Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Point of Sale Systems, what do you use?

This is topic Point of Sale Systems, what do you use? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=002452

Posted by Ryan Uhlhorn (Member # 4878) on 12-07-2010, 01:35 PM:

Looking into all the possibilities of POS systems and thought some of you could offer some suggestions positive or negative.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-07-2010, 03:58 PM:

Look at boxoffice.com or imeonline.com and check the ads.

There are a number of different systems, all with their strengths and you'll find a lot of threads on this site discussing all of them. We use RTS, but there are other systems and one member here has even been working on building one of his own -- not sure where that project stands.

By the way -- this thread should be in Ground Level.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-07-2010, 06:43 PM:

Sensible Cinema for sure... very good system and very good support. They are a small company and can give you the attention you may need when you need it.

Mark

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 12-07-2010, 10:24 PM:

I use Tessitura, which is the best system out there for the arts. In fact you have to be a non-profit to even get a license. It's a fantastic piece of software, with a huge network of users in all corners of the world. It'd be over kill for a venue with cinema only, but boy do we love it.

Tessitura Network

AJG

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 12-08-2010, 12:07 AM:

Anyone ever used OMNITERM?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-08-2010, 12:12 AM:

Just out of curiosity I'm looking at the Sensible Cinema website. Wow, it looks awesome. RTS hasn't really changed or tweaked anything since we started using it (2003 or so) and it shows.

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 12-08-2010, 12:12 AM:

Iv used RTS as an operator(not owner) and really like it. It's got tons of features that we dont use but could and honest should, the systems work and their tech support has been good the one time iv dealt with them. They are also pretty damn easy to use.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-08-2010, 01:09 AM:

We use RTS and the management doesn't seem to like it much for whatever reason (I have no idea why). I was told that when we submit our numbers, our corporate office cannot see which showtime is doing what business (ie: number of tickets for each individual movie and showtime), it just groups them all together for a movie. I don't know if this is RTS' fault or something else as apparently the printouts allow us to see individual show results.

Also, I'd never use anything that Mark G recommends, mainly because it'd make me feel dirty.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 12-08-2010, 02:32 AM:

Joe:

That is absolutely incorrect. I've used RTS since 2003, and that is one of the most basic reports you can pull from a site...

Who knows though?

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 12-08-2010, 08:37 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Just out of curiosity I'm looking at the Sensible Cinema website. Wow, it looks awesome.

We used Sensible (it was our first), and had problems. Mainly, it's the support model they use, IMHO. If he's pretty much still running the show by himself, I don't think he has time for a comprehensive support program that's sometimes needed. I dropped the program after a couple of particularly nasty problems cropped up & I couldn't get him on the phone.

Been with RTS ever since, and even though they may not be as flashy, the program does pretty much everything you could ask of it.

... and the support and upgrade model is very good.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-08-2010, 11:43 AM:

quote: Mike Spaeth
Joe:

That is absolutely incorrect. I've used RTS since 2003, and that is one of the most basic reports you can pull from a site...

It must be something else going on, then. I asked our manager why corporate gave us late shows of a certain movie when it did zero business the previous week and he said they couldn't see which showtime does what business so they wouldn't know.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 12-08-2010, 12:01 PM:

My guess is, since you guys use outside bookers, they only see the grosses reported to Rentrak and don't have access to your system.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 12-08-2010, 06:26 PM:

We use Compeso WinTicket.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-08-2010, 07:07 PM:

I'd use that one based on the name alone as it sells tickets that are full of win. But it probably means it runs on Windows.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 12-09-2010, 12:02 PM:

quote: Tom Petrov
Anyone ever used OMNITERM?

I was unaware they still existed. Granted, the last time I used them was when I worked in a Cineplex Odeon before they sold all their US theaters to be part of Loews-Cineplex, so it's no surprise it's a Canadian company.

You'll probably find that most of the people here have mostly used stuff based in the US.

Posted by William Uhlhorn (Member # 1923) on 12-09-2010, 04:55 PM:

We have used Sensible Cinema Software for six years. Has lots of bells and whistles. System is rather inexpensive and does not have a yearly fee. The owner of the system, Rusty Gordon, has always been available for telephone consultation.

Posted by Robert D Hall (Member # 5674) on 12-10-2010, 12:50 PM:

We have used Ticket Pro for the last 14 years its never let us down.

