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Getting a local till talking to online orders

A restaurant was receiving online orders that had to be typed manually into its local POS software, with no link at all between the two systems.

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The context

The restaurant ran POS software installed locally on Windows, originally designed to work standalone, with no connection to outside systems. On the other side, online orders arrived through a cloud platform. The link between the two was manual: someone read the order received online and typed it back into the till so it would go to the kitchen and be recorded normally. At busy times, this re-entry delay held up preparation and increased the risk of error.

The goal was for an order placed online to reach the till and the kitchen printer directly, with no human step in between.

What I did

  1. Studying the existing POS software

    Identifying the mechanisms available for injecting an order into the local software, in the absence of an official API designed for this use.

  2. Building a local agent

    Setting up a small program installed on the till workstation, tasked with receiving orders from the cloud and passing them to the local software in the format it expects.

  3. Connecting to the cloud platform

    Setting up the order-receiving channel on the platform side, with an acknowledgement confirming the order was correctly picked up on the till side.

  4. Handling failure cases

    Planning the behaviour for a network outage on the restaurant's side, so an order never gets silently lost between the two systems.

Frequently asked questions

Does the POS software need to be modified for this kind of bridge?
No, the local agent relies on mechanisms already available in the existing software without modifying it, so as not to jeopardise its warranty or stability.
What happens if the internet drops during service?
The local agent is designed to handle a temporary outage without losing orders already received, and to resume synchronising normally as soon as the connection comes back.
Does this approach work with other POS software?
The principle carries over, but each POS system has its own exchange mechanisms, or lack of an API, which calls for a specific study before starting.
Does running the local agent need any special hardware?
No, the agent runs on the existing till workstation with no extra hardware, provided it has a stable network connection.

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