This project has been a learning experience for us in restaurant management. In order to help Intellicasting turn their idea into reality, we built a truly unique tool to optimize restaurant efficiency and performance for restauranteurs. The application allows businesses to model their finances, predict sales and cash flow, as well as predict net profit through a series of metrics for real-time profitability.
The application even allows for the scheduling of employees and managing of vehicle fleet for deliveries. Owners can set and track goals as well as easily manage their inventory down to the pickle. We also devised a customized information dashboard to relay the metrics in a central and easy location for a real time financial snapshot. Finally, an accompanying website was created to complete the project for the client and cover all grounds for their customers as well.
“OmniSpear has listened to the needs of our customer base and developed a user-friendly and reliable service that our customers use every single day, multiple times a day. ”
Intellicasting offers a suite of web and mobile applications for the quick-service restaurant industry designed to help owners and managers maximize profitability and minimize time spent on routine management. The platform bundles financial reporting, scheduling and a driver reimbursement rate calculator into an integrated user experience adding value to daily operations and long-term financial management for single and multi-unit restaurant groups.
With a growing list of interested clients, Intellicasting was motivated to bring a cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription offering to market.
Intellicasting presented OmniSpear with a series of complex Excel spreadsheets that comprised its service offering. While the management tools and metrics were solid — refined from years of hands-on restaurant ownership — the format was cumbersome to distribute and use.
OmniSpear was tasked with translating the spreadsheets into a user-friendly software application and rounding it out with a mobile app, a robust user management system and integration points for capturing sales and expense info and driver-specific vehicle valuation.
After a series of discovery sessions where Intellicasting schooled the OmniSpear team in the tools and methods of quick-service restaurant management, we set out to translate spreadsheet formulas and write use cases.
Roadmap in hand, the OmniSpear development team leveraged the PHP-based Laravel framework and open-source libraries to deliver a customized solution tailored to the specific workflow needs of managing quick-service restaurants. Technical details are highlighted below:
Intellicasting’s customer base of quick-service restaurants operate in a fast-paced environment. They have mere minutes to delight their patrons. Recognizing the need to maximize ease-of-use, OmniSpear developed a full-featured application with an eye toward customization and efficiency.
Performance dashboard and interactive financial reports offer a quick view of store results and the ability to run what-if scenarios for various sales and expense projections
Scheduling platform where managers can manage employee info, create weekly work schedules, approve employee time-off and shift-swap requests, and monitor hours and store labor targets
Mileage Scout platform that calculates mileage reimbursement rates on actual vehicles and not a theoretical average vehicle, incorporates estimated or actual insurance and ownership costs, and keeps an historical record of reimbursement rates
ScheduleNow mobile app for Android and iOS for easy access to schedules, alerts, and staff directory with one-touch messaging allowing managers to update work schedules and send employees alerts even when they’re away from the office
Self-service sign-up wizard for use in customer acquisition campaigns to guide potential clients through setup and free-trial including tutorials on using platform features
Administrative back-end for maintaining users, billing and client information, monitoring usage statistics and exporting user info to MailChimp
Customizable platform allowing Intellicasting to bundle Dashboard, ScheduleNow and Mileage Scout into a single subscription or onboard clients to ScheduleNow and Mileage Scout as stand-alone subscriptions
Notification preferences customizable so employees can receive shift alerts and reminders via email, text or push notifications in the ScheduleNow mobile app
Mileage Scout integration with Kelley Blue Book and Gas Buddy customizes reimbursement rates for real-time vehicle-specific valuation and zipcode-based gas prices
ScheduleNow app available for download from Play Store and App Store by managers and employees for organizations interested in making the scheduling experience mobile.
Integration with point of sale system to automate data collection and synchronize with franchise management system
Integration with salesforce.com - used to manage the customer acquisition pipeline - automated the creation of leads and passed in a lead source ID for analyzing marketing campaign performance
Integrated online payment with secure credit card processing for subscription fees
Ability to upload employee information in bulk simplifying the onboarding process and reducing the effort required to begin seeing bottom-line results
Hover tips throughout the application answer provide guidance getting the most out of the application
ScheduleNow mobile app for employee download so they can easily access their shift schedule, communicate with other employees and receive push notifications about manager alerts
Immersed in Intellcasting’s mission to bring efficiency and profitability to quick-service restaurant owners, OmniSpear’s development team unlocked value by transforming a series of Excel spreadsheets into a contemporary and relevant business model.