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With the onset of iPhones, iPads, Tablet PCs and
the myriad of small devices coming on to the market
we are starting to receive occasional questions about
hand-held devices for POS, so here is what we think
about the traditional Guest-Check versus Hand-Held.
The term 'dupe' comes from the carbon copy of
the Check which would be given to the kitchen
when no POS was in use.
When POS is in use, the carbon copy is no longer
required, thus simplifying the use of the pad.
One thing about the Check-Pads is that they don't
mind getting wet, torn, dropped, stood on or anything
else which is NOT true about a hand-held electronic device.
Check-Pads are CHEAP which is definitely NOT
the case for the hand-held.
There is no training required to use a Check-Pad!
Since the Check is only used by the Server creating
it, (no dupe to the kitchen) the server can write
the Check in their own language, use shorthand or whatever
they find easiest and fastest to record the order.
A separate page can be used for each guest at the table.
They can also make notes to themselves about each guest.
After taking the order, the server goes to the POS
system and enters the order. Admittedly, this step
is not required when using a hand-held but the time
required with an efficient system is probably less
than the extra time required using the hand-held.
So, we think the Guest-Check pad is going to be around
for ever...
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Shown below is a screenshot for an iPad-based POS
system. Note that the dimensions of an iPad are
9.5 x 7.31 and it weighs 1.33lbs.
Our primary objection to the use of iPads
is that they are too small. Referring to the shot
below, you can see that they have only 16 buttons
for menu items. A typical restaurant open for at
least lunch and dinner and which sells liquor can
easily have more than 300 items on the menu
when you include all of the necessary modifiers, etc.
If you did have about 300 items on the menu you
would need at least 18 different screens.
So, only having 16 items on the screen at a time means
that you have to do a lot of navigating to get to
all the various screens which you require. This adds
to the complexity of order-entry and adds to the time
required to enter an order.
We took the screenshot from a rather bewildering video
which can be seen at:Revel Demo
Note that the cost of a single-station Revel system including
iPad, cash drawer and receipt printer is $3,499.00!
Remember that you can get a Foodman POS system including
hardware and software for less than $1,000 so paying
$3,499.00 for an iPad system just does not make any sense.
By comparison, Foodman allows 54 menu items on the
order-entry screen. Typically, because of the 54
buttons, the majority of items ordered are made
from one screen which contains all of the items
in a category, like this:
The image above is approximately what it would be like
on a standard 15" touchscreen monitor. Bear in mind
that you can easily acquire a single-station
POS system using Foodman for less than $1000.00
software included.
When preparing this page, we came across the following
comments about the iPad and POS. We couldn't say it
better so we include their entire article below. You
can see the original at Chompstack.com (March 8th, 2011)
"Over the past few weeks there has been some talk of companies
building restaurant point of sale software to run on the iPad.
This sounds fun, but I'm not sure anyone who has worked in an
actual restaurant environment would consider it a good idea.
The iPad was not designed for a restaurant environment and would
probably drive waitstaff and managers alike crazy. Here's why:
1.It's a brick. Servers are already carrying around trays, plates,
and glasses all the time. To ask them to carry around another device,
it needs to be lightweight and not get in the way of their regular tasks.
They need to be able to pull it out, enter an order, and then put it
away without any hassle. The iPad's user interface is spectacular,
but when it's weighing your apron down so much that you look
like a bad Charlie Chaplin skit then it's probably more trouble than it's worth.
2.It's unwieldy. Servers often need to have both hands free. They
need to be able to slip the iPad into an apron pocket when they're not
using it. Unfortunately, the iPad is a little too big to comfortably
fit inside an apron pocket, and even if it could, its excess weight
would cause it to drag the apron down (see Charlie Chaplin reference,
above). An iPhone is a much better fit, but it is probably too small
to use as a touchscreen terminal. The ideal size might be something
more akin to a Kindle or Nook.
3.It's too fragile. The iPad is a consumer retail device, not something
particularly well suited to the madcap frenzy of a restaurant environment.
It will get dropped, people will spill drinks on it, and it will be exposed
to all sorts of other random hazards (do you prefer your iPads deep-
fried, or grilled?). Suffice to say, it will get destroyed after
a few months of use. Realistically, a tablet needs to be retail-hardened
before it can be used in a restaurant.
4.It's too expensive. At $500 a pop, these devices are going to be too
expensive to replace when they break, and they will break. There's a
reason most point of sale terminals use retail-hardened hardware,
and not commercial off-the-shelf computers. Here's a little math
for you: if you pay your waitstaff the standard, criminally-
insane-but-government-sanctioned wage of $2.13 an hour, for
each approximately $700 iPad you purchase, you're paying 329
man-hours. Not to mention the $15-30/month/device data plan.
At that price, it might actually be cheaper to hire someone
to run around after each member of your waitstaff and be used
as a multitouch device. "Just swipe Kenneth to activate!"
5.It'll get stolen. Again, because of its high retail price and
its value as a consumer electronic device, the iPad is a prime
target for theft. Who knows how long an iPad will last in the
store before it magically `disappears'?
6.Wireless is unreliable. Most restaurants have industrial-strength
microwave ovens that wreak havoc on wireless signals because
they operate around the same frequency range. Dropped connectivity
is unacceptable when you're trying to enter in orders or process
credit cards. Currently, the only way around this is performing
a professional installation, measuring the wireless signal throughout
the restaurant, and making sure to install repeaters in the
right place. This is fairly expensive.
Basically, the iPad is not well suited for restaurants because it is
a consumer electronic device, with a higher than normal price point
and no retail hardening. A much more realistic solution would be a
retail hardened mobile POS tablet, perhaps based on cheaper hardware
running on Android. Less expensive, Android-based tablets are in
production now and will start shipping in the second half of the
year, so we'll see what happens."
Here's another article arriving at the same conclusions: HERE
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