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Through direct integration with the POS, restaurant operators can extend their POS to create a truly secure and touchless environment. This option is available for several well-known and widely used POS systems such as Aloha, MICROS, Squirrel, Dinerware and Focus – and can be utilized without the hassle of having to re-program menu items and prices, or retrain waitstaff.  It can also help operators avoid any changes to merchant processing or pricing.  

By using a fully PCI and EMV compliant pay-at-the-table device that extends the POS to the table, restaurant guests are empowered to use their phone to facilitate the transaction. With the simple scan of a QR code, guests can immediately launch a payment process that’s both encrypted and entirely touchless. 

It also represents one of the largest investments for a restaurant operator, so it only makes sense to explore how the investment can be leveraged to provide additional value. 

Despite these conditions, the expectations placed on restaurant operators are greater than ever.  On top of the everyday commitment to prepare great food, provide stellar service, and maintain an inviting environment, restaurant operators have, in recent years, been challenged to meet higher standards for protecting customer payment information – and now to preserve public health and safety.  The responsibility is daunting, some may say overwhelming.

There have been many industries that have had to adjust to the new reality of COVID-19, but likely none have been more dramatically impacted than the restaurant industry.

And a patron is more likely to be drawn into a fuller description of a wine or spirit rather than by a line or two on a menu.

Restaurants using the full capacity of e-menus, particularly fast-casual establishments that connect to the POS (point of service) system, enable customers to choose their food and drink, place an order and pay.

Restaurants can customize e-menus and updates with a click of a button. Another feature of e-menus are multiple language options. Restaurants with tourists are able to view the menu in their native language.

it’s time-effective to put wines and desserts on an e-menu because the selection is changed up less frequently than the food, for example, which can change daily.

A restaurant can use e-menus to feature and promote private rooms, catering packages, special events such as sports games, bands and more.

Or, the e-menu can be used to promote a sister, or a chain of restaurants.

we’ve reconsidered that because the human touch is so important in the dining experience

Issues of concern include credit card security. Until and unless the transactions (bill payments) are PCI-DSS complaint, a customer’s credit / debit card data is at stake. A customer drops the tablet on the floor by mistake and the screen breaks. Who fixes it? Or replaces it?  The 8 North Broadway chef says his tablets are guaranteed for wear and tear. And there’s theft.

Cloud-based hotel software has been shown to boost productivity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness

Additionally, through the centralization of operations, hoteliers can eliminate the need for on-premise servers at each property

In fact, the hotel group, Triple C Hotels and Resorts, reported a 60% savings on software costs when they switched to Cloudbeds’ cloud-based hospitality software

For example, Cloudbeds hospitality software implements periodic auto-logoff features that require users to re-enter their password, two-factor authentication for an added level of user verification, and automatic removal of guest credit card data after 14 days

The high-level security standards followed by cloud-based hotel software is due in part to its rigid compliance with PCI requirements.

Unlike locally installed software, one of the more attractive elements of using a cloud-based hotel software system is the ability to adapt, grow, and integrate with future trends

Unlike conventional hotel software models that require hoteliers to purchase licenses and hardware, cloud-based hotel software is sold as a service that enables clients to add on as many or as few tools and features as needed.

In fact, a study by Frost and Sullivan showed that businesses can cut IT costs in half by implementing cloud-based computing solutions to customer support.

ability to host a property management system (PMS) from a remote location, allowing hoteliers to access property data from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This feature is unique to cloud-based software and eliminates the need for hoteliers to be physically present at their property to be able to check in on daily management operations.

Eliminate the need for manual data sharing and processing

Give staff more mobility and accessibility around the property

next two to three years hoteliers are expected to invest 7-8% more on cloud technology

an spend more time attending to guests

ransitioning to a cloud-based hotel software solution can seem like a daunting task at first

Accelerate hotel check-in / out

Eliminate the need for manual data sharing and processing

customizable

In an industry that is always changing, this kind of flexibility is priceless.

across multiple properties simultaneously

faster for operations, online booking and customer service.  

frequent security updates t

Cyber attacks and tighter regulations on privacy policies have made the need to protect guest information more important than ever. This topic is a main concern for those considering switching to a cloud-based PMS system since data servers are hosted off premises.

