Many Wireless POS solutions are now available for fully automating every operational aspect of your restaurant, and various management functions thereof.

You will not only gain better employee productivity by integrating Wireless Point of Service solutions in your restaurant, you will also better serve your customers, bring down your operating costs, maintain optimal inventory levels, -while lowering your credit card processing costs.

Most POS systems come with a custom designed Touchscreen interface, a POS Software package, Receipt Printers, Touchscreen Monitors, and Cash Drawers.

Expect your Restaurant POS system to have features such as Touchscreen Enabled User Interface, Multi-Language Support, Fully Integrated BackOffice Operations, Extensive Reporting, Detailed Inventory Management Support, Ability to generate various types (recurring, inventory driven, occasional, etc.) of Purchase Orders, Vendor Management, Employee Payroll, Reservations, and Table Management.

Most Wireless POS for Restaurants are designed to help you run your restaurant more efficiently, and to provide you business intelligence and trend-analysis on your sales, inventory levels, operational costs, and profitability. Considering that most restaurants operate on a thin margin, every dollar saved in your operational cost matters. A Wireless point of sale solution helps you operate your restaurants efficiently -thereby maximizing your profit while improving overall customer satisfaction.

Expect your Wireless system to have:

• Intuitive User Interface: A POS software that has awkward user interface leads to operational chaos. Have your employees test drive a Wireless POS before your deploy it in your restaurant.
  
• Fully Configurable Look and Feel: There is nothing worse than asking your employees to learn to work around flaws in your new system. As it is, most people resist change; so procuring a system that is not a perfect match to various aspects of your operation is going to make "employee training" a real challenge. Depending on whether you are running a small single location restaurant or a chain of restaurants; or have a fine dining, cafeteria, deli, delivery, fast food, ice cream shop, pizza parlor, sports bar or a unique specialty food service establishment; you are going to need a POS system that has been fully customized to your operation. Have your POS vendor custom configure a total restaurant management software solution that is specific for your restaurant.
  
• Hooks for Integration with Your Other Business Applications: Good POS solutions provide a way to export/import data for use in other/standard business applications such as Accounting Software, Inventory Management, employee Payroll and Banking, etc.
  
• Modular POS Systems: As your business grows, so should your Wireless Restaurant POS System. Most basic/core Restaurant POS packages include modular components such as customer charge account tracking, frequent diner programs, gift certificate tracking, inventory management, and vendor management modules. Ask your vendor for any custom modules they may have for easy data exchange between POS system and your Accountings and Payroll software, etc.
  
• Full Featured Product Evaluation/Demo Version: Have your employees test drive several Restaurant POS Systems off-line first, and then use the final one or two Restaurant POS applications in real operating environment for a while. Doing so not only helps you select the most feature-rich and affordable POS package, it also allows you to secure "employee buy-in" from the early on -thereby lowering your training costs, and increasing the chances that they will actually use your new system.
  
• Support for Importing Your Current/Historical Data: Assuming that your current system allows you to export your data in one of the standard (ASCII, CSV, etc.) formats, expect your new POS System vendor to help you seed your new Restaurant POS by downloading/importing data from your current system. Doing so will not only help you lower your overall cost of switching over to a new system, it will save you time, and your day-to-day POS system users will hit the ground running.
  
• Multilingual & Internationalized Interface: Expect your Restaurant POS application interface to natively support multi-lingual internationalization.
  
• Support For Strong Data Encryption: Every wireless accessory (wireless networked PCs, Wireless Handheld, Wireless Order/Receipt Printers, etc.) supplied by your Wireless Restaurant POS package must support strong data encryption keys. If "Wireless Networking" kit for your QSR POS package merely consists of a Wireless Network Hub, an Ethernet Cable, and a few low-end Wireless Networking (WiFi)Cards, you may not want settle for that. Insist for high-end wifi gear that allows strong encryption, and supports detection/blocking of rogue/unauthorized devices (Rogue APs, for example) that may be used to breach your wireless network security. Using insecure wireless communication channels can expose your customers' credit card numbers (and possibly all of your POS data) to anyone that may be listening in --something that may make you potentially liable for not using secure channels to transmit your customers' sensitive (identity, credit-card numbers, etc.) data.

Wireless accessories allow you to take your POS computer interface close to where the action is -customer tables, kitchen, and your delivery and service desks. Have your waiting staff enter order on an wifi-enabled device and relay it directly to the kitchen; and have kitchen alert the waiter (using wireless) as soon as food is ready to be served. Similarly, why not have your waiting staff print-out/process customer checks at the table: swipe the credit cards on the spot and print customer receipts -all of that without having to run back and forth between client tables and the customer service desk?

A good Wireless Restaurant POS package will not only help you streamline your entire operation, it will save you money (in terms of reduced credit card processing fees, improved employee productivity, etc.) and allow you to better serve your customers.