Aloha Cloud

Pros

Transactions, and reporting, are very easy to use. Reporting is excellent.

Cons

There is zero inventory functionality. You can add inventory, but as a retailer I need to be able to track my inventory to monitor when, and what, I need to order. Silver does not offer such a feature. This is a common complaint amongst other retailers that use Silver that I frequent with my personal business.

Pros

Asking the right questions to the right people, NCR can pretty much do anything we request. We use most of your product, including take out and delivery. I like that everything is integrated.
We upgraded to command center from secure access to manager our 7 locations, great software. Having terminal access to the locations is great for testing and training.
Management loves the Pulse App.

Cons

The way take out and delivery is programmed through AO. The delay between the POS data base and ATO is tedious.

The help desk support lately has not been as good since COVID. Most issues need to be escalated to a level 3 tech, and no one can be found when needed. Waiting and waiting for a call back. We have to reach out to our local support in most cases to finish the support call. Very frustrating for our teams in the restaurant.

Pros

It is very safe and reliable. I feel calm in my business.

Cons

Nothing. So far I've liked everything, I've never had any problems with my equipment

Pros

We liked using the machine before it became obsolete. There is nothing to like now.

Cons

Customer Service, their management, and the lack there-of. We have been waiting over a year for help. And now that we ask for our contract to be broken, they chain us to it.

Pros

This cloud based system met the majority of our needs when I began searching for a new POS system when our retail store was adding a second location. I was looking for a system that could be accessed remotely, share information between the locations and could grow as our store grows. The 24/7 Customer Service is reliable and accessible. Most times, a single phone call is all it takes to resolve a problem.

Cons

The biggest drawback was discovered shortly after we began installation. We were told during the sales pitch that our system of alpha numeric sku numbers would easily transfer to NCR silver. The use of the bar code scanners and ticketing system would be simple process. This was not the case. We have to manually key in the alpha numeric sku numbers which is much more time consuming the scanning.
Four years later, we have of course adapted.

Pros

They promised a lot but deliver little.

Cons

System never worked as promised. Second party QR codes that you pat]y $$$ for that do not work. Your management will spend more time in office with this system than on floor with guest. Also a loyalty program you can plan on zero help- with

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Aloha Cloud

Pros

This software is very easy to use and set-up. There are a lot of helpful reports you can run. I like that you can view your business activity remotely from your smart phone.

Cons

When there is a problem it is sometimes difficult for customer support to fix the problem until the next update. This is frustrating because you are left to wait up to three months or more.

Pros

The program helps in managing sales, where invoices are processed.
Further, the customer assistance helps users, and complaints are effortlessly resolved.

Cons

There is maximum assistance from Aloha Cloud, and this resolves the challenges of sales, the security and the processing extensions.

Pros

I like that it’s fairly easy to navigate around the system and offers a lot of BOH reports

Cons

Is difficult atTimes to track actual customerData

Pros

Ability to customize things like loyalty, gift cards, gratuity reporting is very good. system is a workhorse.

Cons

Updating pricing and creating buttons takes too long and is too complicated compared to newer POS systems. Customer service not very responsive.

Pros

We really did not like anything about the solftware. It was very difficlut to operate and there are many issues that NCR is not fixing. The multiple steps to complete a customer transaction is too long. They also do not have enough employees where I have wasted large amount of time waiting for their reps.

Cons

When we call NCR as the merchant to assist on failures of the software program, they do not respond immediately. Their phone system states, if you want to wait for the next avaiable representative press #2 on the phone. This message is repeated almost every 10 seconds. This is very difficult and discouraging.... Of course I want to wait for a representative... Do I have a choice????

Pros

Device compatibility across windows workstations. Ease of end user use and ease of basic programming.

Cons

The worst part for us is the lack of the ability to push out changes to terminals without doing a complete system refresh and taking the entire FOH down for > 3 minutes. Often we'll notice a price or an item issue during business hours and have to take the whole FOH down just to update a modifier or something of the like. Also, there's no compatible tablets that work with chip and pin to line bust and run faster drive thru service. That's more of a hardware issue for sure, but it's a real sour note for us. Additionally the IBER process seems to be pretty fragile when using third party services like omnivore and even above store reporting suites. We'll have an IBER crash at least once a week during a busy shift.

