Cutting-Edge Cash Registers Time Saving and Theft Prevention Have Never Been Better
By Taylor Rau
With today’s cutting-edge systems with their multitudes of
capabilities, cash registers are continuing to raise eyebrows as
operators raise revenues.
From Survival to Success
According to the National Restaurant Association, employee theft
amounts to 4 percent of food sales at a cost in excess of $8.5 billion
annually. Cash register companies — Sharp, IBM, Royal, PC America,
Casio, Samsung — you name it, are working to better operators’ chances
of survival and success. SmartConnect, a leading provider of
video-centric business intelligence solutions, announced recently the
availability of Restaurant Vision On Demand (RVOD), a powerful loss
prevention system that helps operators with integrated video
surveillance. RVOD makes video searchable by key business event,
enabling managers to identify employee theft quickly and efficiently
and monitor effectiveness of training.
The number of ways owners and managers are vulnerable at the cash
register can include register overrides, line item voids, discounts,
coupons, excessive tips or checks under a certain amount. This new
system also can be used to collect data from time clocks, cash counting
machines, alarms and thermostats to monitor operations. Detailed,
customized transaction reports combined with the visual action of
streaming video, both real-time and stored, can be accessed securely
via any PC or wireless handheld device through a simple Web browser.
“The (RVOD) system is invaluable,” says Rod O’Neal, vice president of
the SeaTac Bar Group, which implemented the beta version of Restaurant
Vision On Demand in two restaurant/bar locations that were opened
recently as part of Seattle International Airport’s expansion. “The
remote capability is crucial to our success because we manage our
Seattle operations from our home office in Las Vegas. We expect to see
a return on investment within three to six months.”
Digital Dining software, another example of this advent in video
protection, uses security cameras in conjuction with the POS system to
compare physical employee actions versus what the employee is actually
keying into the system. Labor scheduling allows the owner/operator to
write employee schedules into the POS system and prevents employees
from clocking in early or late (riding the clock) without management
knowledge. Additionally, employees clock in/out with a fingerprint
recognition system which prevents employees clocking in or out for each
other.
According to David Gosman, president of PC America, for every 10
seconds that operators reduce the average checkout time, it’s estimated
that sales go up by 1 percent.
Protect the Bank, Don’t Break It
With a typical POS system, operators who have upgraded to the latest in
computerized setups also can save as much as $83.33 per day, on
average, according to PC America reports. What’s considered adequate?
It’s suggested that operators have a PC with at least Pentium III, 256
MEGS of RAM, Windows 98 or better (Windows 200 or XP) and a 10-gigabyte
hard drive.
Check out the Nightclub & Bar Buyer’s Guide for more companies and product information. NCB
With today’s cutting-edge systems with their multitudes of
capabilities, cash registers are continuing to raise eyebrows as
operators raise revenues.
