New Features in Aloha Version 6.2

Highlights

Splitting Checks in QuickService
Providing separate checks is a necessity in the hospitality industry and conveniently heightens the experience of the guest. No longer must the party manually divide their check between themselves or waste precious time waiting for the employee to separate the check. As opposed to a ‘sit down’ table service environment, a quick service environment is dominated by counter service and cafeteria lines. Quick service restaurants commonly provide separate checks as the guests in the party order; however, your operation might be different.

For parties that require separate checks, you can configure the system to allow each guest to order and pay before proceeding to the next guest. After all guests place their order, you can send the entire order to the
kitchen so the meals of all guests in the party arrive together. Additionally, you can configure the system to allow you to split the check with a single button after all guests order. Each method is independent of each other, but you can implement both and use either one, as necessary.

The split checks feature is very flexible in its design, and by combining this feature with existing functionality, such as Name Order and Sub-Orders, you can effectively configure the system to accommodate many different quick service environments. For example, you can use the Name Order functionality to associate the name of the party with every check in an order, allowing the expediter to quickly determine if an order is part of a large party. You can also take advantage of the Sub-Orders functionality, which allows you to associate the name of each guest with their order, thus providing your guests with a more personalized experience. Sub-orders also allow you to split a single check into multiple orders, by guest name. This is
very beneficial in a phone-in environment. Using sub-orders with split checks does not change the tendering capabilities of the system; you still tender at the check level, and cannot tender individual sub-orders on the same check.

Configurable Modifier Codes
Modifier codes allow you to communicate more information about a modifier to the kitchen staff, such as the preparation method, omissions, substitutions, and additions. When needed, you first select a modifier code, then the modifier relating to the code. The modifier code precedes the modifier on the screen and appears on the guest check, chit, and video screen.
The Aloha system supports a standard set of modifier codes that apply to all modifier groups. The Aloha TableService product supports No, Side, and Extra codes, while the Aloha QuickService product supports No, Side, Extra, Light, Heavy, Only, Half, Quarter, and Add. You can also add the ‘NoModCodes’ variable in Aloha.ini to prevent modifier codes from appearing.

Alphanumeric Table Names
You can name tables in the Aloha system using only numbers, such as ‘11,’ and ‘50.’ With the implementation of this feature, you can now include alphanumeric characters when naming tables, such as ‘P10’ to represent table 10 in the patio, or ‘Bar6’ to represent table 6 in the bar area. Also with this feature, you can now select a table from the FOH using a lookup list. When you begin entering the name for the table, the system filters the selection box according to the character you enter for the lookup.

Removing Modifiers from Ordered and Unordered Items
Prior to this enhancement, if you wanted to change modifiers for a menu item, you had to delete the menu item and enter the item with its associated modifiers again. You can now remove a required modifier from the menu item and the system will automatically display the associated modifier group from which you can choose a replacement modifier. The system also prevents you from adding or removing modifiers if it no longer meets the minimum and maximum requirements. No configuration is necessary for this enhancement.

Configuring the Dismissal of the Change Due Message
When you fully tender a check in Aloha QuickService, the Change Due message appears until you touch the screen to dismiss the message. You can now remove the Change Due message when you close the cash drawer. Additionally, you can configure a timeout value to remove the message in the event you do not touch the screen or close the cash drawer. Each of these enhancements allows you to have more control over how to dismiss the Change Due message and increase your speed of service.

Including Change Due Line on Reprints
In the Aloha QuickService product, when you recall a check in the FOH, or reprint a check from the FOH or BOH, the change due line that prints on the original guest check is omitted from the reprinted version. This gives the impression that the recalled or reprinted check is incomplete or not closed. When you install v6.2, the recalled or reprinted check displays the same information as when you first printed the check. The reprinted check still contains the word “Reprint” to denote this is not the original version.

To reprint a guest check, you must configure your back office security level with the ability to use the Reprint function and have a sufficient access level with ‘Reprint Check’ selected. To recall an order from the FOH, you must place a button that uses the ‘Recall’ function.

Rearranging Functions in Script Buttons
The script button, within Panel Editor, enables you to combine multiple functions into one button and be creative in how you perform certain functions on a FOH terminal. When you create a Script button, you first determine the order in which you want functions to operate, then add each function to the Script dialog box, in that order. When you touch a script button on the FOH terminal, the functions execute in that same order.

When you create a script button, until now you could not rearrange the order of the functions found within the script. You had to recreate the script button to rearrange the order of the functions. When you install v6.2, the Edit Script dialog box provides arrows that allow you to rearrange the order of the functions in the script.

Setting Item Color by Category on Video Screens
You can specify the color for the text and background for all items and modifiers when displayed on a video display screen. Now you can set these colors on a category of items, via events. This enhances your video operation by bringing attention to special items that could have long preparation times or separating groups of items.

