Greater efficiency for restaurants, is it possible?

Quite understandably, restaurant owners want greater control of their staff activities and payment processes, because F&B is a prime candidate for fraud. There have always been nuances, but with the advent of new payment methods (cashless, mobile, etc.) the issue of control has become far more urgent, and restaurant owners need to monitor the movement and transfer of goods and funds.

New guest expectations

All restaurants struggle to meet the needs and requirements of their customers. Whether the issue is service speed, the taking, and fulfillment of orders, or finding new ways to integrate customer service with the latest technology, all are subject to updates almost every day.

This spiral of technological demand, constant modernization, and improvement of the entire F&B IT infrastructure can be very difficult to keep up with.

Cloud-based restaurant systems

Today, cloud systems can be found everywhere, applications, emails, social media servers, and it is this technology that is relevant to the modern POS systems for restaurants. For example, Simphony Cloud allows the main server to be located remotely in a data center, with the hotel or restaurant hosting only the client component. This would be the touch screen POS Terminals on which orders are entered, plus the peripherals that provide the remainder of the required functionality (fiscal loggers, receipt and kitchen printers, etc). The architecture of the Simphony Cloud system is built entirely on the principle of working in the cloud.

Cloud architecture, the path to efficient operations

The cloud allows restaurants to significantly reduce their IT costs because buying a server, maintenance, upgrades, and virus protection are no longer the owner’s concern.

Simphony Cloud gives the restaurant owner much more opportunity to use third-party systems and integrate with third-party devices. These can be mobile devices, tablets, electronic menus, even kiosks, allowing the system to meet any proprietor or guest requirement.

Another benefit of cloud-based solutions is that it is much easier for the management to change menus, prices, and set up special promotions on certain dishes. These changes only need doing once on the central server, then distributed to all the client stations. This reduces the time required to introduce new dishes to the workstations, something which is especially important in chain restaurants.

Efficient modules

Simphony Cloud has several modules, they are POS, F&B, and Labor-Management. The Labor Management module allows you to control your staff work schedules, giving you a clear idea of who is working, when they arrived, when they left, and what they did whilst they were there. All staff activities are recorded and cannot be deleted, so any discrepancies can be easily identified and investigated during audits and inventories.

Both for millennials and buzzers

Modern POS systems like Simphony Cloud have been designed from the outset to be compatible with mobile devices, like smartphones, which are the chosen tools of zoomers and millennials. Simphony can easily integrate with any device, but it is not just about making reservations or selecting food at a restaurant, it is also about delivering food from the restaurant to your room, office, or home. This is something that has become particularly relevant during the pandemic.

Simphony Cloud also has a large database of up-to-date reports that can be accessed via mobile devices. Managers do not need to go to a computer to view a report, all they need to do is take out their phone and check how things are going.

Working without Internet

One of the main requirements of a cloud system is a reliable Internet connection. Simphony Cloud is designed to work even if the connection fails. When this happens the system operates autonomously, using the caching technology to transfer the data to the central server when the Internet connection is restored. As a result, no information is lost, allowing your business to operate without restriction or interruption.

This is also important for staff control, there is no need to pull out notebooks or punch in orders post facto, business just carries on as usual.

Author: Roman Foschenko
Area Director, HRS Sochi