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Author Topic: Recommendations for POS (point of sale) systems
Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 06-04-2008 11:54 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We're currently using RTS at our drive-in and don't like it at all. It's fine for the box office, but I'm not happy with the reporting and I think the concession site is overly complicated.

I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with other systems which they would recommend - preferably something that's price competitive with RTS.

For what it's worth, we're using Venue at our cinema and it's generally a very good system. However, we can't justify the price for a seasonal drive-in.

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Robert LaValley
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 104
From: Tampa, FL
Registered: May 2007


 - posted 06-05-2008 09:18 AM      Profile for Robert LaValley   Email Robert LaValley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I used venue (retriever software) at my one screen and your right the price is alittle high for light use but I do have to say out of the cheaper POS systems I liked that one the best. As for expensive ones you can't beat radiant software but I guess in the end you get what you pay for.

My company used to run Splice software, and it wasnt too bad although I dont know the price of it. They switched to Titan after the company was sold and I dont recommend that one at all. Too too many bugs.

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Sean McKinnon
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1712
From: Peabody Massachusetts
Registered: Sep 2000


 - posted 06-05-2008 11:32 AM      Profile for Sean McKinnon   Author's Homepage   Email Sean McKinnon   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I am really suprised that you don't like RTS. I have used RTS and absolutely love it, as does everyone else I have ever heard of who used it. If you don't like the reports you should contact Greg at RTS they will custom program any reports you want, the way you want them. Do you use the Touch Screens in your concession stand? I think that makes a big difference.

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David Zylstra
Master Film Handler

Posts: 432
From: Novi, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2007


 - posted 06-05-2008 12:04 PM      Profile for David Zylstra   Email David Zylstra   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have experience with Radiant, Vista Entertainment Solutions (the POS company, not the Microsoft product) and a little with RTS.

If you can afford it Radiant and Vista are excellent systems - over the 2 years I've dealt with Vista there have been minimal issues and none have been sales stoppers. Radiant is also excellent, my experience is only with their version as of 2005 and there were rarely any sale stopping issues.

Vista has a full suite of products - POS, sign software to use PCs to drive box office signage, a canned website for selling tickets, ticket sales by phone, self service software, mobile POS on PDAs, etc . . . . . . as far as I know the only components that Vista has that Radiant does not are video signage, canned website and mobile POS.

The brief time I spent with RTS I found it to be a solid, economical POS system - very good for the small exhibitor; I found a security issue that precludes me from using it (some see it as a "feature" and not a security issue), not to mention the lack of the ancilliary modules like web, IVR, etc.

I've heard a lot of companies are leaving Splyce for Radiant or Vista . . . . . . and that Titan has some bugs that they definitely need to work on (and are).

If you want RTS pricing you may be stuck with RTS - but try calling Radiant to see if they will work with you on price . . . . . . Vista may also work with you since they structure pricing on a per screen basis.

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Sean McKinnon
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From: Peabody Massachusetts
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 - posted 06-05-2008 12:28 PM      Profile for Sean McKinnon   Author's Homepage   Email Sean McKinnon   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I used Radiant Theatre Management System when I was with Loews and while it is a pretty stable system it is VERY VERY expensive. It is also not without it's problems. The Radiant systen is built on top of visual fox pro databases which can become corrupted sometimes also, if you ever lose your managers station no one will be able to log in to any other terminals or record any sales into the databases. RTS does not have those issues.

I always thought a system where you could use a handheld PDA type device with a built in barcode reader would be awesome for a theatre. You give you supervisors these devices and when they make transfers (stocking stands etc...) they can scan the items in and enter the amount then enter the transfer and have it transmitted via WIFI to the back office. Also for counts just scan the item and enter the amount, same for spoilage.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

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From: Lakeport, CA USA
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 - posted 06-05-2008 02:32 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Sean McKinnon
I am really suprised that you don't like RTS. I have used RTS and absolutely love it, as does everyone else I have ever heard of who used it.
Perhaps I'm expecting too much from RTS, but I find it to be overly complicated in many areas and too simplistic in others.

