Uniwell AX3000 and Phoenix in Hyltons Restaurant, Bowness

 

Harmony EPOS Solutions recently installed a new EPOS System in Hyltons Restaurant.

Situated in the heart of Bowness-on-Windermere, Hyltons Restaurant is cosy, informal, family friendly, and popular with both tourists and locals. The owner, Steve Wilson, came to Harmony Epos Solutions when he needed an equipment upgrade, he worked along side our EPOS Sales Manager, Trevor Procter to find the best solution based upon his businesses needs. Steve wanted a system that would be easy to use and adapt, that would withstand the knocks and bangs that happen in a busy restaurant, and would enable his staff to spend more time looking after customers rather than playing around on difficult to use tills.

From this is was decided that Hyltons Restaurant would benefit greatly from the new Uniwell AX3000 and Phoenix software system. In December 2012, it was installed and we recently went back to see how their new system was performing. Here is what Steve Wilson had to say;

“We chose to upgrade our current Uniwell system because my previous Uniwell system had given me 15 relatively trouble free years, and I agreed that a Uniwell non-pc based system, is likely to last twice as long as a computer based touch.”

“Our new Uniwell AX3000 looks like a computer so my staff find it simple to use, and I was performing my own program changes from day 1! I can change the simplest things, such as button sizes, colours and menu changes without referring to a manual; the system can be very easily personalised.”

“I have two Nexus tablet running the Phoenix software, meaning that my staff can take orders at the table. The menu changes that I make on the AX3000 are uploaded to the tablets in seconds with no extra programming required. My plan is to use the two Uniwell touch screens to look after the downstairs restaurant and the Phoenix system on the tablets will look after upstairs which means that my staff won’t have to leave their sections upstairs to place orders, so customer service will be greatly improved as my staff will be readily available for my customer at all times.”

“ Once we are fully up to speed with the Phoneix system we will possible take orders with it downstairs as well. The only tricky task will be educating my customers to order in stages for drinks then food, however this will ensure that my staff will not miss items off the bill, so customers will always get what they ordered and we won’t lose money from the missing items. Overall the Phoenix software will help increase table spend and table turnaround.”

“ We chose to work with Harmony EPOS for our upgrade as they had supplied and maintained out previous system and I have always been happy with their after-sales service and quick response times on the rare occasion that have had a problem.”

Trevor Procter, Harmony EPOS Sales Manager, added “The Uniwell AX3000 and Phoenix system is likely to see many table-service restaurants adapt to wireless ordering because the cost of this system is much less than previous systems- two tablets running Phoenix and a wi-fi accessed point will cost less than £1000 compered to over £4000 for older systems. I think that any table-service establishments using a paper system will accept that they lose money due to products such as coffees, desserts and wines missing from a customers bill- and usually these mistakes are only noticed when it is too late. With this system it is not possible to miss products and the orders will be sent to the kitchen in real-time allowing the waitress to be more available to customers which will increase spend and customer satisfaction.”

Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year! We assume that our customers and suppliers are now either busy back in the office or are putting their feet up after the busy festive rush; either way we hope that you had a successful Christmas period. As the excitement of the holidays wears off, and the food and drink dwindle down, the period of looking ahead begins. Many look ahead at the year by making personal goals and resolutions, many start to plan holidays or activities for the next 12 months. Whether your changes are drastic or none at all you will find yourself reflecting upon 2012 and wondering what 2013 will bring.

Here at Harmony Business, we have have a busy yet tough 2012, as many have in the hospitality industry, but despite this we have found ourselves in a strong position and would like the thank all of our customers and suppliers for their support and assistance, as without you we would not be where we are today. Like everyone, we are unsure of what 2013 will bring, but we have made our resolutions as a company, and have our aims and objective in place so we can tackle whatever the year throws at us.

So Happy New Year to you all, we hope you have a great one and look forward to working with you in 2013.

How “Point of Sale” Became much more than a fancy calculator| The Development of POS

 

We recently found this interesting article on the development and history of the POS- How “Point of Sale” Became much more than a fancy calculator, and thought we would share it with you by recapping the most important and interesting points.

The Beginning

To many a POS has never been more than a fancy calculator; it only ever adds up the cost of all your products and holds money. Yes, over the years it has become sleeker in design and has more flashing lights, but its usage has not changed.

How wrong these people are. The modern day point-of-sale (POS) is a tightly integrated computer that knows all about your buying history; how often you shop online and what you are likely to buy next week. It is also able to communicate this along the entire length of the stores' supply chain right back to the factory if necessary.

It has certainly came a long way since its introduction in the late 1800’s when it was only used to produce a simple receipt, one copy for the merchant and one for the customer. The first POS devices were wooden boxes, made by carpenters out of rosewood, brass or nickel.

