Virtual real estate investing probably makes you think of a number of things. You might immediately leap to real estate investing being real estate portfolios and real estate retirement plans or you may think instead of short sales, bulk reo investing and virtual real estate investing. Likely you also wonder how these things will factor into your life as a real estate investor in the current economy.

There is a lot of information out there on real estate investing. The best way to optimize your real estate investing education is to know the basics ahead of time. Whether your target is short sales, bulk reo sales, virtual real estate or improving real estate investor abilities, you need to know some real estate investing basics. Here are three main real estate investing concepts that many experts do not even know:

1. You always will get a positive result from investing in real estate investing education. Each real estate deal can represent thousands of dollars in potential wealth. Knowing about getting that wealth is the key in the end to your success. Learning about real estate increases your chances of success when you do a real estate deal. Small investments in education yield big results upon implementation.

2. You can succeed in real estate investing in any economy. Many people are under the misconception that success is possible in real estate only when the economy is good. You should remember that a bad economic situation is not usually bad for real estate investors. Likely you will be able to find properties at deep discounts. You could also locate deals that would not exist in a booming economy. Real estate investing may also turn the tide for a poor economy. When the economy is not thriving, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate can all thrive. Knowing how to do these deals can create wealth for you and save others from major financial difficulties.

3. A lot of money is not vital to your success as a real estate investor. You can succeed in real estate investing no matter how much money you have. Many types of deals enable you to use other people’s money to do them. If you are a good investment private lenders may let you use their money. An investor who is a good investment knows as much as they can when it comes to real estate investing. This will help you show private lenders that you are a good investment if they do not know about real estate investing themselves.

Real estate investing is a good way to generate a great deal of wealth. You will have the ability to create income in any economy. By using a base of knowledge of real estate investing, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate you can create success for yourself. Knowing the basics of real estate investing will help you succeed as a real estate investor. Knowing some real estate investing basics (beyond what older gurus like Robert Allen teach) and applying them will help you succeed as a real estate investor.

Great real estate investing resources are available at RealEstate.BryanEllis.com.

The term virtual real estate investing likely brings a number of things to mind. You might immediately leap to real estate investing being real estate portfolios and real estate retirement plans or you may think instead of short sales, bulk reo investing and virtual real estate investing. Likely you also wonder how these things will factor into your life as a real estate investor in the current economy.

You will need to know a lot about real estate investing. Knowing the basics of real estate investing education is a good way to get the most out of every lesson. You will get the most out of anything to do with short sales, bulk reo sales, virtual real estate and just improving real estate investor abilities by knowing some real estate investing basics. You should review these three real estate investing basics to learn things even some experts do not know:

1. You will always end up with a positive yield when you invest in real estate investing education. Every real estate deal has the potential to create thousands of dollars in potential wealth. The knowledge of how to get that wealth is the key to your success. Learning about real estate increases your chances of success when you do a real estate deal. Small investments in education yield big results upon implementation.

2. Any economy allows for success in real estate investing. Often people think that you can only be a success in real estate when the economy is good. In fact a bad economy is not a bad economy for real estate investors. You can often buy properties at deep discounts. You could also locate deals that would not exist in a booming economy. Poor economies can turn based on active real estate investing. When an economy is less than thriving, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate can prosper. You will have the option of saving yourself and possibly others from serious financial difficulties if you know about these types of deals.

3. You do not need lots of your own cash to be a successful real estate investor. You can succeed in the real estate investing arena no matter how much money you are working with. Many types of deals enable you to use other people’s money to do them. If you appear to be a solid investment you may be able to use a private lender’s money. The best way to be a good investment is to know as much as possible about real estate investing. This will help you show private lenders that you are a good investment if they do not know about real estate investing themselves.

A good deal of wealth can be generated with real estate investing. You will be able to create an income no matter what the economy. Using a knowledge base of real estate investing, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate you will be able to make success for yourself. Knowing the basics of real estate investing will help you succeed as a real estate investor. Knowing some real estate investing basics (beyond what older gurus like Robert Allen teach) and applying them will help you succeed as a real estate investor.

Great real estate investing resources are available at RealEstate.BryanEllis.com.

