Restaurant POS System: Q&A
How Many Restaurant POS Terminal Will I Need?
- Peak customer volume
If you want to efficiently handle large volume of customers, you need to plan for the number of POS stations based on peak business. - The number of employees taking orders
For serving tables, I suggest having 1 station per 3-5 servers. You might want to add extra stations for handling high volume areas such as the bar and cashie stations. When switching from a cash register to a POS system, many people unintentionally forget that their POS system will not only be used for cashing people out, but will now be used for order entry as well. - Restaurant layout
A good restaurant layout affects your employees service. So if you have a bar, assigning a separate station for your bar tender would be easier since he can serve customers from there quickly. - Assigning stations effectively where customers pay for their meals
Having proper locations where customers can pay for their meals is also important, you don’t want to keep them waiting do you? For paying at the front, you should have 1 or 2 dedicated cashier stations faster transactions.
Which style of POS computer is best?
- Desktop: standard desktop computers.
- Least expensive computer option
- 3 Year Onsite Warranty Standard for this component
- Takes more space but can be hidden away under a counter
- Has greater flexibility for addition of extra ports
- Latest CPU speeds and memory
- Screen and computer are separate; if ever technical difficulties accur, it’ll be isolated.
- Small form factor (SFF): also known as shuttle form factor, a smaller type of PC.
- More stylish than the desktop
- 3 Year Onsite Warranty Standard for this component
- Saves more space
- Fewer options for expandability
- Latest CPU speeds and memory
- Screen and computer are separate; in case of technical difficulties problems are isolated.
- All-in-ones: combining computer with touchscreen technology.
- More efficient because it requires fewer wires least space, even more stylish
- 1–2 Year Manufacturers Warranty (Not onsite)
- Comes standard with sufficient ports for almost any operation
- CPU speed is generally slower than the other two options but sufficient for the Point of Sale needs.
- Screen and computer are combined
How many cash drawers do I need?
- Unless you want your servers to carry their own cash banks, placing cash drawer at every station you want to use to end transactions is advisable.
Credit card processing?
- Using your POS systems to process credit card transactions allows you to keep records of every transaction you process in one convenient location.
- You can reduce 3-4 seconds per transaction using with the advance of high speed internet.
- A standalone terminal can be used in place if you do not have high speed internet connection.
How many printers must I have?
- Having one kitchen printer would be enough for your restaurant, not unless you have different sections serving different dishes inside your kitchen then it would be better if you place printers on all sections.
- Consider this, appetizers can be printed on one printer and all your entrée dish on another printer.
- We recommend dot-matrixprinters over thermal printers for kitchens and bars because their loud printing alerts cooks and bartenders of incoming orders and because tickets printed on thermal paper become unreadable when exposed to heat.
How many receipt printers?
- It’s always a good idea for every station to have a receipt printer.
Do I need a back office computer?
- A back office computer helps managers to run reports and access POS systems to change, remove or add important data without disturbing servers.
- It’s not quite necessary to have a back office computer for your restaurant, if you have less than 4 stations.. However, it’s a good idea to host the database on a back office computer if you have 4 or more stations so none of the stations has the extra load of running the database.
More information is available at 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 and sizes throughout the U.S.
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