A stable simple printer solution

WPPizza – A Restaurant Plugin for WordPress › Support › General Support › A stable simple printer solution

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  • 14 December, 2016 at 7:57 pm #24077
    Kim Koldtoft
    Participant

      I think this is a challenge that a lot of people have and I was hoping some of the other users could chime in and give some advice. I have searched the forum for answers, but could not find any solutions, which I could use.

      My Current solution
      1. An order te email is sent to a dedicated Gmail account
      2. A computer in the basement of the restaurant, downloads and prints the order using this software http://www.automatic-email-manager.com/

      The problem
      1. Sometimes the computer crash or go down for whatever reason (power outage, someone unplugs it, other random stuff)
      2. Sometimes it does not print for some other random reason
      3. When an order is not printed, the customers get pissed that their food is not ready, and my client get’s really upset with me (understandably)

      I want to branch out and build web shop solutions for other potential clients, but can’t until I can fix this issue and print 100% of the orders, 100% of the time.

      My suggested solution
      1. As far as I can figure, I can print to a cloud printer, using the google cloud print plugin, without having to send any emails or have any computer in the shop)
      2. The Epson TM-T88V-I can cloud print, and the Epson TM Thermal printers are super stable.

      My Question
      1. Can anyone confirm that the cloud print plugin prints every order stably?
      2. Can anyone confirm that Epson TM-T88V-I works with google cloud print? (or recommend another thermal printer that does)
      3. Can anyone confirm that Google Cloud print works WITHOUT having a computer at the location of the printer (like in this case, without having a computer in the restaurant)

      Any advice on this topic will be greatly appreciated.

      Thank you.

      15 December, 2016 at 1:45 pm #24100
      mps1
      Participant

        I went through a similar issue. I hired a developer to create a plugin that initiates a call to the rest after an order is placed. That way the rest is alerted to check for that new order.

        I think another option would be having the rest purchase a tablet and a bluetooth printer.

        Check the Star Micronics, SM-T300I-DB50

        15 December, 2016 at 2:55 pm #24101
        Kim Koldtoft
        Participant

          @mps1
          Like a robo-call that says the order, or just a “call and hang up” so they know to check for an order?

          Yes, I was actually thinking of placing a tablet on the wall, that shows the most recent orders from the order history page. From that, they can just click the print button and it will be printed on the network printer. (no need for a Bluetooth printer I think. The Epson TM printers are network printers, so they can be connected to the tablet

          Thank you for the input.

          Ps. Would you be interested in sharing that “call the rest” plugin?

          15 December, 2016 at 4:25 pm #24102
          mps1
          Participant

            The plugin uses the Twilio API to make the phone calls. You write the script and the text to speech engine will convert it to someone talking. You specify a waiting time before calling the store as sometimes the email doesn’t get there right away. I normally have it wait 60 seconds and then they go and check.

            Not sharing the plugin as I paid a lot of money to get it developed for my own client websites.

            15 December, 2016 at 4:35 pm #24103
            Kim Koldtoft
            Participant

              Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

              That’s fair 🙂

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