Mind Mapping software has been thought to be instrumental in helping people to organize their thoughts around a variety of topics. One area in which Mind Mapping software is useful is in organizing notes for meeting presentations. Whether it is a business or personal meeting, presenting the notes for the meeting in an organized manner that everyone can understand is paramount. Using a Mind Mapping software tool to help with this organization can make the process much simpler, through the use of its various “mapping” components. Meeting presenters, thus, have the advantage of using Mind Mapping software to create a visually stimulating, intuitive, meeting presentation.

What is Mind Mapping Software?

Mind Mapping software is any software that is used to create diagrams, pictures, and other graphic visuals in order to show the relationship between ideas or other types of information.¹ With Mind Maps, the key concept or main idea of the information being presented is represented by a central image, located in the center of the map. Any themes surrounding the main idea are shown on “branches” that are attached to the central image, with subsequent themes of less importance attached by “twigs”. The resulting diagram is a “map” of the ideas and information shown in a spatial, rather than linear, format. Moreover, along with the ideas shown on the map are images, visual graphics, and colors that the constructor of the “map” associates with each of the themes and ideas. Mapping out information in this manner is widely believed to allow the brain to process the information in manner more consistent with its natural functioning.

Using a Mind Map to Organize Notes for a Meeting

Suppose that your advertising team is having its weekly meeting to discuss advertising projects. The organizer of the meeting has made notes for the meeting so that everyone can follow along as she covers each topic. Using a traditional meeting outline to organize these notes would likely look like this:

Weekly Advertising Meeting

I.Report on the Status of Advertising Accounts Already Underway

A.Movieflix In-Home Rentals Account

B.Teenage Blog Commercial Account

C.On-line Dating Site Account

II.Discussion of Upcoming Advertising Accounts

A.Nationwide Gym Account

B.Local Library Account

III.Suggestions From the Team Regarding Possible Future Accounts

IV.Overview of This Week’s Schedule

A.Team Assignments for New Accounts

B.Finalize Deadlines for New Accounts

V.Questions

Contrast this outline with the attached Mind Map diagram of these same meeting notes. On the Mind Map, the topics to be covered are presented in a spatial, colorful, graphically stimulating manner. In addition, the colors and pictures on the Mind Map relate to the topics and the topic sub-points. The information shown in the outline and on the Mind Map is the same, however, the information on the Mind Map is much easier to process.

Giving the Meeting Presentation Using the Mind Map

The attached Mind Map not only exemplifies the inherent creativity and visual ease that it has over a traditional outline, it also exemplifies a more intuitive form of organizing information. This intuitive form makes it easier to present information, because the information can be quickly processed and recalled. For example, the meeting’s presenter may not immediately recall the topic for point three and, therefore, needs to consult her notes to jog her memory. With the traditional outline shown above, she would have to scan the list of words to attempt to find the point she is supposed to talk about. However, with the Mind Map, the presenter can easily spot the second topic on the map, as well as the associated picture. She can regain her place with just a quick glance at the Map, versus the more tedious search of the outline, facilitating an easier presentation.

1. Farrand, Paul; Hussain, Fearzana and Hennessy, Enid (May 2002). “The efficacy of the ‘mind map’ study technique”. Medical Education 36 (5): 426–431.

Top computerized maintenance management system suppliers update their systems to meet the growing needs of clients.

1. Increased functionality

Larger computerised maintenance systems now provide:

• Work schedules produced systematically
• The ability to schedule maintenance by asset type
• Control of inventory levels and materials over extended periods of time
• Equipment monitoring with alarm generating capability
• Flexible asset register creation with component audit possible
• Project management capabilities
• Shutdown scheduling capabilities
• Instant viewing of key documents etc
• Real-time data dissemination by email, text message and Internet

2. Greater systems integration Maintenance Management is increasingly believed to hold the key to profitability and now features in most enterprise management tools. The Alphabet spaghetti that is CMMS, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and EAM (Enterprise Asset Management) systems, all claim to deliver maintenance management capabilities. Computerised Maintenance Management Systems provide information to meet the specific requirements of a maintenance team. To reap the benefits of efficient maintenance and receive company wide information management, businesses need to link a suitable computerized maintenance system with their ERP or EAM system.