Ticket Pro

Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 12-11-2010, 02:16 AM:

Yeah, I should take a closer look at TicketPro. They run on a Linux box, which means far fewer OS maintenance issues and much less chance of contracting viruses.

Seem like every other system relies on some Windows variant.

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 12-11-2010, 02:50 AM:

quote:
I was unaware they still existed. Granted,

Yes, still being used by Rainbow Theatres.

Posted by Andy Linde (Member # 5664) on 12-11-2010, 05:21 AM:

We use Vista Cinema (NOT affiliated with Windows Vista). Its easy to use from both POS and back office aspects, great support, and looks good too.

www.vista.co.nz

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 12-11-2010, 07:09 PM:

How about Pacer? Does anyone still use it? My vote is for the Automaticket system very easy to use [thumbsup]

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 12-11-2010, 08:01 PM:

Omniterm is also used by empire and cineplex odeon- galaxy as well as many independents up here

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-12-2010, 12:06 AM:

quote: Sean McKinnon
How about Pacer? Does anyone still use it?

Oh man, the memories of Pacer back in the early 90s!!! I used to be able to "jump ahead" on the keyboard such that I could up/down/tab/tab/enter/down/down/enter/whatever-it-was and have the system run every report...once it finally caught up that is. It took something like 15-20 minutes for the reports to process and run, but only 20 seconds of effort on my part. [thumbsup]

Posted by Jerome Holmes (Member # 5013) on 12-12-2010, 01:17 AM:

quote: Robert D Hall
We have used Ticket Pro for the last 14 years its never let us down.

Exactly how big is your theatre that you've never had issues with TPro? 12plex here, been using it for 4 years myself, and find the program is not very reliable. A lot of unimplemented features, system crashes once every 2 weeks...

quote: David E. Nedrow
Yeah, I should take a closer look at TicketPro

My advice is to stay away and get something more reliable unless you're running so few theatres it doesn't matter. It may be a different deal if you're not using their concession system like we do. But we've not had much luck while using both.

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 12-12-2010, 02:49 AM:

quote: Gordon McLeod
Omniterm is also used by empire and cineplex odeon- galaxy as well as many independents up here

OMNI term in no longer used by Empire or Cineplex. Cineplex abandoned Omniterm in 2005 while Empire used it for a while and since left it as well.

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 12-15-2010, 03:40 AM:

RTS - its not perfect, but its a good value. Note regardless what POS system you are running, you need to run it on at least the makers minimum required hardware. One of the problems RTS has with the upgrades many of us want is an installed user base using older equipment. RTS has always been very responsive to me in terms of customer support. And it is remotely accessible for reporting and monitoring purposes.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-15-2010, 11:55 AM:

quote: Ky Boyd
RTS - its not perfect, but its a good value.

I've been disillusioned with the price of it lately. When we got it, it was $250 a year per station. Then a couple years ago it went to $250 for one station, $895 for 2 stations, then $250 per station after that.

The reason for this is obvious -- they know that almost nobody would operate with just one station, but most places would probably use two or more, so it raises the price per station by quite a bit unless you are using a lot of stations.

I wouldn't mind it but there have been no visible upgrades or changes in the last 5 years at least. If I'm going to pay a yearly fee of almost a grand, I'd like to see some work being put into the product.

Quickbooks is doing the same thing though. We use their payroll service at our store, and for years it has included a software upgrade as part of the deal. Now all of a sudden this year, the price is the same but no upgrade.

I guess things are tough all over.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 12-15-2010, 08:06 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I've been disillusioned with the price of it lately. When we got it, it was $250 a year per station. Then a couple years ago it went to $250 for one station, $895 for 2 stations, then $250 per station after that.

True. However, they did take off the charge for credit card processing, and stopped taking part of any "convenience" charge for online sales.

They've also dropped the setup charge that was, until this year, pretty steep.

As for the large 2nd-machine upcharge... My read from them was that jumping from one machine to 2 or more put you into network territory, where more than a few operators are technologically illiterate. As the license fee includes full-time support, I suppose they need to pay for the help somehow.

I have 8 licensed machines & several others on the network. I look at the annual charge the same way I do xenon bulbs & other booth supplies.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-15-2010, 09:13 PM:

I get your point about the networking. But, once you're set up, you're probably set up. I would much rather pay once and then pay for a service call if necessary. I've only had to call their help line twice in all the years we've had this system and I'm no network expert by any means.

quote: Jack Ondracek
However, they did take off the charge for credit card processing

That's good, because the rates from Mercury Pay are ridiculous. We've been taking cards for 2 years and have never paid an RTS fee for it.