For example. If we want to maintain proper security and not allow cashiers to open the cash drawer, it takes something like 9 steps for a manager to open the drawer.

While creating a new concession item is relatively simple, I've found all of the various options related to stock rooms, inventory, and what not to be overly complicated.

On the other hand, I can not find a report which even shows void totals for concessions let alone the amounts for each register. I did find an option which allows you to export void information, but there doesn't seem to be a distinction between cleared items and voids of previously tendered items/sales.

Perhaps part of my dissatisfaction comes from the fact that we have RTS in place at a seasonal drive-in so I'm not spending nearly as much time using it as the POS system at our indoor cinema. But that also indicates to me that RTS is not a very intuitive system.

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David Zylstra
Master Film Handler

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From: Novi, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2007


 - posted 06-05-2008 02:47 PM      Profile for David Zylstra   Email David Zylstra   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Vista has modules for PDAs - wireless concession/ticket sales, wireless barcode scanning for print at home ticketing (or tracking entry/exiting of all tickets) and stock entering.

Last I knew Radiant was moving some (or all) components of their database to SQL (Vista already is 100% SQL) - they also may have revisited their pricing due to losing Regal and AMC (or at least I heard AMC is moving to a different POS)

The biggest plus of RTS is you don't need a robust server - any old PC will do and you can run it on a selling station as well . . . . . come to think about it you can easily do the same with Vista - i.e. run a selling station from the main server, but you are still locked into buying Windows server software like with Radiant.

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Sean McKinnon
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From: Peabody Massachusetts
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 - posted 06-05-2008 04:17 PM      Profile for Sean McKinnon   Author's Homepage   Email Sean McKinnon   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Justin Hamaker
it takes something like 9 steps for a manager to open the drawer.
Your cash drawers won't open with a little key?

quote: Justin Hamaker
On the other hand, I can not find a report which even shows void totals for concessions let alone the amounts for each register.
To be honest it's been almost fifteen years now since I actually used RTS on a daily basis but I want to say that when you go to

Action>Station>Close Station it should print out a report with that information? The guys that run RTS (Greg Borr (sp?) participates here on film-tech) are very willing to write custom patches to give you practically anything you want. If there is a specific report you would like I am sure they will program it for you.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

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From: Forsyth, Montana
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 - posted 06-05-2008 05:23 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We have been using RTS for 4 or 5 years and like it alot. I agree that it's pretty complicated in some ways and not too user-friendly, and their documentation (online help) is poorly done. But it's robust and gives us everything we need.

We use the keyboard interface for the boxoffice/main office, and a touch screen for the concession. This works well for us. My only gripe about the keyboard interface is the screen is very blank and ugly since we only have the one screen...I wish they would add a way to put a graphic in the blank area.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

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From: Lakeport, CA USA
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 - posted 06-05-2008 06:45 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Sean
I do have an email out to RTS support about the reporting issues. Hopefully they are as responsive as you say.

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002


 - posted 06-05-2008 07:17 PM      Profile for Jack Ondracek   Author's Homepage   Email Jack Ondracek   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Justin:

The problem with POS systems for drive-ins is that there aren't enough of us to really be worthwhile to them.

To their credit, RTS stepped up to the plate. I don't know of any other company that has included features that are relatively exclusive to our needs.

The single ticket concept was enough to convince me. They put that in the system within a month of my asking them. The car (transaction) count, instead of counting people on the front screen was also a biggie for us. Before that, it was hard to keep track of how many spaces we had left in our fields.

Frankly, I don't use the inventory count-in process. We build too many food products for it to be very helpful. We have several vendors, including picking up some supplies ourselves. For us, itemizing in the system would be too cumbersome, and once you get behind, it can get away from you fast. On the other hand, it does do a good job of tracking our products for statistical purposes. It should report voids and "no-sale" cash drawer opens for you. The system logs most every keypress from all stations.

At one time, RTS was considering dropping the back kitchen "pickup" window, which we use heavily here. Since then, enough theatres have made use of it that this is no longer a problem. They've also made several modifications to that feature, based on our request, so it's reasonable to assume they've done the same for others.