3. Enhanced mobility

Maintenance technicians are stretched to cover wider areas on lower budgets. Recently the meteoric increased availability of wireless communications has enabled CMMS suppliers to support the need for mobile maintenance the CMMS. PDA based maintenance systems allow more flexibility and movement. Mobile technology. The following points are where CMMS benefits are most obvious:

* Monitoring of assets
* Work orders
* Stock schedules
* Alerts advising key personnel of production breakdowns

4. Easy access for all management

As a vital tool in the battle for increased productivity, a CMMS should be fully adopted by all relevent personel. We live in a diverse world where employees come to work with different IT skills and languages.
Therefore the interface to even the most complex system needs to be simple and intuitive, reducing the need for training and supporting the adoption of a CMMS across all levels of personnel. Where manual data entry is required, text editors and pop up calendar scheduling makes text entry straightforward. Functionality on up-to-date systems allows job completions and adjustments to be changed all at once.

Ease of capturing and sharing information is a significant part of a CMMS. As personel leave companies, it is crucial to document proceedures for incoming staff. The effective computerised maintenance management system packages allow users to find and attach multiple documents to both work orders and tasks and associate multiple standard texts with a project. Some systems allow for multiple users to share the same PC, with user configurable desk-tops and reports.

5. Enhanced visibility

Maintnenance managers are able to spot progress of projects, current problems and the position of important assets. Reports allow managers to analyse the value provided by the maintenance department. Shared ownership of data promotes effective improvements across the workplace. The maintenance team carries the burden of improving company efficiency, especially in stringent economic times. The maintenance team holds the key to maximising assets, minimising downtime and controlling costs.

Increased functionality, mobility, systems integration, greater flexiblity and visibilty all provide a clear picture of your assets. CMMS is an important tool to increase maintenance effectiveness through active asset management.

With regards to the majority of industries and markets, brand name is not the most important thing to consider. When it comes to a product like an APC battery, however, brand name actually comes into play beyond mere bragging rights for being able to afford the big name item. Read the article to find out why and how brand name comes into play when purchasing a UPS battery.

For the majority of industries out their, the truth is, the brand name is not that important. The supermarket brand versus the branded named flour - is there any difference - no not really. The same ingrredients are still used, it’s still flour whatever brand you are going with.

So, An APC battery, why does the brand name matter? In general, brand name is more or less a matter of status, so what makes APC batteries different?

Well, there’s a certain degree of craftsmanship that goes into creating an APC battery. Different methods and different parts are used by each company to build their batteries. Some manufacturing companies are also a little bit more strict than others when it comes to standards.

The safety issues, along with is the battery built well and good value for money are issues that you should consider when purchasing your APC battery as you need to remember that they are made up of lead and acids. If your battery springs a leak, it can cause you serious problems, especially if it’s a very cheap non-branded battery.

Secondly, have you ever stopped to consider what makes these companies top of their industry. Generally, they have a reputation for being reliable and for outliving their warranties, and that’s why companies like Yuasa and CSB manage to hold such strong brand recognition in the UPS power supply industry.

Yuasa and CSB may not be the only APC battery manufacturers who can be expected to produce excellent, reliable products, but many retailers actually choose to carry these two brands exclusively for the simple fact that most customers demand Yuasa and CSB, and if you cannot provide them with their favorite brands, then they’re likely to simply start shopping elsewhere.

The best brand in many industries, may not always be the lead brand and vice versa. Apple computers are a good example, in the sense that they are known to be the leaders in the market for creating multimedia for computers. It is therefore typical, that anyone who works in this industry will buy from the go-to brand. However, companies like Alienware, while focusing on gaming computers, have inadvertently created products that rival Macs on every level when it comes to multimedia.

However, APC batteries are something of a niche market. Yuasa and CSB are invarialy, rated for being amongst the most reliable in the industry. It is therefore, not surprising that those people who know exactly what they are looking for will generally buy from one of these companies.

In short: if you’re looking for a reliable replacement APC battery, that will give you uninterrupted power supply and power protection, it may be a good idea to go with Yuasa and CSB. A solid reputation, and for good reason, has been maintained by these two companies in creating reliable batteries.

Background on PCI & Credit Card Security

Restaurant owners and their customers have enjoyed the convenience of accepting and using credit and debit cards for many years. However, given the sky high and rapid increase cost and frequency of credit fraud, well known card brands such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB have taken steps to protect all stakeholders.

