Food Service Solutions, Inc.

FSS™ POSitive ID System III

School Lunch Cafeteria Software
Frequently Asked Questions

What is the benefit a real time central database for school lunch software?

A central database, contains all of your students, their census information and transaction history. One database for the entire school. When a student eats lunch at any school, the data is updated real time on the central server. When lunch is over, reports can be run from any connected computer in the district.

The advantage is that moving large amounts of data (batch processing), is minimized. The more often you move data the more likely it is to get lost or corrupt. Most POS cafeteria software requires moving 200 or 20,000 transactions at one time via a batch upload/download. It is not only cumbersome, it is dangerous. A connection drops in the middle of the transfer process, and it might just ruin your day or worse, cost you a Saturday off when you have to come in and straighten it out.

Our central database is updated with each transaction (sale or payment) as it happens. There is no midnight update and because the central database is updated real time, there is nothing to lose.

How do the POS machines communicate to the server?

Wide area networks allow for data to move between unconnected buildings/computers using TCP/IP. True Internet based programs (surfing, Ebay, e-mail) termed Thin Client applications, are unavailable if the web-server is down.

FSS™ POSitive ID System III is engineered for use across a Wide Area Network with a minimal demand on bandwidth. The local POS station sends only the items purchased, POS station, cashier and payment information to the server along with a student ID number, thus the amount of network traffic is minimized.
 

So what happens when the server is down?

Great question. We install a copy of the database locally on each POS terminal.  We know one thing for sure---that even if the electricity goes off (never mind the fact that you can't get your e-mail) lunch is still expected to be served. If the server goes down in the middle of lunch, or even if it never woke up this morning, your point of sale is still up and running. The individual POS terminal has all the information it needs to get your cashiers, and the students, through lunch until the server is on-line. The data is written to the local POS until the server comes back on line. We call this "Smart Terminal Technology".  Furthermore, with all of the data being kept on the local machine in case of an emergency, we can access things like student pictures, special needs, etc. right from the local POS terminal so that they don't have to be transmitted across the network at each transaction.

You didn't address the electricity going down.

Caught me. As we use standard PC hardware, a good battery backup is a sound investment to handle power spikes or outages. These start at $100-$150 and you pay more for more capacity (bigger batteries) that can last up to two hours. Hopefully if there is a long term power outage everybody gets to go home.

Shrink-wrap software?

Our goal is to make this software so simple and bulletproof you can install it, set it up and run it with an absolute minimum of support. The only reason to maintain expensive support contracts is if the product requires extensive support. That costs both time and money ........yours and ours.

Read more on shrink-wrap software

What type of database do you use?

We chose to use Microsoft SQL Server 2005 for our server database and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express for the local database at the POS machine.  This database allows fast record searching and posting and also gives us the ability to scale from small installations to very large ones.  Microsoft SQL Server is number 1 when it comes to databases; Microsoft ships more units than Oracle and IBM combined.

What is the difference between a proprietary and non proprietary system?

Proprietary systems require you to purchase hardware from a specific manufacturer. Many point of sale companies even have proprietary operating systems that force you to buy the computer, screens and peripherals at an inflated cost directly from them. A nonproprietary system allows you to purchase PC based hardware and peripherals from any supplier that offers a competitive advantage. PC hardware to run our software starts at under $500 (monitor based-mouse driven) to $2000 for a fast-food, all-in-one, small footprint touch screen PC.

Does your system use any other input device other than biometrics for identification?

Any number pad or scanner (bar code or magnetic) can be used to identify a student for FSS POSitive ID System III. These identification devices can be used interchangeably so that an elementary school may use a card while a high school uses a combination of biometric scanners and number pads.

Isn't biometrics overkill for a lunch line?

That depends. Using Biometrics, a student may be identified to his/her lunch account with no other instrument than their finger. A PIN number takes one second per digit, so a simple four digit number takes four seconds to enter. Biometric identification will occur in less than two seconds.

Anyone who has experienced ID cards knows that over 50% of the cards will need to be reissued. The student will lose it, destroy it, and often forget it. The blank card is an expense, but that is insignificant compared to the soft time (labor) it takes to complete the reissue process. A good blank card machine costs $5000-$10,000.

Read More on Biometric Identification

What about the ACLU and big brother issues concerning biometrics?