The worst part of Mercury is the $14.95 per month charge to print and mail me a 2 page statement. (No, you can't opt out of it as far as I've been able to tell) And, there is a big annual "maintenance" fee, $90 or something like that. Counting those, our monthly CC charges run over 5%, which is way more than the industry average. So if RTS added their own fees on, it probably wouldn't be worth it to take cards.

Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 12-16-2010, 09:20 AM:

quote: Jack O.
However, they did take off the charge for credit card processing, and stopped taking part of any "convenience" charge for online sales.

They dropped the $1000/year fee to use an existing CC processor? That was the biggest reason I never pulled the trigger on RTS. I din't like feeling as though I was being extorted into using Mercury Pay.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-16-2010, 01:18 PM:

David - no, as I understand it if you want to use somebody besides Mercury Pay you still have to pay the $1000. Sensible Cinema has that same requirement.

Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 12-16-2010, 01:40 PM:

Mike,

Thanks, and drat!

I know they clearly have a financial stake in pushing people to Mercury Pay. And now, apparently, ReadyTicket.net as well, given that they want $500 if you want to use MovieTickets.com.

This sort of stuff just comes across wrong to me, in a "nice town you got here, be a shame if something were to break it" way.

-David

Posted by Jon Petersen (Member # 5016) on 12-20-2010, 05:52 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I wouldn't mind it but there have been no visible upgrades or changes in the last 5 years at least.

Not entirely true, Mike. Just last year they changed the font on the login screen!

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 12-20-2010, 07:11 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I've only had to call their help line twice in all the years we've had this system and I'm no network expert by any means.

That's because I've called them for you! [Big Grin]

quote: Mike Blakesley
Counting those, our monthly CC charges run over 5%, which is way more than the industry average. So if RTS added their own fees on, it probably wouldn't be worth it to take cards.

Couldn't hurt to call them. I've been with Mercury Pay since '92. I got my rates reduced this year, just by asking.

Whether it's worth it or not is a matter of opinion, I guess. For me, the system has been bulletproof and very reliable. Transactions are at least as fast and convenient as cash, and the oft-used opinion that people tend to spend more at the snack bar with plastic is definitely true here.

Given all that, the product I receive is well worth the fees they charge me... but again, that may not be true for all.

quote: David E. Nedrow
They dropped the $1000/year fee to use an existing CC processor? That was the biggest reason I never pulled the trigger on RTS. I din't like feeling as though I was being extorted into using Mercury Pay.

I think there's now a second processor that's in the "free" category. Not sure which. Others do come with a fee. I don't know why, and wouldn't want to speculate. I'd expect there's probably a reason for it that goes beyond it being a simple money-grab.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-20-2010, 08:50 PM:

No, it's not a money-grab -- the fee is for the extra programming and etc necessary to make the software work with the alternate CC processor. I'm not sure if the work they have to do is worth that much, but I think they make the fee super-high to encourage the use of Mercury Pay.

Is taking credit cards worth the fee? Absolutely. There is a theatre near us that doesn't even take checks, let alone credit cards. Big mistake IMHO. I have found that almost nobody ever even comments on what their total bill is when using the card, but they sometimes do comment when paying cash.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 12-20-2010, 11:35 PM:

The last two exhibitors I've worked for have both used Radiant, and I have no problems with it. We recently updated from Radiant 5.6 to 7.4, and I understand we're getting another update after the first of the year.

Posted by Cody Martin (Member # 2523) on 12-22-2010, 05:23 AM:

I find the credit card "programming fees" ridiculous, but I do understand why they/we impose fees for different processors.

The big credit cards companies VISA/MC are requiring all software to be PCI compliant. PCI compliance has a lot to do with the security of the data that is swiped.

There is an auditing process that software must go through to be deemed PCI compliant, and the bottom line is it isn't cheap.

Mercury Pays system is self contained. The POS vendor has very little access to the secure parts of the transaction when they use it. Mercury Pay PCI certifies the transaction processing part so that he developer doesn't have to eat the cost of certification.

A few other Credit Card processors are going the same route now as to save the developer money and get new "partnerships".

If I can find the list of requirment for software to be PCI compliant, I will post it on here for reference.

