Digital Dining

Benefits:

Had potential... but there is honestly nothing good I can say about this product other that it has fairly decent reports.

Drawbacks:

This system is the worst I've worked with in 20 years in the industry. ZERO accessibility to customer service, system locks up or crashes all the time, not user friendly, no fail-safe system set up to prevent missed tickets, and so much else. Absolutely pitiful for the expense laid out.

Benefits:

Works well with customers. Flexibility with diverse menu. Employees can learn to use it quickly. Local support (Pinnacle Technology) is wonderful.

Drawbacks:

Staff information in wrong! Can not generate lists of important staff data. Time reports are in accurate and costly to review and correct. Can not rely on time keeping data.

Benefits:

There is a lot of flexibility with a system that has been around for this long. The availability of features that you may or may not use needs to be weighed against ease of teaching the system though...

Drawbacks:

Outdated, for software like this to exist in it's current form is really a bit ridiculous. Buggy, slow, cumbersome interface. Really needs a totally new version

In sum:

The overall experience was not great. Within a few months of becoming manager, I knew we needed to switch.

Benefits:

the ability to use iPad for ordering and kitchen monitor

Drawbacks:

it's not user friendly, I have to use 3rd party software for other programs due to cost. For example online ordering

Benefits:

its not have a good features,i think it needs a totally new version

Drawbacks:

its not easy to use, system locks up or crashes all the time and Staff information in wrong, i think it needs a totally new version

Benefits:

A great program when its running efficiently. I have used Digital Dining for 6 years. Its a very simple interface, straight to the point. Very easy to learn and retain. You're able to color code certain buttons for certain items, which comes in handy while working in a fast paced restaurant. Easy to change and modify buttons as well. Comes with a lot of features that are handy. For example, the " move orders" function .This makes it easy to move an order from one table to a different table. You're also able to modify the layout of the restaurant. Makes serving tables easier, when the program is actually working.

Drawbacks:

This program is constantly crashing. It is very rare for the program to not crash at least once a shift, which can cause extreme frustration for a waitress. Working in a restaurant with fully efficient wireless internet, there should be very little issues when it comes to connection. Lags more often than not, which easily can cause you to ring something in twice, or not at all. There is nothing like the panic of being in the middle of taking an order, and the program freezes and crashes. Not to mention if your device dies with a table open on the program, you can not access that table until your device is charged again. Not very convenient for a Friday night dinner rush.

In sum:

Overall, Digital Dining is the most user friendly program I've experienced in the service industry. If the bugs were to be fixed, it would be close to perfect. Super simple to navigate, but causes way too many issues with the constant crashes.

Benefits:

This software provides the basic functions needed in a restaurant point of sale system. The price point is not high for restaurant pos systems.

Drawbacks:

If you are looking for a quality point of sale for your restaurant with good customer service, this is not the product for you. The system itself is clunky and not user friendly. The customer service is horrendous. You have to put in a call and wait for a return call. We had an issue where the company coded our gift certificates as server tips. There was no way to know that it was doing this unless we manually added the tips from each server's report. We purchased a point of sale system so that we could have these numbers and reports at our finger tips. Having to double check every number on the report totally defeats the purpose. We lost $20,000 due to the issue Digital dining caused. When we contacted them, they refused to do anything to reimburse us for their error. We asked for the [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] to contact us, and he refused to call us back. They pretty much told us tough luck and told us we should have been checking the report and verifying the numbers. Again, why pay 100s of dollars per month for a service that can't be trusted and needs to be double checked.

In sum:

We would never recommend this product to any other business. They made an error that cost us tens of thousand of dollars. Their customer service is very poor. The product itself is nothing special and the back office access is a joke. They give you an old clunky laptop that you are supposed to use to login to the system. Doing so is accomplished by remotely logging in and taking over the actual POS. This is not user friendly or helpful. We actually switch to another POS and are still paying on Digital dining, that is how unhappy we were with it. Do yourself a favor and look into Upserve. Great cloud based system with excellent customer service.

Benefits:

Digital Dining's design is very user-friendly, making it easy to get into a rhythm once you learn how to use it. The option to instruct makes it much easier on servers who have to customize an order beyond the norm.

Drawbacks:

I don't know if this is an issue with the software, the hardware it's on, or the internet connectivity, but it seems to lag at times. The buttons will be unresponsive, or a display will load only halfway, making it impossible to finish the order. Many times I've had to make a mental note of what to order and then wait until I could get Digital Dining to work again to put in the order. Again, might just be an issue with the tech it's being used on, or the internet (I often experience it being unable to connect), so I don't know that Digital Dining should be blamed for this issue. A perhaps shallow addition, but I find the colors/general design to be a bit bland. It's not as crisp, fresh, and modern as I'd prefer it to be. But that has no bearing on its usefulness.

In sum:

If the person managing the software is good at organizing the buttons and the staff is well trained in how to use it, Digital Dining will get the job done.

In sum:

I've used this in my fine dining restaurant for 8 years and at the previous place I worked for 3 years. Easy to use, great reports, good customer service. The dealer is only 10 minutes away and emergency calls have always been returned in under 5 mins. Expensive installation but no monthly fees. Phone support is pricey, $75 for fifteen minutes, but the problems are usually solved within that time frame. Yearly support plans are between $500-700 depending on the amount of support hours you want. I opt to pay by the call and never called more than 3 times in a year.

Benefits:

This is by far the easiest software to use in any restaurant setting. The interphase is readable and clean, the functionality is easy to understand and powerful, the program operates just as fast as the user and it is easy to work out bugs that arise.

Drawbacks:

The software does have bugs more frequently than others that I have used that require a technician to come on sight to fix from time to time. When the software glitches you are at a complete stand still which can wreak havoc on a business when it is busy.

In sum:

The ease of use, the ability to use in a business that has separate entities, the speed that the program responds at, and the functionality.