Qube Blog

5 Reasons to UPGRADE your EPOS in 2022

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 13:42:46 GMT

As 2021 begins to draw to a close...

some food for thought on how 2022 could look for your business...

5 Reasons to upgrade your EPOS in 2022.

1 - Speed

Modern EPOS machines are faster for two main reasons, the software has upgraded year on year to cope with the modern world, filled with modern customers. Secondly, the hardware has evolved with newer machines utilising state-of-the-art Touch Screen technology, faster processors and increased storage compared to their older opposition. So, what does this lead to? Faster client turnovers, fewer errors and no downtime.

2 - App Integrations

Pay at Table and Online Ordering are just two EPOS apps that have exploded in popularity in the past few years, Covid-19 has changing the way a lot of us order and pay for food and drink. Integrate your offering to your EPOS, separate systems are an administrative headache and prone to operational problems.

3 - Look & Space

Imagine your modern coffee shop or bar and all the effort to make everything from menus to wall decor look fresh, inviting, and warm. Now imagine an old faded grey cash machine sat there on your countertop as the last impression. Maybe it is time to add a smaller, faster, and more efficient machine that takes up less space.

4 - Security

Define user roles on your EPOS and ensure access is restricted to those who have the authority to conduct certain transactions and view your data. Trust within your workforce is essential but do not leave your EPOS exposed to abuse.

5 - Reporting

Monitor, track and analyse your sales with ease. Ask your EPOS to calculate your figures for VAT, keep track on your products GP’s and never run out of stock. Let the data dictate where an area of your business needs your attention and showcase with data when incentives and promotions are working. View your business performance “on the go” ensuring you can always be reactive to situations when you need to be.

Onwards and Upwards!

0014456209 (D DAVIES) — Fri, 28 May 2021 15:56:24 GMT

Now let's have a good summer!!

More positive news to write about as we end the second full week of indoor hospitality being able to open again. Most of our customers are now fully open and after such a turbulent time, it is a relief we have got to this position. The vaccines continue to be administered and news of Covid variants of course remain a concern, but there appears to be a united opinion that we are through the worst.

We have been extremely busy on all fronts, new installations, service calls and product development. Our recent installations have included an 18 site Café group, now boasting POS with integrated card payments from our partners over at Payment Sense, a children’s soft play site, a cocktail bar in Camden and a rather large holiday park to name a few. As any business who has worked with Qube before will know, our attention to detail in the programming and configuration of any system, alongside our onsite installation and training is our way of working. Regardless of the size of the project, it is so important that your POS works for you and lets you take your business forward. I will not berate the way other companies operate; they have their reasons but Qube will never adopt a “one box fits all” mentalit y to POS because I strongly believe it does not! Additionally, we will never ship boxes to site and expect our clients to install systems themselves. That is not really a service is it?!

As systems have been off for a while during Lockdown v3, our support calls have been on the up! We expected this and planned accordingly. I am pleased to write, every one of contracted customers opened with a working POS system on May 17th.

The MSD.POS product continues to go from strength to strength. This already boasts a seamless integration with its sister product the MSD.Cloud. We also have working sites operating with integrated online and table ordering through our partners Mobo2Go.

As mentioned in my last post, the new Uniwell HX-3500 looks rather nice! The first shipment of this product is marked for later this year. As we import direct from select manufacturers across the globe, we have suffered on occasion a delay in obtaining goods. Thankfully, everything appears to have settled down as we adjust our ordering to accommodate the longer lead times. It is probably as a result of Brexit but systems are improving all of the time and our adjustments have meant little to no impact for our clients.

We have been so busy recently, my father, who a lot of you will know – Jeff (now retired), has been sub-contracting for us to help out. I joined Qube in 2005 and worked with my Dad for well over a decade. I must say it has been so enjoyable working with him again and brought back some great memories. I recently found a photo of him programming some Tills in the late 80’s, early 90’s! I will share it in a post at some point this year.

Sending you all our best and here is to a good and hopefully sunny summer for us all.

Take care,

Dan

Back for good! We sincerely hope :)

0014456209 (D DAVIES) — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 11:48:14 GMT

Outdoor hospitality and non-essential retail open their doors once again!

11 days ago, outdoor hospitality and non-essential retail got to open their doors again and what an amazing lift it has given so many of us. As we make our way out of our third (and please final) lockdown, it has been so refreshing seeing a lot of our customers do what they do best once again. It is far from easy - reduced capacity, Covid guidelines and a huge demand to manage, however, we have seen it with our own eyes and credit must be given to the companies and their staff for making things happen again.