It was in 1968 when IBM invented the magnetic stripe on credit cards and became the industry standard. Since the track data is easy to read and duplicate on the mag stripe, the branded cards, the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council built a set of standards for securing cardholder data that begins with the directive: ‘Don’t store track data.’

The Standards of the Payment Card Industry (PCI)

The PCI Security Standards Council has taken a three-pronged approach to protecting consumers, banks and merchants/restaurateurs:

• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) ? covers all entities that store, process, or transmit cardholder data (Merchants, restaurateurs, service providers, processors, etc.)

Deadline for Compliance: January 2007 (deadlines are long passed)

What it Means – Restaurant owners, regardless of their establishments’ size, must complete and submit a PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire to their Acquiring Bank annually.

• Payment Application Data Security Standard or PA-DSS ? embraces all applications used to store, process, or transmit cardholder data as part of authorization or settlement. (Point-of-Sales (POS) application developers)

Deadlines for Compliance:

Oct. 1, 2008 ? Only the software that is compliant with the new payment application security standards must be used by agents, merchants and payment processors.

Oct. 1, 2009 ? Termination of any noncompliant payment applications that merchants might still be using in their environments will be required.

July 1, 2010 ? Mandatory use of only the payment applications that support the new standards.

What this Means – After these deadlines, merchants/restaurateurs that are still using a non-PA DSS-validated application, they automatically fail the PCI assessment and could lose their ability to accept credit cards.

• Pin Entry Devices (PED) Standard – covers all PEDs and is aimed at ensuring that the cardholder’s PIN, and any sensitive information such as resident keys, are protected consistently at a PIN acceptance device.

Deadline for Compliance:

Jan. 1, 2004 ? All newly purchased Point-of-Sale (POS) PIN Entry Devices must have passed testing by a Visa recognized laboratory and been approved by Visa.

July 1, 2010 ? Mandates that each Point of Sale (POS) PEDs must have passed the testing of a PCI recognized laboratory and been approved by the PCI SSC.

What this Means ? All Merchants/restaurant owners gets 2 years to replace their older and/or unapproved PIN Entry Devices.

The Do’s With Payment Card Industry (PCI)

• Have a routine vulnerability scanning of your Point of Sale systems (POS).

• Prepare a security awareness training for your staff.

• Audits for system access.

• Do monitor your system activity logs.

• Access privileges should be removed for separated employees.

• Do install software patches.

• Be responsible when it comes to any threats, have an incident response plan.

PCI Don’ts

• Avoid storing or archiving whole credit card numbers.

• Transmitting credit card data unencrypted should not be practiced.

• With Payment Card Industry, it is not about making you compliant with the standards – it’s all about making you and your customers protected.

How PCI Affects Restaurateurs

Given consumers’ expectation of ubiquitous acceptance of credit and debit cards, restaurateurs’ validation that they are providing protection to their customers’ personal information is helpful for business:

Reputation / Image

In a competitive business – no merchant would want to be coined as the placed where card data was stolen.

Protects Ability to Accept Credit / Debit Card Payments - neglecting the rules and/or a breach can jeopardize a restaurant owner’s ability to accept credit/debit payments. In many cases, credit/debit payments account for 80% to 90% of transactions. Losing your store’s ability to accept credit/debit cards = reduced traffic/customers.

Impact of State Privacy Laws

A failure to meet one’s obligations that discloses personal credit card information in one of the 40+ States governed with privacy laws may give a double impact on a restaurateur. Being off-side with PCI could result in penalties and lawsuit costs. Being off-side with State Privacy Laws is a crime with possibly more serious consequences.

Compliance / Security Strategy

• Make sure you’re using POS systems with validated PA?DSS or PABP

• Make sure you’re using an approved PED

• Have regular security awareness training for your staff - particularly supervisors

• Have background checks on anyone that has administrative access to your system

• Have your staff sign a ‘Confidentiality Agreement’

• Carefully and accurately complete the PCI Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) – if you are not sure – ask

• If gaps in PCI compliance are identified, develop a realistic plan to straighten it out

• Be matured in sustaining compliance

• Access controls

• Always have double factor for system and device management

• Strong passwords and secure password storage

• Monitor system activities for potential attacks and record evidences

• Controlling your wireless access points

• Always maintain a secure configuration

• Section each network

• Have an Incident Response Plan and test it to make sure that it’s always ready when needed

• Testing and auditing the cardholder environment

It can be a daunting task the first go around but when everything else is in place, ongoing PCI compliance is not an expensive undertaking. It is good business practice to protect the sensitive information of your customers.

