One of the best things about owning a restaurant is the pleasure you get from cooking up delicious meals that bring a smile to your guests’ faces. However, there is so much more that goes into creating an exceptional dining experience. From logistics, to management, to service, everything in a restaurant must work together.
It may sound ironic, but almost everywhere you look, some of the best human interactions are made possible with the help of technology. It is no different for the restaurant industry, where technology cooks up a buffet of possibilities.
Think handheld point of sale systems, online table reservations, and digital menu boards. These pieces of technology help your servers eliminate steps, your guests feel more confident about food orders, and your kitchen staff understand orders without needing a front-of-house translator.
Handheld Point of Sale Systems
Servers get plenty of exercise closing a check. Between asking guests if they’re ready to pay, delivering the check, bringing the check back to an open terminal, and giving back change to cash-paying customers, handling a single check can take four trips.
Using handheld point of sales systems, servers open and close checks with only one or two visits. The device lets your staff turn tables faster, avoid waiting for open terminals, and enter orders right at the table. Servers feel less stressed with a personal POS system, freeing them up to take even better care of guests.
While checking out different handheld systems and brands, notice whether you already have compatible tech in your restaurant, such as an LTE modem. If you need to upgrade your current tech, trust reliable manufacturers and products, like a Cradlepoint router. After all, technology’s most useful when it works properly.
Touchscreen Point of Sale Terminals
Rather than going to the guest, the guest may come to you and order at a stationary POS terminal. While you probably already have POS terminals, they may lack newer features that make using them more intuitive. New hires appreciate training on an easy-to-understand terminal that helps them take orders faster, which translates to increased confidence and sales.
Modern touchscreen POS terminals also have customer-facing screens. Guests follow the order as you enter it into the terminal, which minimizes mistakes and saves time. Now there’s less of a chance of wasting food preparing the wrong order, and you need not stop what you’re doing to void an incorrect order.
Upgraded terminals also accept mobile payments. Customers pay using their phone and Near Field Communication support. Contactless payments keep lines moving and give guests another way to pay.
Online Table Reservations
How much time do you and your team spend handling guest reservations? Even if the caller has all the necessary information at hand, it still takes time to check the date, see if you have a table available, and write the person’s contact information. There’s an easier way.
Online table reservation software lets customers see available tables for their desired date and lock in a reservation, all without calling the restaurant. Not only does this save you time, but modern reservation systems let you juggle waitlists, seating, and even customer dining preferences easily.
Digital Menu Board
No longer must servers worry about writing an order legibly for the kitchen staff or scrambling to find pen and paper to add to an existing order. Digital menu boards connect to your restaurant’s POS system and transmit orders to the back of house in real time. Even better, digital menu boards note dietary restrictions and preferences.
The restaurant technology also displays meal delivery times, so servers don’t have to keep asking the kitchen staff for wait times. Using digital menu boards also helps you keep up with inventory, so you know which dishes and ingredients are the most popular and when to order them.
Restaurant technology helps you be a better business owner, and it keeps your guests and staff happy, too. Consider which of the above advances takes your restaurant to the next level and gives your guests an even better dining experience.
