Gone are the days of pen and paper, scribbles and scratch outs, mis-reads and wrong meals. These days many restaurants have turned in the ball point for their finger tip. With just a touch of this and a touch that your order has been sent and the wait staff hasn’t even left the table yet. Like the rest of the world, restaurants are going wireless.
This gives restaurants a chance to look tech savvy, swift and trendy. Not only can the customers order be sent from the table but also, as soon as they ask for the check, the waiter can present it to them on their ipad or mobile device, the credit card swiped and a receipt is either emailed or printed immediately. All of these things cut down in the wait time which is an added bonus for the quick afternoon luncheon or busy family with a crying baby at dinner.
There are essential tools necessary to run a small business and wireless devices and POS are among them. A few things that restaurants need to pay attention to much change and consider while going wireless. The business must have optimized and reliable wireless. Not many people are going to understand when the waiter says, “Sorry, I have the spinny ball,” when a customer is in a hurry to order. As in the pre-wireless days, things must run smoothly to make a happy customer and keep people coming back.
For small local eateries this is a bit easier and cheaper. They have fewer wireless devices connected to the internet and therefore can cut the cost of broadband. If there is a day when the wireless is not working they can easily put their devices down, pick up a pen and note pad and continue on like the old days.
Larger restaurants and chains with a high number of wait staff, customers and tables know how important it is to have things run smoothly. People are constantly coming and going, table changing and meal complaining. If the restaurant has decided to go wireless, it will be a high cost to pay if the wireless shuts down. Perhaps this also means adding a staff member who can quickly reboot the router and make sure everything is running as it should be, or bringing on a wireless management company that can oversee the functionality, using their wireless analytic tools that could be helpful for any business especially on a busy Saturday night.
Ipads, tablets and mobile devices in hand, restaurant are adapting to the wireless world. The initial cost to set up optimized and reliable wireless might seem like a pricey penny but in the long run it cuts back on cost and time, which is just as valuable. Customers can have everything they need at their wait staff’s finger tip.
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