Agilysys launches Meritage dining solution

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Agilysys launches Meritage dining solution.

Hospitality IT solutions provider, Agilysys (Europe) Ltd., has launched its latest dining solution, Meritage.  Described as contemporary and intuitive, Meritage is fun for the diner to use and resource-efficient for the restaurant. Using Apple iPad technology, restaurants can now take the point-of-service to the dining table and involve guests in their choice of food and wine and make suggestions based on the information and visuals in front of them.
  
Comments Trevor Roberts, VP Sales & Marketing EMEA at Agilysys: "Meritage can operate as a stand-alone Menu or POS system or can be integrated with Agilysys InfoGenesis, a point-of-sale solution. In its integrated version, it gives management access to the POS back-office and to extensive reporting and configuration capabilities."
 
Meritage can be used purely as a self-service solution, where the high quality of its graphics or video makes the selection of food and wine appealing. Equally, it can be used by waiting staff to guide and engage diners fully in their selection.  The richness of the information presented and accessible via Meritage increases diners' knowledge of, for instance, wine types and vineyard details, thereby whetting their appetite and adding to the pleasure of the dining experience.
 

As a means of detailing dish contents, a benefit both for diners with special dietary requirements and for establishments needing to disclose ingredients for nutritional guidance, Meritage is a practical tool.  It's a great way, too, of presenting daily 'specials' and new suggestions or promotional offers without relying on the memory of waiting staff. 
 
Meritage can be customised to match individual restaurant style and dcor.  In settings such as fine dining, a private club or an ultra-modern bar where tills might sound a jarring note, Roberts adds: "Meritage can be used to replace traditional points-of-sale.  Guest orders are taken at the table using Meritage on the iPad.  At the end of the meal, guests are presented with an Apple iPod touch Chip and PIN device, working in tandem.  Sales transactions are passed straight through to the back-office from Agilysys InfoGenesis or re-keyed into an existing POS solution."
 
At the other end of the spectrum, such as in a corporate hospitality or conference catering environment where 'large-numbers' service needs to be rapid and efficient, Meritage can reduce staffing by providing each table with a means of placing its own orders.
 
Concludes Trevor Roberts: "By making processes such as dining reservations, table utilisation, inventory, stock control and point-of-sale transactions both more efficient and more profitable, Agilysys is helping restaurants to concentrate on what they do best.  With a little help from technologies such as Meritage, restaurants can focus on providing fabulous food, presented and served with passion.  That's what makes diners return time and time again, and recommend a restaurant to their friends."