restaurant POS professional serving your area will address your concerns.

The author of this article writes for POS-For-Restaurants.com – a VP of Customer Relations with over 20 years experience in the restaurant point of sale industry.

POS systems vs. paper records?

It will definitely take a lot of time to record every business transaction by hand. And that doesn’t even include the time to copy all the data into a spreadsheet or database for further analysis! If you want to avoid this, try using a POS system that will record all your sales, taxes,inventory, etc. so you concentrate more on the other needs of your business. While POS takes an investment to get started, the time savings and productivity increase more than the expenses you make.

I don’t know much about computers. Can I still use a POS system?

Sure! A vendor can help you set up the software to perform tasks as you want it to be. And then be able to navigate a POS system’s menu easily. When the vendor sets your POS system, they shall provide proper training for you and your employees on how to use it. And if you have a problem, a POS customer service professional is just a phone call away!

What equipments are required to set up?

POS customers need a phone connection, internet connection, and working electrical outlets. If you have these components, vendors can set you up with POS in a cinch! You don’t even need to own a computer since most vendors provide one as part of the entire system package.

Does a POS system really help prevent theft?

POS systems provide multiple tools to stop shrinkage before it eats into your profits. Various applications which can allow you to accurately track inventory items for you to have an exact estimation of how much profit you should expect at every sale, as well as be able to pinpoint problems within the business. And if ever there are conflicts on the sales reports, it’ll raise a red flag so you can take care of the problem before it gets worse.

Can I rely on POS to handle my sales or to manage my inventory?

Both can be handled by your POS with no problems! You can enter your daily transactions AND check inventory… but that’s just the beginning! POS terminal and software also allows tracking of sales performance, allows you to generate reports, set up reminders for inventory that’s getting low, and plan future sales campaigns. You can use the customer data you collect to target effective sales campaigns and stock your shelves with their mostly purchased items.

When do I need wireless?

Business people on the go depend on wireless POS technology, particularly those that do trade shows, work in restaurants, or conduct any business where they want to enter transactions without having to walk over to a stand alone POS terminal.

Should I go straight for a flat-screen LCD monitor, or start off with CRT monitors?

You can get more benefits using LCD monitors over to CTR monitors, and of course it also depends on the work environment. They will last much longer, they don’t require as much electricity, and they take up less space. Plus, they are far more attractive. For low volume of sales, CTR screens will be fine and if you’re not sure that POS will fit your business. But with the additional benefits when it comes to flat screens, there’s only a bit cost difference between the two.

What printer is best for my business: a thermal printer or a dot matrix printer?

You’ll find that most businesses prefer to use thermal printers since they have less moving parts so don’t easily break down. It’s also the only option if you are going to work wirelessly. Even so, the dot-matric printers are a safer choice in hospitality kitchens since the heat from the ovens, grills, and fryers could damage the paper and ink of thermal printers.

What happens if my POS breaks down during business?

This is why back ups are so important for any type of business. System failures can happen for a variety of reasons – power outages, system crashes, viruses, natural disasters, etc. By having a backup solution in place (more preferable is an offsite backup so your critical data is protected), you ensure the system is always up and running when you need it the most. What’s more important about backing up, you can ensure that you can retrieve all customer information, your sales figures and reports you’ve saved prior to the crash.

How about customer support?

Since customer service policies vary from vendor to vendor, there isn’t a simple answer to this question. While one might have round-the-clock telephone support and local repair technicians, others may only have phone support during normal business hours and can only schedule repair requests a full day in advance.

This is one of the key advantages to meeting with multiple vendors during your POS search, look into the offerings of different vendors, take your time evaluating each, and make a clear decision before purchasing.

What POS do I need if I have multiple locations?

For large-sized businesses that need several POS systems in various locations, you generally have two options. First, you can have each location operate independently with its own POS terminals and software. You can then send reports over to the corporate offices at the end of the day or week.

For the second option, you can have all their POS terminals connected to a central server so you can easily upload and download data in real time. What you’ll benefit from option number two is that it’s available remotely. However, having several terminals working on the same server, backlogs are possible if all locations try and send information all at once.

