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Buyer's Guide for POS Software
How
to Select the Right Restaurant POS Software Not sure which restaurant software is right for you? follow the steps below to identify your restaurant point of sale software
needs. At the end of this guide there is a Feature
Comparison Chart of best-selling POS restaurant software packages.
STEP
1: Define Your Deployment Needs
Number
of Locations & Number of POS Registers Per Location
POS
restaurant software is manufactured for various deployment scenarios.
Restaurant software manufacturers may design software for single POS register
installation, multiple POS registers, and multiple restaurant locations.
You can vastly narrow your choices just by understanding your locations
needs.
Network
Infrastructure of Multiple POS Registers and/or Multiple Locations Operating
system and hardware requirements vary among software packages and will
affect the cost of implementing your restaurant POS system. While one
software package might support a Windows peer-to-peer POS station set
up, another may require a Windows Server operating system for multiple
POS registers or restaurant locations. The hardware and costs for networking
two or more point-of-sale registers running the same software at a single
location or between multiple locations should be factored into the budget.
POS
Hardware Compatibility
POS hardware compatibility varies among software packages. Be sure to
consult the software's hardware requirements prior to buying touch screen
computers, receipt printers, pole displays, card readers, cash drawers,
and barcode scanners. If you own existing POS hardware components, be
aware that your new restaurant software may not be compatible. Whether
you need just one POS register or multiple POS stations, consider buying
a POSGuys
Complete Restaurant POS System which bundles restaurant software with
all required hardware, pre configured for guaranteed compatibility. If
you opt to purchase restaurant software separately from POS hardware,
consult a reseller about the various operating requirements for the POS
software packages you are evaluating, and find out if your reseller offers
On-Site Installation Services.
STEP 2: Define Critical & Secondary Features
Identify the Features You Need
Determine the critical functionality you need in a restaurant POS software
package. Use our Features Comparison Chart
to identify features commonly found in restaurant POS software packages
and build a list that suits your needs. Note which of these features are
mission-critical, secondary needs, and which features are unnecessary for
your POS needs.
STEP 3: Evaluate & Compare Software Packages
Contact Industry Resources for Recommendations
Contact a reputable reseller with expertise in the POS industry. Based
on the system requirements and features criteria you've identified, ask
for a recommendation on a variety of restaurant POS software packages.
Be sure to ask for demonstration or trial versions, which are usually
downloadable.
If desired, directly contact the software manufacturer for names of restaurants
who use their POS software. Contact those references for their feedback
on ease of installation, usability, features, and performance.
Understand
Software Manufacturer's Support, Upgrade, and Return Policies. Support
and upgrade policies vary greatly among POS software manufacturers. While
one may require paid support contract with purchase, another manufacturer
may include up to a year of free support with purchase. Some software
manufacturers only include software patches, know as "bug fixes",
for current versions with purchase, while others offer full version upgrades
for the first year. Be aware that most software companies do no accept
returns on software and do not guarantee the fitness of their software
for any particular purpose; neither do resellers. This is an industry
standard rule, making your evaluation of the free POS software trial version
essential to ensure satisfaction.
Install
Trail Versions to Evaluate Features & User Interface
Once you've narrowed your choice down to only those POS software packages
fitting your critical features criteria, and hopefully secondary criteria,
install the demonstration versions on your PC. Evaluate each software's
depth of functionality for those features. In addition, consider ease
of use and the intuitiveness of the user interface. Restaurants with large
staff and high turnover may place greater weight on ease of use to save
the expense and time associated with training new users. Once you've had
a hands-on evaluation of critical features and usability, it's time to
narrow your choice and make a purchase decision. Revisit the software
system requirements and have a list of final questions ready for your
reseller.
Restaurant
POS Software at POSGUYS.com
POSGUYS.com offers a variety of restaurant POS
software packages including. See Restaurant Software Comparison Chart
for itemized feature comparison for all of the software.
