Say Hello to Aloha POS, the Point of Sale System You'll Never Say Goodbye To
January 22, 2019
Say Hello to Aloha POS, the Point of Sale System You'll Never Say Goodbye To
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Aloha POS
Aloha POS is used for both front and back of house operations in my food & beverage establishments. The system is used for real-time facilitation and execution of restaurant service. Aloha is an intuitive and straightforward point of sale system, that allows for seamless and effective communication between the front of house staff and the back of house. The front of house sends back orders for the kitchen to prepare complete with timings, coursings and added details that vary from client to client. The back of house receives these orders via a system of printers, with items directed to the appropriate station for prep. The entire system itself takes elaborate planning, but the execution and the operation is seamless and incredibly effective.
- Customizability for order placement. With today's clientele, they tend to pick things apart to make it more familiar or are averse to certain ingredients in dishes. Aloha allows for simple and clear modifications, to where the ingredients of the entire dish can be listed out and edited right there on the screen.
- Course timing and ordering. In finer dining establishments, timing is a priority, and Aloha's coursing system works very well, from their item "Hold" actions, as well as configuring the orders to not fire upon input, only until the "Order" prompt is issued. This allows for entire meals to be input at the beginning and fired for the kitchen course by course to allow for perfect timing.
- Splitting checks is another staple with today's clientele. Aloha's system optimizes this system by designating seat numbers that are effective in meal to table delivery, but also in getting a head start in organizing potential split checks. By utilizing the seat number system in the POS for proper communication for table delivery, the system has already broken down the item and total check by seat, ready to be divided up if necessary. Just a few prompts and you'll have a table of ten split ten ways with ease, as well as the option for multiple checks to split the cost of individual items in case a large party all wanted to share an appetizer. These requests tend to bog down the service and slow down the process, but Aloha has streamlined the entire process resulting in minimal interruption.
- Aloha does has a very comprehensive and intuitive approach to restaurant service operations, but doubles as a timekeeping system for payroll as well. Aloha could benefit from increased functionality from an HR perspective, considering it already utilizes a clock in, clock out, and break functions. Increased employee facing functionality, scheduling, and personalization, with an option for weekly averages, reports, and summaries of total labor and income tracking, and built-in scheduling system would truly make this an all in one POS masterpiece.
- Speaking of personalization, customization for each server could allow for increased efficiency. The system itself already thrives, but by allowing some tweaking from the user for their own POS screen could result in even better communication and speed of service, allowing the service to create a system that best fits their style and technique.
- Aloha POS has had nothing but a positive impact, as its efficiency allows for more organization and communication for all staff involved, ultimately requiring less staff to operate the restaurant, and allowing for a greater ROI.
- Specifically, with this system, a server can confidently service an 8 table section due with so many duties streamlined. Without this system, a server would have many more steps to take in executing service, and would only be able to effectively service 3-4 tables. This allows for greater ROI in reduced labor for the establishment, and greater ease and income for the server resulting in higher employee satisfaction and lower turnover.
Micros POS comes to mind as another point of sale system that I've had a terrible experience with. From bland presentation, unintuitive software, to clunky and malfunctioning hardware. The units would crash, slow, down, and the touch screens were unresponsive. It was a simple order and fire system, lacking the complexities of Aloha's course system and elaborate payment screen.