How cool technologies help fast food move even faster

(itbusiness.ca) -- The Swiss Chalet chain operators boost their order volume with new call centre software. Meanwhile, meet 'HyperActive Bob' the software that tells you how much food you need in the bin before the customers arrive.

North American fast food chains are using technology to speed up order fulfilment, improve customer service and reduce costs.

And it's not slowing down any time soon, with nearly $650 million being invested in 27 operations, according to the National Venture Capital Association.

“A lot of people have started using restaurants as their kitchens and they don't cook food anymore,” said Joseph Gagnon, CEO of Exit41 in Andover, MA. They want easy access to their favourite foods, whether it's through a drive-through, on the Web or even via text messaging.

Exit41, whose tag line is ‘shortest route between hunger and satisfaction' – makes food-ordering applications. It's flagship product being the Exit41 Enterprise Suite, which includes online ordering and call centre modules.

Software keeps tabs on drive-through service.
The company says its products have been used to process more than 17 million orders to date.

Gagnon notes that people today have more functionality inside their car than they do in their home office.

“I call it the cocoon,” he said. “With that macro-consumer trend going on, you can start to understand why we're trying to look at improved ways of operating in a drive-through or off-premise take-out delivery type of model.”

It's really a production operation, said Gagnon. The software hands over the ordering process to someone who's not necessarily sitting in the restaurant dealing with the day-to-day craziness. That allows restaurant owners to extend their operations to have an adjunct capacity in a call centre, so they can start to rethink their processes to be more efficient – such as taking multiple orders at the same time.

“What we're starting to see is, you're finally trying to orient the way you operate your restaurant to the way the customer is living,” he said.

To work, however, they must have strong integration into the existing point-of-sale environment (such as PCI compliance and multiple tender types).

The company has now expanded into the casual dining market, where additional features – such as delivery dispatch and order history – have been added to its original software.