Saturday, April 28, 2007

Volanté POS Systems & NCR Partner in POS

Volanté's point of sale software engine combined with NCR's RealPOS™ 70 terminals bring an aging cash register system into the 21st Century

Baycrest, a premier academic health sciences center focused on aging, provides care and service to approximately 2,000 people a day through the Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System. This system includes wellness programs, residential housing and outpatient clinics, to a 472-bed nursing home, and a 300 bed continuing care hospital facility. So when they saw that their cafeteria's aging cash register system was in dire need of attention, they turned to Tesoro Technologies Inc.'s Volanté Systems and NCR to come to their aid.


The staff at Baycrest were using antiquated, 20 year old cash registers, which were not only slow and inefficient, but had also become impossible to repair. Making the simplest changes to a menu item had become a complex task requiring hours of work. For Andrea Bronstein, Project Manager at Baycrest, the time had come for a new, powerful, and reliable point of sale system that would increase efficiency, productivity, and hopefully impact the bottom line as well. After sourcing out a few POS companies, Bronstein finally decided on Tesoro’s Volante Systems for the software engine, and NCR’s NCR RealPOS™ 70 terminals for the hardware.


“In addition to our patients and residents, we also welcome outside business. We needed a reliable point of sale system that wouldn’t go down in case of a network failure.” explains Bronstein.


Baycrest made a wise choice- Volante leads the POS industry with its innovative Redundancy Management System. Once data is entered into the system, its integrity is immediately protected. With other POS systems, server failure leads to an entire system crash, bringing your business to a grinding halt. However, Volante’s unique implementation allows all terminals to be connected yet function independently, ensuring that business will continue to run smoothly in the event of a terminal or server failure. Few, if any, POS systems on the market today offer this “fault tolerant” solution. Making changes to menu items and simple programming was also very important to Bronstein. “We were looking for something where changes could be made without having to be on the floor. With the old system we had in place, it would take hours at each register to make any changes at all. Now, we can update the whole system quickly from the back office.”


The installation at Baycrest not only represents the first partnership between Volante Systems and NCR, it’s also the first install in a senior’s community for both companies. This installation has taken technology at Baycrest from irreparable, antiquated cash registers to a state of the art, java based point of sale system that offers, among other features, platform independence, data synching and peer to peer technology.


Volante is developed entirely in Java. Java is a platform independent language, meaning that Volante will run on the operating system of your choice, either Windows. Linux, Unix, or Windows and Linux, for example. This can translate not only into increased flexibility for customers, but into some real cost savings as well. The ability to run on Linux can save proprietors costly Window’s licensing fees, for example. In addition to having a powerful processor and an extremely rugged touch screen monitor, NCR's NCR RealPOS™ 70 terminals are certified for Linux and Microsoft® operating systems, from MS DOS to Windows® XP. The partnership between Volante and NCR has been a win-win situation for everyone.


Implementing this type of technology was a big step forward for a facility such as Baycrest, who has already seen the benefits. “We’ve definitely noticed more accurate tax reporting.” Bronstein adds. “We’re now also keeping better track of actual sales, inventory control, etc. Everything is now streamlined, so the cost benefits will be sure to come.”


And for the many veteran staff at Baycrest, who had become accustomed to the aging registers, training on the new system was a non-issue. Bronstein was surprised and relieved at how quickly the staff adapted to the new system. “We needed a system that was very staff oriented. The whole system is now user friendly and easy to use. Some of our staff have been here a long time, and they found the system easy to grasp. We set up in the morning, around 8am, and we trained the staff on the spot. The system was very simple and straightforward, most of the staff had it down in a couple of hours.” Baycrest staff will also realize some of their own demands as well, which were impossible to meet with the old system. “The staff have been requesting debit processing, which is finally now possible.” says Bronstein.


For Andrea Bronstein and Baycrest, Volante Systems and NCR have breathed new life into their food and beverage operation. Baycrest’s point of sale system has finally joined their health care services in being a premier, 21st century solution.



Since 1993, Volante Systems has been providing leading edge point of sale solutions to the Hospitality industry. Developed entirely in Java, Volante POS Software is cross platform compatible, and will run on the operating system of your choice. (Windows/Linux/Unix). Wireless hand held and enterprise version are also available.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Microsoft Unveils Updated Version WEPOS

WEPOSApril 19th 2007, Microsoft announced the availability of Windows® Embedded for Point of Service (POS) 1.1 Update. The new version includes support for the latest industry standards, a streamlined ability to install mass storage devices during setup, and expanded language support that now totals 33 languages, including Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Thai. Microsoft also announced the availability of the next version of POS for .NET 1.11, with support for new device classes that include biometrics, electronic journal, bill acceptor and image scanner. POS for .NET supports the UnifiedPOS version 1.11 specification, including standard changes for ClearInput, Smart Card and printer base classes.

News reaffirms Microsoft’s commitment to addressing retailers’ needs, making the Windows Embedded for Point of Service platform the ideal solution for both retail customers and partners,” said Ilya Bukshteyn, director of marketing for Windows Embedded at Microsoft. “We continue to win customers because we help them achieve their goals. That has not only resulted in market share gain for Windows Embedded for Point of Service, but has increased the overall Windows Embedded for Point of Service and partner ecosystem.

Estimated Pricing:

Runtime License Cost (per unit shipped): $100.00 USD*

* Runtime pricing is based on purchase volume of one unit.

Why POS Planet?

Been in the POS Market for past 12 years, I could hardly find few places where you get good informations about the POS Software and its accessories.

This blog will keeps you updated on the latest news in POS World, right from Restaurant POS to every domain.


Though technology and facilities are giving a better feet to work on, I Could see lots of merchants using DOS based POS systems, May or may not knowing the need for update to the latest technology.


This blog will keep you updated on the same.


Any queries on POS Application and suggestion on the POS, either Hardware or Software are most welcome.