Pros

NCR's back office is easily navigated. It is feature rich in many areas, excelling in variations. The modifier portion of the software is decent, but could use some work so that it could be used as a single add on for several items as well as modified price times quantity.

Cons

Can not customize the customer information that you wish to have at a glance.
Can not set up tax exempt customers for automatic tax exemption.
Can not readily link inventory to my existing website.
Can not set up scannable customer ID cards readily.
Can not see inventory at a glance for quick inventory checks on items.
Will not print directly to Dymo Labeler for price tags from back office as Square will when receiving inventory.
Can not set up coupon codes for printable coupons, must set up an offer to apply to everyone.
Sales team said these were all included in the purchase, but were not.
Expensive software, overall less feature rich than Square but 33% higher per month.

Pros

The back office, inventory management, and customer tracking is terrific. Any system can fulfill the basic need of helping you ring up a sale, but Silver offers features that I didn't know I needed until I had them. Computing sales tax for state filing, locating past customer purchases, super useful features.

Cons

I'd like to be able to add devices without additional fees. I guess I don't understand why having a second device changes anything with regard to the costs incurred. I had a copy of the app on my phone purely as a backup in case something happened to my tablet but realized it was costing me every month for something that I wasn't using.
When wifi is having problems, I wish there would be a way to cache those transactions offline for processing when wifi is connected again. As it stands, I end up using the old carbon copy forms to take and impression and running the transaction later.

Pros

Ease of teaching my employees, Ease of getting my reports, Ease of looking up so many things like cancelled tickets(times of cancellations would help), helps me keep track on employees.

Cons

Not seeing the integration of my online calendar system, thought their might be a discount for the calendar. Control of emails is a "0" - no means to click on several at a time to delete as I uploaded 6,000+ only to find out I could only use 2500 at a time, not I need to upload them all again in groups. But then if I have duplicates there is no easy way to tell and I do not want to bother my customers with duplicate emails. I also have no idea if my (Cimplebox) calendar emails are automatically going over to the Silver.

Pros

The POS portion of NCR Silver is very easy to use. New team members are easily able to understand the categories and screens. Takes advantage of common iPad functionality. Easy to update products and prices. Friendly interface.

Cons

The back-end functionality of NCR Silver is lacking. Inventory management is slow and cumbersome. Email templates and functionality are outdated. Lack of social media integration and easy ecommerce integration in emails.

Pros

Aloha has the capability to handle any concept protype in development then seamlessly transition into multi-units. Reporting structure is best in class with unit level metrics remaining a priority.

Cons

NCR Aloha is one of the pricier options which should really only be utilized with multi units. It's too robust and complicated for the average mom and pop place.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Aloha Cloud

Pros

It runs on an iPad and is pretty simple to set up.

Cons

It's unreliable. Loses connection to it's hardware almost daily requiring a fix each time. The swipe hardware wares out very quickly.

Pros

Aloha is a lifesaver! I have used many many systems in my 10 years as a waitress and the majority of the companies I have worked for prefer Aloha. The amount of modifiers per entree items help with being intuitive and helps with server training as well. Each entree can be assigned certain buttons that help the servers efficiently place orders with ease of access. There is also a way to add and delete buttons so that should your menu change or need updating, there is a way to update within 24 hours.

Cons

Adding and Deleting buttons is a little complicated if you are not familiar with the system. While you CAN do a lot with the system, it does take a lot of customer support to help any new users navigate through the software. This is a small price to pay for the ease of access that Aloha provides.

Pros

I like that it's super easy to train new hires on the POS and as I a manager I love that I can access so much information in the back office so long as I have access to a computer/laptop.

Cons

There are just a few things that I wish we could change, but a lot of the software updates eventually address a lot of them. Like any software out there, there are glitches that happen but they're minor so it's not a deal breaker. Customer service is a hit or miss. Most times friendly, but a lot of times it just gets sent to a different department because they can't figure it out, which takes time and follow ups.

