Part Introduction I
1 Introduction Introduction Kitchen Items is an alternative method for alerting kitchen staff about new orders waiting to be prepared. When compared to the standard method of passing printed slips to the kitchen staff, this method means order slips can't get lost or be ignored, as well as having the ability to store details such as when the order was completed and which staff member marked it as 'done'. 3 Some Important Points This negates the need for a kitchen printer with paper rolls. Not only are kitchen staff able to mark an order as 'done', but previously completed orders can be viewed at any point. Assigning an order to an employee displayed the order background with the employee's specified colour. Kitchen staff will require some basic computer training in order to use the application correctly. A new feature has been included to display orders from the tills while the order is still being generated. While Kitchen Monitor is running, the screen saver is disabled to ensure the orders are always visible. Highly customizable interface. Basic tips, tricks and suggestions will be displayed in blocks like this. These are simply bits of useful information or suggestions, you may decide whether or not you use these. Important notices and warnings will be displayed in blocks like this. Read through these tips carefully and ensure that you understand them before moving on. Examples will be shown in blocks like this. While working through the more complex features, real-world examples may be used to help explain the reasoning behind certain setups.
Part Using Kitchen Items II
Using Kitchen Items 2 Using Kitchen Items When Kitchen Monitor is first opened, you will be presented with the following window: 5 Menu Bar The menus along the very top of the screen has very few options; described in more detail further on in this manual. Status Bar The black bar directly below the menu bar is the program status bar; in the middle of this bar is the order filter, showing details of which orders are currently being viewed ("Waiting Orders" or "Prepared Orders"). The current time is also displayed in the top-right corner. Kitchen Monitor Toolbar Down the right hand side of the application window is the application toolbar. This toolbar is used to interact with the orders that are displayed in the orders list. Take note of the numbers in brackets, these bracketed numbers are the keyboard shortcuts for quick access to the functions. Orders List The main area of this application, seen here as a white background containing a grid, is used to display orders generated from Invoicing on the till computers. Status Bar Along the bottom of the window is the status bar, which will show key points of information when applicable. The "Network Status" block shows the current network adapter is connected, disconnected, or disabled. This user guide is divided into a few section to describe the workings of this application; see the relative section below for more information: Viewing Orders 6 Assigning Orders 10 Completing Orders Settings 13 11
Using Kitchen Items 6 2.1 Viewing Orders When an order is processed inside Aura Invoicing, any items that are assigned to a production printer will be displayed in Kitchen Monitor for the kitchen staff to see. The application supports playing a notification sound whenever a new order is shown on the monitor; keep in mind that the kitchen computer will require speakers (either separate or integrated into the screen) for this feature to work correctly. There are a range of options relating to the manner in which orders are displayed; for the examples seen here, we will use th following options: Number of columns in the grid: 3 Display 'Order Number' (instead of 'Invoice Number') Auto Expand Invoice Details is enabled Font colour: black Background colour: white Selected background colour: light blue Modified colour: lime green (pending items only) Deleted colour: red (pending items only) First timeout: 120 seconds (2 minutes), light green colour Final timeout: 180 seconds (3 minutes), yellow colour These options can be customized in the section on 'Display' tab found in the Settings 13.
Displaying Orders With waiting orders on screen, you should see a screen similar to the following: Using Kitchen Items 7 As seen in the above example, even though the display is set to show the order number as opposed to the invoice number, with the order selected the invoice number can still be seen in the bottom left corner of the window. Keep in mind that there are various options in the settings that will affect how the orders are seen here; firstly though, let's look at the header for each order. The header shows details of the till ID on which the order was processed, the daily order number or unique invoice number, and the amount of time elapsed since the order was placed. Using Order Numbers Using Invoice Numbers
Using Kitchen Items 8 Order Timeouts As an order sits on screen for a period of time, the status of the order is updated according to the order age. As defined in the settings, these timeouts can be adjusted not only in the amount of time taken before the first and final timeouts are hit, but also the background colours for each. Using the settings outline in the beginning of this section, here is an example of the order timeout feature: The first order in this list (order 2) is in it's final timeout and has been changed to a yellow background. The second order in the list (order 3) is only just past the first timeout and has therefore been changed to a light green background. The third order (order 4) has only just been added; this order is blue because of the 'selected order' colour setting. Expanding Orders The default behaviour of Kitchen Monitor is to display the first order expanded, and all orders following that as 'collapsed' down to one line. In this scenario, there are two possible methods for expanding orders and viewing the contents of the customer's order. Firstly, selecting the order header using the mouse, and secondly using the keypad to navigate to the desired order (using the numpad 8 or 2 keys) and pressing the numpad 5 key to expand. Auto-Expand Enabled Orders are always visible, meaning the kitchen staff don't need to complete the top order or manually expand other orders in order to continue production. Auto-Expand Disabled Because orders are always visible, under certain circumstances this may cause confusion in the kitchen as to which order is being prepared. Conclusion As a workaround for avoiding confusion in amongst the kitchen staff, especially if there are more than one staff member preparing separate orders at the same time, it is highly recommended to make use of Employee Colours and ensure the kitchen staff assign the order to themselves before preparing the order. Employee Colours and Assigning Orders is described in more detail in the section on Assigning Orders 10.