We have been incredibly busy which is a good thing to write. A lot of our customers are taking the opportunity to look at how they operate and use technology to improve their operations. We have installed so many handhelds and online ordering systems it is almost becoming the ‘norm’. Operators are telling me it is resulting in an efficient service and most importantly an accurate one. If the drink or food prints, you know it is on the customer’s bill. Sadly, pen and paper is not only slower and less accurate (dreaded handwriting!) but it is also open to human error and items not being added to their customers bill.

To support our customers with online ordering, our software development team have written a module that sits between the POS and online ordering. The module means we can control how online orders are handled and what is sent to the POS and their printers. It also negates the need for fixed IP addresses! It is live in 2 sites now and has been a huge success.

I have in my possession one of four HX-3500’s in the U.K. The HX-3500 is Uniwell’s brand new POS solution and I must say, it is wonderful!! Uniwell is a POS manufacturer I am extremely passionate about. Their POS is so robust, advanced in functionality and incredibly reliable. The new HX-3500 will incorporate the Uniwell standard but it also looks the part. It comes in the shape of a ‘tablet’ but rather than being an iOS, Android, or Windows based tablet, all with their own quirks, it is using Uniwell embedded software, tried and tested and as I mentioned, ridiculously reliable. We will not get our first shipment of this product until August/September this year so more information on this to come…

To all our customers, as you re-open again, if you need our support, we are here. For those getting ready for 17 ^th May, if you would like us to conduct a health check of the system before you open, please email me on dan@qube-epos.co.uk and we will get this booked in free of charge.

We have supported all our customers by pausing support contract and subscription payments throughout the pandemic. Our business relationship is a partnership and in Qube and Microtek we will always endeavour to do the right thing by our customers.

Take care everyone.

Dan

The light at the end of the tunnel...

0014456209 (D DAVIES) — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 10:08:48 GMT

...and we are getting nearer to it, slowly but surely!

As the national lockdown continues, so does genuine belief this will be the last. It has been and still is, a bumpy road but one we are all (sadly) getting used to.

The government plan an announcement on 22nd February and like most of the country, I will be watching and hoping to hear positive news. As much as I would like the hospitality industry to open now, realistically I know that the priority will be to arrange for the return of children to education. If the government announce this, even with the caveat of ‘data continuing to go in the way they expect’, it will be the first big step in our route out of this.

We and a lot of our customers are planning for April being a return to some form of hospitality re-opening, with conditions of course. There is speculation that the first route back will be outside only, table service with distancing and mixing measures. We all would like to see some movement in April but accept May/June is more realistic. Regardless, we are over halfway through February and what is that I can see… a light at the end of the tunnel?!

This lockdown has seen us provide a lot of quotations to new and existing customers on a variety of POS elements. There is still a lot of interest in online ordering and order/pay at table solutions. The fact we can provide these solutions standalone or integrated to POS has kept us busy. Additionally, we have access to APP based solutions and Web (via QR code) based solutions, some of our customers have both!

At the start of this technology revolution, we talked a lot about what we could do to make the transition as easy as possible. Firstly, any person or company who has worked with us will know that we are with you throughout the whole process. It sounds obvious but I have heard so many horror stories where companies have tried to redefine the way they work, only to do so with a company they meet online and must obtain support via ‘live chat’ only. Do not get me wrong, I love technology and ‘live chat’ has its place, much more than the automated phone service (which mostly drives me insane) but if I were making such a big operational change to my business, I would want someone to manage the project and make it work for me. Our charges are more than fair, we have never been a ‘cheap’ company, the products we distribute must meet a certain standard and ‘cheap’ technology would have been hard to push our tagline ‘reliable Epos solutions’ wouldn’t it? So, with Qube, you will pay a little bit more but the old saying exists in Epos too – ‘you get what you pay for!’.

Secondly, we do not insist on minimum term contracts, from Day 1 you enroll into a monthly rolling contract with our online services. We believe that if your product and service is good enough, why tie people down to long contracts? Combine that with the fact a lot of businesses are making this step for the first time and with change comes some nervousness. So, we all decided long term contracts were unfair and were not something we wanted to associate ourselves with.

All customers who remain completely closed during this lockdown, have our full support, and will NOT be charged their subscriptions or maintenance contracts. We do what we can for our customers, yes of course it has a financial impact on us, but we want our customers to survive this pandemic and we want to work with them for many years to come. These are times we will never forget but without sounding too cliché – we are stronger together.

In other news, our new website is on hold. We are supported by ‘Yell.com’ and have hit some ‘snags’, one being this blog ironically! I am hoping it is resolved soon.

There is a lot going on with our software development team, including some integration work on a product I know will make our MSD.Cloud product better than ever.