Removing ‘Cashier Auto Accepts Checks’ Option
The ‘Cashier Auto Accepts Checks’ option in Maintenance > Store Settings > Order Entry group > Transfers tab in the TableService product was originally implemented to send all checks to the cashier without prompting the cashier for acceptance for each transaction. This option has proven to be not needed and replaced with other features within the Aloha system. When you install v6.2, the ‘Cashier Auto Accepts Checks’ option is no longer available.

Fast Transfers of Tables and Tabs
When transferring a table or tab, the sender must designate the employee to receive the transfer. The receiving employee must then manually accept the transfer when they log in. During this process, the transfer passes through additional screens and prompts for completion. This can have a negative impact on speed of service. You can now transfer a table or tab to an existing table without the need to specify the receiving employee to accept the transfer.

Auto-Receiving of Transferred Tables and Tabs
When you accept a transfer of a table or tab, the receiving employee must manually accept the transfer, which requires the employee to pass through an additional screen. To expedite this transfer process, you can now configure the system to automatically accept the table or tab, by job code, without the need for the receiving employee to manually accept the transfer.

Transferring Ownership in Team Get Check Environments
In a Team Service environment, also referred to as a Team Get Check environment, you can allow employees to ‘get’ a check from another employee, add items, and automatically return the check to the originator. All employees assigned to a job code using ‘Team Get Check,’ may use the feature among themselves. For example, if two bartenders are working and a customer asks for another drink, the nearest bartender can ‘get’ the check and add to it, regardless of who originated the check. You can now enable the employee ‘getting’ the check to assume ownership of the check. The team employee must perform an action on the
check to receive ownership.

Printing Footers on Credit Card Vouchers
When using Aloha EDC, and applying a credit card payment, it is customary to configure and print a voucher for the guest to sign. You can print multiple copies for the guest and the store to retain for bookkeeping. In some International countries, you are required to include a legal declaration on credit card vouchers stating that the guest is responsible for paying their debt. Now you can include a customized footer to the credit card voucher for this requirement. To configure footers to print on credit card vouchers, you must create the text for the footer using guest check messages, then attach the message in the Credit Card group.

Printing Refund Slips
In the hospitality industry, a refund is when the guest receives their money back for a transaction that has been closed. The refund can occur for many reasons, such as an overcharge, poor service, or poor food quality. To properly track and manage refund transactions, you can now configure the system to print up to 10 copies of a refund slip when you apply a refund. You can also configure the body text of the refund slip to include signature lines. This is useful in corporate environments where corporate requires manager and guest signatures for auditing purposes.

Enhancing Quick Combo Functionality
Within the Aloha system, quick combos, also known as value meals, combos meals, happy meals, full meal deals, and others, represent a group of menu items offered together at a lower price than they would cost individually. Quick combos are a common merchandising tactic to facilitate bundling, upselling, and price discrimination. They serve as a tool to offer the guest an assembled and complete meal at a defined lower price, ensure customer loyalty and return visits, and increase profits through innovative methods of adding extra items or larger portions to the combo. On average, quick combo meals comprise of up to 60% of sales in a quick service restaurant.

Quick service restaurants are an extremely fast-paced environment. The cashier enters the order into the POS system as the guest is talking, which can lead to order changes, additions, and deletions up until the guest finishes their order. With the release of Aloha QuickService v6.2, you can now further support conversational ordering in a quick service environment by implementing the following features that increase speed of service, add needed functionality to the quick combo promotion, and customize the existing system-generated quick combo panels to maintain a consistent ‘look and feel’ of your FOH order entry screen.

Quick Combo Toggling
Quick combos are the backbone of complex quick service environments and you must have the ability to quickly construct quick combos with the fewest button touches possible. Most quick combos include a main entree, such as a burger or sandwich, a side dish, and a drink. The main entree is typically the primary item that motivates the guest in deciding whether to order the quick combo promotion at a reduced price or as a single item. Employees are also trained to suggestive sell a packaged meal, built off the main entree, to increase sales and provide the best experience for the guest. For this reason, the system has been enhanced with the ability to quickly build a quick combo based on the primary item of the promotion, and if the guest changes their mind, the system can ‘break’ the quick combo and return to the primary item. Using this method, employees can easily support the flow of conversational ordering in a quick service environment. With this enhancement, quick combo toggling allows you to:
» Set up a button that can convert a single item, such as a sandwich or burger, into a quick
   combo.
» Set up another button that can reverse a quick combo back to the primary item.
» Set up a button that can toggle between the primary item and a quick combo.

Activating Performance Measures
Performance measures gauge profiles for sales targets and comparisons to track employee performances against the objectives for each performance measure. Some sites use an extensive number of performance measures and want the ability to configure as many as possible, but only activate them as necessary. This reduces the number of measures that appear on the FOH screens, checkouts, and the BOH Performance Measures report.

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