More restaurants are continuing to move their point-of-sale to the cloud. Cloud point-of-sale systems allow restaurant owners to access their restaurant data from anywhere, any time, on any device. Still, restaurant owners are continuing to opt for legacy point-of-sale systems. Why? Come reasons include comfort, unwillingness to change, and a desire to not want to learn new technology. A legacy point-of-sale may get your restaurant by, but is it simplifying operations and growing your bottom line? Likely not. Here are 4 reasons restaurants need to replace their legacy point-of-sale systems now with cloud based ones.
Reduced Failure Points
Legacy point-of-sale systems traditionally require a back-office server. These servers are often Windows-based platforms that connect all of your terminals to the internet. The server is, ultimately, the brain of this kind of point-of-sale system. Servers can provide reliable features like ‘redundancy’ or ‘resiliency’ which are great, but these features can now be replaced with LTE wireless Meraki Router backups.
Plus, a server going down can result in a meltdown for your restaurant. Losing a server or connectivity can stranglehold staff and immensely affect floor service. Eliminating a back-office server can reduce what point-of-sale professionals refer to as ‘failure points’. Ridding a restaurant of the server reduces the likelihood of a hardware failure, resulting in a more streamlined POS solution.
Lower Hardware Costs
Speaking of servers, their cost continues to go up. Servers need to be updated periodically. Included in that upgrade are likely upgrades for the most-up-to-date version of Windows, too. Restaurants put off these upgrades due to the price. This results in restaurant owners leaving their POS systems running on old servers filled with dust and waiting to break. Owners that set themselves up for failure by not upgrading their servers will have to pay the price at the worst time possible.
Cloud POS systems like SpotOn do not require a back office server. Everything is managed in the cloud thanks to an easy to use online dashboard. Restaurant owners can have peace of mind that they will no longer require a server upgrade. Eliminating the server not only reduces failure possibility, but also pricey legacy purchase.
PCI & EMV Compliance
Restaurants should also consider upgrading from a legacy to cloud POS system due to compliance. Specifically, PCI & EMV compliance.
PCI compliance comprises of 12 steps to protect payments users for credit cards and online transactions. These rules are important to ensure a cardholders payment method will not be compromised. Failing to follow these steps can put your customers at risk to fraud, and potentially place your business into legal problems.
Legacy point-of-sale systems that are on version Windows 8 or older are PCI compliant. Swiping a credit card through a terminal that is on Windows 7 or, yikes, worse, Windows XP, is bound to violate PCI compliance. That’s a big no-no for credit card companies as these earlier software versions no longer receive security updates.
Speaking of swiping, restaurants should be swiping their cards less and less. Why? EMV compliance is what pushed chip cards into the mainstream. Dipping a credit card ensures a safe tokenized payments process that provides further safety for cards users. Continuing to swipe your customers cards means that you are like not using chip card dipping technology. Not using EMV payment methods can leave you 99.999% liable for charge backs if a card user disputes a payment.
SpotOn offers modern payment methods that gives users PCI & EMV compliance. Software upgrades that follow consumer protection guidelines are constantly issue and always included in our monthly subscription plan. Tap, dip, and scan to accept payments without a hitch. Furthermore, SpotOn can take the most secure payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, too!
New Technology = Happier Users
Finally, one of the most important reasons to transition from a legacy POS system: new technology. Legacy point-of-sale developers are no longer developing their products. Prominent companies (won’t name any names, but you know who they are) have stopped funding vital research and development into their software. This leaves legacy POS users technology, quite literally, in the past.
Restaurant owners need to look ahead at modern technology that helps improve their business and guests’ experience. Handhelds are a great way to speed up service, improve table turnover, improve order accuracy, and decrease food costs. Integrated, easy to manage online ordering can open new revenue channels and decrease reliance on 3rd party delivery services. QR code payments can make checkout times faster and easier for customers. Legacy point-of-sale users are lagging behind cloud ones when it comes to new tech to serve more guests.
SpotOn POS gives users the chance to utilize new technology that is constantly being developed. Our software and hardware features are constantly being improved and work on. Need to switch out of your legacy point-of-sale system? Contact us to get your free SpotOn consultation. Switching has never been so easy.