REVEL in it! :-)
January 31, 2019
REVEL in it! :-)
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Revel Systems
Our company is a 7 restaurant food hall. Essentially, a food court that is 7 separate restaurants that are ran individually but made to function as one. Revel is used as our Point-of-Sale system for all the restaurants. We use the Revel Apple Store app, on iPads that are hardwired at each location. The challenges that we face is that it often does not link into the server very well, and when used at a high volume, crashes often. It is my belief that when operating at a smaller scale, with less inventory, it would function MUCH better. The inventory items we link into Ctuit, and that actually integrates with the accounting software very well. The ability to customize and have table layouts for the seated areas and bars is a great feature.
- I think that the ability to completely customize and make separate access for each employee is a great feature. It has the time clock features that tracks each employees punches, and allows me to set each of my staff with a pin code that has individual privilege access as well.
- The integration from Revel to Ctuit (which is our accounting/inventory software) is great. Revel items are linked to a created "recipe" (Food & Drinks) and then that creates food & alcohol costs for the company. Revel has features that let us run food cost reports based on location, and keeps pretty accurate track of our inventory.
- This is not a product for very high volume, multiple location companies. The system gets too overloaded, and then credit cards aren't processing, and the entire program will freeze or crash.
- Often has a problem with not capturing payments when a customer pays for their food. It stores in the "offline payments" section, but when we go in to process them, it kicks them out.
- Network connectivity clogs up when in a high volume use time period. Does not like being run off of a WiFi connection. ALWAYS hard wire this product if at all possible.
- We did lose a bit in the beginning, but actually it was all handled by contacting Revel customer service and help area, and they walked us through with the issue we were having. The "open check" feature , where you can go onto the next order by just closing the payment screen, allowed for checks to be left unpaid on the system, and food to be made, and given out. It cost us a lot of money for a while, and there was a lengthy process to correct that but revel handled it and walked me through what I needed to do to keep that from happening further.
I personally was not part of the process when Revel was decided on, but I did have the whole process of setup and clean up of things. Overall, it is a good product, solid, and has so many features that I didn't even get to dive into because it just wasn't applicable to our company. :-) What is very important is that no matter what day of the week, or what time of the night, if there was something that I could not figure out, there was always customer service and also the Revel University. This is an AWESOME feature that gives the users any possible information and instruction on how set up, fix, troubleshoot, and every last how-to thing you can think of. Super useful!
Using Revel Systems
100 - Cooks
Management
Owners
Cashiers
Baristas
Bartenders
Servers
Back of House employees
Bussers
Dishwashers
Chefs
Accountants and Office Managers
Management
Owners
Cashiers
Baristas
Bartenders
Servers
Back of House employees
Bussers
Dishwashers
Chefs
Accountants and Office Managers
3 - Definitely need to be a little tech savvy. Overall daily use is pretty simplified.
The set up and maintenance can require a bit of computer knowledge and understanding of the company functions.
The set up and maintenance can require a bit of computer knowledge and understanding of the company functions.
- Point of Sale
- Inventory Tracker
- Employee Time Tracker
- Tip Calculators
- Linking to the Software for inventory purposes
- actually creating a table layout for the bar areas, to be able to keep open tabs of sit down customers orders.
- Not sure at this time. Maybe find a way to better set it up so our high volume hours arent a problem anymore?
Evaluating Revel Systems and Competitors
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Prior Experience with the Product
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
- Analyst Reports
The owners use Revel for other out of state companies they own, and they had that prior relationship with it.
I would have loved to be a part of that decision making process.
Revel Systems Implementation
- The hard wire issue, needing to hard wire after a month of missed payments and upset customers.
- When the inventory isn't entered correctly, it can cause problems linking as well.
Revel Systems Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
When I had to set up my table layouts for the 2 bar areas that we have in the My process was a 2 days process because of the nature, there was no choice but they walked me through it BEFORE the process started to be sure that it worked with our business hours, and responsibilities. They followed up as well to make sure everything went ok and that the setups were working properly. :-)
Using Revel Systems
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Quick to learn Feel confident using | Cumbersome Lots to learn |
- Actual running of the POS was easy. The button layouts were perfect, alphabetized, and easy to figure out.
- The whole hard-wire payment issue was a very hard thing to get through.
- fixing incorrect ring ins, and customization IN the program.
Yes - The iPad app works great.