With both solutions, you have to think about having a robust back up solution since the central server connects all locations – and if it fails, all locations may stop operating.

POS software licensing?

You typically need an individual license for each terminal hosted on your network. There are vendors who’ll offer you discounts depending on the number of terminals that needs licenses.

Do I need a service contract?

It maybe part of the expense but surely worth it. Once your POS system is set up, you will use it for your day-to-day operations and analysis of your business. If your computer breaks or suffered a disaster, you probably don’t want to keep it any longer.

Depending on the vendor, a maintenance contract can cost a few hundred dollars per year and provide you with peace of mind so you can concentrate on running and growing your business.

Do you need more information or an online resource?

You may visit POS-For-Restaurants.com for access to multiple quotes for your Restaurant POS Systems.

The author of this article is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving businesses all over the U.S.

Not so long ago, controlling labor cost in the food service industry was done by just going with the flow. Having an effective labor control meant by being able to manage your staff during a rush to keep an ongoing operation and send them home respectively when the rush slowly shrinks.

Restaurant managers kept track of business from previous weeks in order to make projections of future sales, and then, with extreme effort, converted those numbers into an employee schedule. And when the day is done, the manager sits down on his desk calculating time cards for the day’s labor percentage where success or failure of those efforts is going to be determined.

Luckily today, manual tasks such as this is eliminated with the help of a restaurant POS system where managers can easily do multiple tasks with a few mouse clicks and keystrokes.

And since the minimum wage sets to rise to .25 for the next few years, business owners looks for tools they can use to control labor cost.

The general manager of a Pizza Inn restaurant, Jim Phillips, uses his restaurant point of sale system from Pixel Point for tracking labor throughout the day.

Check out your labor cost every 45 minutes or at any time of the day you want! Your POS system is sure to deliver detailed and accurate reports anytime you want it. “I can pull it up on the terminal, hit labor cost and it tells me where my labor stands, or if I want to I can go into my hourly stats and look at those,” says Phillips.

The restaurant POS system can display forecasted sales, actual sales and a variance between the two, as well as scheduled versus actual hours.

“The system tells me everything I need to know,” Phillips said. “I can look at the POS and see the number of pickups for any given hour; the number of dine-ins and the number of buffets. It gives me my supervisor hours, my kitchen hours and my assistant’s hours all in a breakdown.”

POS as your extra pair of eyes

There are POS reports that shows trends over time which easily makes tracking of labor cost manager performance shift-to-shift, according to the marketing manager of Speedline Solutions Jennifer Wiebe. The system can also produce reports detailing manual editing of time clock reports that can help spot potential abuse.

The time clock reports provides valuable information which can also be used as a basis for labor board reviews of attendance-related employee terminations.

And by the end of the day, a system such as Phillips’ can generate payroll- and employee-information export files to integrate with above-store accounting systems or third-party payroll services.

It can also assist managers when assigning staff shifts by forecasting sales and generating a schedule based on those sales.

Restaurant Managers can efficiently schedule to meet their labor targets using sales forecasting and their labor plans. The Pixel Point scheduling tool is linked with employee skills and availability that can speed up the scheduling process.”

Restrictions on hours and breaks for minor employees can be enforced through schedule- and time-clock alerts. The schedule also can be linked to a built-in time clock that requires a manager override for untimely clock-ins and clock-outs.

Most operators set their clock-in and clock-out times very close, within 5 minutes.

So that employees can’t clock in until 5 minutes before their scheduled shift or clock out late without a manager override with this system. can tell if an employee is supposed to be on day-off but he is still on the clock.

The author of this article is a Customer Relations VP at POS-FOR-Restaurants.com – a national organization of retail and restaurant POS systems dealers.

In our world today of vast technological advances, a lot of things have been made easy and convenient. Cars are parking themselves, sheep are being cloned, and households can be controlled by a remote control. Your business needs to be updated with technology or the competition will quickly leave you behind. If you’re in the food-service business, we can help you pep up in your step with these simple suggestions.

With all the great technologies being developed today, a business don’t have to spend a great amount of time on the basic operational and record-keeping needs. A Point of Sale (POS) Systemis composed of a computer software and hardware network that can immediately record sales as they are occurring.

