Canteen Software

[Optimus_Primal]

We are currently using Cunningham for our canteen systems. We have looked at BioStore as a possible option.

 

As part of this work we will be upgrading the physical hardware as well including 8 POS 2 of which need contactless capabilities, 2 Cash till draws , and 1 coin loader.

 

What else are people using?

Edited December 11, 2019 by elsiegee40

[supportman]

Used to use cunninghams as well but their support was really bad, moving to BioStore in the future I think for compatibility with photocopiers and access doors.

 

Their tills and software seem much more modern and up-to-date

[bobsmith]

We just got switched to Cunninghams as our catering is provided by the LEA - it's been a nightmare for the first month or two but has slowly settled down.

 

Some of us were quite vocal in our opposition - we moved from NRS which was a bit flakey from time to time - but there's lot's of better reviewed alternatives.

[Optimus_Primal]

[MENTION][/MENTION]

Used to use cunninghams as well but their support was really bad, moving to BioStore in the future I think for compatibility with photocopiers and access doors.

 

Their tills and software seem much more modern and up-to-date

 

Yeah the canteen guys have complained about them as the equipment is not at its best. Who else did you look at before making that decision.

[DrBeaker]

Used Cunninghams in 2x schools - only the catering manager deals with them usually.

 

But their support is very questionable IMHO from experience at both. Surly, unhelpful, unresponsive etc. YMMV.

 

One time we had a problem with the reval units. They told the catering manager as they had an IT person onsite (me) that "the reval was only a computer so get your IT person to open it and connect a keyboard and monitor". Err NO. That's not my job, that's what we're paying YOU for. It was at least -10 Points to Cunninghams in my book for that attitude.

 

We also had an issue in September where they wouldn't come out to site, unless they were paid upfront. I believe the tills are on Windows 7, so is their office PC and they've still not put any plans in place AFAIK to replace or upgrade them. None of that is my kit so not my responsibility. Watch this space.

[6Foot2]

Cunninghams, 4 tills with proximity card readers (Mifare), a cashloader (all in the Canteen) and a till with proximity card reader, and PDQ in the 6th form cafe.

[Rob_D]

We use Biostore's Fastrack for our catering (and are fully cashless). When it works it's fine, but the support can be pretty hit and miss and we always seem to get sync errors with parent pay.

Last I heard, the higher ups were thinking about getting rid and going back to Cunninghams or even finding something new.

[MatthewL]

Is it worth speaking to local POS suppliers see if there are any other solutions out there that what has been named, EPOS hardware is supplied by loads of places, sure accounts/reval units can be found that maybe cheaper than these big players.

[DrBeaker]

Will say that although my experience of Cunningham's isn't particularly a positive one, it does seem to work. No point going with someone cheaper who promises the earth but can't deliver.

[keyboards]

Cunningham's seems to work fine, although they did annoy me the other did when they wanted £200-300 per machine to reinstall IDstore/idsuite, even though I'd done all the leg work, just needed help with one tiny bit where to point the files. In the end got it working myself

[mavhc]

Used Cunninghams in 2x schools - only the catering manager deals with them usually.

 

But their support is very questionable IMHO from experience at both. Surly, unhelpful, unresponsive etc. YMMV.

 

One time we had a problem with the reval units. They told the catering manager as they had an IT person onsite (me) that "the reval was only a computer so get your IT person to open it and connect a keyboard and monitor". Err NO. That's not my job, that's what we're paying YOU for. It was at least -10 Points to Cunninghams in my book for that attitude.

 

We also had an issue in September where they wouldn't come out to site, unless they were paid upfront. I believe the tills are on Windows 7, so is their office PC and they've still not put any plans in place AFAIK to replace or upgrade them. None of that is my kit so not my responsibility. Watch this space.

 

Problem is when their alternative is to run an unlicensed ancient copy of a remote control program with a default password and 6 mins later your catering system is DDoSing the NSA

[DanHamilton]

Civica setup, very good.

[supportman]

Civica setup, very good.

 

Any more info on that? How does it sync with a payment provider?

[Chris_Cook]

Liveregister has been really good for us. Very few, if any, problems. The company has always been helpful.

 

We ended up supplying our own till hardware due to bad experiences with a previous company - often with these systems, the tills provided are really expensive and massively under-powered. We wanted to have control over this side of things. We ended up using some all-in-one touch screens from VeryPC and putting them on Ergotron mounts - although the last unit we had didn't need this stand.

[jimmy_2k]

I'm surprised others are having issues with Cunninghams support. I've found them to be ok and a lot better than another provider I worked with in the past. They are usually open to negotiation on price and my local engineer is pretty good too. If you have outside caterers working for you they can often help with any pricing issues and may have more "clout" with some providers if you're stuck trying to get an issue resolved.

[CHiLL]

I'm surprised others are having issues with Cunninghams support. I've found them to be ok and a lot better than another provider I worked with in the past. They are usually open to negotiation on price and my local engineer is pretty good too. If you have outside caterers working for you they can often help with any pricing issues and may have more "clout" with some providers if you're stuck trying to get an issue resolved.

I don't think most people's issues are with support, or at least dealing with the support department. I've generally had a good experience when I've contacted Cunninghams, however they'll make you pay through the nose for their services, especially compared to other vendors on the market.

[DanHamilton]

Any more info on that? How does it sync with a payment provider?

 

Their software runs on a VM syncing with parent pay for us, pretty sure they support pretty much everything going though.

 

Civica is massive with software now and offer so much more on top of catering.

 

I had a demo the other day with a chap showing us the Trust Dashboard which looked fantastic. Yet to see any other provider show this yet, haven't done too much digging.

[Griff]

We use Civica here. They provided a till + their own pc for running the system. We put it on its own internal network so the till connects directly to the PC via mini switch then the PC connects to our network to do its syncs with SIMS + ParentPay. We use it with biometric thumb print or a 4 digit PIN code for those not comfortable with thumb print. Support is pretty good they remote on and sort most issues out so I rarely have to go down there unless its a physical issue... broken Ethernet ports etc or just updating SIMS on their PC.

[rhysa]

We use VeriCool but the revals still use embedded win xp and the pos units are embedded win7