Using Tableside and Tabletop Technology to Boost Service and Sales

Funny thing about even the best restaurant service -- it can always be better.

Just ask any guest.

Tableside and tabletop technology, such as iPads, tablets, tableside payments and tabletop kiosks that let guests order food and beverages, pay their checks, listen to music, play games and provide feedback, is promising to make restaurant service better.

Tools for leveraging at-the-table mobility to gain efficiency in the hospitality sector have been available for many years, according to Tim Pincelli, global segment leader, restaurants for Oracle Hospitality; however, today's solutions offer what he calls "a new recipe in portability, design, and functionality."

"With modern solutions," Pincelli says, "service staff is empowered to deliver an improved guest experience with a multipurpose tableside and mobile solution that combines a size-friendly tablet with ample screen real estate, full-shift battery life, and full functionality -- as if the staff member was at a fixed workstation."

For many independent operators, the knee-jerk response to the idea of adopting table technology ordering and payment systems into their concept is 'that's fine for the quick-service and casual chains, but not in my place -- we're here to serve the guest.' These restaurant technology developers and consultants, however, believe that tableside and tabletop technology has a place in independent and full-service concepts, and gives wait staff more time to serve and drive sales -- with caveats.

On a single mobile device, Pincelli says, a server can interact with the entire lifecycle of a guest experience "not just by taking a more efficient and accurate order, but also by engaging the guest at the beginning of the experience with a stunning digital presentation of today's food and drink specials, wine lists, specific meals that accommodate food allergies, and nutritional information, as well as taking a credit card payment tableside."

Guests can also experience tableside video presentations, review local attractions and events like movie times and theater productions, enroll in restaurant rewards programs, and experience many other types of engagement, all on a single device.

Shifting the Focus On Serving

These types of tableside engagements make sense, Pincelli says, because of the opportunity to improve the guest's experience while giving the server more time to do what he does best, which is sell. "When a server has the opportunity to focus on serving and not on saving steps, he can positively increase sales," he says.