Selling when the network is down
When the network drops, the counter tablet keeps serving and selling. It checks meals, limits and wallet balances from its own copy and numbers bills from a reserved block. Everything goes to the server in order when the network is back. Anything the server cannot take as it was goes to the supervisor as a sync conflict.
PLANSFrom Growth
Built and tested against our test server. The counter app has not yet run on a real tablet at an outlet and is not in the Play Store. Try it at one counter before you rely on it.
The problem it solves
- The Wi-Fi drops at 1 pm and 400 students wait while the cashier writes names on paper.
- Paper bills written during the outage are typed in later, with wrong totals and no numbers.
- A student spends the same wallet money at two counters while both are offline.
- Nobody knows which offline sales went wrong until the month-end count.
How it works
- Every action goes to the server at once. When the server cannot be reached, the tablet checks the rules itself and keeps the action in a queue on the tablet, marked offline.
- It serves plan and token meals, checking the session, the opt-out and a second helping. It sells for cash, UPI, card or wallet, checking blocked items, daily and weekly limits and the wallet balance.
- Each offline bill gets its number from the block of numbers the tablet holds, and the receipt says "Made offline". The tablet updates its own copy of the customer, so the next scan sees the new balance.
- The top bar says Offline and how many actions wait, such as "3 to send". The tablet tries again every 30 seconds.
- When the network is back, the queue is sent in order. The server applies each action once, by its own id, with the time it happened at the counter. Then it sends back its own copy of each customer.
- Some actions the server cannot take as they were, such as a meal served twice on two counters. Each is recorded with the problem, or not recorded, and listed under Sync Conflicts. The outlet's managers are told.
Everything it does
Works without the network
- Serve plan and token meals
- Sell items for cash, UPI, card or wallet, dine-in or parcel, with discounts and on the house approved by a supervisor's PIN on the tablet
- A card payment already approved on a payment machine is queued with the sale
- Wallet top-ups by cash, UPI or card
- Open the shift, cash in and out, close the shift
- Void, give back and print again
- Face recognition with the faces the tablet holds (Scale)
Needs the network
- Selling tokens, and paying on account, by fee ledger, by payroll or with points
- Payment modes that must go through a payment machine
- Table bills, takeaway, pickup and delivery bills, the kitchen display and kiosk bills paid at the counter
- Bookings, coupon codes, marking a dish sold out and the X report
- Face consent, enrolment and removal
Limits while offline
- Selling Offline up to (h): 12; after that the tablet stops selling and serving until it syncs
- Offline Wallet Spend per Person: 200; 0 means no wallet payments offline
- A tablet whose bill numbers run out stops selling offline; it holds 50 to start with and is topped up at half
- A tablet that never synced cannot sell offline
Sync conflicts
- Recorded with a problem: the sale or meal is in the books and the problem is reported. For example a wallet overdrawn, a meal served twice, a limit passed or a discount above the cashier's limit without approval
- Not recorded: the server could not take it; the transaction as the tablet sent it is kept, and its printed bill number is made void
- Food Service > Counters > Counters and Devices > Sync Conflicts: To Review, then Resolved with what was done; nothing is applied again by itself
- The tablet's Sync tab shows the server's answer for each action
- Each order made offline is marked Offline
Who uses it
CashierKeeps serving and selling; sees Offline and the actions waiting on the top bar.
Outlet manager or supervisorIs told of each conflict, corrects it with a top-up or a reversal and writes the resolution.
Food AdministratorSets the offline hours and the offline wallet spend per outlet.
Where you use it
- The SmartMy Feast Counter app on an Android tablet: the top bar and the Sync tab with Sync now and "Reported by the server". Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Web: Food Service > Counters > Counters and Devices > Sync Conflicts; the Conflicts tab of each device; Selling Offline on the outlet's Counters tab
- Not offline: table service and the kitchen display need the network; a local server is enough
- Not in Starter: there the counter needs the network to sell and serve
What you control
Settings
- Selling Offline up to (h): 12
- Offline Wallet Spend per Person: 200 (0: no wallet payments offline)
- Bill Numbers per Device Block: 50
Notifications
- Food Counter Sync Conflict: to the outlet's managers, or the Food Administrators when the outlet has none. In the app and by email, app push once the apps are in the stores. Sent at once
Questions
How long can a counter sell without the network?
Up to the outlet's Selling Offline up to (h), 12 hours to start with. After that, or when its bill numbers run out, it stops until it syncs.Can a student overspend the wallet at two counters?
Each offline counter allows at most the Offline Wallet Spend per Person, 200 to start with. If the wallet still goes below its minimum, the sale is recorded and the supervisor sees a conflict.Are offline sales lost if the tablet is switched off?
No. The queue is kept on the tablet and sent when it is back on the network. Each action is applied once, even if it is sent twice.What bill number does an offline receipt carry?
Its final number, from the block the tablet holds. If the server cannot use it, the sale gets the next number, the printed one is listed as void and the supervisor is told.Does table service work offline?
No. Tables, the kitchen display and takeaway bills need the network. A server on your local network is enough.Related features
COUNTERBill numbers without gapsEvery paid bill gets the next number of its counter's series, such as MAINC1/26/000123, restarting each financial year. Tablets reserve blocks of numbers to number bills offline. Every unused number is listed as void, so the series has no holes.COUNTEROne-tap serve of plan and token mealsScan the card and the meal a plan or token covers is served in one tap, or on the scan itself. The counter checks the session, the opt-out and a second helping, also without the network.PAYINGPrepaid walletEach customer has a food wallet. It is topped up at the counter or in the office, in Growth also online, and spent at every counter by scanning the card. Every change is an entry that is never edited, only reversed, and a low balance raises an alert.PAYINGSpending limits, blocked items and allergy alertsSet a daily and a weekly spending limit for a customer, and block items or categories they must not buy. The counter shows a red alert for their allergies and diet. Parents set limits for their children on the portal or in the app.PORTAL AND APPSCounter app for tabletsSmartMy Feast Counter turns a tablet into the canteen's counter. Cashiers log in with a PIN and serve plan and token meals by scanning a card or app QR. They sell items, top up wallets, void with a supervisor and close the shift with a cash count.COUNTERShifts, cash count and X and Z reportsEach cashier opens a shift with the cash in the drawer and records cash in and out with a reason. At closing they count by note and coin. The system works out the expected cash, the shortage or excess and the X and Z reports.
See it with your own menu.
Tell us how many outlets you run and how people pay today. We will show you a day in your mess or canteen on SmartMy Feast.