Restaurant Pager Systems

Having decided (or still deliberating) to invest in a paging system for your restaurant, bar or general service operation, you’ll no doubt want to delve a little deeper into what’s on the market and investigate what type or brand of pager will suit your specific operation.

As I’ve covered in a previous post, there are a multitude of pager systems on the market, designed to cover all types of operations, from small bistro/pubs, to large-scale multi-floor restaurants.

Just like any investment, it’s important that you don’t rush in and buy the first pager system that you come across. The most expensive unit isn’t necessarily the best, and could be overkill.

Likewise, cheaper restaurant pagers may seem to have all the bells and whistles of their pricier counterparts, but do they live up to expectations in the long run?

Some of the more common brands in restaurant paging:

CommTech Wireless has been around since the early 1990′s, and have been supplying wireless paging solutions to a wide range of industries, not just hospitality.

POSNation supply a wide range of point of sale (POS) hardware, including Server and Customer pagers.

LRS (Long Range Systems), another manufacturer that doesn’t just specialise in restaurant and food service pagers.

PCS (or Pager Call Systems), a UK-based company that distributes the HME Wireless products.

HME Wireless, one of the largest in the industry.

JTECH, acknowledged as the first company to develop specialized wireless solutions designed for restaurants.

Wait List Manager, developed and sold by Atlanta company Queuent.

Microframe, who make a variety of units, including the MultiPage.

So those are some of the most common brands in the restaurant communications marketplace. There are many more on the market, but I would consider the above most of the big players.

Restaurant Pager Features

Not all restaurant paging systems are equal. What is important is to determine what is the requuirements for your business, and then make your selection from there. With this is mind, there are some important aspects to consider when choosing a restaurant page.

Without going into specifics at this stage, these are some considerations I would recommend.

Range:  This will be dependent of the scale of your operation, and will need to take into account infrastructure that may be an obstacle to transmission.

Technical Support: What sort of ongoing technical support will be provided? Any initial training? 24/7 helpdesk?

Warranty/Guarantee: What is and isn’t covered if something breaks down or malfunctions?

Pager Battery Life: How long does it take to charge a pager? How long does the pager battery last between charges? Is there a back-up system for the main unit?

Anti-Theft: Are there any mechanisms built in that thwart theft of the pagers?

So, with these considerations in mind, you should feel more confident in making an educated purchase decision.

Shortly we’ll look more closely at the specifics of restaurant pager systems.

mike | restaurant communications, restaurant pager systems | 05 12th, 2009 | 16 Comments »

In any service industry, and the restaurant trade is no exception, our livelihood depends on being able to deliver a quality product in a timely manner.

That’s why I’m so passionate about the use of paging systems in restaurants.

In fact, it’s not just restaurants that can use them. If you’re involved in any sort of food or beverage operation, then I’m sure you can see the benefits that a paging system would bring to your business, and your bottom line.

Anyway, what I’m intending to briefly cover here is what sort of benefits restaurant paging would bring to your business.

To simplify it, increased staff productivity and efficiency leads to happy and content customers.

Wait staff that find their workload easier and more efficient to carry out are happier. And they pass that on to your customers. Again, it’s a win-win.

And as we know happy, content customers return. And they tell their friends. And then we have a restaurant that is humming.

However, upset, discontent and grumpy customers are likely to never return. And they won’t just tell their friends about the bad service they had at your establishment, they’ll tell their hairdresser, doctor and even the mother-in-law they despise so much.

So it’s important we can recognise the things we can put in place as managers/owners to eliminate those bad customer service experiences.

And where do most of those bad experiences come from? Guests waiting too long for meals or too long to be seated.

So the biggest improvement you can make to your restaurant, outside of the kitchen (and I’m assuming you have top-gun chefs – if not, get in that Gordon Ramsey guy!), is getting your wait-staff to work smarter.

So a restaurant paging system could be the right step for you?

But what to look for?

Obviously, budget is a huge consideration, but you also need to consider the scope of your restaurant operation and exactly how you want your staff to utilize a new tool.

I.e. how many staff do you have? If you only run a restaurant with a dozen or so staff, there is no point buying a restaurant pager system that’s designed to handle 32 portable pagers.

How do you want the pager to communicate with staff? Is a simple vibrate enough, or do you want something that delivers a message as well, i.e. Table 12 mains ready.

Do you want managerial supervision of the pagers. For example, some systems have a Manager’s Pager that receives alerts that can be custom-set for all sorts of reasons, i.e. wait-staff pager not answered after a set period.

Just like any business expense, there are many tangibles to consider. First and foremost though, should be the improvement of service to your customers.

mike | restaurant pager systems | 04 25th, 2009 | No Comments »

So how does a restaurant paging system work?

Well, first of all, there are a number of different pagers that you can implement in your restaurant operation. I’ll cover the two most common I’ve encountered in food and beverage service.

The first and most basic of these that I will mention here is what is typically called a Waiter Page or Waiter Call system. This is the system that you would use for communication between staff in your restaurant or food/beverage service operation.

The main part of this setup is a desktop transmitter that is normally stored at your  kitchen. Most of these are ruggedly built, so they can be stored near high temperature areas and are also water resistant.

The transmitter often incorporates a recharging cradle for the portable pagers as well. The other element to this is the portable pager that the wait staff will discreteley carry during his or her shift.

Basically, once a meal is ready to be served, a page is sent from the transmitter by the kitchen brigade to the wait staff looking after the relevant table. The pager will silently vibrate, alerting the staff member that one of their tables is ready to be served.

Another increasingly common use of paging systems in restaurants is the Restaurant Coaster Pager.

This pager comes into use when all tables are full in your restaurant, so waiting guests are given a pager (many look similar to regular bar coasters, but a bit bulkier, hence the coaster pager name). They take this with them and head to the bar and enjoy a leisurely drink whilst waiting for their table to be ready. When the table is free, frontdesk simply pushes a button on the master transmitter. The “coaster” will beep, vibrate or flash (or all), alerting the customer that their table is ready.

Apart from the coaster design, I’ve seen some  units designed to allow a small printed advert to be inserted in a perspex holder. This is an ideal way to advise specials of the day or promote a new wine!

Many pager systems also allow a “manager’s pager”. This can be configured so that a manager or maitre’d can be informed when meals are being sent out and tables are being seated without needing to be anywhere in the vicinity.

Most restaurant pager systems in todays market work on a UHF or RF frequency, and have an extensive range that will penetrate many walls.

Depending on your budget, they can send anything from a simple alert or a detailed message to the receiver.

mike | advice, restaurant pager systems | 04 25th, 2009 | No Comments »