Pros

The Aloha system is easy to use, easy to update, and is stable.

Cons

I would like to see Aloha partner with large delivery companies to develop a seem less software addition for incoming orders. It also would be nice to see Configuration Center have an option for live screen view when you are building out menus.

Pros

Aloha has features that make it easy to adjust pricing and add menu items to tickets. It’s is simple to split checks and take multiple payment methods for an order.

Cons

It is complicated to customize an order of the presets for an item are not programmed in. Deleting or voiding items is not simple and you cannot easily combine tickets. The sales ring in through aloha do not always show up in the main accounting software used by our company.

Pros

I can edit most things on my own, and the ease of changing things in the POS is fairly simple. The ergonomic design makes it easy for staff to use.

Cons

I think the customer service sometimes lacks, in terms of getting through to the right person to help and then the problem never truly being resolved. Some of the buttons I have needed in the past, are not allowed on my end and I have to call and have someone add them to my end which is silly.

Pros

It is easy to learn to use and has all the features you need to run your business

Cons

Customer service is horrible. You cant get help and support knows very litle about the product it is like they have never even touch it and are just reading out of a manual

Pros

All aspects of back office management is well integrated into one platform.

Cons

Sometimes has long lags in between screens.

Pros

Aloha POS is like one of those giant old swiss army knife. Sure you only need a knife but it also has this and that. For when you need them.

Cons

Given the size and base of Aloha its a slow to move monolith and thus feature implementation is limited and slow. For example customizing the button colors on the digital POS screen is only implemented in select cases.

Pros

Originally small company great service as they grew the worse the service got.

Cons

Customer service. They lost touch with my industry

Pros

Easy Of use. Back of the house Simple The program wants me to keep writing here evidently they are looking for more positive things to say about their company good computer trick

Cons

People behind it Help desk knows nothing my managers are telling them how to do things

Pros

We like that the software is intuitive and has clean design. We like being able to arrange our products in categories ourselves, ability to sell items by singles or by weight, being able to track products sold etc.

Cons

We would like to have more control over receipt printing. Since we do a lot of deliveries, we would want to be able to set the font larger for the customer address and the quantity of the products, also being able to print double receipts right away would be great - one for the customer and one for the delivery driver (right now we have to look up the last transaction and reprint, which is at least 4 steps) We also would like to be able to access older transactions from the POS system - many of our customers want to look up what they ordered last season, or two seasons ago and to do that we have to go through a very long process in back office right now - it's requires going to "results", then "POS transactions" setting the dates manually (no easy option for 1 or multiple years), then searching for customer name, and clicking "line items" for each transaction we want to check. Aside from being a long process, I also don't find that the names for these actions fit how we think of them when we are looking them up. Also merging customer history would be nice - sometimes we accidentally create double or triple customer accounts and it would be nice to be able to combine them.

Pros

The software is easy to use and relatively intuitive; new employees pick up the POS system quickly. The developers have been gradually adding desired functions that have been great improvements, and I imagine they will continue to do so. While some of the other stores in our franchise have complained about not being able to reach customer support in a timely manner, I myself have always been able to get through to them quickly and they are always helpful in working through issues.

Cons

When the software has an issue, it tends to not be a small one. Also, it seems like NCR will work on fixing the issue but not let everyone know that there WAS an issue, even when it may affect your reporting of sales. For example, there have been software glitches where the over/short number for the registers was not getting recorded by NCR. We only discovered this because another store in our franchise figured it out and reported it. I never saw any communication from NCR letting people know about it, the issue was just resolved quietly a while later. Plus, almost every time there is an update, there are usually major issues with functionality for about the next week that can affect the ability to process transactions. The software/hardware interface has some issues as well.

Pros

POS software is something that you use in real time so it is essential that you be able to fix problems quickly. Their customer service is very good - they almost always pick up at once and they are always able to tell you what to do.

Cons

This is a multi-use system. As a restaurant, we had to get used to some features that are more for general retail, although it does contain things like table assignment and so forth.

Pros

I liked it a lot in the 80's but now, it's still the same. It's clean and front end easier to use as it always was.

