Introducing: The ConnectSmart Platform 

Today, we start the next chapter in our company’s history. We’re very pleased to introduce: The ConnectSmart Platform. While the ConnectSmart Platform isn’t a new product per se, we’ve worked to innovate our trusted solutions to provide all their features through a single back-end platform. By tearing down these barriers between solutions (aka their “silos”), restaurant operators can make smarter, holistic decisions with the platform. With solutions that can freely share data, operators can generate more accurate quotes, actionable reports and create a more efficient restaurant. But, we’ll get into that. 

What Is the ConnectSmart Platform? 

The ConnectSmart Platform is a data-driven operational platform that effectively combines the QSR Automations software suite into a single platform. It is made up of:

• ConnectSmart Kitchen, the industry-leading kitchen display system. 
• ConnectSmart Go, an off-premise order management system. 
• ConnectSmart Host (formerly DineTime), a guest experience, reservation, and table management solution.
• ConnectSmart Insights, a business intelligence tool. 
• ConnectSmart ControlPoint, hardware management software.
• ConnectSmart Recipes (formerly TeamAssist), a kitchen-integrated recipe viewer.
• ConnectSmart Vision, a restaurant analytics app for ConnectSmart platform users. 

Why Now? 

If 2020 taught us anything, things could change radically, and more importantly, they can change rapidly. The hospitality industry was already evolving; the pandemic forced everyone to acknowledge it. Now more than ever, operators need connected restaurant technology. 

Data, Your Restaurant, and the Customer Experience

Walk yourself through the average diner’s “journey,” and you’ll get an idea of the various components, all working together to craft the premiere guest experience. If guests order a meal off-premise, they’re counting on you to prepare their meal with the same care you would if they were on-site. Those guests might be depending on a third-party delivery party to bring that order to them promptly, and in turn, you’re relying on them to do the same. What links this all together is restaurant data, and when you’ve got a fully-integrated restaurant, you can optimize it. 

The Customer’s Dining Journey 

When the customer places an order, the ConnectSmart platform can take that order information, pushing it automatically to your kitchen, who can begin preparing it. Now, because you’ve integrated your kitchen and front when you provide a quote time back to the customer, you don’t have to use an arbitrary pre-set or a guess. That would be a mess! You can quote them automatically, based on what’s actually happening in your kitchen. With real-time data and features like capacity management, which automatically adjust quote times to match your kitchen volume, you can ensure you’re never over-promising. Through SMS texting, You can communicate directly with customers and delivery partners, cultivating a seamless curbside process. With contactless features and off-premise dining as the industry’s online stable lifeline right now, ensuring you keep everyone in the proverbial “loop” is essential. Nutshell? By removing those barriers, data can flow freely and keep everyone in that loop. Of course, listing all the possible functionalities of the ConnectSmart platform would require more space than this article can offer. The best way to think about it is to ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish with my restaurant?” Whether you’re trying to step up your off-premise capabilities, create more contactless options or shorten your ticket times and raise your revenue, the platform’s robust APIs and integrations can help you accomplish those goals.  

How Will This Affect Me?

While we won’t be compromising any of our existing features, customers and partners can expect UI updates. With shared, connected features functioning under one single platform, you can do more with less effort.  Ultimately, we’re repositioning. We know that a restaurant comprises several parts, from the front to the back of the house, that must work in fluid unity to keep the operation going. The platform offers the same principle in technology. With a platform that integrates the seven components mentioned above, you can utilize any features to create the ideal restaurant setup for you. And remember, since all those solutions are contained within a single platform, as well as the ability to integrate with numerous point-of-sale systems, you’re assured your various station technology can always work with each other. No more guesswork, creating a technology stack from multiple vendors and qualities. 

Our Mission Hasn’t Changed.

With the continual shifting of this hospitality landscape, industry-leaders must innovate and must do so quickly. Although our products are shifting to a platform, every feature and promise stands true. With a fully-integrated restaurant operating on the ConnectSmart platform, you can create a smart restaurant. You can craft a safer, more efficient, more customer-friendly, and more profitable operation. And illuminated by real-time, free-flowing data, you can make strategic, informed decisions at the drop of a hat (or a worldwide pandemic).  I’ve banged on a bit about all the things this platform can do and all the ways it’ll make your restaurant perform. But what’s a restaurant without guests? If for nothing else, the ConnectSmart platform brings all your various solutions into one interface. That removes guesswork and tasks for you. It ensures consistent meal quality. It means that you don’t have to worry about the nuts and bolts and can accomplish your real goal: delivering a top-notch guest experience.   Restaurant owners and operators, partners, and anyone who is merely curious can learn more about the ConnectSmart Platform below.

Learn More

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About the Author

Lee is the founder, president, and CEO of QSR Automations. Since 1996, Lee has driven QSR’s strategy and growth, creating industry solutions, and advancing the original company mission of restaurant innovation and empowerment. Under his leadership, QSR has created the ConnectSmart Platform, to help restaurants efficiently manage their resources, time, staff, and the dining experience