 

What an efficient Restaurant POS system can do for you

POS systems provides businesses “real time” updates of their inventory and a better leverage for future business plans based on their sales. The following describes why your business will benefit from adopting POS systems:

– It automatically record sales. You may have been wondering why there is a deviation from using books. Well this will not be a problem for long. A business cannot put a price on a flawless accurate sales tracking.

– Often a business will implement sales and other promotions to attract customers. This can cause a great amount of lost time and money if items, prices and dates are not accurately logged. Any POS System can easily automate the process, to avoid confusion and frustration when tracking or calculating.

- For small to medium-sized business owners, who can’t be present at all times. This absence can create high anxiety for the owner and disarray for the business. A POS system can run the inventory and sales tracking of your business whether you are present or absent.

- For a small to medium-sized business owner with multiple locations, maintaining consistency can become a concern. You may vary the prices or not depending on each location, but the number of customers and their demands will usually differ. By using a POS system allows a business owner to keep track of all the inventories in multiple locations and affords the possibility of accounting for meeting different demands and product.

- Along with the period of new technologies comes the hassle of getting them all. Tools that come separately can become expensive and confusing; a progressive POS system will offer many business tools in one package.

– A good POS system will not only help track inventory and pricing, but will give more time for the owner and his employees to concentrate more towards the business, the customers, and generating revenue. Many hours can be spent trying to find the root of a miscalculation and in remedying the problem; a business with a POS system can avoid this issue.

 

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Need more information or an online resource?

Go to POS-For-Restaurants.com

The author of this article is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving the automation needs of restaurants of all types throughout the U.S.

 

Studying the Types of Input Devices: Restaurant Point of Sale Equipment 

Point of Sale (POS) Equipment: Keyboards and touch screens

One of the first choices you will have to make about your point of sale equipment is whether to go with a touch screen or a programmable keyboard. Most businesses choose touch screens. The only market where keyboards are more popular is grocery stores, because it can program individual keys for specific item codes and prices.

Many of the available touch screens today are specifically designed by restaurant owners, it focuses more on meeting the needs of a restaurant that’s why they are more intuitive to use. They also provide more flexibility in the user interface and programming. You will find most touch screens today are all based on flat-screen LCDs unlike the traditional CRT monitors. While LCD touch screens are a bit more expensive (typically $600 – $1,000 instead of $400 – $500), they last longer, use less electricity, and saves up space. They also look much better. With both CRT and LCD displays, avoid “overlay” touch screens that are added on to regular monitors – these kind of monitors are prone to breakdowns, they can also add unnecessary complications to your computer systems.

When it comes to keyboards, some has the standard 101-keys model similar to any computer. Others are smaller, more POS-specific devices, such as the flat-panel membrane keyboards common in fast food chains. Often, POS keyboards come with built-in magnetic stripe readers for credit card processing. Most programmable keyboards usually ranges between $150 and $300.

It doesn’t matter which POS equipment you use, just make sure to take in consideration the environment where you would like to place it. Both keyboards and touch screens are available with varying levels of spill and dust-proofing.

Bar code scanners
POS scanners reads bar codes and sends the information back to the computer. They typically connect to the system through Y-connectors called wedges that make them function as an extension of the keyboard. It can improve the speed of transaction as well as accurately stores information.

Low-end scanners are made based on CCD technology. They can be inexpensive, but usually have a very short range – the item being scanned needs to be 1 to 3 inches from the scanner. In a typical retail setting, that should be fine.

Laser scanners, which use a beam of light to read bar codes, offer better scanning ability with the ability to scan at longer distances. Some laser scanners are “autosensing,” meaning they turn themselves on when scanning of an item’s bar code, and then turn off again. The omnidirectional scanners can send out 15 or 20 lasers simultaneously, letting you scan bar codes from any angle. And the top of the line are embedded scanners, which are omnidirectional scanners that are positioned below a counter, commonly seen in supermarkets.

