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Essex school goes cashless with help from TOSHIBA and MH Systems
 TOSHIBA has partnered with MH Systems and HPort to provide a solution that has enabled one Essex school to implement a completely cashless catering system. Funded by Essex County Council, the system, which has been installed at the Philip Morant School, uses Toshiba STA-10 POS tills loaded with MH Systems ‘Chips’ cashless catering software combined with HPort Systems nutrients data. Since implementation the number of pupils using the canteen has increased by 50 per cent and transaction time at the canteen’s three tills has speeded up, allowing up to 800 pupils through every 20 minutes.
Nutritional analysis
The chosen system, needed to integrate with HPort Systems nutrient data, which provides a complete analysis of nutritional data for each pupil based on their daily purchases in school. Philip Morant looked at four different POS suppliers and visited a number of schools using different applications. They finally selected the MH Systems, Toshiba, HPort Systems solution because of its flexibility; ability to meet the specific needs of a school environment and ultimately meet the future goal of a totally ‘cash-less’ school.
Easy to use, parents can load the required amount of cash onto their children’s school cash cards via ParentPay or via credit or debit card at the school reception. As the process is real time money is available immediately and whenever a transaction is made the amount is then taken from the account. Because the money on the card is only available to spend in the school, parents do not have to worry that the cash they give their children will be spent elsewhere, or, as cards are personalised with student images, be used by anyone else.
“Parent feedback to the cashless catering system has been tremendous – with some 85 per cent of parents readily adopting the scheme.” commented Sheila Verrall, catering manager of Philip Morant School. “We’ve encouraged the remainder to provide packed lunches in order for the school to eventually become totally cashless.”
The state of the art tills are easy to set up and use and screen layouts can be tailored to meet a school’s specific requirements. The combined system enables catering staff to control stock efficiently and manage menu planning in-line with government nutritional standards which were introduced in September 2009.
“We are very impressed with the benefits of the system so far and we are looking at other ways the cash cards can be used; for example, paying for school trips, uniforms, and other extra curricular activities,” added Verrall.
Award-winning system
The award-winning ST-A10 has an ultra-small footprint that incorporates a wide range of functionalities, offering exceptionally easy maintenance with click-on access to its outer casing and components. Smart ergonomics ensure fast customer throughput times.
The EPOS terminal can withstand severe thermal and humid conditions – providing a stable, consistent and reliable hardware platform with a low cost of ownership for many years. The metal chassis optimises the performance/power consumption ratio and assists in cooling the terminal. Passive cooling is the primary source of heat dissipation for the ST-A10. Heat sink and metal chassis draw heat away from the main components, thereby reducing the dependence on fans. The revolutionary VIA C7 processor with the VIA TwinTurbo™ allows the processor to switch between ultra low power mode to full speed operation in a single clock cycle, resulting in consistent performance.
‘Green’ solution
TOSHIBA products minimise the carbon footprint throughout the entire product life. This is achieved by getting a head start at TOSHIBA manufacturing facilities, through a long and productive lifecycle and ultimately in a controlled recycling process. The ST-A10 TouchPOS is fully RoHS and WEEE compliant.
The ultra-thin screen edges give a picture-frame image with maximum screen size and minimum impact on counter space. The ST-A10 TouchPOS has an extremely durable, high clarity touch screen, sealed to protect against spillages and dust, making it ideal for the school canteen environment.
The ST-A10 TouchPOS has been designed with a unique ‘click’ release system on its outer casing to replace key components, including hard disk drive, memory and power supply, facilitating minimal downtime and reduced service visits.
Options include interactive wireless USB cover, uDOC Flash Disk with USB 2.0 interface, card reader, iButton personal identification key and moveable or fixed line display unit.
The ST-A10 TouchPOS is designed to work with the TRST-A10 and A15 printers to provide fast, quiet, two-colour thermal printing.
For more information
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