Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Press a button to call your server

Restaurants that connect you wireless-ly to waiters? Yes, that is the trend of the moment. Restaurants are investing in wireless technology that connects them to waiters from their table. This technology is called ESP and works as a small console at the table that is connected to their waiter or waitress via a wristwatch worn by them. Servers are also connected to the kitchen and bar with this device, so food orders are automatically notified to the server by the kitchen. Devin Green, then an executive with the Bank of America Securities, came up with the idea of ESP Systems in 2001, when he and his family missed a movie when they couldn't get the attention of the server. He and his partner quit their jobs and set upon developing this system. They found that servers wasted a lot of their time going back and forth to the kitchen to check on orders and spend less time with their guests due to this. The system is very similar to the call button in airplanes, where flight crew is notified when a button is pressed by a passenger.

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