Tech Tracker first reported on call button technologies last year with Kallpod. Tablee is a similar “butler” button concept geared for casual dining, hotels and country clubs. Servers can download the Tablee app to their phone, or pair it to a smart watch. The Tablee device sits on the counter. Diners tap the button to send a push notification to a server. The idea is to reduce a casual dining pain point: flagging down a server when you need a water refill, another cocktail or the check.

Tablee maintains that servers benefit as well, with some earning as much as $10,000 more a year in tips. Restaurants currently using the Virginia-based company’s device include Walnut Grill restaurants in Pennsylvania and eatertainment concept Tang & Biscuit in Richmond, Va.

Tech Tracker has previously talked about Penny and Flippy, robots developed by two different companies that bus tables and cook burgers in California. Robot technology is still in the gee-whiz phase. The industry is far from widespread adoption. That being said, I couldn’t help but tell you about a new automated kid in town: Elf. 

Canada-based Autonetics Universe recently acquired the distribution rights to sell Elf, a cloud-enabled service robot made by Csjbot, a China-based robotics company. The service robots are widely used in restaurants in Japan and Canada. Unlike Bear Robotics’ Penny, Elf is a voice activated robot that can take orders and talk to diners. Autonetics said the fully autonomous robot can also be programmed for other roles such as food runner, greeter, security guard and cashier.

Dash Now, which plans to launch in July, says tableside tablet hardware is unnecessary because every consumer carries a computer: their mobile phone. Geared for full-service operators, Dash Now allows diners to use their phones to pay at the table by scanning a QR code listed on a printed check or receipt. Diners can then retrieve the bill and pay.  

Restaurants can also get instant feedback from customers. As diners pay, they are asked to rate or review their experience similar to the user interface of ride-sharing and third-party delivery apps. Your Go Getter Inc., a Santa Ana, Calif.-based company, was promoting a similar mobile payment technology at the show. The company [not pictured] said it was testing its table top systems at Royal Khyber, a fine-dining Indian restaurant in Santa Ana, Calif.

Tapit is a new kiosk solution that touts itself as the Wix of kiosks because it provides easy to use templates for restaurant owners to control and design their user interface. (Wix is a do-it-yourself website builder). Tapit, based in Israel, currently works with New Deli, an assembly line quick-service sandwich shop described as the Subway of Israel. The company’s first U.S. customer, Duchess Restaurants, is rolling out Tapit this month at two of its fast-food restaurants in Connecticut.  The brand, like other kiosk providers, maintains that restaurants that use kiosks will see increases in average check. The company said Tapit customers see kiosk check averages grow 11% to 30%.

Tapit is also gearing up for AI deployment. The software will feature targeted upselling based on machine learning of consumer behavior and ordering patterns.

“It will know you better than you know yourself,” vice president of international sales Larry Susman said.

A U.S. Naval Academy student developed Synk Delivery as a workaround for restaurants looking to avoid profit hurting commission fees from last-mile delivery companies. Synk is geared for restaurants who want to use their own delivery drivers for bulk orders.

The web tool pools multiple orders for a single delivery to the same location such as an office building, a college campus, apartment complexes or corporate headquarters. It was beta tested by Subway, Chick-fil-A and Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurants near the Naval Academy, a booth representative told NRN during the NRA Show. During the beta test, Chick-fil-A, for example, was able to deliver as many as 17 orders in one trip. The web-based program calculates the most efficient delivery routes for restaurants. Operators can control the radius of delivery, delivery times, and maximum number of orders allowed. 

Synk works like Minneapolis-based Foodsby, a well-established program focusing on lunch delivery in urban markets. The company, which started in 2012, is growing rapidly in large metropolitan areas and urban markets. Consumers pay a single delivery fee of $1.99. No other charges. Foodsby aggregates orders coming in from one central area such as an office building. Those orders allow the restaurant to make bulk deliveries in one trip. Foodsby recently expanded to San Diego, its first entrance in California. Restaurant partners in San Diego include House of Bites, P.F. Chang’s, Lemonade and Chick-fil-A. National restaurant partners include TGI Fridays, Corner Bakery, Smashburger, Noodles & Co., Famous Dave’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill and McAlister’s Deli. Restaurants pay, roughly, a 7% fee. Foodsby said it will soon roll out group catering in Minnesota.

Bar patrons and fitness center users are familiar with Tunity, which allows customers to tune into live audio from muted televisions in sports bars and gyms. At the NRA show, the brand announced beta testing of a new promotional tie-in feature. Since the app tracks viewership patterns, users can be targeted with offers based on their viewership habits, the company said. For example, a customer who watches the Los Angeles Lakers at a sports bar can be prompted via a push notification to watch the team’s next game at the restaurant and redeem a free beer.  

This technology, if 100% accurate, could prevent food safety disaster for a restaurant. The food safety scanner can instantly detect or screen for norovirus, e. coli, listeria, hepatitis A and salmonella. The hand scanning devices use light technology to screen for indicators of pathogens. Employees wave their hands under the scanner after handwashing. Fast-casual East Coast-based chain Chopt Creative Salad Co. uses the technology.