Food service companies operating in cafeteria settings have particular requirements for their point of sale cashless systems. Whether it is in a college, university, hospital or corporate environment, many find that Electronic Cash Registers (ECR's) are still the best choice.
Although PC-based touch screen POS systems have made tremendous gains in popularity during the past decade, they tend to make the most sense for restaurant table service style operations. In a cafeteria setting, today's cash registers offer enhanced capabilities that make them an effective POS solution.
Comparing Cash Registers and Touch Screen POS Systems
Two of the key reasons for choosing Enhanced Cash Registers over a touch screen POS system are cost and durability. Depending on the product offering, an ECR can cost many thousands of dollars less than a Touch Screen system while still offering similar functionality. Annual operating costs for an ECR are also less expensive, as Touch Screen POS systems require software, which involves ongoing annual maintenance fees for software licensing and support.
Not only are ECR's less expensive to purchase and operate, their longevity is far greater than a PC-based system. Typically ECR's can be expected to provide 7 to 10 years of relatively problem-free operation versus a PC-based POS system, which has a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years. In my conversations with food service operators using ECR's, many of them have told me they have terminals still in the field that are over 13 years old!
Some of the other benefits of ECR's over PC-based systems are:
Fewer moving parts and no hard drive
Greater power efficiency
Quieter operation
Instant on versus having to wait for a PC to boot up
Cooler operating temperatures as no heat is generated
Although not appropriate for every situation, Electronic Cash Registers continue to make a lot of sense as the POS system for cafeteria-style environments. As such, in addition to supporting various POS Touch Screen solutions, ITC Systems also supports a variety of cash register product lines for our cashless systems. This enables us to offer our customers solutions that will meet their exact needs and budget.
Trust Our Experience in Cashless Systems
Through my 14 years of experience in providing cashless systems with ITC Systems, I have had the opportunity to visit and work with hundreds of cafeteria-style operations at college, university, hospital and corporate settings throughout North America.
Through my travels, I have had the opportunity to question both on-site managers and head office personnel at most of the major food service companies about their point of sale requirements and have found that Electronic Cash Registers (ECR's) continue to make the most sense for these type environments.
