Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Thinking of going with RTS for POS, a few questions.

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Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 08-18-2012, 09:30 AM:

Hello all,

We are on schedule for a November 2nd launch and are pretty certain we are going to go with RTS for ticketing/concessions. A couple of questions.

1. We want to do reserved seating. Anybody out there using RTS with reserved seating? Was it easy for you and your customers to use?

2. Do you use RTS' own hardware solution, or did you build your own kit? If you did, what components did you go with?

Thanks,
Andrew

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 08-18-2012, 12:04 PM:

I've looked at the reserved seating part of RTS, but being a drive-in, I've never actually used it. My impression is that it's not as flashy as other programs that deal in reserved seating, but it does work. You should download the demo and see if this can be made to work for you.

Otherwise, it's a fine system. I did not buy the complete package from them... just the software. I've used locally-built computers and also a couple from Dell. All have worked well. You don't need a computer with lots of bells and whistles to make this work.

I use the ELO touchscreens at my place, although you can choose to use a mouse and keyboard. Also, Epson TM-T88 thermal printers for credit card receipts. I think they've updated the model since I last bought them, but it's worked very well, so I'd be looking at that same line.

My cash drawers came from an online source. I'll have to look that up, but it wasn't anything special. RTS will work with serial or USB drawers... or nothing at all, if you prefer.

I also got my credit card wedges online. Again, nothing special here, and the USB versions work fine.

I did eventually get the fingerprint readers from RTS. I had trouble with my staff clocking their friends in, and the fingerprint readers stopped that noise.

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 08-18-2012, 12:30 PM:

I used rts for six years and worked quite well. I didn't use the concession end wish I had!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-18-2012, 10:44 PM:

RTS's own hardware is high-priced. Our concession computer just recently crapped out after 6 years. Rather than buy a new one from RTS for $2100, we opted for a Win-7 machine with touch screen and credit card reader for about $600 less, and it's a lot more computer than the RTS one was.

Posted by James Pope (Member # 1189) on 08-19-2012, 12:29 AM:

RTS is a great product for the cost. They are consistently adding features and improving the program.

I buy my own hardware which varies on the deployment.

Elo All-In-one for around $1250 for one including patron display and MSR. APG cash drawers about $100 each. Testing some new all-in-ones with second LCD hanging off the front with RTS. It works great. They are around $1600.

We get our servers built for around $850. We could do it cheaper but want great specs to last at least 5 years. Usually: RAID 1 mirror SSD's, 4 GB RAM, Win 7 PRO, I5 CPU. RTS will work for all versions of Windows too. PM me if you want more details.

Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 08-19-2012, 12:43 AM:

Thank you for the prompt replies. I have downloaded the demo and am having difficulty getting the reserved seating to work. It seems like it just doesn't work in the demo. If you happen to know of anybody doing reserved seating in RTS that could give me some pointers, please send them my way.

sblfilms@gmail.com

Thanks!

Posted by James Pope (Member # 1189) on 08-19-2012, 01:02 AM:

Andrew we used RTS reserved seating before it is pretty simple to setup once you know the software a little bit. Below are some brief instructions that should provide you enough info to test.

setup -> reserved seating. pick theatre add rows/columns and label them e.g. 4F. Once done go to: action -> schedule -> showtimes (you will need a film added to test)

To add a film: click on new film, fill out data, click save.

Schedule test film: select date, select movie, select theatre, click add to schedule. click on the time line to schedule movie. Once on the time line double click it and select reserved seating and open show.

Once open you can exit to RTS main window and click selling. Select a ticketing station Demo has Station 1 I believe. Buy tickets and select seats.

Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 08-19-2012, 11:46 PM:

Yeah, I tried all of that exactly. Wondering if I should remove and the reinstall the demo? Could be a bad install, I suppose. I'll definitely hit you up again for tips if I have any issues with the full version. Thanks for your time!

-Andrew

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-20-2012, 10:47 AM:

So will any USB cash drawer work? When ordering our new computer I forgot about the "old" cash drawer having a phone-type plug on it, so the new machine doesn't have that type of port. The cash drawer RTS is selling is $205 but I see USB drawers on Amazon for $80 or less.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-20-2012, 01:49 PM:

Update: Never mind, turns out the Samsung receipt printer has a phone-type jack on it, so the cash drawer plugs into that.

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 08-25-2012, 01:27 AM:

Why bother doing it at all.
Don't they set everything up for you as part of the initial charge?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-25-2012, 09:52 AM:

If you buy a computer from them, yes, but we didn't buy the new computer from them -- just the software.

There is a tradeoff to doing it this way. You get a far better computer for less money, but there may be a few compatibility issues that need to be resolved. I'm still having a few glitches with the new computer suddenly failing to recognize the receipt printer, which then makes it unable to open the cash drawer.