It was in the 1900s that the development of POS systems accelerated. A transaction that once started and ended in the stores was a thing of the past. These days your store knows a lot about you long before you have even entered, thanks to the introduction and popularity of loyalty cards. Computers can work out if you are sick, and how often, the number of people you live with, if you have pets and can even make an educated guess as to your pregnancy status. These facts may be daunting to some of the public, as privacy is obviously a concern and issue, however consumers can choose to opt in or opt out or the data collection process.

 

Today

More and more retailers are aiming to gather and use “big data” to help refine their operations, as this information can prove invaluable when it comes to the supply chain. In an ideal world as soon as a product is taken off the shelves and paid for, a new one is instantly manufactured or shipped to replace it, so now-a-days POS manufacturers have to take into account the supply warehouse and the point of manufacture, rather than designing a machine that only suited the needs of a retailer. Many of the large retailers can dictate that new technology is used by their entire supply chain to help streamline the supply chain and work seamlessly with its own POS system.

The Future

One of the biggest developments recently has been to make the POS mobile. Apple stores championed this by allowing its staff to interact with their customers and finish transactions on the spot; others are now replicating this.

Due to the increasing demand for smartphones and tablets, POS companies are integrating the mobile factor into their manufacturing. Sophisticated POS systems are starting to come with some tablet element that can be detached at a moment notice. This can be seen in our earlier post about AX-3000 and Phoenix handheld ordering software.

Essentially POS manufacturers have acknowledge that is is far easier to take the touch-base skills many people are now learning form an early age- pinch, swipe and scroll- and incorporate them into their own device. Why invent new methods when there once that already exist than the masses know how to use.

It is in fact the User Interface (UI) that is the most important factor in the future of the POS system. Already, pictures and symbols have largely replaced words and letters, making each configuration easier to deploy especially in huge global supply chains. The future of POS systems will become more customer friendly and ever present in our everyday lives.

Embedded EPOS| A Simple Solution

 

Whether you are new to EPoS or have had an EPoS system for some time and are looking for an update; the world of EPoS systems can sometimes be difficult to understand. This is where we can help! At Harmony Business we always look to offer you a range of solutions so that you can assess your options and choose the one that most suits your business and its resources.

You may believe that your business is too small to reap the benefits of a EPoS system, however this is rarely the case. A good EPoS System can save you money, save time, increase productivity and assist in driving your business forward.

At Harmony Business we believe we have the perfect solution for the majority of hospitality businesses. An EPoS system that is tough, reliable, fast, easy to use, and most of all affordable… it may seem like a dream, but the Uniwell AX-3000 delivers all of this and more. The AX-3000 is a non PC based system, which has no hard drive or moving parts, so it can withstand the knocks, bangs and harsh conditions of hospitality and retail…it was built to last twice as long as PC based systems!

The other features that the AX-3000 boasts are;

• Unique hardware design that delivers lightening fast performance year after year without the need for expensive upgrades.
• The user interface can be customised to suit each individual business; simplifying operations and minimizing staff training and cost.
• Instant power on/off, with no wait for the OS to boot up, and no chance of database corruption.
• Secure from virus attacks and hacking.
• Customer records and loyalty features can greatly increase marketing functionality and customer service in your business.

Handheld Ordering with Phoenix

As great as the AX-3000 sounds, for waitress service operations, the magic happens when it is integrated with Phoenix! Phoenix is a handheld application waitress application that runs on Android devices, such as smart phones, tablets etc. Phoenix is designed exclusively for the AX-3000 so that maximum compatibility and stability is offered. The ap is easy to use with features that can be intuitively learnt, so all your staff are able to pick it up quickly (even the biggest technophobe will have no problems adapting to it!)

As great as we think this EPoS system is, you may still be unsure about investing in an EPoS system. If you are, you need to think about the following;

• If you currently have a manual system in place, how often are items missed from the customers bill- costing you money! An EPoS system can stop this from day one.
• If you have to produce periodic sales reports an EPoS system can make this a very quick procedure allowing you more time to concentrate on improving your business.
• How easy is it for you to reprogram your existing system- the AX3000 is straight forward with no need to wait for a service engineer. You can even link to back office software if desired.

You don’t have to take our word for it; we have installed the Uniwell AX-3000 and Phoenix systems into a number of hospitality businesses, so keep your eyes peeled for honest feedback and opinions from the business owners and their staff on the benefits the system provides for businesses such as yours.

We understand that making the transition to a EPoS system or even changing your current system, can be daunting, but overall an EPoS system such as the Uniwell AX-3000 and Phoenix can provide a number of functions that are missing or are very slow in your current system. If you want to increase your efficiency then it is worth while investing in a new EPoS system.

Here at Harmony EPoS Solutions we are here to help you through the transition; from initial contact and query right through to training and on-going support for you and your new EPoS system.

We are currently offering the Uniwell AX3000 at a very competitive price, and the Phoenix Software is free for a limited period only. To find out more about Uniwell AX-3000 and Phoenix, or any of our other EPoS systems, or if you would like a demonstration,  please call Trevor Procter on 015395 66680 or email epos@harmonybusiness.co.uk