The PCI Security Standards Council claims that since March, malicious virus-related reports are up 475%. The reason for the uptick is that cybercriminals are trying to take advantage of rapid changes to the payment-card data environment. In addition, 41% of small businesses have said they’ve suffered breaches costing more than $50,000 to fix.

Contactless payment is one of the big changes within the payment data environment. Several restaurant companies – from chains to independents – are offering it because it reduces customers' physical interaction with the restaurant's POS system. As part of this move, some businesses have eliminated credit-card PIN numbers.

Eliot says malicious email is usually the easiest way for cybercriminals to access your networks. The emails typically show up as urgent requests for sensitive information, often pretending to be from the Small Business Administration or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When the intended victim types in his or her credentials and clicks on a specific link or downloads an attachment, criminals are in.

Anyone looking for easy-to-implement security tips can try these six to start. Reduce areas where payment-card data is stored. The best way to protect against a data breach is to avoid storing any card information at all. With many small operators offering curbside pickup and accepting payment over the phone instead of through face-to-face transactions, it’s important they train employees not to write down payment card details. Instead, have them enter numbers directly into a secure terminal. Use strong passwords. Using weak and default passwords is one of the leading causes of payment data breaches among businesses. Effective passwords must be strong and updated regularly. The most recent guidance is: the longer, the better. Think of it almost as a “passphrase” rather than a password. Use it in the form of a sentence, but mix in different characters within the phrase. It’s much harder to break a long passphrase than it is a short, complex password. Weak and vendor default passwords often result in small business data breaches. Also, don’t repeat your passwords. Update your software often. Criminals look for outdated software to exploit flaws in unpatched systems. Timely installations of security patches are crucial to minimizing the risk of a breach. Whenever updates are available, use them. They will improve performance and close out some of the vulnerabilities cybercriminals are searching for. Enable two-factor authentication. It's so important for restaurateurs, especially where their POS systems or any of their sensitive databases are concerned, to have two-factor or multi-factor authentication enabled. If an instance where credentials are stolen occurs, there will be a second layer of verification the operator can rely on to potentially reduce the chances that information will be breached. Segment your networks. If you are going to store payment data, make sure your POS system has its own separate, secure network. Do not store sensitive documents on public cloud services such as Google Docs or DropBox. If you’re going to store sensitive documents, house them in an encrypted, locked down location.   Be hyper-vigilant. Criminals are going to try to take advantage of this pandemic situation as much as possible. You can protect yourself by not giving out sensitive information, especially within unsolicited emails. Don’t click on links you’re not expecting and do everything in your power to protect all sensitive information.

Then, ask yourself, “What does our company have in place to mitigate our exposures?”

Do we have an effective privacy policy?

Do we have an effective privacy-breach response plan?

Do we continuously test our disaster-response and business-continuity plans?

Franchise concerns

Franchise agreements should address several important data-security concerns, cyber-insurance, breach notification and PCI (payment card industry) compliance.

Franchise agreements should require franchisees to purchase a specified amount of cyber insurance coverage in the event of a data breach.

In addition, the franchisee should be required to promptly notify the franchisor of all breaches in security and immediately notify the franchisor of all breaches of sensitive information.

The franchisor may also want to consider being notified of any impermissible uses or disclosures

Cyber attack realities The ramifications of a cyber breach could be both financially and operationally catastrophic to any hospitality company. Losses could include costs associated with litigation expenses and fines as well as defense. The cost of business interruption and loss of income could be debilitating.

There are two components of the puzzle: the booking engine used by hotels, and the actual PMS

Understanding how your hotel accesses and stores guest data is key to understanding their liability in relation to that data

Hosting your hotel's online booking engine comes with an extensive investment into web server technology

work with third parties to host their booking engine off site. However, even if your hotel's data is out of sight, it is a hotel's responsibility to keep their data partners accountable

Request information on the hosting facility’s certifications for GDPR, PCA, SOC 2, and others.

Forming relationships with your network administrator is key because every partnership in this arena is unique

data storage and security for hotels could be mostly automated, or hotels could be expected to manage several processes on their own

No matter how a hotel stores its data, operators will always be liable for securing it on some level.

Partnerships of any kind also do not absolve hotel operators from managing their local network

data services have tenants, like the housing market, and it pays to know if you have neighbors or not. Businesses have the option to invest in either a dedicated or open hosting environment,

Dedicated hosts allow for updates to roll out in coordination with operators’ decisions, keeping it autonomous and allowing for proper scheduling and preparatio

The other option, where multiple businesses share a single server host and single application instance, is a more hands-off proposition

but when an update is rolled out by the host it is done to every company on the shared server environment, whether your property is prepared for it or not. Surprise updates such as these can potentially impact operations, or other aspects of your business.

