LAKE FOREST Calif. Del Taco, based here, the nation's second-largest quick-service Mexican chain with 495 restaurants, is reaping benefits from two different mobile computing applications, executives said.
In one instance, the chain is slashing the costs of after-hours and other special-circumstance information technology maintenance with wireless-network-enabled mobile computers, according to chief information officer Henry Volkman. In the other, he said, Del Taco is boosting the speed of its drive-thru service via "line busting" wireless hand-held devices that relay orders to in-restaurant point-of-sale systems.
Del Taco saved $700,000 in third-party IT service calls in the first year of using the mobile PCs with wireless networking capabilities, Volkman said. He explained that the devices allow Del Taco's technical support people to quickly assess a problematic restaurant computer, no matter where those techs are when the problem arises. In the past, when the chain lacked remote access and diagnostic capability, it was forced to send in an outside technician if a restaurant-level problem arose while techs were out in the field or otherwise unable to access troubleshooting resources at headquarters.
"All of my supervisory people are required to dial into restaurants that need help in real time, no matter where they are," said Volkman. With the current laptop-wireless network configuration, he added, "We haven't found any spots in which they can't do that."
"By taking the first call, we can solve nine out of 10 problems," Volkman continued. "Now almost 100 percent of the time, when we send a person to a unit, it's necessary."
Del Taco currently uses the Panasonic Toughbook 51, a semi-rugged notebook PC, for its mobile processing power and storage. Comparing the Panasonic product with other laptops used by the chain in the past, Volkman said, "There are others that are equivalent, but we have fewer breakdowns with it."
The wireless networking capability employed by Del Taco is provided by type II PCMCIA slot mountable "AirCard" brand wireless wide area network cards. The cards are sold by the chain's cellular data service provider Verizon and recently were priced online for $159 apiece, with lower prices available to buyers signing service agreements. Volkman, who doubles as Del Taco's IT director, said the chain paid $17.50 per card.
Depending on service availability, the wireless network cards tap into Verizon's NationAccess data networking service delivering average download speeds of from 60 kilobits to 80 kilobits per second, or kbps, or the vendor's BroadbandAccess service with average download speeds of 400 kbps to 700 kbps. The NationAccess service was priced at $59 per month recently in some markets, while the BroadbandAccess service carried a charge of $79 monthly.
In a typical scenario demanding the use of the troubleshooting laptop setup, a restaurant employee might make a mistake in the end-of-day register closing procedure. "Sometimes people in the store will do something out of sequence or enter the wrong date," said Volkman. That's troublesome, because Del Taco runs 24 hours in most locations and needs to quickly close and reopen all tills each night to continue doing business. "We dial right into the back-office POS [server] and see that the date is set wrong," said Volkman. "We reset it, and they're back up and running."
"We learned a long time ago that it is better to see the problem ourselves than rely on other people to describe it," added Volkman. Del Taco's techs use the notebook and wireless connection to check vendor sites to identify error messages for equipment. If necessary, they scrutinize a POS problem down to the "dump level," or underlying computer code. "We'll dump the register and look at the code to see exactly what it was doing at the time," said Volkman.
The Panasonic notebooks have magnesium-alloy cases and shock-mounted hard drives. "We've gone through a number of different laptops," said Volkman. "This one can take the dust of construction sites and the bumps and drops that happen."
The notebooks cost $1,500-$2,000 each. Volkman noted possible future online- and video-training uses for the devices, which have 15-inch color displays and combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW drives.
Del Taco's other major wireless initiative targets line busting in the drive-thru lane. Its crewmembers wield handheld Panasonic Toughbook Wireless Display devices to take carside orders and push vehicles through faster. "We can work the lane while cars are waiting" to reach the conventional drive-thru order board, said Volkman.
The Panasonic devices are, in effect, wireless remote terminals for the Radiant Aloha POS systems in the chain's restaurants. Because they display the same software shown on in-restaurant terminals, their use in the drive-thru requires no additional employee training.
Drive-thru speed is critical at a concept like Del Taco that cooks food to order, Volkman noted. In addition to helping Del Taco more efficiently meet drive-thru demand and reduce the possibility of customer drive-offs and lost sales, the handhelds help the chain comply with environmental rules. "In California there are regulations about how many people you can stack up in line," said Volkman.
He said Del Taco is looking into adding a credit-card reader to the wireless display terminals to enable crewmembers to process payment for even swifter service.
The 2.6-pound Pansonic display has a magnesium-alloy case with hand strap and is billed as drop-, shock-, moisture- and vibration-resistant. It has a 10.4-inch daylight-readable LCD and a touchscreen as well. Each one costs about $5,000 fully installed, and each Del Taco unit is budgeted for one, according to Volkman.