Displaying Pending Items Using Kitchen Items 9 This feature is designed specifically to streamline the process used in a drive-through environment, as a result the benefits will not be fully realized in sit-down restaurant or over-the-counter fast food environment. If you do not need this feature enabled for a drive-through, it is highly recommended to leave this feature off. As mentioned in the introduction, Kitchen Monitor has the ability to display the items on an order even if the order is not yet saved. There are various benefits to using this setup, and certain important points to keep in mind at the same time. Kitchen staff can start putting an order together sooner, leaving a shorter waiting time for the customer. By default, new items on an order are shown in green for a short time, and deleted or voided items are displayed in red until the order is saved. The kitchen staff must be more alert to the order status; as the order has not yet been saved, it does not have an order or invoice number yet. The relative option in Aura Invoicing must be enabled in order to send pending items to the Kitchen Monitor. In Aura Invoicing, go to Settings > Specific Computer > Devices and place a tick in the box next to 'Display Pending Immediately'. When a new order is processed on a till computer, the order details are shown on the Kitchen Monitor in real-time. There are a few points that help distinguish these orders from the standard waiting orders, as seen in the example below: As seen by the information in the headers, the top order contains the till ID number, order number and order age in minutes and seconds, while the second order only displays the till ID the order was started on and it's age. You may also notice that the pending order is currently being displayed below the already waiting order. This is done for two main reasons; first the order's placeholder is set for when the order is saved, and secondly so that the already existing orders do not get shifted down. This helps avoid confusion with a kitchen staff member looking for the order they were busy preparing and finding that the order is not in the same position as before. The red line indicates an item that has been deleted from the order details; this line will stay red until the order is saved, then it will be removed from the invoice. Voided lines are also shown in this same manner. The green line shows an item that has just been added to the order; this will be shown with a green background for a preset amount of time so the kitchen staff can see it is a new item.
Using Kitchen Items 10 2.2 Assigning Orders With multiple kitchen staff using the Kitchen Monitor application simultaneously, certain staff members may lose track of their order and accidentally mark another member's order as 'Done'. In order to prevent this, orders may be assigned to a staff member and their employee colour set as the order background. This requires that all kitchen staff members have their own unique colour set in the Employee Records in BackOffice. The process for assigning an order is very straight forward: first, select the order in question using either the mouse or the numpad shortcut keys, and then either click the "Assign (7)" button on the right hand toolbar, or press the numpad 7 keyboard shortcut. Doing so will display the following password prompt: At this point, the employee the order is to be assigned to must enter their password to continue. If the use of employee colours has not been enabled in the settings, you will be presented with the following message instead: In this case, you will need to enable this option first. For more information on this, see the section describing 'Use Employee Colours' in the Settings 13. With an order assigned to a kitchen staff member, the colour scheme overrides the settings in Kitchen Monitor with the employee's colour. In the two examples below, the employee assigned has a colour of 'Light Blue' specified; to the left is an assigned order while selected, and to the right is an assigned order while not selected: Order Selected Order Not Selected
Using Kitchen Items 11 2.3 Completing Orders The main focus of this application is specifying when an order is completed, otherwise referred to as 'marking an order as done'. This process can be done by any staff member, and therefore it is imperative that employees completing orders ensure that they mark the correct order as 'done'. This process can be done in one of two ways; firstly, select the order in question using either the mouse or the numpad shortcut keys, and then either click the "Done (1)" button on the right hand toolbar, or press the numpad 1 keyboard shortcut. After this, the selected order should disappear from the list of Waiting Orders, and move to the list of Prepared Orders. To confirm this order is successfully marked as 'Done', you may use the "View (3)" button, or press the numpad 3 keyboard shortcut to change between the two views. Switching to the alternate view will display a window similar to the following: Take note that the time in the top right hand corner is not shown in this screen; a 10 second count-down timer is displayed instead. While inside this screen, when this timer reaches 0 the screen will automatically switch back to the Waiting Orders view. However, the timer is reset as soon as any key is pressed; by this method, if you switch to the Prepared Orders list and are scrolling through the orders and viewing different orders, the screen will not change back until after you are done. This is done as a precautionary measure to ensure the kitchen staff can always see the list of currently outstanding orders.
Part Settings III
Settings 3 Settings When the Kitchen Items settings window is opened, you will see a window similar to the example below. 13 Additional Settings Poll for Orders Every <x> Seconds - This setting configures a timer to check for any new orders from the cashier's tills. A generally recommended time is between 5 and 15 seconds. Disable Pending Items - Selecting this option will disable the display of pending items as they are rung up. Display Sizes in the Item Description - Enables size detail to be shown in the description for an item. Auto Print Labels - When an order is marked as 'Done', Kitchen Items will print the labels automatically. Use Employee Colours - Each employee may have a unique colour assigned to their employee record. If this option is ticked, employee-specific colours will be used as the background colour for any order assigned to them. If you run Kitchen Monitor The following two options should never be enabled on the server or till computers, these should only be used on dedicated Kitchen Items computers. Start with Windows - With this option ticked, Kitchen Items will be launched every time the computer is turned on. Allow Windows Shutdown by pressing "0" - When selected, exiting Kitchen Items by pressing the 0 key on the numpad will shut the computer down as well. Filter by - Enabling the first filter option will cause Kitchen Items to only display items that are assigned to the selected Report Group.
