Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 311, app, GPS, iPhone, new media, Pittsburgh, smartphone, technology, YinzCam
Thanks Post-Gazette for this pic!
You know how you get mad because there’s a pothole right in the path of your right tire during your morning commute? Or perhaps the city didn’t salt your street, again, after the biggest snowfall of the century? Well now you can do something about it.
Introducing the iBurgh iPhone application from YinzCam of Squirrel Hill. This app allows you to take a photo and it sends your beef directly to the Pgh 311 office, with an exact GPS location of the problem.
It seems us Burghers are one step ahead of Boston, who recently announced they were going to develop an application of a similar type and which will be available there shortly. The hope is that the new app will make it “easier for citizens to interact with government, and for government to reach out to residents. Updates to iBurgh could include streaming and searchable video of government meetings, and automatic updates on city initiatives close to where phone users live,” (Read the whole article at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09230/991552-53.stm#ixzz0OXovJvW4).
The best part is the app was given to the city, so NO it won’t cost us more in direct taxes for this new technology, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have to pay for this convenience somehow. And even though you may send the info on that broken watermain cap in front of your drive way, the one that has cost the local residents mucho money in increased water costs from waste and caused accidents with ice build-up on your street, you can’t rest easy knowing the problem will be fixed any time soon. Assume the city will get around to it at the same rate of speed in which they respond to the complaints they currently receive by phone. (The 311 system was contacted by phone for the aforementioned issue several times over a 10 month period in order to be repaired. I know, it was in front of my apartment.)
But regardless, here’s some more bragging rights to one of the most liveable cities in the world. How about that, Black-n-Gold?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: branding, Food Service, interactive, Media, tapcode, technology, uWink
This is pretty cool. uWink has created an interactive restaurant concept and began the development of franchising this idea and licensing the technology in 2008, (Business Wire, 2008). So what is uWink? “uWink develops digital media entertainment and hospitality software and an interactive restaurant concept that allows customers to order food, drinks, games and other digital media at the table through proprietary touch screen terminals,” (Business Wire, 2008). The head of this company is Nolan Bushnell, who founded both the Atari company and Chuck E. Cheese, (Business Wire, 2008). Ok, everyone say it with me… “Atari…I miss Atari.” (Back in the day I could’ve played PacMan and The Riddle of the Sphinx for hours, and I did!)
The technology for this company is now called Tapcode and won the 2009 Excellence in Innovation Award from The University of Las Vegas and the Hospitality Technology Overall Technology Innovation Award in 2008, (Tapcode, 2009).
Now supposedly this technology can make a difference in a whole variety of dining establishements. “We put the power to order and pay at your guests’ fingertips (literally!) – reducing frustrating wait times, increasing average checks and speeding table turns. Your staff is freed up to serve more guests, increasing their productivity (and their tip pool!),” (Tapcode, 2009).
I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind a system like this at say Sheetz, or the grocery store, or even TGI Friday’s, or combined with a jukebox system in a new-fangled ‘old-fashioned’ diner. But the last thing I want in a full-service dining establishment is for someone to get a tip from me who didn’t really work for it. I have been in the food service industry in some aspect for about 19 years and most of that time I have been a tipped employee. I am a big tipper, as it is good karma to do so. The first thing a good server does is create a rapport with the guest, show them their knowledge and offer their assistance. How can you do that if the computer is taking the order? And what about food allergies and questions about menu items? How does a computer answer questions concerning which side dish goes best with the one vegetarian item on the menu, or if any of the items can be modified to leave out dairy, or if the chefs/cooks can make an alfredo sauce because your 12-year-old is on an alfredo kick? This is when a server can shine, can make suggestions and can prove they are worthy of the 18% or better tip that allows that person to put a roof over his/her head, go to school, feed his/her kids and pay for nursing care for an aging parent.
Well, I digress. I guess that currently the hardware/software is only available in their branded restaurants, so no fear that I am going to lose my job to a computer screen, YET! You can watch this video and take a look for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSy00U8LS0
And there are games to play!
Too bad the actual uWink website shows video but the sound didn’t work. Okay Nolan, get back to the drawing board!
Once again, this is Rachel reporting from the SIN (Service Industry Network, –he he, catchy new name)…OVER & OUT!
References:
Business Wire. (2008). “Food Service Industry Veteran Ted Leovich Teams with uWink to Drive Technology Licensing and Franchising.” Retrieved May 25, 2009 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_April_29/ai_n25361662/
Tapcode. (2009). “About.” Retrieved May 25, 2009 from http://www.tapcode.net/about
YouTube. (2007). “”uWink.” Retrieved May 25, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSy00U8LS0
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: BBQ, BD's, check presenter, customer satisfaction, customer service, ECC, electronic comment card, Food Service, Long Range Systems, LRS, MI, Mongolian BBQ, response rate, survey, technology
You would think that in an industry that has such a long and steady history as food service that big innovative ideas would be few and far between. I mean, how much innovation does it take to cook food and serve it? As I have learned in the past few months of writing this blog, this is not the case. To illustrate, I bring you a story of how technology can accomplish something as simple as increasing customer feedback. My sister, Sarah, and her BF went out to dinner recently at BD’s Mongolian BBQ, a chain restaurant based in Royal Oak, MI and she sent me a text after their dinner about the check presenter…it was an interactive survey! For as long as I can recall, every restaurant I have worked in has placed a paper comment card into the check presenter for the guest to complete. Often, a restaurant will receive more negative comments than good, as when you are unhappy with some aspect of your meal, you will be more likely to let someone know about it, even if it’s after you have left. The possibility of receiving a free coupon in the mail to make up for it may also be a reason for this type of behavior. For the most part, people who are happy about their dining experience are less likely to take the time to fill out the card, whereas an unhappy patron will take the time to let you know what upset them. However, offering a new, fun, interactive, digital way to respond to the proprietor may be a great way to increase the number of responses in general, and may also offer a way to gather a more representative sampling of the overall dining consensus.
Here’s the unit:
Photos by Sarah K.
Photos by Sarah K.
This model is made by LRS, or Long Range Systems. Based in Addison, TX LRS has been in the business of guest and staff management since 1995, and started out as a firm that designed coaster-pagers for wait-list management. They call this model an ECC, or electronic comment card, and they purport that with this system, the percentage of survey respondents reaches about 75%! Other features include the ability to program the system to let the manager know about an unhappy guest immediately upon completion of the survey, allowing the manager to salvage the experience with the diner before they leave…and tell 10 others about their bad time. This option may also save time and money over the standard secret shopper service, and it can be maintained in-house.
From what information I was able to find, BD’s implemented this system in 2006 to “increase customer loyalty and sales.”
And it’s pretty easy to use. Sarah said it took about 1-2 minutes to complete the survey and it asked approximately 10 questions on basic customer service; was the place clean, were the servers nice, the grill persons entertaining, were they greeted promptly, was the food fresh. Sarah also stated the survey was ‘not annoying’ to complete, as it was short and easy to maneuver, but she would have liked to have received a coupon for her next visit for completing the survey. This may be an idea that was utilized at the onset of the system’s integration, but if they are truly receiving the 75% response rate, then offering a coupon is not only not necessary, but would be expensive to implement. And as I have stated before, if a restaurant offers too deep of discounts and tries to incentivize repeat diners on a cost-only basis, then they will fall into a downward spiral of being forced to compete on price alone…a dangerous fate for many restaurants.