Advice on Hardware to use for Aloha Quickservice

[gmpirate]

We are purchasing a pizza place which does not have a POS system. We currently use Aloha Quickservice in all our stores and plan to do the same in this one but we are considering buying our computers through Dell to use with the Elo touchscreens. Does anyone see any problem with this? Are there any compatability issues to be aware of? I don't expect straight answers from our dealer since they would rather sell us their radiant systems.

I like the idea of this because a: it would be much cheaper and b: we could replace parts ourselves when there ae problems for much less money.

 

[markphsd]

Just check out the Aloha Hardware Compatability List, if there is one.

Aloha can have some trouble with XP and certain video drivers. A customer recently switched over from Aloha to my software, this video issue was one reason because it wouldn't accept his video card or it's drivers. Sounds wierd, but it was the case.

http://www.cafecartel.com/products.asp?id=ALL

Mark P.

http://www.cafecartel.com

Providing Low Cost Powerful Point of Sale Solutions.

 

[DTSMAN]

Quote:
"I like the idea of this because a: it would be much cheaper and b: we could replace parts ourselves when there ae problems for much less money."

Not all the time. First, most dealers provide on site service, which reduces downtime. Second, most dealers if they go to a site and have to troubleshoot a hardware problem on hardware they didn't sell you, you will end up with a $200 bill to have someone tell you its hardware they don't service (at least that is what I do).

In a POS situation, the bulk of your upfront money is going toward on site warranty repair with some type of guranteed turn-around, and most important---service.

On my end it is barely feasable for someone to buy their computers somewhere else, because now I can not use my cookie-cutter computer image to load them so I bill the customers by the hour to setup, load, and deliver equipement they bought for a total savings of $100 a computer and when it breaks I tell them to send back where they got it and I charge hourly again to come back out and load the software and re-install it. Obviously, we structure our pricing to discourage this and still make our margains per install.

I have a two store liquor store owner who went the Dell route who tried saving money, both locations had server issues with our retail software which resulted in downtime and cross-shipping headaches with Dell and many networking issues which we made quite a few dollars from.



Bo

Kentucky phone support-
"Mash the Kentrol key and hit scape."

 

[AkamaiAloha]

Gmpirate, we deal with this issue day in and day out, and in my experience, Bo's answer could not have been more accurate.

So what your dealer is telling you may not be smoke and mirrors, but more of a cautious approach to what they believe will work with the software. Whether it was Aloha, or the lack of standardization among hardware vendors, I've seen my share of flakely problems with Aloha and off-the-shelf hardware. It's gotten better, and by no means do you need to buy Radiant-only. But as Bo said, you might save a few bucks here and there, and sometimes you might loss your a$$. It's a role of the dice, like so many things, and could go either way.

There are a number of well-priced internet companies that sell POS hardware. Though I am not an Aloha dealer, I have been servicing Aloha for 5 years. And in the vast majority of cases, after 30 days, the sellers wash their hands of it. You are dealing with the manufacturer then, which can be a real pain, especially if it's something your business is counting on. Again, like Bo said, throw in shipping costs, downtime, etc, and suddenly it doesn't seem so cheap anymore.

The most common area we saw this with, was Aloha file servers. There is considerable labor setting one up, and obviously we try to supply a solid, open architecture computer. However, with the drop in price of PCs thanks to Dell, customers see these $399 PCs and what to know why ours is so much. Because we know people are suspicious and don't expect straight answers (just as you stated), we've tried NOT to make it a policy to say "you can't provide your own computer, we won't do it." But we strongly discourage it. Too many times, I've seen customers provide older or cheaper PCs to be used as file servers. When the computer acts flakely, or for some reason can't be used---they've racked up close to what they would have paid for new PC by way of labor costs, but all they have for their efforts is a unreliable computer. When they realize they've made a horrible mistake, they finally give in and ask for a new one... and in many cases, expect a "break" on the price because they made a poor decision and went against our recommendation. Now we make them sign a waiver, which says we can't are not responsible for the performance. All we can do is warranty the software changes we've made... that they are done correctly, etc, to run Aloha.

Bo also mentioned the learning curve. If the terminal we sold you has a problem, we're familiar with them. Odds are, I can have it fixed or at least diagnosed, in a matter of minutes. Not so with something I am unfamilar with. And the learning curve translates into money out of your pocket.

People see our prices and forget than in most cases, if that item goes down on Friday night within 6months to 1 year from when we sold it to you (depending on the warranty), we'll send someone out to provide a loaner and fix it. That's service... that's what your paying for.

 

[suchasynic]

pos is mission critical -- do you really want to take such a risk just to save a couple $? Bo is correct in his comment about service -- when problems arise, you want your guests to be your focus, not the stupid computer system, no matter what kind it is.

 

[markphsd]

It is true that POS is mission critical.

Hey, try this. Buy a couple of radiant, and buy a couple of dell. Experiment, get it to the point you like the results, and then publish them. Everyone here i'm sure wants to find out what alternate equipment to use.


CDW offers an ELO all in one with a display for something like 2000. I can't imagine that they wouldn't have tested on a Aloha system.