Settings 14 Filter Tabs Four tabs are available for setting custom filter options for the data displayed in Kitchen Items. Each tab has a single tick box at the top to enable or disable the particular filter, in order to avoid having nothing displayed, you should only have one filter active at a time. Within each filter, you may select as many options as you require, including multiple tills or multiple production printers. When a filter method is enabled, only orders that match the set filter options will be displayed. For example: By activating the Production Printer filter and selecting Production Printer A, Kitchen Items will only show menu items assigned to the selected printer. Any items not assigned to Production Printer A or assigned to a different production printer will not be shown. Shifts Till ID - With this filter enabled, you may select to only show menu items on orders that are currently linked to the selected Till ID(s). Transaction Type - With this filter enabled, you may select to only show menu items on orders that are assigned to the selected transaction type(s). Production Printer - With this filter enabled, you may select to only show menu items assigned to the selected production printer(s). Original Till ID - With this filter enabled, you may select to only show menu items on orders that were originally processed on the selected Till ID(s).
Connection and Display Tabs Settings 15 The Connection tab contains a single option to maintain the connection to the Aura Database. Other than the initial setup of the kitchen computer and possibly repairing connection issues, you will not need to use this option. Display Tab - This tab allows you to customize the way orders are displayed on screen in Kitchen Items; various options here include background and text colour options, along with only displaying orders from certain till ID numbers, ensure that you read the descriptions of these options clearly before changing anything. Top Section No Of Columns in the Completed Orders Grid - This sets the number of columns for displaying orders, if you have a wider monitor on your kitchen computer, you may want to set this to 3 or 4 columns. Select the Number to be Displayed in the Order ID - Select whether orders are shown with your daily incrementing Order Number or with the always unique Invoice Number. AutoExpand Invoice Details - With this tick box selected, as soon as a new order is shown in Kitchen Items, it will automatically expand to show all details. Without this option selected, the order will only show the Order or Invoice Number along with customer details (if applicable). Only Display Items For Report Group - For multi brand combo-stores, this option restricts Kitchen Items to display only items that are assigned to a specific report group. Without this option selected, all orders will be displayed regardless of their report group.
Settings 16 Colours Waiting / Completed Tabs - Switching between these tabs allows you to alter the display colours for new and completed orders. Normal / Selected Colours - Below these settings is a preview of the orders as they will be displayed in Kitchen Items; ensure that the font colour is not the same as the background colour as that would render the text completely unreadable. Font - Colour for the text face itself. Background (Normal) - Colour for the background of the order block. Background (Selected) - Colour for the currently selected or highlighted order. Pending Tab This tab contains the colour settings for the pending line items in a new order. Modify Time - This timeout sets how long after a new item is added that the colour background should be applied. In this example, a new item will be highlighted as 'lime green' for 30 seconds before it reverts to the standard background colour. Modify Colour - Set the colour that the new item line will show. Deleted Colour - Set the colour that a deleted or voided line will show. Time Outs Tab First Timeout - The length of time before an invoice hits the first timeout is set here. First Colour - Select the desired colour for the first timeout here. Final Timeout - The length of time before an invoice hits the final timeout is set here. Final Colour - Select the desired colour for the final timeout here. Remember that these colour settings will over-ride your selected background colour for the orders. Keep your selected font colour in mind when selecting an appropriate colour. All tabs of the 'Colour' section provide a preview at the bottom that updates whenever a colour option is changed.
Part Contact Details IV
4 Contact Details Office Contact Details Contact Details 18 Aura Help Desk 086 100 AURA (2872) Midlands Branch (Head Office) 033 343 2135 Aura Helpdesk Hours 6:00am to 11:00pm, 7 days a week In order to ensure that all calls taken have been logged and are treated with the importance and urgency each one rightfully deserves, please keep the following points in mind when consulting with our helpdesk: Ensure that the technician you are speaking to knows which store you are calling from, and that you get the name of the technician you speak to. Be clear and concise with what the problem is and when it started appearing. The more information you can provide, the better. If the technician does not offer you a reference number for your call, you should ask them for one. Not only does this makes it easier to follow up on the status of the issue later, but also ensures that your call is logged in our system and is being / has been attended to properly. Most importantly, please keep in mind that CoSoft provide the Aura Point of Sales Suite; for any other problems such as your email, internet, anti-virus software and the like, please contact the software distributor or supporter related to that application. These contact details can generally be found under the application's Help > About or Help > Contact Us options. Help Manual Author Contact Details: If you have any queries or suggestions regarding the help manual, please contact our Midlands Cosoft branch.