POS systems???

Ok, everyone (especially you pizza folks), the Charlestown Pizza Company is searching for a new Point of Sale System.
We currently use Restaurant Manager and we really like it.

What we're looking for:
Touchscreen PC based system for dine in and carry out pizza service (no delivery option)
Integrated CC Processing (with the ability to stay with our current CC processing company)
Must have the ability to: separate checks by seat, split items, split check totals, use multiple payment methods on one check, order 1/2 topping pizzas, reprint transactions, & modify all items easily.
Must be easy to access and manipulate menus, pricing, table arrangements, & inventory.
Must have inventory tracking, integrated time keeping/labor information, & must record/report sales data.
Must have a local representative, that will come out and fix a problem if one occurs......I despise sitting on the phone with "help desk" technicians.

I appreciate your input and if you'd like to send a PM instead of responding in the forum, please do.

Aloha is too much for what we do (technically and financially) and i haven't used a MICROS system that i liked.

Shawn

Whoops,
Also a must have - Records/Reports server daily sales in detail

I believe Jackie R of the forum does POS systems programming for a living. Maybe you could PM her.

You said you were used to Restaurant Manager......

The New Versions of Restaurant Manager has EVERYTHING you need!!!!!!!!

Shawn:

Do you get PIZZA TODAY magazine? I worked there in the early 1990s and we used to do feature stories on POS systems. They probably have some recent ones available in their archives.

If you can possibly swing it, I strongly encourage you to attend PIZZA EXPO coming up next month in Las Vegas (March 2-4, 2010). Attendance at the show itself is not expensive. They're practically giving away motel rooms there. And, if you shop around, you can probably get a good deal on airfare.

20 years ago, we had SIX HUNDRED VENDORS at this event and 4,000 to 5,000 attendees! I assume it's even bigger now. The Las Vegas Convention Center is enormous. This would be a perfect opportunity to see a boatload of POS systems frst hand and talk to a lot of other independent pizzeria owners. There are also a bunch of really useful seminars that go on at Pizza Expo.

Hope you'll consider going.

See http://www.PizzaToday.com and http://www.PizzaExpo.com for details about the magazine and Pizza Expo.

BTW, the magazine is still published locally. They moved years ago from downtown New Albany to Louisville, but it's still a "hometown publication".

Lois

thanks guys,
Lois we love Pizza Today, although we probably won't make it to the expo

I'd like to hear first hand account of what you do/don't love about your POS

The North American Pizza and Ice Cream Show is taking place is Columbus Feb. 21-22. That might be an easier opportunity to see what's out there in terms of POS systems.
FireFly, Revention and SpeedLine are all companies that specialize in POS systems for pizzerias. Don't know about local service, though.

Home Run uses Digital Dining and we love it. Easy for us to modify & add items and all the reports you listed are there. We have 25 toppings so I'm thinking that a pizza place would like Digital Dining also.

We switched from a local company to another local company when we opened #2 because we discovered we were paying TOO MUCH for credit card processing. Saving 1% each month on these transactions using Sunrise. (Doesn't sound like much but it really adds up. We proved on paper that it was worth paying the "termination fee" to get out of our agreement with the local company we initially signed up with.) Salesman is Mike McDill at 245-1050. The tech support is great - Laura - and she comes directly to the store when needed. Answered pages on weekends - had a couple of items needing tweaking when we opened Middletown and she fixed them right away.

Almost forgot, we got a great deal on Gift Cards through the credit card processing company that Sunrise uses. Don't even charge a swipe fee to load it or check balances. That was really the clincher because we really liked Heartland. I really learned a lot from that salesman, Ron, about how the credit card processing companies pad their statements. Anyway, I love Digital Dining and Sunrise.

Kathy Scannell
www.homerunburger.com

Thanks Kathy, i like DD also and have a visit with Sunrise scheduled soon, so we'll see.

Tommy, Who do you use for Restaurant Manager?

thanks again

shawn

Thanks for the info on the trade shows, but i really want to work with someone local (or a least a local firm representing one of the big names)

I had Phoenix from Fire Fly installed in my shop the last year that I owned it. I personally liked the system, but from what I have heard about the newer stuff -- it isn't a system I would look at anymore. I know Wicks runs on Fire Fly. Most of my pizza friends that I keep in contact with still talk very highly of Revention. They aren't local though. It isn't cheap either.

It has been years since I've looked at it, but have you looked at POS Pizza? ( pospizza.net )

-Scott

Shawn,

We switched to Revention, it is by far the best!

Tony, does Revention have a local rep?