Aldelo
Pro for Restaurants
A full featured restaurant POS software offering dine-in , delivery,
and take out functionality with extensive inventory, recipe, and
menu control, employee scheduling, and financial reporting. Aldelo
Pro is suitable for multiple POS stations, multiple locations, and
a multi-lingual staff, with built-in support for English, Spanish,
Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. It is also fully programmable
(outside of the application) to support any language of your choice.
Menu Flexibility Create menu items, pricing and descriptions
the way it works best for your business. Print orders to specific
printers, i.e.: Hot printer, Cold printer, Garnish printer, etc. Menu
can be quickly changed or modified.
Table
Mapping A representation of the table arrangement in your
restaurant is displayed on a touch-screen monitor. This allows close
tracking of customer orders in relation to their table and allows
for better teamwork and communication between servers.
Inventory Control Have precise tracking
of your inventory. Track actual food cost and usage by entering
ingredient inventory by weight (20 pound block of cheese) and selling
goods as part of a recipe (Ham & Cheese Panini = 2 oz. ham,
2 oz. cheese, etc). Every time a menu item is sold, inventory will
adjust by the amount of the ingredients in the recipe for the menu
item.
Security Settings Each user is assigned a PIN that will
allow the user access to only those areas pre-designated by the
system manager, i.e.: cashier or delivery driver will not have access
to menu prices, coupon areas, etc.
Payment
Methods Customer has choice of paying for his order by using
cash, credit card, gift cards and house accounts. Credit cards are
tendered using Aldelo EDC software.
Hardware Compatibility Aldelo Pro will
work with many brands and models of receipt printers, kitchen printers,
label printers, cash drawers, monitors, card readers, fingerprint
readers, caller-id boxes, etc.
Support Aldelo supports optional technical support for every
product it sells.
Demo
POSGuys has demo programs available for Aldelo Pro. Try it…we’re
sure you will like it! |
Aldelo
Wireless for Restaurants
This wireless software includes all the features listed above of
the popular Aldelo Pro with the advantage of using handheld PDA's
on a network. With Aldelo Wireless, servers no longer need to write
down customer orders at the table and re-enter the order at the
computer station, instead orders are entered wirelessly on a Pocket
PC device running Aldelo For Restaurants® Wireless Edition,
and then automatically submit the order to the kitchen / bar for
fastest turnaround time and accurate orders every time. Orders can
be recalled and edited on any table side order that is not yet closed
on the PDA device, improving wait staff efficiency and customer
service. Aldelo Wireless also exhibits multilingual capabilities.
Visit our Mobile
Computer & Mobile
Printer sections for mobile hardware to accompany your wireless
software. |
Aldelo
Lite for Restaurants
This
is a scaled-down version of Aldelo Pro for take-out and delivery
style establishments. Aldelo Lite does not include the inventory
and employee management functionality found in the Pro version,
but offers superior functionality for counter service and delivery,
especially where multiple POS stations are deployed. Aldelo Lite
also exhibits identical multi-lingual capabilities as Aldelo Pro.
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Amigo
POS
A restaurant POS software designed with an intuitive, easy to use
interface, Amigo POS features full-service dine-in, take-out, and
delivery functionality and includes a data interface to Quickbooks
Pro. Job-type user security and system scalability are other top
selling points for Amigo POS. Suitable for single station, multiple
station, or multiple location installations.
Fully Editable Menus Editable setup
of your menus ensures your menu, pricing, and descriptions are
exactly how you need them to be. The ability to print to specific
printers is also available with Amigo POS.
Table
Mapping Representative mapping of your table arrangement
allows for quick, efficient, and clear tracking of tables and
orders and allows for better teamwork and communication between
servers.
Inventory Control Keep track of your
expenses and food costs by tracking inventory levels as orders
are placed.
Security An employee id must be entered
to access software, and employees only have access to pre-designated
areas of software determined by managers. Servers, cashiers, and
staff do not have access to pricing and menu changes if they are
not authorized to.
