POS system

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Datum
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POS system

Post by Datum »

Hello all,

I am looking for a POS system that has the following features and was wondering if the Summit's pizza POS will work for me.

The following features are extremely important to me:

1. I need a POS system that is in the cloud. I need to be able to view reports, manage employees, and pretty much any other managerial tasks while traveling. This one is very important.

2. Can run on iPad or other tablet. I would like my servers to use tablets for table service.

3. Online ordering or downloadable app for my customers so that they can easily place orders without the help of my staff both while on and off site. If not an app it needs to be mobile friendly. Customizable look & feel is also a big plus.

4. Employee security. I need a system that lets me dictate what each employe can do while on the system. I don't want regular employees viewing other employees data for example. I need to keep other things limited to only those who need it.

5. Employee time clock & associated reporting.

6. Driver dispatch. I need an easy method to dispatch delivery drivers and a way to track their progress, either via GPS or by checking orders in and out as they take them.

7. Quick method for employees to log into the system either via ID card or barcode or maybe by a RFID chip or a fast biometric scanner. Fingerprint scanners are typically too slow for a busy restaurant.

8. User friendly counter system that doesn't take weeks to train staff to use. I get a lot of new staffers regularly and can't spend a ton of time training.

9. Nightly, Weekly and other periodic reporting that shows me how my restaurant is doing quickly. In addition there should be some type of inventory reporting as well.

10. Special discounts for firefighters, police, employees, or other special groups that can be quickly applied to an order.

11. Easy customization of menu items on the fly. Must also be quick. As an example a customer wants a large Italian sandwich without tomatoes. This should be an easy process and one that will let my cooks know prominently that tomatoes are not to be placed on the sandwich.

12. Other less common customizations that we may not have thought of during setup. In other words, is there a comments field for the order that is editable by the cashier or by the customer in the case of online ordering.

13. Customer rewards and incentive programs. In addition some customer reporting that shows lazy customers, new customers etc. would be greatly helpful.

14. Kitchen make screens that are easy to understand and read with time shown of how long the order has been in the system or when it was put in.


Some less important but nice features I would like to see are:

1. Accounting. A/P, payroll, payroll taxes, and general ledger. I realize this would be more for quickbooks but it would be great if your system could save me the extra money, and having to use more than one app.

2. The ability to customize the program to include my logos within the system as well as on customer receipts and on the online ordering. It needs to look like my restaurant's system.


I can't think of much more at the moment, but if you could address these points it would be greatly appreciated.

Dave
Datum
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Re: POS system

Post by Datum »

One more thing. If the system can work in multiple stores that would be a very nice feature too.


Dave
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Scott
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Re: POS system

Post by Scott »

Hello Dave,

First let me start by saying that most of what you want is available in POS Pizza. See this link for a full list of features: http://www.summitcn.com/about.html

POS Pizza is not cloud based as the typical use of the term. A cloud based POS would be good except those times that your internet connection goes down. In that case you would have no POS. POS Pizza offers all of the same functionality with the exception that you run the cloud yourself, so you have to do backups yourself, or use a backup service like Mozy. You run the server at your store, so if the internet connection goes down, you still have a local POS system.

Since it is client/server, this means you can get the other cloud functionality that you mentioned in your post. You can remotely access the POS without using remote control services, and without having to have a PC on site to "take over". You install the client on your laptop or tablet (PC based tablet) and then you can connect directly to your server through the internet. All of the client apps work exactly the same off-site as they do on-site. So what this means is you can manage the POS, generate reports, change employees, menus, customers, etc., even enter orders into the system in just the same way from away from the store as you would if you were at the store. The client/server version uses a TCP/IP database server, so the clients can run from anywhere as long as you configure your router to forward requests from outside of your store to the server. This is a pretty simple configuration that only takes a few minutes to setup.

You can also have a single client software on your laptop (or tablet) and connect and manage multiple stores. When you first run the app it will ask which store, and which database to connect to (at the selected store). Next you will be presented with a user/password prompt where you can log into that system using your credentials. At this point you can do everything in the same way as if you were there. Your employees won't even know that you are there because you are using a direct connection to the server from your laptop.

The POS system as mentioned above will indeed run on a PC-based x86 tablet. It won't run on Apple, Android, or ARM devices. It can run with minimal processing so you can use a Celeron or Atom processor.

To address your list;

1. See the paragraphs above.
2. Mentioned above
3. We have a fully mobile optimized online ordering solution that you run, and manage. It can be customized to have any look that you desire, since it is built with HTML and CSS. See this link for more info: http://www.summitcn.com/onlineordering.html
4. Yes, download and install the LT version and try it for yourself.
5. Yes
6. Yes - Full driver dispatch station. Can run as many of these as needed on your network, as they are included in the base package.
7. Yes - Supports mag card login and time clock access in addition to the standard two-factor authentication.
8. Yes, very easy to use, again give the LT version a try. Install the sample data to get up and running quickly without having to enter in a menu.
9. Yes
10. Yes
11. Yes, you get unlimited toppings/modifiers for each menu item.
12. Yes, there is a special instructions field for each item, or you can add a zero-priced non-inventory item for a general order-level comment.
13. Yes, points-based rewards are built in.
14. Yes, included in base CS package


There are not QuickBooks-like features in the system and no local tax data for payroll. Only the time clock and hours reports for the employees are kept. Payroll taxes and paychecks will need to be calculated and generated externally.


You can customize the top graphic in the main POS and on the driver dispatch stations. Adding graphics to the receipts can also be done.


The system can work in multiple stores, but each store will be its own entity. A separate copy for each store should be installed to prevent outages in the case of internet loss as stated above. You can log in remotely and manage all of the stores though from a single location/machine.


Scott
Datum
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Re: POS system

Post by Datum »

Thank you for your detailed explanation. So I can still remotely access my data? Is there a copy of it in the cloud somewhere like iCloud? How to I view it? Can I make changes remotely? How quickly will they take effect at the store?

Sorry about all of the questions, but this tech stuff is a bit over my head.

Dave
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Scott
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Re: POS system

Post by Scott »

Datum wrote:So I can still remotely access my data?
Yes, you can access the data directly via (TCP/IP). This is the live data that is stored on your system's server machine.
Is there a copy of it in the cloud somewhere like iCloud?
No, the data is on your own server. Once your server and router have been configured, you can access your data from anywhere that you have an internet connection.
How to I view it?
You can install the Management Utility Program on a home PC or other remote computer and run it just like you do in the store. Once it is running, you can do everything using it just like you can when you are physically at the store.
Can I make changes remotely?
Yes, you can do everything remotely just like you do when you are at the store.
How quickly will they take effect at the store?
The changes are immediate. If you change a price on an item, then that is the new price as soon as you click save. The very next sale of that item, even 1 second later, would reflect the new price.


Scott
Datum
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Re: POS system

Post by Datum »

Thank you for the information. I will call you guys today and see about purchasing or maybe getting a demo of your full version. I have been playing around with the free version, and like that part of it, but it seems like it is only a small portion of the full system. I really want to try the remote access, and look into online ordering portions of the product. These are the two biggest pieces that I am shopping for.

Dave
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