Tableside Ordering Tools Aid Dublin Airport Restaurants during Icelandic Volcano Eruption

Signature Bars Ireland, an operator of 10 top-quality restaurants and bars located in the Dublin Airport, have selected Cratos Hospitality Solutions and Socket Mobile as providers of their electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) system. The EPOS system consists of EPOS and stock control software from Cratos Hospitality and the Socket SoMo 650 handheld computer.

With Cratos EPOS software running on the SoMo 650, waiters can send food and drink orders directly from customer tableside to the kitchen or bar over a wireless network. Wait staff spend less time walking to and from the kitchen or bar and more time taking care of customers, resulting in improved productivity and higher quality service.

In April 2010, when the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull caused a massive ash cloud that disrupted air traffic across northern Europe and left thousands of travelers stranded at Dublin Airport, the Cratos and Socket EPOS system was put to the test as one Signature Bars restaurant using the system experienced three to four times its normal volume of customers.

"An unexpected advantage of using the SoMo 650 is that our waiters are more organized and strategic with how they spend their time," says Paul Connelly, general manager of Signature Bars. "The SoMo 650 has been an effective tool for tableside order processing in our extremely busy airport restaurants and has helped us achieve faster turnovers, increased up-sells and a 2% boost in monthly revenues."

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