Cons

The software is challenging to navigate and is not as easy to use as many of the other systems on the market today. They system is clunky and takes forever to program and input new information for use. Then, the refresh that has to be completed. Outdated program.

There are way too many people and systems involved in the customer service. i3, NCR, Aloha...it's a joke when you need something done and it takes forever to get resolution.

Pros

I liked how easy it was to use. Easy to set up, user friendly. In the beginning when i needed help and had questions and suggetions the call center reps knew what they were doing and how to help.

Cons

In the last year or two they switched the call center to India. Since I have been using NCRSilver since 2015 I can solve most of my own questions, but when something comes up and I have to call in it is not a simple question anymore, and the employees that are now contracted to solve these issues know less about the system then I do. They seem to be reading from a script. While they are very nice it is frustrating because they cannot answer the question and it has to be put in queue and they have to get back to me. Seems like when that happens the person getting back to me just tells me what I already know. It's useless. I am going to be looking for a new software for my POS system.

Pros

It's the complete package, nothing I can't do, I have always loved Aloha, if you don't have it because you can't afford it, I can understand that. If you don't have it and can afford it...you're just not very bright.

Cons

Price but whatever...it is 100% worth it, if it was mine I wouldn't sell it cheap either...support is what you pay for the product, as expensive as it is, is still worth waaaaaaaay more than what you pay for it in percentage of mistakes lost alone! Dial into your number and find the money for it!

Pros

I liked the ease of set up of this product as well as the ability to run categorical reports. I also like the ability to use this as a time clock system too!

Cons

I would like to see a way to customize each category more, I sell cupcakes, I would like an option for more specific categories and options.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Aloha Cloud

Pros

Ease of use and the ability for our management teams to continue to program easily with out support.

Cons

The software and hardware were outdated in 7 years and cost a good amount of money. It’s understandable that technology advances exponentially however It becomes an annoyance to spend so much money for a limited time frame. NCR should have a trade program to help with the transition.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Aloha Cloud

Reasons for Switching to Aloha Cloud

Pros

We started out with multiple POS systems across our properties, NCR was the easiest to use and most user friendly for FOH and BOH staff. It is easy to train on and easy to deploy once you have multiple locations. We have tried many other POS providers out there and NCR has always been responsive and quick to solve any issues or answer any questions that may come up.

Cons

Built in reporting lacks compared to other providers, their online reporting tool is good but still has a ways to go when compared to Avero. The initial roll-out of connected payments was needed by us and I wish we would have not went with the Verifone pin pad product they offered at the time. They quite often break down and are buggy.

Pros

Cloud based POS with automated email receipts that also sends out automated coupons for marketing.
Remote inventory management for adding new SKUs and UPCs.

Cons

1) Not truely EMV compliant. Most annoying was the ancillary peripheral chip scanner looked cheap, was not always on, turned itself off every 30 mins. Fundamentally the EMV pad was defective and not fully functional or compatible with the NCR POS.. We removed it from the terminal and were forced to do swipe only.
2) NO CONTACTLESS PAYMENT FEATURES!
3) Updating VAR sheet for NCR terminal after worldpay vantiv merger was HELL. I imagine transfering to another processor would be the same terrible experience.

Pros

The best feature about this product is the ease of use. Aloha is extremely simple which makes it easier for new employees who have never served before. The layout is very blocky so that it's easy to read and click. This is true for both computer and mobile devices.

Cons

My least favorite thing about Aloha is that you can't do everything on the mobile app that you can do on the computer. Our servers use mainly the mobile apps, as they are going into theater auditoriums to take orders. It would be nice if you could do ALL functions on both mobile and computer.

Pros

The ease of use on the front end. Easy to pull data and information from historic sales.

Cons

Issues with security aren't addressed until they are a problem and have credit cards kicked back after assuming they were good. Changed security settings on IPads and issues were resolved, but we had to reach out instead of being contacted first.

There needs to be an accounts receivable. We use a backdoor and do payouts with notes to even the drawer. A fourth category would make this easier.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Aloha Cloud

Pros

BOH reporting was about it. I wish there was more.

