Restaurant Tables and Tabs

In the Restaurant Module, sales are linked to tables or tabs. Click Tables to open the table selection screen, then click or touch a table to start a sale or continue its open sale.

Selecting a table | Using tabs | Designing the floor plan | Using a default table

Selecting a Table

The floor plan shows the saved positions of your tables and other floor objects. The colour and status label help you identify available and occupied tables.

New table selection screen showing available tables, occupied tables and tables assigned to the logged-in user — Table selection with an example floor plan. Click the image to view it at full size.

Green – Available: the table has no open sale. Small tables may show Free.
Amber – In use: the table has an open sale.
Blue – Your service: the table has an open sale whose waiter is the logged-in user. Your normal table access and cashier-swap settings still apply.
Violet floor objects: walls, doors, a bar, plants and other landmarks help staff recognise the layout. These objects cannot be selected for a sale.

Larger table buttons show the allocated waiter (or cashier if no waiter is assigned) and how long the sale has been open. With a mouse, hover over a table for more details, including the cashier, sale number, time since the last order and linked customer, where applicable. Small tables show fewer details; use zoom or the table list for a clearer view.

Finding a Table

Enter a table name or waiter name in Find table / waiter. The keyboard button opens the on-screen keyboard.
Click All tables to switch to Available only. Tables that do not match the search or availability filter are dimmed and cannot be selected on the floor plan; they are hidden in the table list. Clear the search and switch back to All tables to show every table.
Click Table list for large, evenly sized table buttons. Click Floor plan to return to the saved layout.
In the floor plan view, choose a zoom level to enlarge small tables and scroll to other parts of the layout. Choose Fit to see the whole floor plan again.

Restaurant table list with large table buttons, search and availability controls — The table list makes small or closely spaced tables easier to select.

Table status refreshes automatically every five seconds. You can also click Refresh. The bottom of the screen shows when the last update succeeded. If an update fails, the last floor plan remains visible but table selection is disabled until a fresh update succeeds. Check the connection to the server and use Refresh, or wait for the automatic retry.

If you use waiters and the selected table has no waiter allocated, you will be prompted to select or authenticate a waiter according to your settings. See Waiters.

To move an open sale to another table, select the sale, click Sale Options, then Change Table. The order items and waiter move to the new table. You can also split a bill into separate bills.

Tabs

Tabs are useful when customers move around instead of sitting at a table, for example in a bar. Click Tables, then Tabs. You can choose to use only tabs and skip table selection in Restaurant Settings or for a particular computer in PC Settings.

Select a waiter, scan a waiter card or enter a PIN, depending on your settings.
Enter a new tab name and press Enter to create a tab. Alternatively, use the on-screen keyboard and click Create New Tab.
Select an existing tab to continue its sale. Completed tabs disappear from the list.
Normally, a waiter sees their own tabs. Use the option to view all tabs if you need to select another waiter's tab. Your security settings may require manager or supervisor authorisation.

Designing the Floor Plan

In ROBOTILL Back Office, go to Home > Setup and Settings > Settings > Restaurant Settings and click Edit Restaurant Floor Plan (Tables).

New floor plan editor showing object properties, resize handles, table list and Save layout button — The floor plan editor with a customer table selected. Click the image to view it at full size.

Click Add table for a table that staff can select for a sale, or Add object for a landmark such as a wall, door, bar or plant.
Select an item on the floor plan or in the Floor objects list. Use the search box above the list to find an item by name.
In Object properties, enter its name, type, width and height, then click Apply properties. Customer tables are rectangular. Other floor objects can be rectangular or round/oval.
Drag the object to move it. Drag one of its selection handles to resize it. You can also move a selected object with the arrow keys; hold Shift for larger steps.
Click Duplicate to create another item with the same properties, then rename and position the copy. Use Delete to remove a selected item. A table with an open sale cannot be deleted; complete or void the sale first.
Click Save layout to save all changes.

Width (%) and Height (%) accept whole numbers from 1 to 100. These values are percentages of the full floor plan, not screen pixels. For example, a width of 20 takes up 20% of the floor plan's width. Zoom changes only your view of the layout.

Use Undo and Redo to reverse or repeat edits. The zoom control enlarges the design area; Fit restores the full view. Reload loads the saved layout again. If you close or reload with unsaved changes, you will be asked before discarding them.

Apply properties, adding, duplicating, moving, resizing and deleting only change the layout you are editing. Click Save layout before closing to keep your changes. If saving reports a conflict with another user's changes, reload the latest layout and make your changes again.

Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+S saves, Ctrl+D duplicates the selected object, and Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+Y undo/redo layout edits. Press Esc during a drag to cancel that movement. When typing in a text box, the normal text-editing shortcuts apply.

A customer table can also represent a bar stool, telephone order or take-away order. Use a Customer table for any position that needs to hold a sale. Use a Floor object for landmarks that should not hold sales.

Using a Default Table

A take-away shop or counter-service restaurant may want to start each sale without selecting a table. Enable Default Table in Restaurant Settings, or for a particular computer in PC Settings.

Each cashier selects a default table when logging in. It can be a placeholder for counter sales rather than a physical table. The table is automatically selected after each sale. The cashier can still select another table or use tabs during the session, for example for telephone orders.

Each till session needs its own default table. Create a table for every till point. If a new shift logs in before the previous shift has completed cash-up and released its default table, create extra tables, such as Till 1 - Morning Shift and Till 1 - Afternoon Shift. The names are up to you; each session must select its own available default table.

The example below shows placeholders for counter sales and telephone orders. You can use tabs for telephone orders instead.

Example take-away floor plan with default tables and telephone order placeholders

Watch the take-away and default table training video.

Table and Tab Training Video

The video explains the table and tab workflow. It shows an earlier screen design; use the instructions and screenshots above for the current controls.