There are a few things to keep in mind when determining if a POS integration is right for you (RDS) and your restaurant partner. You will gain the convenience of not manually updating menus each time a restaurants makes changes. And you will not have to maintain tablets or printers once the integration is complete. If you use “Call-in” or “Order-Online” or any other order-placement method, POS integration can save you and your dispatchers a lot of time by easily injecting the order directly into the restaurants POS hardware.
And, of course, your restaurant partner will enjoy not having another tablet to tend to, or not needing to input phone orders. It will help them keep better track of their sales, and streamline processes for their staff.
Advantages of POS Integration:
RDS not needing to manually update menus each time a restaurants makes changes
RDS will not have to maintain tablets or printers once the integration is complete
Saves a lot of time by easily injecting the order directly into the restaurants POS hardware
Restaurant partner will not have another tablet to tend to and/or will not need to input phone orders
Restaurant can keep better track of their sales
Restaurant will have a streamline processes for their staff
If you currently use OrderLogic and Tablets for your restaurants, here are some things that will not translate over to POS integrations:
Scheduled Orders: restaurants will not be able to see scheduled/advanced orders. This is mostly because POS systems do not usually have an area where these future orders can be injected. It is also a limitation with both middleware companies at this time.
Orders hit the restaurant's POS system based on Prep Time. If you have the prep time set for 30 minutes (for example) the order will hit the restaurant's POS system 30 minutes before the order is due to be picked up.
You can work through this limitation by using the restaurant's real email address in the email field on the restaurant info-tab in the DL backend. The restaurant will get an email for the order as soon as the customer completes the order. The order will still hit the restaurant's POS system based on prep-times.
Delaying an order - there is currently no way for a restaurant to delay an order once it hits their POS
Marking an order ready - there is currently no way for a restaurant to mark an order ready if it is done early. We recommend making sure the prep times are as accurate as possible
Chat-bot capabilities are not available through POS integrations
Once you have a restaurant with a POS integration, you will notice some new symbols on your dispatch board. You will also notice a new section in the order logs.
Before an order gets “Placed”, you will see a red oval shape next to a small gray calculator. These symbols together indicate that the order has not gone through to the POS yet. Hover your mouse over these symbols on your dispatch board to see a description.
After and order gets “Placed”, you will see the oval turn green and the calculator turn blue. Hover your mouse over these symbols on your dispatch board to see a description.
Once the order is “Placed”, you can also double click on the order to open up another window with the order information, scroll down, and see information about the “Restaurant Order Send Communication”. Here you can see if the order was a success or a failure. If the order failed, there will be some information about why it failed.
Above is the most common error we see with a “Failed” order. This error message appears when a dispatcher tries to send the order again, even after an initial successful send. This error des NOT mean the order failed to send on the first try. It just means that the system won’t send it again because the first try was successful.
POS integration and Payment Methods
Payment Methods and POS integrations do not affect each other
Payment to the restaurant for the food does not happen through the POS integration. These two things are different and separate from one another.
Whatever payment method you had before the integration will continue to be that payment method after the integration.
Pay-On-Pickup does not work well with POS integrations since orders are automatically sent to the POS as paid/closed.
An exception can be made if the restaurant uses TOAST as their POS system.
“Custom Items” and POS integrations
If you add a “Custom Item” to an order for a POS integrated restaurant BEFORE the order gets “Placed”, the order will fail.
It will fail because there is no where for that “custom item” to map to in the restaurant’s POS system.
You CAN still use “custom item” to add a charge onto an order AFTER the order has been sent/placed. However, keep in mind that the restaurant will not see the edit/addition to the order.
If you are making large edits or adding on multiple things to an order, it is best to create a New Order so that it will reach the restaurant's POS system
Other Restaurant settings affected and NOT affected by POS integration
On the restaurant profile, there are many settings. The ONLY setting/s that affect POS integrations working 100% is the menu field. The selected menu MUST always be the one that gets pulled in from the POS. If this gets changes, the integration will fail.
Other settings may change the flow of orders, but not necessarily make the integration fail. Here are some note on those settings:
“Auto Send” will send the order to the restaurant without it having to be manually placed. If you want this to happen with the activation of a new integration, you will need to change this setting. It will not be changed automatically
Change this setting to “CONFIRMED Order Status”
“Order Placement Method” does NOT actually turn integrations off or on. It only enables the dispatch symbols
The activation of an integration in the DL support backend is the only thing that actually turns an integration on. You will need the help of a DL support member to disable an integration.
Thank you for reading this article. Please reach out if you have any questions regarding the information in this article, or any outstanding concerns about POS integrations.