Lastly, new hardware is on the horizon and from our leading manufacturer Uniwell! Similar amazing robustness, look and feel but in a brand-new shell. We have samples making their way to the U.K. as we speak, I will update and add details to our website as soon as I can.

In the meantime, get in touch with us if you want to assess your current system before you re-open or if you have any other questions for that matter.

Take care everyone and remember that light at the end of the tunnel is there and thank goodness, we are heading right towards it.

Dan

Happy New Year 2021

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 16:48:00 GMT

Roll on the vaccine!

2020 has gone and 2021 has arrived but for the start at least, the chaos continues. Yesterday evening as completely expected England was put into a national lockdown. The rest of the U.K have similar restrictions in place too and albeit not a surprise, it was yet another harsh piece of news for the hospitality sector.

Anyway, before we get too down in the dumps, I hope you all had the best Christmas and New Year possible. It certainly was not the ‘normal’ festive period, but I still managed to indulge and the scales told me so when I had my New Year’s Day ‘weigh-in’!

Unlike periods of 2020, 2021 has a lot of promise. The vaccine being so unbelievably crucial to that promise. The government outlined a plan and a bold one at that, for the people in the highest 4 risk categories to have received their first vaccine by the middle of February. A huge ask on the NHS but real optimism moving forward.

So, as we enter lockdown v.3, what happens to us at Qube and the Microtek Group? Well, to be honest, it is business as usual for us. We will continue to be talking to customers about how their business will look when restrictions are eased once again. Epos and technology, we know will play a vital role here and we will ensure our customers are aware of the latest innovation that can help them push forward as Covid-19 is forced away.

Our software development team continues to work tirelessly on our MSD.POS software. The integrations we can already boast for this product are amazing and trust me, I have seen the development road map for this year and 2021 will see even more integrations! It is an exciting time.

We still plan to launch our e-commerce shop. The existing one is active but the new one will support a wider range of products and more importantly for our maintenance and contracted customers, it will support promotional codes too ��

It is our 19 ^th year in business, and we remain completely focused on providing the latest technology and innovations to our customers. As many of you know having worked with us for so many years, we will be there to support you when you need us, it is a team effort and I do not mean it to sound cliché when I say, we succeed when you succeed.

2021 may not have started easy but stay strong, support each other and let’s hope we are duly rewarded for our efforts.

Happy New Year everyone.

Dan

#Lockdown2

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 11:58:14 GMT

Here we go again...

So it is official, from tomorrow (5th November 2020), England will enter its second lockdown of 2020. It comes as cases of Covid continue to rise and a fear that our hospitals will not be able to cope as winter looms. The plan, at the moment, is for England to return to the Tiered system on 2nd December 2020.

It is a desperately disappointing time for a lot of my customers who have worked so hard both before 4th July to be 'Covid-ready' and since then to keep their staff and customers safe, while still delivering great food, drink and service. I have been lucky to visit many of my customers during this time, I follow them on their social media platforms and we talk a lot. I am proud to work with them all and additionally, I believe they are a credit to the hospitality industry.

From our point of view, it is business as usual. November will prove to be a very important time for our customers to be as ready as possible for what we hope will be a busy and profitable festive period for them. We realise now is an ideal time for customers to look at their POS and ensure it is ready to operate in what is now known as the 'new-normal'.

Many of you are now offering 'click and collect' / 'takeaway' services. Allowing your customers to order online, both on and off premises is a great addition to your offering. We have teamed up with 2 online ordering companies and our software development team and theirs work together to ensure we can offer the best integrated solutions in this area.

There is a lead time on mobile APP solutions at the moment and sadly, there is not a great deal we can do about it. The whole hospitality sector is moving online so there is somewhat of a backlog BUT while there is a wait on APPS being released we are able turnaround mobile optimised websites (via short link and QR code) in just 2-3 weeks. This means you can take your business online quickly and if you want a mobile APP you'll ultimately have both offerings soon enough.

In other news, MSD.POS continues to take big strides forward and it is so exciting to be part of this products development. It has been built under such a solid foundation and the sky is the limit with where it can go. Now Qube is part of the Microtek family we are actively involved with its development of new features and integrations. MSD.POS will already support a lot of the hospitality sector with integrated solutions for; card payments, ordering boards, customer displays (with image and video promotions!) and online ordering. I know the developers of this product personally, they have been in the industry a long time and will leave no stone unturned!

Please get in touch if you want to talk technology either online or in person (at a distance of course).

