The devices: Main POS, Sub POS, Waiter, Kitchen display, Order board, Kiosk, Customer display
Every job a FooodPos device can do, what each one shows, which take money, which need a sign-in, how each one reaches the others (Through the internet or On your own network only), and which count as POS terminals of your plan.
On this page
Every device of your restaurant runs the same FooodPos app, on Windows or on Android. What makes one a till and another a kitchen screen is its operation mode: the job you give its POS terminal in the back office, before it is paired. The device takes the job from its pairing code and never asks.
This page shows each job, side by side, and what you need to know to choose.
The jobs, side by side
Preparing
Ready
- Main terminal and Sub terminal: the full POS, the till at the counter. They open tables, take orders and payments, and print receipts. The Main also runs the day end.
- Waiter: a tablet or a phone for taking orders at the table. It sends them to the kitchen; the bill is paid at a Main or Sub.
- Kitchen display: a screen in the kitchen, showing the tickets of its stations. Cooks tap a ticket when it is done.
- Kiosk: a self-order screen for guests. They order on it and pay at the counter, or by card or e-wallet on the kiosk when you allow it.
- Order board: a screen for guests, with their order numbers under Preparing, then Ready.
- Customer display: a second screen on a Main or Sub POS, facing the guest, with the order as it is rung up and the total. It is part of that POS, not a device of its own.
What each one is
| Job | Takes money | Who signs in | Set up on its |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main terminal | Yes | Staff, with a staff code and a PIN or password | Operation tab |
| Sub terminal | Yes | Staff | Operation tab (its Linked main terminal) |
| Waiter | Never | Staff | Operation tab (its Linked main terminal) |
| Kitchen display | Never | Nobody: it opens on the kitchen screen | Operation (Gets its tickets), and Kitchen for the stations it shows |
| Kiosk | Its guests, by card or e-wallet, when you allow it | Nobody: it opens on the guests' screen | Kiosk tab |
| Order board | Never | Nobody: it opens on the board | Order board tab |
| Customer display | — | — | the Main's or Sub's Customer display tab |
- Takes money: a Main or Sub takes payment only when May take payment is ticked on it. A Waiter says This POS does not take payment. The bill is paid at the counter.
- The Main is the outlet's own: every outlet has one, it runs the day end, and it prints the QR orders and the back office's reprints. An outlet may have more than one Main.
- An expeditor (the pass) is a kitchen display at a station set as the pass: it gets a copy of every ticket. See Kitchen Stations: screen, pass and bump slips.
How to give a device its job
- In the back office, open Outlets, Edit beside the outlet, then the POS terminals tab.
- Press + Terminal, or Edit on a POS that is not paired yet.
- On its Operation tab, choose the Platform (Windows or Android) and the Operation mode.
- Save, and pair the device. See Pair a POS terminal.
While a device is paired, its platform and its mode are locked: Unpair this POS to change them. To give a device another job, unpair it, change the mode, and pair it again.
See POS terminals: General and Operation.
How the devices reach each other
Each device sends its work either through the internet, to the cloud, or over your own shop network, to the Main POS. Each job has its own choice:
| Job | The choice | The two settings |
|---|---|---|
| Main, for its Sub and Waiter POS | How sub and waiter POS work with this main | Through the internet / On your own network only |
| Kitchen display | Gets its tickets | Through the internet / From a Main POS on your own network |
| Kiosk | Its orders go to (on its Kiosk tab) | Through the internet / To the Main POS on your own network |
| Order board | Gets its orders (on its Order board tab) | Through the internet / From a Main POS on your own network |
- Through the internet: the device talks to the cloud by itself, and needs its own internet. A Sub or Waiter keeps its own bills and sends them to the cloud.
- On your own network only: everything of the Sub and Waiter POS goes through the Main over your shop's network, at once. They need no internet of their own; only the Main talks to the cloud. They cannot work while they cannot reach the Main, so the Main must stay on, on a network cable and a UPS, with FooodPos open.
A new Main starts on On your own network only. A new kiosk or order board starts on the outlet's Main POS, and a new kitchen display does too when the outlet has one Main.
See Through the internet, or On your own network only.
What your plan counts
Your plan allows a number of POS terminals: the Main POS and its sub stations. These count, when switched on:
- Main terminal, Sub terminal and Waiter;
- Kitchen display (an expeditor too), Order board and Kiosk.
A customer display does not count: it is a screen of a Main or Sub. A POS that is switched off does not count either.
The POS terminals tab shows how many are used, beside + Terminal: POS terminals: 2 of 2 used. A new trial may have 2: the Main and one more. See Your plan and its limits.