The challenges school nutrition food service teams have faced for the last year will likely continue into the upcoming school year. Even as schools start to open up and things are closer to normal, we now see how imperative it is to have a plan when things don’t go…well…as planned.
A front-of-house software for school nutrition programs that is nimble, responsive, and creates greater efficiency so the focus is back on serving students and supporting families regardless of what comes up.
In addition, parents are experiencing a lot of stress, too. Anything that makes things easier for parents helps increase participation in your program – a true win-win!
So, what does a nimble front-of-house software for school nutrition programs look like? Let’s take a look at the key features of the TITAN system from LINQ. We’ll also hear from actual customers on how our system made a difference in their programs.
Key Features: Front-of-House Software for School Nutrition Programs
Front-of-House Key Feature #1: Family Portal
“Our parents love it because they can just check the email and see what needs to be done if they need to put money on our students’ accounts. And if there are any issues, they’ll email us back directly. So that helps us out so much with time.“
Britney McCray, Child Nutrition Director
La Porte Community Schools
Minimize frustration for families.
TITAN helps support families directly, leaving you with more time to focus on your daily tasks. With the Family Portal from LINQ, parents can do the following:
- Set spending limits
- Make transactions
- Complete balance transfers
- View menus, and more
Provide real-time purchase history to families.
Grown ups can see real-time POS transactions for each student (sorted by family member if they choose).
Front-of-House Key Feature #2: Application Processing
“(Parents) love that they can do online meal applications. So in the fall, at the start of the school year, it makes everyone’s life easier. We save paper. It’s much easier and more accurate to process them online.”
Sarah Keen, Child Nutrition Director
Schuylerville Central Schools
Application Processing enables grown ups to generate their own eligibility letters.
You can prepare and distribute customized eligibility letter as part of preliminary application processing. In addition, parents can easily generate a duplicate version of their letter whenever they may need it.
Provide families with an easy view of their student’s eligibility status.
Parents can view a student’s eligibility status within their portal profile, along with the expiration. This allows families to see where they stand and for how long.
Front-of-House Key Feature #3: System Integrations
No matter what SIS you use, LINQ’s front-of-house for school nutrition programs leverages that data across your entire operation. The same data entered by your district admin will show up in the family portal and at the POS in real-time.
Front-of-House Key Feature #4: Point of Service
“It’s very user friendly for our cashiers and our managers. You don’t have to have computer experience to use the system.”
Andrea Gammage, Application Specialist
South Bend Community Schools
Continue serving, even if your internet goes down.
LINQ offers a seamless offline mode that allows you and your staff to continue serving and working. For example, staff still have access to the latest student balances, rosters, and every other core functionality. You can continue service indefinitely until a connection is re-established.
Easily move POS licenses between different devices.
With LINQ, you and your IT staff can shift licenses from devices based on your unique serving situation.
Manage POS devices remotely, all at once.
All devices can be managed remotely. Whether it is pushing out version updates or making changes to the interface, there is no need to touch each device affected.
Customize POS layouts to promote flexibility and ease of use.
Districts can create an unlimited number of layouts which can easily be shifted from device to device at any time. Also, districts can also customize their layouts. Item arrangement is one of the biggest customization points, offering nutrition teams with a lot of flexibility. Finally, layouts can be customized to match almost any existing setup regardless of specifications.
A More Flexible Front-of-House Software for School Nutrition Programs
You and your team don’t have the time for things that slow you down. With the LINQ front-of-house software for school nutrition programs, parents and guardians can stay on top of payments and applications in the family portal. This creates less busy work and reduced labor costs on your end.
In other words, a POS system that’s easy-to-use and operates regardless of an internet connection allows your team to serve meals anywhere, anytime. Therefore, you’re no longer tethered to the cafeteria and can serve meals in alternative locations, potentially driving greater participation.
A system that updates in real-time and connects to the district’s SIS creates far more accurate and dependable data. Your program deserves nimble service, speedy lunch lines, greater participation, and a streamlined application process. And it all starts with 100% cloud-based front-of-house software for school nutrition programs.
Want to hear more from our customers? Check out the full video below to see what they’re saying about the front-of-house solution from LINQ, powered by TITAN.
Customizable and Simple Front-of-House Software Just for K‑12 Schools
Experience a new level of ease and convenience with our front-of-house modules, entirely within a web browser, on almost any device, with no software to install, maintain, or update – even at the Point of Service.