A Modern Touch Screen Solution For A Historic Inn

What do Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Durante, and Eddie Tucker have in common? Reportedly they all dined at the Deauville Inn located on the New Jersey shoreline in Strathmore, between Ocean City and Sea Isle City. The restaurant, formerly known as the Whelan Hotel, has a colorful history. It operated as a speakeasy during Prohibition and as a gambling house in the 1920s and 1930s (before New Jersey legalized Casino gambling). Twenty years ago, the Carpenter family bought and renovated the structure. Today, Deauville Inn patrons can dine indoors at one of two dining rooms. Guests can also dine outdoors on the patio while watching incoming fisherman along with beautiful sunsets. Many patrons arrive by boat and dock at the Inn's docking facilities to enjoy lunch, dinner, or late evening snacks.

Despite the convenience of outdoor dining, a late-night menu, and boat docks, the Deauville Inn owners wanted to speed up its customer service. The Inn was using NCR 2160 terminals, which the owners were told would become "obsolete" in the year 2000. As a result, the owners went shopping for a new point of sale (POS) system. Their search took about a year, during which time they considered several systems including newer NCR terminals and Micros systems. In the end, the Carpenter family chose POS VAR Bohan's Business Machines to provide the new solution.

Eliminating PLUs And Adding Table Turns
Chris Bohan, president of Bohan's Business Machines, noted that the Inn's waitstaff spent too much time using PLU (price lookup) sheets to enter menu items into the NCR terminals. Bohan used his sales call opportunity to demonstrate such software features as table seating and credit card authorization to the Inn owners. "These are features that would definitely benefit Deauville Inn's operation," said Bohan. "The restaurant also required more thorough reporting capabilities. For example, the owners wanted to know exactly what was being sold. They also needed a system that could integrate with its Quick Books accounting software."

Bohan sold the Inn a complete solution that included Pioneer POS Stealthtouch monitors, Samsung 350 thermal printers, MMF cash drawers, APC power supplies, Lynk System's networking hubs, and ITOX file servers. The new system runs ASI's Restaurant Manager software on a Windows NT platform. The Inn is using the Restaurant Manager's table seating feature to seat and serve customers more efficiently, increasing table turns.

Touch Screen Designed For Use Outdoors
The Inn purchased a total of 17 complete POS systems at a cost of approximately $60,000. Ten of the systems are used year-round, while seven are used outdoors during the tourist season and for special events. Bohan chose the Stealthtouch terminals specifically for outdoor use. "The glare from the sun makes it difficult for waitstaff to read most touch screens," Bohan explained. "Pioneer POS enhanced the Stealthtouch's backlit display so that it can be easily read outdoors." The Stealthtouch also offers a built-in card reader for credit and debit card processing. The touch screens also speed up customer orders. Waitstaff simply "drill down" on selected items. For example, all meats are listed on one screen. Waitstaff touch an icon for a particular type of meat, such as a hamburger. They are then prompted to choose how it is to be cooked (rare, medium, well done) and what condiments, such as pickles and ketchup, are to be added. Orders are sent directly to the kitchen via the terminals.

According to Bohan, the sales cycle took approximately one month. Actual installation of the terminals took about two weeks. There was little integration, except with the back office Quick Books software. Training the Inn's staff took very little time. Bohan's will train the staff as it adds upgrades to the system. "We take down and store the extra seven POS systems for the Inn," added Bohan.

Bohan also benefits from the Inn's service contract. Cash register service contracts, unlike those with PC-based POS systems, are not profitable, according to Bohan. "You are always upgrading software and terminals with PC-based systems," he said.