Wondering what types of POS scanners to use when serving different volume of customers? If you do not usually have more than a customer or two in line,. A fairly constant flow of customers might call for an autosensing model, and very high volume businesses should investigate omnidirectional or embedded scanners. Their prices ranges from below 0 to 0 or more.

Handheld POS
One of the latest and clever type of input device is the handheld, wireless terminal. PDAs, which wirelessly transmits orders back to its base station. A great advantage this POS equipment can provide to a restaurant is that they increase the amount of time servers spend on the floor taking orders and interacting with customers, because it eliminates the need to go back to a terminal to give the orders.

Write-on handhelds: think about combining touch screens with PDAs, this tiny input device allow servers to simply write the orders down. Handwriting recognition software parses the order then sends it directly on to the kitchen and bar as needed.

Handheld terminals are more expensive compared to traditional touch-screen order terminals. However they can make up for the cost by up-selling your customers more desserts and drinks. When evaluating handheld terminals, make sure to take the “drop test” – units are rated for toughness according to how much they can take a fall. To find out if your business is a candidate for handheld POS terminals, compare multiple POS equipment vendors and check out their offered products and services.

 

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For more info and free POS quotes or an online resource?

You may got to POS-For-Restaurants.com

The author of this article is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving restaurants of all types throughout the U.S.

 

Restaurant POS Systems: Enhancing Profit Through Innovation – Make it Happen!

Restaurant and hospitality operators have become much more tech proficient in recentyears, no wonder they’re really good in sourcing out POS software. Not only are they more comfortable choosing new POS systems, but they’re also demanding a bigger bang for their buck when it comes to their restaurant POS software choices. So if you’re thinking of upgrading a POS system, check out this 2009 stuff on POS systems.

It doesn’t seem so long ago that hospitality operators were excited to see the first restaurant POS Systems hit the marketplace. Can you still remember what your first restaurant POS system was? You had a shiny and smooth looking keypad, a little black plastic “key” and a book of PLU codes to memorize. You punched in your food and beverage orders, and just like a miracle, the beverage orders are printed out out at the bar while your food orders are printed simultaneously in the kitchen. It was exciting, sleek, and revolutionary.

The world of restaurant POS systems has come a long way since those early days. Today’s hospitality operators are becoming much more tech savvy than ever before, and the POS industry is slowly responding. The big players in Point of Sale software systems are still active, but there has been a fast growing number of smaller companies have emerged in recent years, and the big guys could see their portion of the POS pie gorged up quickly if they don’t furnish the current demands of today’s hospitality operators. Below are the top features in 2009 you should be looking for in a new POS system.

Data Reporting -

Food and labor cost, these are the top two issues every hospitality-based business needs to handle carefully. Keep those things in check, and your chances of succeeding in such a competitive market are impressively increased. By simply allowing your managers to access important data with the use of a modern POS system, you can handle these profit killers with ease. A POS system with a high standard data reporting capabilities will allow you to forecast business volumes, which gives managers the information they need to handle scheduling and avoid unnecessary labor costs. You can even monitor staff time and attendance more precisely using a POS system. Real time and instant access to data also allows managers to and make snap decisions to address discrepancies in cash flow and adjust inventory levels. Once your POS system is able to handle these issues, you’ll be able to run your business to success.

Management and Integration of Back Office -

Having all your POS terminals linked together, combined with the ability to run reports, make menu and pricing changes on the fly, check inventory levels and consolidate payroll at one central location is crucial to running a business efficiently and profitably. A modern POS system will allow you to do these tasks quick and with no effort, all from the back office. Integration and management of your back office should be at the top of your “to do” list.

Proper Customer Relationship Management -

A successful promotion can can go from a simple sales ad (can be a promotion on your poor performing meals or items) into a huge profit booster. Determining if your coupon or gift card program is working as it should, however, can be difficult. If your POS system can quickly help you evaluate which promotions are effective and which are not, so you no longer need to waste money and time. Having a POS system that can keep track of customer histories, their likes and dislikes, comments, etc. can give you valuable insight into what future promotions you can come up with, and which ones should bite the dust. Effective customer loyalty and points programs make your customers happy and keep them coming back. So, when it comes to CRM, you can leave most of the thinking to your POS system.