Also, I have worked at several theatres who use Mercury Pay, if you feel your rates are too high, or have a better offer from another processor, call them and negotiate. We had done this several times as transaction volume went up. For a non profit I worked with we were even able to get them to temporarily reduce the swipe/% fee during the months of December and January, our 2 high volume months for CC sales.

Hope this adds a little information to CC discussion.

Cody

Posted by Robert D Hall (Member # 5674) on 12-29-2010, 02:53 PM:

quote: Jerome Holmes
Exactly how big is your theatre that you've never had issues with TPro?

We are a 12 plex. It runs 5 box 8 concession 12 led door signs 2 outdoor led signs and is all so linked with the internet ticket sales. Yes from time to time it needs a reboot but other than the 3 min it takes for that. its never left use with out a POS.

Posted by Jerome Holmes (Member # 5013) on 12-29-2010, 03:59 PM:

quote: Robert D Hall
We are a 12 plex. It runs 5 box 8 concession 12 led door signs 2 outdoor led signs and is all so linked with the internet ticket sales. Yes from time to time it needs a reboot but other than the 3 min it takes for that. its never left use with out a POS.

Sounds like your system runs pretty well then. Its always left something to be desired here. Mind if I ask what CC gateway you're using and its reliability? Ours has intermittent service issues, and the customer service isn't there when we need it (on a friday or saturday night, if our CC gateway gets knackered, its impossible to reach a tech).

Posted by Robert D Hall (Member # 5674) on 12-30-2010, 11:23 AM:

Jerome we use printix usa and they go through heartland payment systems. one thing i did forget to add was after the frist year or so of useing the ticketpro and printix computers supplyed my ticketpro. Was they where the cheepest junk you could buy. And did lock up all the time. So i told john shaw he could keep his 50 dollers worth of yard sale hardware. And i would use the 3 grand he charged for it to build a real computer.
After that the lock ups stopped and the software ran fine

As for your cc gateway internet connection problems. We all so ran in to some of that. turns out the printix sever needs a rock solid internet connection. And that was some thing we where not getting from time to time with our DSL. So we switched over to cable and connection problems went away.

Posted by Jerome Holmes (Member # 5013) on 01-02-2011, 11:22 PM:

quote: Robert D Hall
So i told john shaw he could keep his 50 dollers worth of yard sale hardware. And i would use the 3 grand he charged for it to build a real computer.

Yeah - the printix computer was the cheapest thing ever. We had to replace that thing last year. Our Tpro server may not be too new, but it is more powerful than I thought it was initially. It runs a lot of processes though, so maybe I underestimate the computing need of the Tpro server.

We've had a bunch of locking up in the new year, and I remember that last year this time we had about the same number of issues. A couple weeks ago it was running smoothly, but now I've run 7 ticketing system resets in the last 4 days, with at least 2 complete resets for the weekend (which is more than average for us anyway). Has your new year been smoother?

Also, sorry guys for threadjacking, its just rare for me to be able to speak about ticketpro to anyone...

Posted by Mandy Moncayo (Member # 6040) on 01-09-2011, 02:36 AM:

We use ticketsoft...

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 01-16-2011, 12:47 AM:

Our theater just changed ownership and now uses most of the available features in RTS. We have everything set up so that closing takes about 20min most of which is in counting down the drawers. Inventory and payroll couldn't be easier in my opinion.

Also worth noting is that I called their tech support many times to get everything setup just the way we wanted and they were always available and very helpful even after calling many times a day for small things.

I would highly recommend RTS to any theater.

Posted by Robert D Hall (Member # 5674) on 01-16-2011, 12:00 PM:

quote: Jerome Holmes
Yeah - the printix computer was the cheapest thing ever. We had to replace that thing last year.

We have upgraded three times in the last 14 years. Things have seemed to get better with every upgrade. The first few years was just like you are saying lockup ofter lockup. That was with the wise monochrome terminals. We then upgraded to the ADDS terminals but still had lockups from time to time. But after building the new server the lockups where rare.

Now the last year or so we have been running the new touch panels that run windows xp. I think the fact that the terminals are now doing most of the work that the sever was doing. has realy took a load off the server becouse it has not lockedup one time.

The only lockups we ever have now are the terminals themselves but is very ez to just reboot that one. Its not like we used to have to do and reboot the server and take them all down.

