Technology

Point-of-Sale Systems

Brittany Kaminski

HM/370

August 19, 2012

R. Ashley Broussard

Technology Paper

Technology developments have grown just as fast as the hospitality industry itself. Advancements in programs available to hospitality organizations for the many operations that they perform are large. These programs now allow organizations to manage web reservations, introduce mobile systems known as personal desktop assistants to staff, and most important a system to track transactions regardless of department incurred by an organization. This type of system is known as a point-of-sales system and should be utilized by every organization within the hospitality industry.

Point-Of-Sale Systems

A point of sale system is hardware and software required to conduct a transaction. This transaction can be a simple cash for service exchange or it can take a customer's information verifies it, begins a money transfer and approves the sale. All this often takes place in a matter of seconds, depending on the point of sale system in place (What is a Point of Sale, n.d). Point-of-sale systems compose of several individual kiosks that link to a primary server or each kiosk may be independently operated. Typical systems consist of several components including a cash drawer, electronic card reader and printer (Walker, 2006). The point-of-sale systems serves several purposes in an organization in addition to servicing transactions; it can act as an inventory control and food costing measure, manage labor, and centralizes reporting capabilities.

Impact of POS Systems

Point-of-Sale systems can affect an organization through their functionality. Point-of-Sale systems can be used as an inventory control and food costing measure. By entering inventory into the point-of-sale directly or connecting to the point-of-sale system via another inventory management system. When a sale is made, the item sold is deducted from the inventory. Point-of-sale systems...