Cons

The connectivity was terrible. The hand held EMV chip processors tie up the terminal so no other servers can use it until the transaction has been completed. we had to buy additional iPads just to process payments using a SQUARE swipe attachment and set up separate account for payment so we could latr transfer the money into our actual account once the NCR payments had posted. The payment process is terribly time consuming and has caused a great deal of negative feedback on social media which has cost us in sales and also in repeat customers. Additionally, we had 3 of the portable units fail in the middle of service, on 3 separate occasions, causing payment log jams and upsetting even more guests ( the units had to be replaced and it took 3-4 days for them to arrive...) WORST system ever in my 39 years in the business!

Pros

This software is amazingly easy to use. I love that it integrates with online ordering. It is user-friendly and the reports are in real time.

Cons

I wish it was more updated looking. I wish you could change between screens without logging back in

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Aloha Cloud

Pros

Love that I can manage various aspects of my business-from point of sale, to inventory, and everything in between- via a single platform

Cons

It does take a little time to get used to all of the different features, and I find it takes a little too much effort to edit/change menu items from the back end

Pros

I have really enjoyed not only seeing my daily sales broken down with time accounted for within the system, but also just having the sheer scope of information that this unit provides.
It's simple to use and implement, it's intuitive, and any time I have questions I simply open a chat browser from the back menu and I have been able to solve all of my problems within minutes.

Cons

I wish there was more I could do with employee tracking, but I think that's available in the next tier of monthly payments.

Pros

The design and theme are very nice and easy to learn.

Cons

first of all, I worked on an old version, we use just use the POS modules and the other modules were useless, its was limited and did not cover our needs.

Pros

The system generally is up most of time.

Cons

It removed a lot of our stored hold tickets - thus, loosing info on contractors and the amount of purchases they had pending to pay

We had been in touch MULTIPLE times with NCR and level 1, 2 & 3 Guy named representative and many others
NO ONE EVER EVER GOT BACK TO US _ what the problem is/was / what info they recovered/ why that it lost our stored info etc. OR WAS THE ISSUE EVER RESOLVED ? This has been many, many months we have been trying to work thru this. It has cost us $ and customers. NCR Silver does not seem to care !! We have talked to many different support members and get the same general run around. Very Very discouraging, would not recommend product to any one.

Pros

Having email templates included was huge for us. Customer data integrates with emails, allowing us to segment our customers and send personalized deals.

Cons

Email templates are not as attractive as something like MailChimp, so a working knowledge of html coding can help make them more appealing

Pros

The cons outweigh the pros! The cons make it useless to my business!

Cons

customer places order with waitress or bartender, tickets print at bar and kitchen. food and drinks are prepared but have no idea which waitress orders go to for delivery to customer due to the wrong waitress name coming up on the ticket. very time consuming and inefficient to figure out where the order actually goes.

another example... we run specials every day. such as wing it Wednesday. Half price hot wings.
when an item is on special, each item has to be ordered individually. which means, when a customer orders 40 wings, the waitress has to enter it 40 times!!!! in the past we would simply input a quantity of 40. now it is tying up a waitress and an iPad for 40 times the amount of time it use to take! UNACCEPTIABLE wasting time and money for my business! Have complained to customer service for three months about these issues with no results.

Pros

I like that I can program in the specifics of the items that I sell. We carry several thousand sku's and I can program each barcode of each variation of each product. I also like that there are reports that are valuable to my business, such as sales reports and time clock reports.

Cons

There are limitations to the reporting that I need for my business. There is no way to show what quantity and dollar amount of inventory I have on hand during any given period.
With our industry, I need to know monthly inventory totals on hand, both quantity and dollar amount. In addition, there is no shrinkage tracking for damaged, shopworn, or missing items.

Pros

NCR Silver has been a great program for my business as its reliability is incredible- I don't think NCR has ever been down in the years I have been using it. The user interface is very intuitive and even when off-line (ISP down), once it connects up it re-sync's with their main system and all is well. We highly recommend it to all who ask who we use.

Cons

Honestly, the issues that it has, in my opinion, I have submitted general inquiries and they have actually corrected them in a format that helps all connected- haven't found any issues that I dislike enough to warrant a "dislike".