Choice is the secret to privacy. Every student/parent is given a choice: Biometric registration, (finger scan) or remember your student ID number. When offered this choice, less than 1% opt to remember the ID number. Both of the biometric identification methods we use offer encrypted databases and store only the result of registration, not actual images. As the process is opt-in, the individual is only recognized at predetermined locations (i.e. ABC High School Point of Sale, ABC Football field, ABC Student Entry Door #1). It is impossible to use the biometric data for any other purpose. As for the acceptance of biometrics as a means of identification, polls now show that over 80% of Americans now favor some sort of national ID card.

The Biometric Process Defined (PDF)

What is your policy on hardware?

Hardware specifications are detailed on the POS page and we will support FSS POSitive ID System III software whether we supply the hardware or you purchase from another source. If you are looking for quality the fast food, spill proof low profile units, CobraPOS terminals are state-of-the art and competitively priced. The CobraPOS features a 15" touchscreen LCD screen, Celeron 2.0Ghz or 2.4Ghz Pentium IV and 256 MB RAM (can be upgraded to any amount of RAM). Options include wireless keyboard, customer display, internal Bar Code/Magnetic Card reader. Warranty is standard one year and service is overnight replacement.

What about server/network requirements?

Good question. Your IT department knows the LAN/WAN capacity within your district and absolutely must be consulted before you consider any system. Many large districts across the USA are at a quandary today as the distributed database applications they have purchased for point of sale flat out "don't work." Data loss, service interruption and system down time are all proportional to the number of simultaneous users/lines in operation.

As lunch is served at the same time school is in session consider the following. At lunch 125 cashiers conduct 25,000 transactions, there are 6 computer labs, 3 Internet classes, student attendance systems, faculty e-mail, VOIP phones and a host of other applications simultaneously running across the LAN/WAN competing for both server time and bandwidth. The best answer to network-bandwith-server issues is a detailed analysis by both your IT department and our Network Technicians. If there is any chance it won't work when the system is stressed you are better off knowing up front. Failure to do so is buying "a pig in a poke". It is absolutely imperative to get your IT department involved and follow their lead. They must ultimately be the first line of support for any system.

Why is your support so much less than the competition?

Two key features of the system design allow for this policy. First is the platform. Our software by nature is simple to use, operate and maintain. FSS™ POSitive ID System III, utilizes a central database and most of the maintenance in existing systems revolves around moving data, both student information and student transactions, in batch dumps. We eliminate this headache.

In addition, we expect the IT department in your district to be the first line of support for the food service department. No one knows your network better than the people who work with it day in and day out. No one will be able to respond to an on site need faster than someone who is already there. We respect the expertise already on staff and because your/our point of sale system uses the same infrastructure as the rest of the district, their support is paramount to the success of any project. Without the direction of your IT department we don't even care to be involved.

How are training and installation handled?

The installation of the point of sale system will be coordinated with your IT department. Once the specifications for the server and bandwidth are addressed our preference is to install every station and turn the entire district on. Will it be chaotic? Absolutely. But how much nicer will it be after the week of chaos, when all reporting is done out of one database, one system for student accountability, one policy and procedure for administrative support and one cohesive staff committed to the project at hand. If you are up for the challenge it sure beats six to sixty weeks of chaos--turning the system on one school at a time. One suggestion here. If at all possible, something new should not be initiated when something else new is going on simultaneously. This brings to mind all of added pressure of making day one the first day of a new school year. One out of every five kids won't even know where the cafeteria is the first day of school let alone being ready to make his/her contribution to a successful roll out.

Our preference is support your support staff in both the training and installation of a system. When we agree to come on site, install, train and assist with turn on--we stay until you are comfortable.

What will insure a successful installation?

Our philosophy is the one-third times three principle. One third, our software and staff at Food Service Solutions, Inc., one third, your staff, including trainers, cashiers and IT department. That's only two-thirds, right? The other third is the kids, the parents, the teachers and the administrators of the district. This is often overlooked but if it weren't for the kids, we wouldn't need a point of sale. If we offer debit accounting and only the free and reduced students participate, what have we accomplished. If 80% of the kids continue to use cash, what have we done to affect lunch line speed? If the teachers refuse to use the system, what message does it send to the student body? If the administration does not back up policies on arrear accounts, recognize the dilemma our cashiers are in when 50% of students are without ID cards or consider how critical real time student census data is to the success of a system then the odds for a thoroughly satisfied client significantly diminish. It is our goal to meet and exceed your expectations, but these expectations must be conveyed to every participant in the process.

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