Order chit printing: frequently asked questions

The basics

What does this actually do?

When a customer places an order on your online menu, a chit prints at your store within seconds. Nobody has to be watching a screen.

The chit carries everything needed to pick the order and hand it off: the order type in large letters, the order number, customer name and phone, the items with brands and prices, the total, whether it has been paid, and the customer's note.

Does it print for every kind of order?

Yes. Pickup, Delivery, Direct Mail and Curbside all print, each with the detail that type needs. A delivery chit carries the delivery zone and address. A Direct Mail chit carries the shipping tier.

When does it print, exactly?

The moment the order is placed, not when a staff member accepts it.

That is deliberate. Waiting for somebody to accept an order first would put us straight back to needing a person watching a screen, which is the problem this solves.

Does it cost extra?

No. It is included in your existing plan. The only cost is the printer itself.

Hardware

What printer do I need?

A Star CloudPRNT printer from our supported list, 80 mm. Check the current list before buying, and check the exact part number.

Do I have to buy it myself?

Yes. You buy the printer, you own it. We do not sell or ship hardware.

Roughly what does it cost?

Expect around $410 to $445 CAD delivered, depending on model and supplier.

Do I need a computer running at the store?

No. This is the main reason we built it this way. There is nothing to install, nothing to leave running, and nothing a staff member can accidentally close.

The printer talks to us directly over your network.

Can it run on wifi?

It can, but wired is strongly preferred and will save you support calls.

Store wifi is often a guest network with client isolation, which quietly breaks things in ways that are miserable to diagnose. If you can run a cable, run a cable.

Does anything need opening up on my network?

No. No port forwarding, no fixed IP address, no firewall changes. The printer makes all the connections outward, so it works on an ordinary shop network.

Can I use a printer I already own?

If it is on the supported list, yes. Plenty of stores have a compatible Star printer sitting unused from a previous system. Check the model number against our list.

Running it day to day

What happens if the internet goes down?

Orders are held. Every one of them prints when the connection comes back. You do not need to find them and re-send them.

What happens if it runs out of paper mid-rush?

Same answer. Chits are held rather than thrown away, and they all print once you load a new roll.

Will I get a wall of paper when it reconnects?

No. After an outage, the 20 most recent chits print immediately and the rest are available to reprint from the order queue. A printer coming back from a long outage does not tie itself up for ten minutes.

Can I reprint a chit?

Yes, from the order row's overflow menu or from the order detail panel. Reprints carry a large REPRINT banner so two identical chits in a tray cannot be confused.

Do I still need to watch the order queue?

The queue is still where you manage orders. The chit means you do not have to monitor it to know an order arrived.

Does this replace my POS receipt?

No. This is a work ticket for your staff. Your POS still prints whatever it prints at checkout.

What about the repeating new-order sound?

It still works exactly as it did. Printing does not change it or switch it off.

Many stores find they want a longer interval on the sound once chits are printing, since the paper is doing the alerting. You can change that in Notification Settings.

Setup and access

Who can set this up?

Admins who already have store settings access. The same permission that covers the rest of a location's configuration.

That is deliberate: setup displays the setup link, which is effectively a password, and you do not want that on screen all shift.

How long does setup take?

About ten minutes, once.

Why does my printer force me to change its password?

That is the printer, not us. Star printers make you change the default password before they accept any settings.

Write the new password down. A printer whose password nobody remembers cannot be reconfigured later without a factory reset.

Is the setup link secret?

Yes. Treat it like a password. Anyone who has it can receive your store's chits.

If it ends up somewhere it should not, use Reissue setup link in Printer Settings and enter the new one into the printer.

Can I have two printers?

Not yet. One per location.

Do not enter your setup link into a second printer. It will not give you two working printers, and you can read why in What the printer messages mean.

Privacy

What ends up on the chit?

The customer's name and phone number, what they ordered, the total, and their note. The same information your staff already see on the order queue.

Where should used chits go?

Treat them like any other document with a customer name on it. Do not leave them on a counter, and dispose of them the way you dispose of other customer paperwork.

Thermal chits also fade over weeks or months, so they are not a reliable record anyway. Buddi holds the actual order.