Software takes guesswork out of take-out

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In the past, when Anthony Rodebush needed to order food for a dozen people, he would scribble the orders onto a pad, recite them into the phone, and hope for the best.|ret||ret||tab|

These days, Rodebush, jury supervisor at the Greene County courthouse, is glad all that is behind him. Recently he became one of the firsts in Springfield to load a new program on his computer intended to remove the guesswork from the world of take-out.|ret||ret||tab|

Available to any Steak-Out customer who has a personal computer, the program allows the user to scroll through an actual menu, make selections by pointing and clicking and then fax the order to the nearest restaurant. |ret||ret||tab|

"We order lunch or dinner for 13 or 14 people from Steak-Out pretty often," Rodebush said. "I really think this new software is going to make that process a lot easier."|ret||ret||tab|

The new software is being distributed free of charge locally by Bill Brandt, owner of two Steak-Out restaurants in Springfield at 3013-A S. National and 550 E. Chestnut Expressway.|ret||ret||tab|

"This software makes placing an order a lot easier for the customer," Brandt said. "We will bring the software out and set it up for them. After that, they can make their own order and either fax it from the computer, if they have a modem, or they can print it out and fax it in."|ret||ret||tab|

From that point, Brandt said his staff would take the order off the fax machine, draw it up and deliver the food in the same manner they always do. |ret||ret||tab|

While the software should be helpful for anyone ordering lunch or dinner, Brandt said it offers special advantages for customers placing multi-ticket orders. |ret||ret||tab|

For example, it allows each individual placing an order to see his total bill, before it's sent to the restaurant. |ret||ret||tab|

He added that the program includes payment options such as using a credit card or company account number.|ret||ret||tab|

"Companies who order for sales or department meetings usually have one person in charge of the food," Brandt said. "This enables that person to get on the software and make the order without the frustration of having to call us more than once with changes or additions."|ret||ret||tab|

Developed by CouncilPro Software Company of McKinney, Texas, the program is part of a larger package of catering and carryout software, said Diane Mazzarella, a company spokesperson who helped create the program.|ret||ret||tab|

"I had a background of 20 years of meeting planning," Mazzarella said. "So I understood the frustration of meeting planners. I helped put this software together especially for hospitality applications."|ret||ret||tab|

Mazzarella said system requirements for the program are minimal: a CD-ROM drive and Windows 95 or higher. |ret||ret||tab|

Users can request the software for older versions of Windows, she said, but no version is presently available for Macintosh users.|ret||ret||tab|

"There are no time-consuming log-on procedures or passwords to remember," Mazzarella said. "We wanted to make it simple so it would be a broad-based application."|ret||ret||tab|

The software is being implemented in Steak-Out restaurants around the country, said George Shearer, a Steak-Out field consultant from Atlanta, Ga. Springfield is the third market to use it behind Atlanta, Ga., and Denver, Colo.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's available to all Steak-Out owners," Shearer said. "We want to get lots of people using it, because it really works."|ret||ret||tab|

Shearer said by the end of the year updates for the program, including price and menu changes, should be available on Steak-Out's national Web site. Getting them should be simple, he said, "just click on the Web site and download the update for your market."|ret||ret||tab|

Despite the confidence Brandt said he has in his staff, he said the software would also help to eliminate the occasional error that takes place when customers phone in orders.|ret||ret||tab|

"It will do that," he said. "But mostly it will save a lot of time for our customers."|ret||ret||tab|

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