Any Questions?

For more information and advice on this topic you can quickly contact a Restaurant POS professional serving your area at www.POS-For-Restaurants.com

The author of this article writes for POS-For-Restaurants.com - a VP for Customer Relations with over 20 years experience in the restaurant point of sale industry.

Retail POS System Overview

Since a retail POS system is a vital part of your business, choosing for a POS dealer is a huge decision - bigger in many ways than the actual POS software and hardware you choose. Price is an issue, but in many cases you get what you pay for, so it is worth doing your research before going to a POS dealer. Here are some ways to make sure if your retail POS dealer is dedicated to and capable of supporting your business with any problems that might occur.

POS Support

Customer support is vital for the success of installion of your POS systems. Make sure you know exactly how your POS dealer provide you in terms of response times, product replacements, and telephone support. This is the single most important aspect when deciding to purchase a POS system.

Installing POS

having a quality POS installation can have lasting effects for your business. Qualified installers will not take a standardized approach to installation: first, they’ll analyze your needs, test your existing infrastructure, also includes the power lines, and they make sure you get a system that that perfectly fits your business needs. During the first week or two of using a POS system will determine whether it flies or flops, so a well-tested installation is vital. Ask how often the POS dealer will be on site during and after your launch - only until the system is up and running, or will they come back to check in and answer possible problems that may have arised?

Experience

As with any major business purchase, potential vendors’ experience in the industry is also important. But with POS systems you can go one step further: investigate the experience of the vendor has in installing systems to other establishments with the same business as yours. computer shops differ in needs with grocery stores, and a county kitchenette varies considerably from a fancy hotel restaurant. Good POS salespeople will definitely ask you about your business, what your business needs, then supply you with a solution that is appropriate for you.

Facilities

Taking a trip to POS dealers’ facilities can be a great way to determine how they operate. You will be able to check out their repair shop and get a sense of how busy they are. You may also ask for an organizational chart or a tour of their help desk. According to your support needs, proximity may or may not be very important to you - if you’re planning to rely on telephone support and shipping components back for repair, it will not matter, but if you expect field technicians to come visit you, distance from your POS vendor can be a hassle.

System Demonstrations

To make sure that the system is easy to learn and operate, try it out for yourself. Some POS vendors do on-site demos, which gives you an advantage of seeing how the hardware will fit in your location. While other vendors will invite you to try the system at their place, which gives you that quick tour at their facilities we discussed earlier. Either way, we strongly recommend an in-person demo if you are unfamiliar with a POS system.

References

Another easy way to investigate POS dealers that’s right for your business is by simply asking for references to other customers - youhave to make sure that you ask for references with the same business line as yours. Of course, you will be referred to the vendor’s most satisfied customers, but you will still be able to learn a little more from them. Below are some sample questions to ask the references:

• How did POS systems influenced your business?

• What do you wish you had done differently?

• Have you needed any support or repairs? What kind of respond did you receive from the POS vendor?

• Do you know of other people who uses this system? — By this you can get additional references to call, and some may be more honest about the abilities of the system.

And don’t forget that you can also ask for references that dislikes the dealer. Why? Every business has it’s own weaknesses, which means they also get dissatisfied customers from time to time. By this, you can learn a thing or two from them.

Return policies

You may get a return policy but that depends on the manufacturer, not all of them issues warranties that ables to get repairs or replacements, and even returning an POS equipment is harder. Many POS dealers charge hefty restocking fees (0 and up) for returns on complete systems; some vendors may allow you to exchange POS parts for others, but some do not accept returns at all. Again, make sure you understood their policies before signing a contract with them.

How to find the right retail Point of Sale system provider for your business?

A convenient way to receive multiple quotes for retail point of sale systems via the web at: Retail-POS-Solutions.com

The author of this article is a has over 20 years of experience in retail POS systems serving the needs of businesses just like yours.

