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Author Topic: RTS w/ PC only David E. Nedrow Master Film Handler Posts: 368 From: Columbus, OH, USA Registered: Oct 2008 posted 03-05-2011 07:19 PM                        Has anyone run RTS without a POS terminal? Basically, just keyboard/mouse? We don't do a huge amount of business at once, so input speed isn't an issue for the moment. We just can't come up with the funds right now to build out even a single position with an actual terminal, but I have plenty of PCs laying around. I'm thinking maybe we just start running on a PC as the "terminal" using keyboard/mouse nav, then add other equipment as needed. I'd like to think that, beyond the RTS software/licensing, I just need a receipt printer. Thoughts? Looking for input from people who may have run this way. -David  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-05-2011 08:43 PM                        We use a PC with RTS to sell tickets on. It's a 2004-vintage Dell system running Windows XP. Works fine -- it's just as quick as a regular touchscreen terminal would be. We have it set up so the numeric keypad sells tickets -- 1 for adult, 2 for student, etc. Then you just press Enter to print the tickets. You can setup any key you want to activate certain functions -- on ours, Backspace is for a credit card tender, F11 is for a gift card tender. (F12 brings up the RTS menu.) You can sell tickets for future days or times by using the arrow keys to get there -- left and right arrows adjusts the selling day, and the up/down arrows adjusts time of day.  |  IP: Logged David E. Nedrow Master Film Handler Posts: 368 From: Columbus, OH, USA Registered: Oct 2008 posted 03-06-2011 03:25 PM                        Great, thanks Mike. I believe that we're losing a statistically relevant number of ticket sales given that we don't do online ticketing. And the simplest way to get there is via something like RTS. I think the lack of online sales via Fandango/MovieTickets really hurts us with opening day/weekend of "big" films, like HP7, Twilight, etc. Plus, it would be nice to have much of my manual recording keeping handled by the system. -David -David  |  IP: Logged Jake Spell Master Film Handler Posts: 294 From: Johns Island SC Registered: May 2009 posted 03-06-2011 03:43 PM                     Reports are one of the main features of RTS that I like. I can back and look at virtually anything that happened on the system. Also closing is extremely easy.Takes about 10 min on a slow night and 30 when were really busy just because it takes longer to count the cash. That combined with its ease of use and the ability to access the info from anywhere with an internet connection makes it pretty awesome!  |  IP: Logged David Favel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 764 From: Ashburton, New Zealand Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-06-2011 05:11 PM                     Very easy to set up on old PC's. We even dug out an ols server (win 2000 server) PC and set up RTS as Server/Workstation/Workstation. Call them and get their advice, they are very helpful.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-06-2011 11:38 PM                        quote: David E. Nedrow I believe that we're losing a statistically relevant number of ticket sales given that we don't do online ticketing. Could be, but unless you are sold-out frequently you probably don't need to worry about online sales.  |  IP: Logged Mike Frese Master Film Handler Posts: 465 From: Holts Summit, MO Registered: Jun 2007 posted 03-06-2011 11:47 PM                        In a competitive market I agree that lack of online sales may hurt you with the bigger movies. We do not have online and I have heard anecdotally from customers that they did not come to us because they were unsure if we were sold out. If you are the only theater in town, it matters less to maybe not at all.  |  IP: Logged David E. Nedrow Master Film Handler Posts: 368 From: Columbus, OH, USA Registered: Oct 2008 posted 03-07-2011 02:44 AM                        quote: Mike Blakesley Could be, but unless you are sold-out frequently you probably don't need to worry about online sales. We aren't sold out, but every theatre around us will be -- 3 theatres (~40 screens) within 3 miles of us. Every time a BIG opening happens, e.g. HP7, all of them are sold out days in advance on multiple screens, and they will send people to us on the night of -- assuming of course we're showing that movie. Most of those people are the we-had-no-idea-you-existed crowd, who we then see as repeat customers. Without those handoffs, we might only have 15 people for the main show of that film on opening day. We have kind of a double whammy. For 17 years, this location showed exclusively foreign and indie. Additionally, it this location was never promoted/advertised. If you weren't a follower of the parent theatre group, you would never know it was here, and if you did, you wouldn't think to look for a more more mainstream feature showing. Having online ticketing would also move us "above the fold" on sites like MovieTickets.com.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 03-07-2011 01:15 PM                     quote: Mike Blakesley We have it set up so the numeric keypad sells tickets -- 1 for adult, 2 for student, etc. Then you just press Enter to print the tickets. You can setup any key you want to activate certain functions -- on ours, Backspace is for a credit card tender, F11 is for a gift card tender. (F12 brings up the RTS menu.) With that in mind, you could always snap off the keys of an old keyboard and get some custom sized keys labelled however you want them for your setup.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 03-07-2011 03:40 PM                        All of my RTS stations are built around locally bought PCs. I use ELO touch screens, but there's no reason why you can't use a mouse and/or keyboard. Their DOS version started that way. RTS will run on just about any computer you can dig up. It'll work on Windows 98, too... if you have something that old laying around.  |  IP: Logged

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