Forgotten Fax Orders

[brad_randall]

We receive order from a local student online-ordering site via fax. Here’s the problem: Between the time the bell rings and the fax finally prints out, the employees forget about the fax arriving and it sits in the tray until someone happens to notice.

Before I go installing shelves and running lines to reposition the fax machines for maximum paper-in-tray visibility, I was wondering if anyone knows of a device that will indicate that a fax has printed. I’m thinking of something like and electric eye that buzzes when the paper breaks the beam OR a ringer strobe that will continue to flash until someone presses a button to turn it off.

I imagine some gadget exists at Radio Shack to easily solves this problem, but my Google-fu is failing me. Someone has to have invented a device that alerts you when a fax is just sitting in the tray.

 

[royster13]

Have your faxes come by email and set an alert to send a text message…

 

[NicksPizza]

Royce-fax-fu!

That sounds like a pretty good idea . . . and you can have both the fax sent AND the email/text alert sent.

 

[brad_randall]

Are you suggesting that I have the online ordering company send out a delayed text message to remind the shift managers that a fax printed?

I guess that could work, but with 9 or 10 shift managers across 2 locations that seems a bit difficult to execute. I’m not even sure that they all have text plans or even cell phones.

 

[royster13]

If you use a service like Ring Central you get your faxes by email…You can also set up a pager alert to let you know a fax has arrived…This can be a text message…For me, I see my faxes in my email and a minute or 2 later I hear a ringing on my computer…

 

[benmahoney]

I remember a while ago I was talking to someone about this and he told me there was a device at Radio Shack that you could get that attaches to the phone line that lights up when the phone/fax rings. It is designed for the deaf and can flash throughout the house when their TTY machine needs to be answered.

 

[Patriot_sPizza]

Before I began using BigHoller, we had a fax system and a real lousy ring on the fax…missed a few along the way as well…we installed an external ringer on the fax line and the obnoxious sound caught everyone’s attention…$10 or so…

 

[RobT]

this is one of the reasons why a Good POS system with Integration is key…
No missed orders… Order comes right thru the POS, and prints immediately.

 

[HoustonPizza]

We have also had this same problem. We put a timer next to the makeline and when we hear the fax ring the timer was set for 2 minutes. When the timer went off – we went over and grabbed the fax. Eliminated the problem.

 

[famouspizza]

RobT:

this is one of the reasons why a Good POS system with Integration is key…
No missed orders… Order comes right thru the POS, and prints immediately.

i could not imagine inputting a fax…thank you foodtec

 

[Rockstar_pizza]

we USED to have that problem but now we use an external ringer that is LOUD and the fax is located right by the make line loaded with florescent paper, since we have made those changes it has helped alot

 

[brad_randall]

HoustonPizza:

We have also had this same problem. We put a timer next to the makeline and when we hear the fax ring the timer was set for 2 minutes. When the timer went off – we went over and grabbed the fax. Eliminated the problem.

Barring finding something completely automated, I’m going to give this the old college try.

 

[myPizza.com]

We operate a similar service called MyPizza.com and our solution is to follow up each fax order with a telephone call and ask for a confirmation number. This ensures that the restaurant employee has picked up the paper and looked at the order. The company you are working with should have a similar feature available.