Maitre'D screens are the interface that allows POS users to interact with the Maitre'D POS system. They allow ordering of sales items and perform all the operations required to run a successful restaurant business. Different screens can be assigned to each employee based on their functions and responsibilities in the restaurant, and screens can change automatically based on modes and revenue centers.
The key to managing POS workstation screens is to understand the different components that make up the screen. The POS workstation is divided into separate components that are configured independently, allowing a great degree of customization to the restaurant.
The Maitre'D POS screen has 3 main components:
The Main Screen Layout area.
The Preferential Screen area.
The Display area.
The Main Screen Layout consists of fixed button rows located at the top and bottom of the POS screen. Typically, restaurants will use these fixed buttons for common commands such as Send, Print Check, Close, quick payment keys, navigation keys, etc. Direct shortcuts to frequently used Preferential Screens or variable lists can also be created. It is also very common to have different layouts based on employee functions or revenue centers. For instance, a manager may have a more comprehensive layout with more commands commands compared to a regular server. Also, dining room servers may have a different layout than bartenders or cashiers, etc.
This is the area where most sales items will be displayed. Multiple screens can be created. Each screen will typically contain items that are related to each other. Navigation keys can be added to the screen layout to cycle through all available preferential screens. Clever preferential screen designs can also allow navigation from the preferential screens directly. This area will also display variable lists, item classes and weighted modifiers.
In the bottom part of the Screen Layout, there is a space that can be shared with the Preferential Screen, as illustrated by the graphic above. The bottom part of the screen layout allows up to 3 rows of buttons. If the third row of buttons is not used, the resulting free space will automatically be assigned to the preferential screen area. If the third row is used, the preferential screen area will simply squeeze in the smaller space, making every button slightly smaller.
The display area is where employees can see table and customer information, ordered items, running total and tax amounts. By default, the display area is located on the left-hand side of the screen, as the majority of the population is right-handed. This can be reversed for left-handed employees by enabling the Left handed option in Point of Sale Control > Employees > Employees... > [Employee_Name] > POS Operation > Option.