One thing I've notice though, is that we all seem to have our own personal list of "desireables", when it comes to the POS equipment. RTS is at least as responsive as any company I do business with. However, one has to realize that they can't be expected to meet everyone's individual needs. There are some detail items I've suggested over the years that haven't made muster over there. I guess those things were more important to me than anyone else. Given what the system does bring to the table though, I can live with that.

I'd try to make this work. As far as I know, RTS is the only system that comes close to working for a drive-in... and the price is right, too.

RTS has a discussion board, for chatting about their software and feature sets. I'd bet that there are RTS users here who would be willing to help out over the phone or email, including me.

Jack

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Brad Allen
Jedi Master Film Handler

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From: Evansville, IN, USA
Registered: May 2000


 - posted 06-05-2008 11:23 PM      Profile for Brad Allen   Email Brad Allen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
FYI: Greg Borr left RTS long ago.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

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From: Lakeport, CA USA
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 - posted 06-06-2008 12:35 AM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Jack
As an aside, what food items do you sell besides hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and candy? And if you don't mind me asking, how many cars will you get on a normal Friday or Saturday?

Besides what's mentioned above, we also do pretzels which we microwave to order. I've considered cook to order pizzas, but I don't know if they would sell.

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Sean McKinnon
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From: Peabody Massachusetts
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 - posted 06-06-2008 10:52 AM      Profile for Sean McKinnon   Author's Homepage   Email Sean McKinnon   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
In my experience I have found the cook to order individual pizzas to be very succesful, but it depends on your area and specific situation. If you add them I would print coupons in the local paper for a free pizza with purchase of a drink and admission or something to get people to try them. I know that I think aramark or USA foodservice has UNO brand personal pizzas which were very very succesful at one theatre I worked at.

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

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From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002


 - posted 06-06-2008 11:52 AM      Profile for Jack Ondracek   Author's Homepage   Email Jack Ondracek   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Justin Hamaker
what food items do you sell besides hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and candy? And if you don't mind me asking, how many cars will you get on a normal Friday or Saturday?

Besides what's mentioned above, we also do pretzels which we microwave to order. I've considered cook to order pizzas, but I don't know if they would sell.

We have pretzels and "Cinepretzels" (J&J snacks). We cook the regular pretzels in our pizza ovens... the Cinepretzels in the microwave.

We get frozen 15" pizza shells from our foodservice provider (FSA), and build our pizzas here.

We sell chicken strips in a basket of fries (Brakebush chicken) along with ranch or barbecue sauce dip cups, battered mozarella sticks with a little pizza sauce for dip, nachos, "super nachos", corn dogs, burgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, "pizza dogs" and philly cheese steak sandwiches, which we do on-site.

Anything a customer orders, which involves something from our back kitchen, shows up on the RTS pickup window... something like what they use at McDonalds, Burger King & the like. If it's just pop, popcorn & candy, it stays up front & the kitchen doesn't see it.

We added cotton candy, some years back... huge!

Unfortunately, very little of this is guaranteed to clone over to another drive-in. There are different local and regional tastes to consider, as well as your theatres's size and capacity and the amount of space you can dedicate to cooking equipment. A large part of our building is kitchen. On the other hand, many small, single screeners have all their food prep gear along the back wall, and are pretty limited in terms of what they can do. It's probably worthwhile to see what others do, but in the end, you really have to cut & paste to see what works for you.

Gas and/or power capacity matters, because you need enough equipment to cook for a lot of people in a short period of time. If we had all day to serve a normal crowd out here, the kind of gear we have would be insane. When you compress it into 3 or 4 hours though, recovery time becomes a big deal.

We have 3 screens... 450, 300, 300, give or take. Once school lets out, we could have a couple thousand people running around the place.

"Normal" attendance is hard to quantify. Films, weather, time of season & other area activities all have an effect. Right now, we seem to be stuck in "early Spring mode"... It's raining today, and the week might be a wash.

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