The organization of office files is an important part of almost all businesses. Whether a file contains information relevant to current or past business, being able to locate the file is key in allowing the business to function smoothly. One has only to recall a situation in which an important file could not be located in order to understand the truth of this statement. There are many tools that exist to help businesses manage their office files, however, few, if any, contain the advantages inherent in Mind Mapping software tools. This is because a Mind Map allows the user to organize information using pictures, graphics, colors, and other visual stimuli to make conceptualizing and remembering the information more intuitive. Thus, by using a Mind Mapping software tool, businesses can manage their office files more easily, effortlessly, and creatively.

What is Mind Mapping Software?

Mind Mapping software is any software that is used to create diagrams, pictures, and other graphic visuals in order to show the relationship between ideas or other types of information.¹ With Mind Maps, the key concept or main idea of the information being presented is represented by a central image, located in the center of the map. Any themes surrounding the main topic are shown on “branches” that are attached to the central image, with subsequent themes of less importance attached by “child branches” or “twigs”. The resulting diagram is a “map” of the information and ideas shown in a spatial, rather than linear, format. Moreover, along with the ideas shown on the map are images, visual graphics, and colors that the constructor of the “map” associates with each of the themes and ideas. Mapping out information in this manner is widely believed to allow the brain to process the information in way that is more consistent with its natural functioning.

Using a Mind Map to Organize an Office Filing System

Suppose that you want to organize your office files, and aren’t sure where to start. You decide to create a Mind Map using a Mind Mapping software tool to begin the organization process. The first step you would take would be to describe the central topic of your Mind Map, here, the office files, using a graphic that is placed in the center of the map. Next, you might continue by dividing the map into sections, each labeled for a time period, by listing these periods on “branches” attached to the graphic. After dividing the map into sections, you could then list all of your files for each time period on “child branches’ attached to the “branches”. You can continue to catalog the files in this manner until all of the files are shown on the map under their respective “branches”. Once you have completed your map, it might look like the attached Mind Map diagram.

Creating an Organized Filing Space from the Mind Map

The described Mind Map in the attached example has provided you with the first step to an organized office — a catalog of all of the items by time period. You can now take the step of physically arranging the files by date according to your map listing, giving you a completely organized space for your file storage. The Mind Map proved helpful in allowing for the “mapping out” of the files into organized categories. In addition, the Mind Map’s colors and other visual graphics facilitated this process by making it more intuitive and easy to understand. Thus, by using a Mind Mapping software tool, your business can now manage filing systems through creative Mind Map organization and planning.

1. Farrand, Paul; Hussain, Fearzana and Hennessy, Enid (May 2002). “The efficacy of the ‘mind map’ study technique”. Medical Education 36 (5): 426–431.

For the longest time, most people thought of their point of sale system as a fancy cash register. With technology moving forward at such a quick pace, most innovations have become a standard feature within the Point of Sale industry. Below are more tips that can help you out:

1. Scheduling Your Staff. Many restaurant POS packages include some level of “staff scheduling”. You can expect to increase efficiency and dramatically reduce overall labor costs by controlling time-ins and time-outs, utilizing forecasting tools and control staffing levels. Integrated features allow for easy schedule access, shifts and multiple job positions for each employee. You can also tie in any number of security functions to a job position. In addition, some of the packages allow you to post schedules to a website and even automatically email the schedule out to your staff. So focus more on lowering labor cost and increasing employee performance by simply managing efficiently and effectively your time & attendance information.

2. Software Upgrade Assurance (SUA). SUA is a software maintenance program that gives you a distinct advantage when purchasing for a POS system. It enables you to extend the usable life of your restaurant POS system and help stretch your investment. Customers who are on an SUA plan will always have the latest version of their POS software. This basically keeps their POS system new. Every time you receive a software upgrade it is as though they just bought the latest and most current POS system in the market with the newest, most up to date features for your restaurant. The most current feature set ensures that you have the best possible ROI by allowing you to have a full advantage of the power the POS software offers.

One other advantage of having a SUA is that no additional software purchase is required for upgrading or replacing hardware. When hardware needs replacing there is a drastically reduced cost to upgrade.

These programs typically works on a yearly small fee to acquire their benefits. Most customers agree that they receive huge benefits which helps your business reap the full return on your POS investment.