The hosting environment for your PMS and guests’ data should provide you with confidence through open and clear communication, vendor commitment and choice of options that best suit your specific independent needs

channel manage

booking engine

arn more bookings and revenue.

support available 24/7,

designs their software with small accommodation businesses

issues you have can be solved as quickly as possible

understand your goals

stay PCI-DSS and PSD2 SCA compliant to protect your small property from fraud and avoid online risks.

Make sure you’re free to cancel anytime.

Stay connected to your guests throughout their stay

Manage important daily tasks straight from your smartphone or tablet

enables you to manage your property online. It can include many different features such as a front desk system, booking engine, channel manager, payments solution, and more.

payment information is in one place

command centre where you can see all your bookings from every booking source in one central calendar.

ed and

breakfast software is a tool that

centralising all the crucial aspects of your property’s operations

n keep everything all in one place and make changes at the click of a button

nformation you need to view or analyse

generated automatically and is easily accessible.

simplifying the day-to-day operations of your business

more control over your business, leading to better decisions and greater profits.

easily control all the vital parts of reservation management

add more value to your business.

increase upsell opportunities and further enhance guest experience

Despite most attackers focusing on card data, increasingly they are looking at your loyalty programs

Unless hospitality businesses protect themselves properly with a proactive cybersecurity strategy, all of this data is vulnerable to exploitation by organized cybercrime.

A key activity is to ensure a business has been properly audited from a cybersecurity perspective. You need to properly audit your IT infrastructure, your POS systems, and ensure all endpoint software is up to date and properly patched. 

In addition to ensuring that POS terminal software is up to date and properly patched, make sure that you are following government-mandated and PCI compliance standards for these terminals. 

Train Employees

This is key to the success of a hotel group in a market where 1) mobile booking on travel websites are increasing at a faster rate (20% annually) than desktop bookings (2% annually), 2) 21% of bookings are originating from smart phones and tablets, and 3) 12% of mobile bookings are implemented by Apps

Cloud computing has been used for tourism management, for example to rank popular tourism destinations in cities

Cloud computing is a technology that allows the provision and utilization of resources over the internet in lieu of installations on a desktop computer

cloud computing de nition: Private, Public, Community and Hybrid clouds.

After the 2008 recession, when lowering costs was a key objective for hotels, PAR Springer-Miller, introduced ATRIO as the Next Generation Hospitality Management Software 3 into the market.

The cloud related challenges that have stood out from the hotel groups responses were a) the increase in Opex (OPerating EXpense), b) restricted access to the environments and c) concerns about information security.

traditional telephone system to a cloud based VoIP solution which is integrated to their SaaS hotel management system solution provided by Protel (16).

OPERA property management system cloud application in over 850 of their hotels. The hotel management system is no longer maintained on the hotel premises and storage of their data is outsourced (MICROS Systems Inc., 2013).

InterContinental Hotels Group were able to eliminate hardware infrastructure costs and centralize management activities such as updating prices, at the touch of a button across sixty one of their UK properties by adopting a cloud solution for their restaurant point of sale systems called SIMPHONY

Cloud computing is the only way forward for hospitality.

The distribution of the usage of cloud information system (IS) or on-premise IS in the studied hotel groups shows that the majority of IS used by hotel groups were running on the cloud, and that the smallest (in terms of number of rooms) hotel groups' (group 2) level of cloud adoption is equivalent to that of the largest (group 4).

The most common two bene ts identi ed are: 1) solving the problem of lack of hardware on site, and 2)transferring the risk relating to security and PCI / PA-DSS requirements to the cloud service suppliers.

how a Quality of Service (QoS) ranking mechanism enables cloud applications such as airline ticketing systems, hotel booking services and car rental services to interact with each other to deliver services to their customers.

Alternatively, it could be due to the change in process experienced by IT Managers and now having to depend on a third party for issues which previously could be quickly checked and resolved with servers being on site.

The challenge which received the highest average rank (12.38 points) by the participants was the Dependency on bandwidth whilst that of least signi cance was the issue of Software licensing (3.38 points)