Posted by Sam King (Member # 4029) on 02-15-2011, 06:30 PM:

First TMS/PacerCATS, then Radiant version 5.somethingsomething and now Radiant version 7.somethingsomething All in the span of 5 years, hearing a new Radiant is coming to us this year...yay?

Posted by Dan Biegner (Member # 6026) on 02-21-2011, 02:38 PM:

Not a big fan of TicketPro & PrintTix. We have a small theater and only have four total POS stations (2 ticket, 2 concessions, although one we use for both, although you can't ring up tickets and concessions on one computer, which they have told us they will change it so we can ring both up on one screen, but this has been in the talks for months and I'll believe it when I see it.) Crashes all the time. Often puts the amount tendered as the total number of things being sold (which causes all sorts of problems). And having two box offices open can actually lead to overselling the theater. And they hardly ever get back to us in a speedy, reliable fashion.

RTS is pretty ok. I liked it better than TicketPro.

First theater I worked at though, we used the good ol' fashioned paper and counting method! Had numbered tickets and just kept track of starting ticket numbers and ending ticket numbers of each day and did the same thing with stock! Old school.

Posted by Geena Phillips (Member # 3726) on 07-11-2011, 03:33 AM:

Vista POS (no relation to Windows Vista; in fact, you can't run it in Windows Vista!) is horrifyingly bad.

Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 07-11-2011, 08:32 AM:

Our Vista POS is perfectly fine, and I recall there is a way to make the client software work under Windows Vista (we jumped right to Windows 7 skipping Vista completely). I have used several other POS systems in the past and I would rank Vista at or near the top of the list.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 07-11-2011, 02:44 PM:

I've been using Venue by Retriever Software at both of our company's cinemas for 12+ years. It's a fairly dynamic system with good reporting. The one downside is the selling terminals still run on DOS so there isn't much flexibility with hardware; however, they are in the process of writing code for Windows.

Tech support is usually very responsive and the system is pretty stable. One nice thing is the terminals will run in stand alone if there is an interruption in the network. Retriever also offers on-line ticketing, digital signage, a corporate module for pulling together data from multiple locations, and credit card processing.

I have been using RTS at our drive-in for about 4 years now. I really don't care for it. I find RTS to be overly complicated for setting up new concession items - and getting it wrong can create cash shortages that don't really exist. I also find the reporting to insufficient. I understand RTS is fairly responsive about building custom reports, but I haven't tried this yet myself.

One area where RTS wins over Venue is hardware. Because RTS is Windows based, you can pretty much use any off the shelf hardware. For example, I am running my box office with a mouse and keyboard after the touch screen died. Unfortunately, RTS stations will not work if there is a disruption in the network. I have also found RTS tech support to be responsive and helpful.

The first theatre I worked for used the old Pacer system. While that system was clunky and inflexible, I have a certain affection for it after spending a lot of time learning how to use it. But I would never actually want to go back to it.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 07-11-2011, 05:19 PM:

quote: Justin Hamaker
The one downside is the selling terminals still run on DOS so there isn't much flexibility with hardware; however, they are in the process of writing code for Windows.

If you're planning on using newer computers, you could first test out how the old DOS-based software does running on freedos (which can be installed on newer hardware quite easily).

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-10-2011, 10:44 PM:

We got a new computer with Windows 7 in our office last month. We experienced quite a few problems while running RTS -- the system would lock up and then crash, giving the "blue screen of death." The problem seemed to get worse as time went on.

I called RTS Support twice about the problems and they were their usual selves: Unfriendly and acting like it was a big pain in the butt to take a phone call. (Their sales people are as nice as can be but the support...not so much.) They said, "It must be a Windows problem."

Our computer dealer (who is also a friend of mine) did everything from swapping out the hard drive and memory, tweaked a bunch of settings, etc etc. We finally left the computer with him for a week during which he ran exhaustive checks on the system and found no problem with the computer, but found that RTS had a "memory leak" due to some cause which I couldn't fathom what the #%$@ he was talking about. He was able to fix it but I don't quite understand the exact process he used. I'm not going to post his explanation here due to the private-email rule. (If anyone is having this same problem with Win7, PM me and I'll send you his detailed explanation.)

Bottom line, we got the machine back, all is well again, and I'm thinking once again about switching to Sensible Cinema. (Our RTS license is up in December.) I've got their trial version here and am just starting to fiddle with it tonight. I really do like the look of their interface a lot better than RTS and from the surface, it looks like a good program.