Mark P.

http://www.cafecartel.com

Providing Low Cost Powerful Point of Sale Solutions.

 

[AdamDR]

I completely agree with Bo on this. Unless, that is, you are a computer geek (or have one on the payroll) that knows how to fix computer problems in just a few minutes. If you think about it, every minute that one of your terminals is down it is costing you money. Aloha support guys see the same things all the time and will have you up and running in no time. Anyway, I'm not going to repeat the above statements, but it's prudent to buy through your dealer.

On that note, being a dealer, if you're looking for something cheap and durable, there IS a radiant solution that's pretty new. It's called the 1220 and the cool thing about it is that it's all flash memory, so there is no moving parts in the entire machine. It doesn't make any noise whatsoever, and it has a life expectancy of 10 years. I have tested it, tried to break it, and it's pretty sweet. cost is (depending on configuration) is around 2100 bucks. You have your choices on what kind of mounts, on board thumb scanner, customer display, MSR, and you can even get one with a hard drive if you want to run FOH/BOH configuration.

Sorry for the sales pitch, but I've been testing this machine and I'm pretty impressed.

Adam

 

[erpmining]

I have a follow-up on these lines....

I am a computer geek, as mentioned earlier, and am purchasing a restaurant that has the Aloha system.

I have no idea what version, but it's less than 1 year old.

It uses IBM terminals (4)...the owner say "expandable to 5 units"

They also have a printer in the kitchen.

They guy said he paid $23k for all --- that seems to be in line with what I am hearing here as well.

I saw the file server, and it looks old.

So my question is 2-fold. Is the system really limited to 5 units? Or is this just a 6-port switch they gave him and he thinks he's limited to just 5.

Secondly, I have lots of new XP boxes around -- cuz I am a geek -- and would rather use boxes I trust for mission critical apps. Can't I use one of these for a file server? All it should have is the management software and the database -- it doesn't have a cash drawer or touch-screen....???

What I want to do is setup my XP Server, install the software from scratch, then register each terminal with the server --- is it not that easy?

thanks in advance....

 

[gmpirate]

We have 3 locations using Aloha and use our own file servers that I built. I loaded XP, virus and perifial (sp?) software only. I had my local rep install all the aloha stuff and get it all synced with the front terminals. The Aloha reps will have their own preferences on how they want thing set up and thus things will be difficult when they are needed to troubleshoot your system.

Your file server just needs two ethernet ports (internet & lan) and serial ports for an external modem (external so it can be reset manually and be used as a backup for when your broadband goes down). There is a hardware key as well. I wouldn't worry too much about the speed, ram, etc. since the machines the dealers sell are usually pretty weak but they will have a spec sheet for you anyway.

I don't know what the limit is in regards to the number of terminals supported but it is probably more than any restaurant will ever need. He probably just thinks he is limited because of the switch he uses.

 

[AkamaiAloha]

The number of terminals listed under Maintenance >> Hardware >> Terminals is the number that you are licensed for. No matter how many you're using on the front of house, that's the maximum Aloha will allow you to use under your current license.

I'd say whether or not your XP computers will work as an Aloha file server depends on factors that tough to put your finger on. Sometimes it doesn't play well with certain equipment, particularly the big name brands (HP, Dell, etc). But I have seen it work, and it seems like it's less finicky than what it used to be. The good news is--like Gmpirate said--Aloha doesn't require a whole lot in terms of horsepower RAM, CPU, etc.

 

[awbbar]

One of the problems with buying any computer is that they are loaded with so much software that it cause problems.

Most pos pc's are loaded with bare minimum software.
Which is why most are coming with XPE.
They have more serial(powered?)/usb(powered?)/cashdrawer ports to support devices.

If you insist on using your own pc make sure its loaded
with miniumum software/hardware and latest patches (xp pro).
Expect an hour or two charge to properly configure machine.
Deliver equipment to Dealer to install and test application/equipment in plenty of time before needed.

You could have your dealer quote a bookpc and touch monitor
and put pc under maintenance and buy your own replacement screens. But typically those bookpc'c get shoved in corner
collect lots of dust and overheat.

The Radiant computer looks very well made.
You may also want to get capacitance screens as this
will stop people from using pens etc... and
because of that will last longer.

 

[AdamDR]

If you want to know the exact number of terminals you are licensed for, you will need to contact the dealer that issued the license. They can look it up in the aloha website. I have a client that is licensed for 7 terminals but only has 6 in aloha manager, so it can be a little misleading.

Adam

 

[AkamaiAloha]

Adam, are you sure? I too have a client (a slightly older version of Aloha, mind you) that has 5 terms but only uses four. For years, they only used the four terminals--if you tried to run with only four set up in Aloha Manager, you'd get an error saying "Terminal 5 is not defined" on the FOH, even if everything else was set up properly.

 

[AdamDR]

If it says "Term 5 not defined" it means that the ibercfg.bat on the terminals is set wrong. There is a line in that file that says

SET NUMTERMS=5

So the terminal thinks there should be 5 defined in aloha manager. Change that value to 4, then delete term 5 in aloha manager, and you will be good to go.

Adam