POS In the Palm of Your Hand: A Wireless Hand-Held Review

I can recall a time when hand-held ordering technology for a vast majority of restaurants was limited to a pencil and a guest check pad. Operators scoffed at the idea of ringing customer orders on a point-of-sale (POS) system or cash register so the order ticket could be printed rather than handwritten, claiming the added step slowed down service. Of course that was many years ago.

Since then, operators have come to realize the many benefits of POS, such as better financial controls, fewer mistakes in the kitchen and improved customer service. If truth be told, you'd be hard-pressed to find a restaurant doing a million dollars in annual sales that doesn't use a POS or cash register.

In fact, today's restaurant operators have a huge appetite for technology. They are constantly on the lookout for the latest bells and whistles - as long as it helps to build sales or improve profit. Several years ago the wireless hand-held POS was introduced as cutting-edge technology. Some believed that it would soon rival the touchscreen POS workstation as the leading platform for taking guests' orders.

However, several years later, even though wireless technology has advanced considerably, the hand-held POS still hasn't reached the market share many POS developers had hoped.