Café Fonteyn offers steady service thanks to well-established systems

Rosa's love for the hospitality industry runs deep. At a very young age, her first part-time job was in a hotel in Noordwijk. When she moved to Amsterdam, it was Café Fonteyn where she enjoyed working. She grows to (assistant) manager and is now co-owner. "Café Fonteyn is a party. It is constantly busy and cosy here. On the terrace we can seat almost 150 people and inside we have 15 smaller tables, a long regular table and the bar where people can take a seat. A well-functioning POS system is then an absolute must."

POS system requirements: fast and clear
"When we were ready for a new POS system, we made a list of our needs and requirements and compared various parties. We were looking for a system that was fast, conveniently arranged, user-friendly and robust. In addition, we wanted to be sure of good service, so that problems would be solved quickly if anything came up. booq POS stood out head and shoulders above the rest in terms of functionalities. And we already had good experiences with supplier Eijsink in terms of service. This made the choice easy."

As easy as a smartphone
"The user-friendliness of booq is fantastic. The previous handhelds worked with the T9 SMS system. For every product you had to come up with a new 'logical' code, which obviously never made sense to everyone. And the slightly older guard grew up with that SMS function, but not the new generation. That makes that way of working difficult to master. booq POS basically works like a smartphone in terms of swiping and tapping. Everyone has a smartphone these days, of course, so it's very familiar and familiar. Whereas with the Vectron we spent 1.5 hours explaining the system, now we say: 'here you have the handheld, go ahead and get started'. It's totally contemporary."

The visual back office is a world of difference
"The biggest difference for me as a manager is booq's back office. Laying out the till and making changes works much easier than with the previous system. That worked through all kinds of complicated scripts, which meant I always had to call the helpdesk to make a change. The booq Backoffice is much more visual and logical. I can now manage it independently and that saves me a lot of time."

Scalable thanks to modules
"I also really like the fact that booq has different modules (the so-called booq Bricks -red.). So I just pay only for the parts I need, but if I want to expand in the future with QR ordering, for example, that's easy to integrate. booq POS can also be linked to other solutions outside the booq Platform. For example, we use a link with Van Duijnen's tap automation. The bartenders then see pluses and minuses on the screen for every beer tapped and every beer tapped. They make it a sport to stay on the 0."

Fast staff planning and payroll
"The ability to integrate systems and having one supplier, and therefore one point of contact, are reasons why we switched to booq Staffplanner. We had previously made the switch from making schedules in Excel to a staff planner tool. We liked that, but it took a relatively long time before we could pay new employees. The booq Staffplanner synchronises with our payroll package NMBRS several times an hour. Whereas previously I had to register a new employee with the accountant and wait for everything to be processed, with the booq Staffplanner I can simply create a staff card myself and schedule a new employee the same day if necessary. It works much faster and more flexibly."

Convenient standard schedules
"The ability to work with standard schedules is also nice. We work with a number of standard rosters, depending on expected crowds based on the day of the week and weather conditions, for example. On Friday afternoons and evenings, for example, there is always someone extra behind the bar and more people in the kitchen at the weekend. We don't have to think about the numbers then. We know exactly what we need in terms of staffing when."

Error-free time registration and payroll
"We also use the time clock to keep track of hours worked. Employees clock in and out on it using the personal passes hanging by the clock. When you clock in, you move your card to the 'clocked in' row. Has your shift finished? Then you clock out and your card goes back to the 'clocked-out' row and you can have a drink if you want. This way of working is very clear. The team leader sees at a glance who has forgotten to clock in and we can then quickly correct that. After approval, the hours are automatically transferred to NMBRS and payment takes place. That works very nicely."

"I am very satisfied with the way everything is running and the blow we have made in terms of user-friendliness and efficiency by implementing booq. We are always looking at how we can increase service in a smart way. I can well imagine that we will also add QR ordering to the possibilities."