Before I sign off, next time I write, the American election result will have been confirmed... Trump or Biden? BBC claim as the moment it is 'going to the wire'. I do not particularly follow American Politics, I just have a feeling that Donald may get a second term. Regardless, I hope it gets sorted quickly. U.S.A is also deeply struggling to get a hold on Covid-19 and whoever is in charge has got very important work to do.

Take care everyone,

Dan

Covid cannot stop internet orders! Plus, card processing issues? A bit of handy advice...

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 16:20:11 GMT

Diversifying? It is proving hard not to!

Diversifying?

It is proving hard not to!

Hi everyone, first and foremost, I hope you are all safe and well as these bizarre times roll on...

Some of my customers are reporting good levels of business, some less so. Geographically the U.K has varying states of the new Tiered system and whilst some of our customers have had to close, most, at the time of writing remain open.

Before I get into the main topic of this post, I just want to say a big thank you to those who have recently reviewed us on google. We have always been a company that strives to go the extra mile. I know it sounds cliche (I do not mean it to, but I know it does!) but it is what we’re all about at Qube and the Microtek Group.

More reviews are always welcome! Here is a short link - www.pop2.us/reviewqube

The Epos world is always changing, and we have made it our mission to follow the technology every single step of the way. I have noticed in the last 2 or 3 years the way in which a lot of Epos companies deal with their customers has changed dramatically. So many of our competitors are posting Epos systems for clients to install themselves! You do not meet the company representatives and have an actual account manager. It baffles me to be honest. I am proud of how we do things; our customers know they can trust us and that means everything to me.

Anyway, moving on. Whatever happens with Covid-19, your customers will still want to be fed and watered. So, making sure your company is in the best position possible to do this, is clearly especially important.

We have seen a big increase in customers offering takeaway services. The serving of pints, bottles of wine, homemade cottage pies and the famous British Roast are being served through Takeaway more than ever. It is not quite the same as sitting in your favourite pub or restaurant but its not a million miles away either!

Change and diversifying your business can be daunting and embracing new technology at the same time, can seem like you are taking on a lot. We do make this process seamless and take a lot of those fears away. So, if you are thinking about change, lets talk!

In other news this week some of our clients using integrated online ordering had intermittent problems with processing of payments. We conducted our usual diagnosis but quickly identified the issue was a generic problem. A colleague of mine put me onto a website that shows reported failed transaction in real time. It is extremely useful if you are having problems with Visa, Mastercard etc. Anyway, I thought it was so useful I wanted to share the links on here, they are –

https://downdetector.co.uk/status/visa/

https://downdetector.co.uk/status/mastercard/

It is worth adding these sites to your favourites and checking them should you encounter any problems with failed card transactions. Bear in mind it only indicates reported failures but if you see a spike in reports, you would be fair to assume there is a generic issue and not a local issue that is just having an impact on your business.

Take care everyone,

Dan

2020...

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 12:36:16 GMT

2020... what happened?
What is HAPPENING?

Our last face-to-face team meeting was in February earlier this year. On the agenda, albeit not near the top, was Covid-19, coronavirus and the valid question - if it continues, will it have an impact on our business?

The following month, we find ourselves glued to our TV's and hearing Boris announce 'lock-down'. It was and still is, very serious stuff.

Not all but a lot (probably 90%) of our customers had to close and as a result we took the decision to give all of our contract customers a free 'holiday' from their contractual commitments. Of course this came at a cost to us but morally we felt it was the right thing to do and I am proud of our decision.

Whilst we were in lock-down, our website had a much needed face-lift and we put wheels into motion about adding an e-commerce section here too.

In July and August a lot of our customers re-opened and now I'm pleased to write, 90% are open instead of closed.

Technology has played a vital role in a lot of our customers re-opening. We have supplied a great deal of handheld licences to enable fast and accurate table service. Ironically, so many of my customers have said they wished they had made this move sooner, realising to an extent how much time (e.g. money) was wasted before and how many items (e.g. money) were not making their way on to their customers bill as they should have been.

We have also been supplying a lot of order/pay at table solutions through a QR code or shortened website. I suppose time will tell but personally, I can see this way of working staying post Covid-19. Consumers seem to like the laid back approach of placing their own orders. There is good research coming through that people spend more too. Also, as hard as it is to write, it does save on staff costs if the customer is placing the orders themselves. I hate writing that but it is true.

In and amongst all of this, MSD.POS our PC based POS software is live and doing well. We have several installs booked over the coming weeks. The product is ideal for a single site operator, feature rich and so straightforward to program. Next year, it will be expanded more to work in a multiple terminal set up.

So watch this space!

With so much happening in the world generally and in the technology sector, we will be posting updates at least once a month on here. As always, if we can assist in any way, do not hesitate to get in touch.

Stay safe and well.

Dan