Multiple
Payment Methods Gives your business the flexibility to
offer cash, credit card, gift card, or house accounts as payment
from your customers.
Hardware Compatibility Many brands
and models work with this application, including receipt printers,
pole displays, fingerprint readers, magnetic stripe readers and
more.
Integrated Credit Card Processing
Amigo POS uses the popular and reliable PC
Charge server to process credit card purchases.
Fingerprint Scanner Built in support
for fingerprint ID gives your business the option of employee
access through fingerprint scan. This feature avoids the hassle
of lost employee cards or forgotten employee numbers.
Support POSGuys.com supports Amigo
POS in-house! You can rest assured that your POS software questions
will be answers by our knowledgeable and helpful Tech Support.
Demo Try out your free demo at: www.amigopos.com
then come back to buy a complete system from us!
|
| |
ALDELO
PRO |
ALDELO
LITE |
ALDELO
WIRELESS
| AMIGO
POS
|
| Supports
Integrated Credit Card Processing |
YES
(w/ Aldelo EDC Add-On) |
YES
(w/Aldelo EDC Add-On) |
YES(w/
Aldelo EDC Add-On) |
YES |
| Multi-lingual Capabilities |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
| Multi-currency
Capabilities |
NO |
NO
|
NO |
NO |
| International
Taxes Supported |
NO |
NO |
NO |
YES (GST, VAT, HST) |
| Supports
Multiple Locations |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Number
of Concurrent Stations |
12 |
12 |
12 |
10 |
| Database
Engine |
JET
4.0 |
JET
4.0 |
JET
4.0 |
JET
4.0, MS SQL 2000 |
| Supported
Operating Systems |
Win XP Pro/ 2000/ WePOS, Windows Server 2000/2003,
Windows Vista |
Win XP Pro/ 2000/ WePOS, Windows Server 2000/2003,
Windows Vista |
Win
XP Pro/ 2000/ WePOS, Windows Server 2000/2003 |
Win XP Pro/Home, Windows Vista (32 bit only) |
| Customizable
Touch Screen |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Kitchen
Order Printing |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Kitchen
Display Integration |
ADD-ON
Purchase |
ADD-ON
Purchase |
ADD-ON Purchase |
NO |
| User-Level
Security |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| User
Defined Menus & Modifiers |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Automatic
(Time of Day) Menu Item & Price Change |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Edits
Menus In Real Time |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Menu
Recipe Control |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Dine
In Functionality |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Visual
Table Layout Management |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Reservation
Management |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Separate
Bar Tab |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Separate
Bar Menu |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Take-out/Delivery
Service Management |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Visual
Delivery Map Integration |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
| Delivery
Dispatch & Routing |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Split/Combine
Checks |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Gift
Cards/Gift Certificates |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Tracks
House Accounts |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Inventory
Management |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Vendor
Tracking &/or Purchase Orders |
YES |
NO |
YES |
NO |
| Employee
Scheduling/ Timecard Management |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Financial
Reporting |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Export
Report Data to Excel |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Export
Data to Quickbooks |
YES |
YES |
YES |
Limited |
|
| Schedule
Automatic Data Backup |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Integrated
Barcode Label Printing |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
| Supports
Barcode Scanning |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES
Serial Only |
| Supports
Scale Integration |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Caller
ID Integration |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Manufacturer
Support Policy |
Free
Support for First 30 Days |
Free
Support for First 30 Days |
Free
Support for First 30 Days |
Two
30 min. support incidents within 30 days of purchase. 1 Year Free
Email Support |
| Manufacturer
Software Upgrade Policy |
Free
Upgrades for First 30 Days |
Free
Upgrades for First 30 Days |
Free
Upgrades for First 30 Days |
Free
Version Patches Only. New Version Release Requires Purchase. |
| Return
Policy |
No
Returns |
No
Returns |
No
Returns |
No
Returns |
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For a downloadable version of this review click here
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