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Studying the Types of Input Devices: Restaurant Point of Sale Equipment

Point of Sale Equipment: Keyboards and touch screens

One of the first choices you will have to make about your POS equipment is whether to go with a touch screen or a programmable keyboard. Most businesses choose touch screens. The only market where programmable keyboards are mostly used is grocery stores, since it has the ability to program individual keys for specific item codes and prices.

Many of the available touch screens today are designed by restaurant owners, it focuses more on meeting the needs of a restaruant that’s why they are more intuitive to use and “user-friendly”. They also provide more flexibility in the user interface and programming. You will find most touch screens these days are based on flat-screen LCDs instead of traditional CRT monitors. While LCD touch screens are a bit more expensive (typically $600 – $1,000 instead of $400 – $500), they are sturdier, use less electricity, and saves up space. They also look much better. With both CRT and LCD displays, avoid “overlay” touch screens that are added on to regular monitors – they are more prone to breakdowns and add an unnecessary complication to your system.

About keyboards, some has the standard 101-keys model similar to any computer. Others are smaller, more POS-specific devices, such as the flat-panel membrane keyboards you often see on fast food chains. Often, they come in with built-in magnetic stripe readers for credit card processing. Programmable keyboards usually ranges between $150 and $300.

It doesn’t matter which POS equipment you use, make sure you consider the environment where it will be used. Both keyboards and touch screens are available with varying levels of spill and dust-proofing.

Point of Sale Equipment: Bar code scanners

POS scanners reads an item’s barcode and sends the information back to the computer. They typically connect to the system through Y-connectors called wedges that make them function as an extension of the keyboard. It can improve the speed of transaction as well as accurately stores information.

Low quality, cheap scanners are based on charge-coupled device (CCD) technology. They cost less, but usually have a very short range – the item being scanned needs to be 1 to 3 inches from the scanner. In a typical retail setting, that should be fine.

When it comes to laser scanners, they offer better scanning with the ability to scan bar codes at long ranges. You may find some laser scanners that automatically turn themselves on when scanning and then turn off again, this is called “autosensing”. Omnidirectional scanners send out 15 or 20 lasers simultaneously, which can easily scan a bar code at any angle. And the top of the line are embedded scanners, which are omnidirectional scanners that are located below a counter, as is common in supermarkets.

Wondering what types of POS scanners to use when serving different volume of customers? If the counter line has only one or a couple of customers, the CCDs or entry-level laser scanners should meet your needs. A fairly constant flow of customers might call for an autosensing model, and very high volume businesses should investigate omnidirectional or embedded scanners. Prices range from below $100 for the most basic CCD scanners to $350 or more for omnidirectional laser scanners.

Point of Sale Equipment: Handheld POS terminal

The latest type of input device is the handheld, wireless terminal. Essentially a PDA, it can easily take orders and transmits it wirelessly it back to a base station. A great advantage this POS equipment can provide to a restaurant is that they increase the amount of time servers spend on taking orders on the floor and interacting with customers, because they never have to go back to a terminal to process orders.

Newer still are write-on handhelds: instead of trying to compress a touch-screen interface onto a tiny PDA screen, these devices allow servers to simply write the orders down. Handwriting recognition software parses the order then sends it directly on to the kitchen and bar to prepare the orders.

These handheld terminals are more expensive compared to a traditional touch-screen order terminal. However they can make up for the cost by allowing your servers to spend more time upselling customers with more desserts and drinks. If you are evaluating handheld terminals, make sure you ask about the “drop test” – units are rated for toughness according to how much of a fall they can survive. To find out if your business is a candidate for handheld POS terminals, compare multiple POS equipment vendors to learn what products and services they offer.