With the “Smart Call” intelligent beer coaster, we have our finger on the pulse of the times, because the old-fashioned cardboard beer coasters that only served as coasters are a thing of the past. Together with glass manufacturer RASTAL, we have developed the digital drinks ordering system. SmartCall offers the hospitality industry an IoT solution for service optimization and sustainable customer loyalty.
The German Innovation Award recognizes cross-industry products and solutions that stand out above all for their user focus and added value compared to previous solutions.
What is SmartCall?
The digital beverage ordering system consists of an intelligent beer mat with an integrated weighing sensor and mobile communications as well as special drinking glasses with NFC chips. The system detects the fill level of a glass and visualizes this information on a terminal, tablet or smartphone. This gives the service staff a quick overview of the glasses in the pub and allows them to respond to empty glasses or other guest requests at an early stage, for example.
In future, guests will no longer have to draw attention to themselves – on the contrary! The SmartCall automatically informs the service staff so that they can now proactively approach the guest. The guest also has the additional option of using two integrated service buttons to call the service staff or get in touch with the host. The SmartCall is particularly useful for service in areas of restaurants that are difficult to see, such as terraces or beer gardens.
How does SmartCall work?
The intelligent SmartCall beer mat uses several sensors to determine the weight of the drinking glass and calculates the fill level on this basis. This data is transferred to the ROBIOTIC IoT cloud via mobile communications and visualized on the user interface of a POS system, tablet or smartphone. The NFC chip integrated in the glass can also be used to identify and assign different glass types (e.g. Pilsner or wheat glass).
The fill levels and glass type are visualized in several stages as images from full to empty.
The display is also shown in 3 colors using the traffic light model. The color assignment is intuitively structured as follows:
- green for 100% – 60% and means no need for action
- yellow for 20-60% need for action soon
- red for 20% – 0%, service required
If the glass has been lifted from the SmartCall or placed next to it, it appears gray without a glass image. The service staff can also be “contacted” via two service buttons on the side. For example, another order can be placed or an early departure from the restaurant and the associated billing can be carried out. The integrated LED flashes for 30 seconds after the service button is pressed, indicating that the waiter has been informed.
The SmartCall is powered by a built-in rechargeable battery. This can be recharged using the charging tower supplied, which can hold up to 10 coasters at the same time.
The SmartCall is a joint development of the companies ROBIOTIC, RASTAL and Hoffmann + Krippner.
You can find a short video explaining the SmartCall catering solution at: https://www.robiotic.com/de
Read more about the SmartCall digital beer mat: Hoffmann + Krippner: Smart beer coasters for the hospitality industry