Handheld wireless point of sale systems in the restaurant industry

As surprising as it may seem, handheld ordering systems have been around for over 20 years. The first handheld system that came on the market used numeric keypads to enter the PLU codes from items and infrared transmitter/receivers to relay the information between the handhelds and the point of sale (POS) system. Handheld wireless POS systems are a portable version of a POS system which is defined as the time and place in which a transaction is made. Point of sale computer systems include: cash registers, optical scanners, magnetic card readers, and special terminals. Handheld wireless POS systems used for hospitality, more specifically food service, will be the main focus for this paper. This includes events such as taking food orders and the inventory/ordering process. Customers are the reasons restaurants are in business, and the time saved by using a handheld device (versus waiting in line to place an order on a traditional POS system that averages over four minutes per order) can be used to better serve the guests. Those four minutes also lead to drinks and meals being ready quicker and, throughout an evening, those minutes equate to greater table turnover and more profits.It is these benefits which lead to cost savings and return on investment for the purchase of a handheld POS system.