Restaurant owners are always looking to expand their customer base and sell more meals. Well, keep that thought train running because very soon now your restaurant will be able to do business online. How can this be possible, especially for fast food restaurants? It is simple and easy as well as cost effective to implement.

A company in the UK has developed a small portable printer that can be placed in your kitchen. This printer is called an SMS printer and receives and prints text messages sent by customers who order food online. The SMS printer operates on the same GSM network that cell phones use to convey text messages between users.

Because the printers operate on the wireless texting networks, neither an Internet connection nor a hard wired phone line is required. The SMS printer takes a standard SIM card like the ones used in all cell phones. These can be purchased in any cell phone store across the country. The charges are the same as any text message on your contract and yes, even PAYG (pay as you go) SIM cards may be used.

The printer is also portable and can be moved anywhere in the kitchen that is out of the way and is accessible to the staff. All you do is insert the SIM card, plug the unit into a wall power socket and you're online! These small, light weight units use a thermal type of paper like that which is used in small calculators and some fax machines.

The system is simple.

A customer goes online and places an order for food from your restaurant. The order is typed in by the customer and is presented for corrections before it is sent. Any mistakes can be corrected right there. The customer then hits the “send” button.

This order is received by the kitchen in the form of a text message that prints on the SMS printer EXACTLY as the customer has entered it. No errors, no mistakes and no wasted food. Everybody wins here.

For customers, this means there is no more waiting in lines, calling a restaurant, waiting for an answer on the phone or delays with other orders ahead of yours. It is a faster transaction all the way around. The convenience factor is huge here and it WILL catch on like wildfire.

For restaurant owners, it means better tracking of food sales, better food cost figures and no wasted time with mistakes on orders. No handwriting errors, no misunderstandings and no communication barriers.

Not to mention that demographic information could be collected on the subscribers to the online ordering system, so you can track the ages, locations, and other information on your customers. Customers can order on any Internet capable unit, including desktop PCs and cell phones.

With all these benefits on both sides of the transaction, doing business online is the next big thing for restaurants. Utilizing cell phones with Internet capabilities in this way is going to expand the way restaurant owners reach their customers. In other words, the customer base is going to get larger.

Now is the time for your restaurant to start doing business online with the SMS printer system.