Wireless Technology: Mobile Computing & Hand Held Devices -

Wireless point of sale systems are imperative for businesses that operate outside of traditional, brick and mortar locations. Even venues like ski resorts, fairs or stadiums can benefit from from a wireless point of sale system (a portable concession stand or the ones used in private suites). In traditional environments, such as a restaurant, there are many great benefits that wireless devices can provide, especially wireless hand held devices.

With wireless hand held units, your serving staff can save time by easily taking orders from table to table or customers in line without having to return the POS terminal, and therefore are much more productive. Since each order is sent instantly, at the table, the serving staff are able to go quickly from one table to the next. Managers can lower staffing levels by scheduling just a few skilled staff, provide them with larger sections, and set their primary focus at greeting customers, take orders and up-selling. Non-serving staff can then be hired (at significant payroll savings) to send off food and clean sections. When your serving staff are able to remain on the floor, the result is a excellent customer service experience for your patrons and greatly increase sales though up-selling and faster table turns. Also, wasted food decreases because taking orders directly at tables help reduce errors.

Another great feature with wireless hand held devices is that it sends evenly spaced orders to the kitchen, so your kitchen can prepare the orders more properly by not overwhelming it with several orders at once. By this, efficiency is greatly increased in your kitchen and further decreases waste. The wireless hand held technology has been greatly refined in recent years, with its increased battery life and ease of usage it improves staff performance. The time indeed has come for retail businesses to embrace wireless POS technology.

Securing Payment -

Having payment security is very important for restaurants and any retail businesses today. With the incidence of fraud and identity theft reaching epidemic proportions, keeping your client’s credit card data safely is very important. The PCI Security Standards Council is an open global forum for the ongoing development, enhancement, storage, dissemination and implementation of security standards for account data protection, you may visit here anytime. Are you sure your POS system is secured and can comply with PCI standards? Well, if it’s not, it needs to be.

Self Service Technology -

The self-service technology have been the talk of the town in recent years. Having moved beyond kiosks, the self-service option give restaurateurs’ the ability to let customers process their own orders, reducing waste. Touch screen terminals are now intuitive and easy to use, and offer add on/up sell items instantaneously, which effectively boost the average check totals. The traditional “server staff” is replaceable by food runners, or counter staff, who’s also capable of doing quality checks. Payments can even be done by customers, fastening table turns and increased cover counts.

Self-service stations may not be attractive for patrons looking for a fine dining experience, but it certainly is attractive for those who operate fast food or quick serve/casual dining establishments. I don’t recall Remanco offering all these features!

Enterprise & Multi Unit Capability -

For those who operate large and multi-venue operations, searching for the right POS systems has never been easy. Because to logistics and a host of other hurdles, businesses with multiple locations were forced to be imaginative in how they organize the collection of cash and data. Businesses such as these require enterprise wide systems that offer features such as client recognition capabilities, hospitality and retail sales, gift card processing, quick and easy debit and credit options, and more. You may also need a system that can get around cabling and network issues, and preserve precious data in case of a disaster that causes system or network failures. And if your company falls into this category, an enterprise POS solution that is reliable and flexible is a perfect choice.

With the above list in mind, you might think that it would be difficult to find a POS system that offers all of the above and more. One POS system, in spite everything, consistently stands out and is without peer in the POS industry. Toronto based Volante POS Systems, is the finest, modern and flexible POS system. The Volante seemingly posses all these features and much more. It’s also fully PCI compliant. Volante first boasted its superiority in 1993, and is cross platform compatible, so it will run whether you use Windows, Linux or Unix. Linux POS solutions are very attractive these days, since they allow business owners to cut costs by saving on Windows licensing fees, and are easy to use.

With the above shopping list in hand, so as a hospitality operator you should feel prepared when looking to upgrade your current POS system. If the POS software you’re looking at doesn’t offer the features mentioned above, move on. With our economic state today, you really can’t afford not to.

If you seek more information or an online resource?

Visit POS-For-Restaurants.com

The of this article author is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience helping restaurants of all types become more efficient and profitable throughout the U.S.