3. Restaurant Tip Handling. Some point of sale software products have tip tracking built into their time in attendance module. Once a staff is set as a tipped employee, your POS system will require a tip declation before clock out. Any server of waiter who ring sales will get their total sales tracked. Tips collected through credit card sales are also tracked and shown on the server closeout report. Before logging out, the servers or waiters will be shown their total sales, collected charge tips collected and then asked to declare their cash tips. This functionality will help you enforce tip regulations and manage the tracking declared tips, charge tips and hours worked for every tipped employee.

4. Customer Loyalty Programs! As the restaurant owner you would like your restaurant POS system to provide accurate customer information on their buying habits, number of visits, frequency of visits, entice repeat visits and purchases through reward programs. You are able to do all this while managing the programs and preventing “sweet hearting” by employees. Prevent retail loss at all cost! Sweet hearting happens when an employee promises a deal to a customer so that he/she can close a sale.

Some of the restaurant POS packages come standard with a frequent diner or customer loyalty package that eases things within your business. They utilize secure methods of tracking your guests and their buying habits. You establish a database of account numbers using your guests information.. This number can be their phone number or any number system you desire. However, the most popular and secure method is by using magnetic cards with your restaurant logo on them. These cards may act as a simple reminder of your restaurant to your customers by having your logo in their wallet or purse. The software will secure the reward programs you set in place and preventing the staff from giving away food. Typically, rewards are given to customers who frequently visits or purchases on the menu you highlighted. Establishing reward programs takes your staff out of the game and puts you in charge.

If you pay enough attention to your business needs, you will find that there are many ways ways you can do to help run your restaurant more efficiently. So stop wasting more time and money relying on POS system that doesn’t work for you, instead focus more on what restaurant technology best suit your needs.

The author is the VP of Customer Relations at POS-for-Restaurants.com. With over 20 years of restaurant experience, POS-for-Restaurants.com helping business owners you their technology to be more efficient and more profitable.

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Bar/Restaurant: Point of Sale software features

Bar and restaurant owners shouldn’t have to spend time worrying about product shrinkage or lack of inventory. Having the right bar POS software can help avoid these worries and concentrate on making the business run smoothly and growing profits.

You can handle almost any customer transaction using bar POS software. Your POS can display information such as the average bar tab in a given night, the number of open tabs, returns or voids, as well as debit card processing details. Using this software allows you to easily manage inventory, determine which top-selling items to keep in stock, and track the performance of new products.

Useful Features of a bar POS software
The liquor inventory control is considered the most important feature in a bar POS software. It can track all the liquor, wine, and beer in stock as well as inform you if a resource is running low. It even tracks how much liquor goes into each drink, so you can have an idea how much money you can earn. It also helps keep staff honest – since they know supplies are closely monitored, they’ll be less likely to give their friends free booze.

This POS software also offers other great features to help you streamline your operations and track overall sales performance (you may want to request for a free POS system quote where a bar Point of Sale professional can tailor the right POS solution to meet your needs):

• Login secured– Requires authorized staff each time the software is used.
• Liquor control devices (LCDs) – This helps reduce shrinkage by tracking the exact amount of alcohol the bartender pour on bottles and glasses.
• Recipe lookup – This provides bartenders a “cheat sheet” reference for looking up on indgredients when preparing mixed drinks.
• Data import and export – Downloads reports into your word processing or spreadsheet software for your personal bookkeeping efforts.
• Email list maintenance – Keeps customers informed on new product releases, and special events at your establishment. It can also build up customer loyalty thus it increase your profit.
• Gift card management – Supports your bar or restaurant with its gift card capabilities that can bring in repeat business.
• Schedule promotions – This bar POS software feature automatically manages price changes on liquor, wine and beer under limited time promotions like “happy hour.”
• Barcode readers – Can quickly serve customers by easily scanning barcodes on beer and malt beverage bottles.
• Employee scheduling – Determines the right number of employees needed for certain shifts based on your sales history.
• Customer management tools – Help manage open bar tabs, check split requests, and gratuities.
• Food service integration – A very useful feature that lets your process food orders on the same screen as drink orders.
• Menu management – Toggles between different liquors so you can accurately track the amount of liquor that goes into certain drinks.

Need more information or an online resource?

Go to POS-For-Restaurants.com

The author of this article is the Vice-President on Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving restaurants of all types throughout the U.S.