FAQ
Cashless catering benefits all stakeholders. The following list summarises the key benefits:
· Speeds up delivery at POS.
· Shortens queues.
· Reduces incidence of pupils leaving school premises during lunch break.
· Increases take up of school meals (c.20% on average)
· Facilitates Healthy Eating Promotions by allocation of .Points. to healthy options.
· Automates all back office functions including collation, storage and reporting of all data, e.g. sales data, eating habits etc.
· Reduces bullying by removing cash from the playground.
· Alleviates stigma sometimes associated with Free School Meals.
An online system means that all the hardware units (POS, Revaluation Units, Vending Machines) are linked (hardwired or by radio communication) back to a Control Unit (PC and peripherals in the Back Office) so that all transactions are recorded and balances are adjusted in real-time.
Account Balances are held on a central PC so that loss or damage to a swipecard does not result in loss of money for the user. Balances are adjusted in real-time so that, for example, cash uploaded onto an account at a Revaluation Unit is immediately available for use at POS.
Account Balances are held on a central PC so that loss or damage to a swipecard does not result in loss of money for the user. Balances are adjusted in real-time so that, for example, cash uploaded onto an account at a Revaluation Unit is immediately available for use at POS.
Yes, every detail of every transaction at POS, in the Back Office, at the Revaluation Unit and at integrated Vending Machines, is recorded. This data can then be manipulated and configured to suit any analytical or reporting need. IMPACT comes with a comprehensive suit of reports as standard. These reports can be used and electronically disseminated to improve the management process.
Not necessarily. Most IMPACT installations are operated by swipecards but there are several alternatives. For Primary schools we have developed solutions using on-screen filters and photographs and we also have high security, cardless biometric solutions such as an integrated Iris Recognition system.
Where swipecards are the preferred access method we can integrate with most (if not all) commonly used cards, including magnetic strip and smartcards. This flexibility means that IMPACT can be integrated with other internal access control systems (library and registration) and also with wider Smartcard initiatives (such as regional or national youth schemes).
Yes, we work with all the major suppliers of vending machines and most vending machines can be integrated into IMPACT.
Yes. Our access control is totally flexible and we have already worked with a number of these schemes including the Young Scot scheme in Scotland and with NERSCC in the North East of England.
Yes. Our access control is totally flexible and we would expect to be able to integrate it with any such system.
We provide a very 'hands-on' approach to preparing you for launch and training your staff. 10 years of experience has been diluted into a number of relevant documents (wiring requirements, data collation, marketing to parents and pupils etc.) to help you prepare for launch. We also have extensive provision for training key operators including the facility to visit our premises in Loanhead and are always on-site for the first 3 days of .going-live. both to provide training and to solve any teething problems. This is supported by a user-friendly operating handbook.
There is also a comprehensive support service operated by a team in out offices in Loanhead. These are available for telephone and online assistance during office hours and, for problems that need to be dealt with on a face- to face basis we have engineers and support staff out on the road and available for site visits.
After-sales support is a key part of our service. We believe that it is essential that it is quick, easy and reliable. At its heart there is a dedicated support team in our offices in Loanhead, Edinburgh. These are available for telephone and online assistance during office hours and, for problems that need to be dealt with on a face- to face basis, we have engineers and support staff out on the road and available for site visits.
Yes. Scotland and the North-East of England are supported from our offices in Loanhead, Edinburgh and Cunninghams, our long-standing partner based in Birmingham, provide support for the rest of England and Wales. We also have local partners who are responsible for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Yes there is a built-in promotional facility, which enables .healthy-eating. points to be allocated to selected food items and for reports to be generated participants. performance.
Yes. IMPACT has the facility to highlight products containing potentially harmful products (e.g. nuts) and to record medical conditions (e.g. nut allergies or diabetes) or religious preferences to individual user.s profiles. This information can be used to alert POS operators to potentially harmful or inappropriate food choices.
Yes. Spend limits can be set individually or for users groups (e.g. pupils, teachers, supervisors, hospitality accounts) and for overall usage or even for specified period (break times). IMPACT can also set limits on expenditure for a specific usage such as on vending machines.
Yes. IMPACT accommodates different groups of users (e.g. pupils, teachers, supervisors, hospitality accounts) and each group can have its own particular profile (e.g. free school meal allowances for teachers only on days when they act as a meal-time supervisor).
Yes, we can issue cards for visitors and hospitality purposes. We set up User-Groups in the Back Office to make provision for this. Spend limits can be ascribed to these accounts (all accounts in fact) and the charges can be directed to the appropriate destination.
Yes. Most of the administrative use of IMPACT is on an ad hoc, day-to-day basis, but the year-end adjustments for year changes, departing pupils and new intake is a big task, which we are happy to help with. The school must, of course, provide the relevant information in a usable format.
Account balances can be credited in the Back Office by cheque or cash, or even over the Internet (although transaction charges have mitigated against this to date), but wall-mounted, Revaluation Units provide users with the facility to check their balance and load cash onto their accounts in a simple and accessible way. Revaluation Units are typically located in the restaurant, entrance hall or common room lobby. These wall-mounted steel security boxes are extremely strong and can accept coins & notes in both sterling and Euros.
Yes, in theory. We have already made the necessary technical and commercial preparations to set up payment over the Internet. However, merchants. transaction charges have been an impediment to low value transactions in the past. Hopefully an Internet merchant will solve the .low transaction value. problem in the future, and make payment over the web a viable solution for payment of school meals.
Free school meal allowances are loaded onto the relevant accounts automatically by the PC. Individual users. profiles are set-up to reflect eligibility and those entitled will find their account credited with the relevant amount. This .invisibility. of the allocation of free school meal allowances eradicates the stigma sometimes associated with the use more visible methods in cash-based environments. This well-documented issue of social exclusion is a key benefit of going cashless.
Replacement cards are easy to issue and automatically invalidates the lost card in case of potential misappropriation. Charges for lost cards are discretionary and can be set both globally and on an individual basis. In cases where a card has been left at home, the user can be issued with a slip of paper signed by the system administrator.
A user identification number on the slip enables the POS operator to activate the user.s account.
Although such events are uncommon it is essential to be able to provide meals even during, for example, a power-cut. On these rare occasions the POS operator marks individuals food choices on a printout of the keyboard. These choices are then input when normal service is resumed.
Yes. Primary Schools often operate a cardless system, activating IMPACT by touch-screen .buttons., which open the user.s account by filtering for class and name. An on-screen photograph can be used to confirm identification.
Yes. IMPACT already operates in many hospitality and club environments as well as on large-scale sites such as for BP at Grangemouth.
Yes. As well as being able to provide a number of Case Studies, we are happy to put you in touch with any of our existing customers and many of them are happy to accommodate site visits.
Is there a biometric solutions?
Yes. Fingerprint recognition technology is rapidly becoming the preferred solution for many of our clients. It eradicates the needs for cards and is safe and secure. For more details go to our downloads section.
Is there a biometric solutions?
Yes. Fingerprint recognition technology is rapidly becoming the preferred solution for many of our clients. It eradicates the needs for cards and is safe and secure. For more details go to our downloads section.