Serving Success Securely: The Crucial Role of Speed of Service in Quick Service Restaurants

The demand for a fast, quality dining experience is becoming more prevalent than ever for consumers. 

In a 2019 study, researchers found that the emphasis most customers placed on returning to a restaurant was the quality of service before anything else. While the quality of the food and setting are also important, it’s clear that fast, reliable service that’s catered to the needs of the patron leads to long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

For many quick service restaurants (QSR), balancing the quality of the dining experience alongside managing orders, both in store and at the drive thru, presents individual challenges. Luckily, cloud surveillance systems offer a way to not only fortify the security of your establishment but also improve speed and quality of service. 

Below, we’ll cover how slow speed of service can negatively impact your QSR’s revenue, as well as the many solutions offered by cloud video. 

How Speed of Service Affects Your Bottom Line 

Speed and quality of service are some of the most important elements that customers consider when evaluating a QSR, and slow speed of service can seriously impact the reputation of a restaurant. 

Even if the price is good and the quality of the food is high, speed can quickly sway the opinions of restaurant patrons. Not only that, but it can also affect a customer’s perception of the overall quality of the dining experience. Polite service and a clean dining experience are great, but speed is a necessary part of ensuring customers have a positive time at your restaurant. 

According to the 2022 QSR® Drive-Thru Report, which surveyed 1,000 consumers who had visited at least one drive-thru in the previous 30 days, respondents considered it reasonable and fair to spend just under 6 minutes prior to ordering; 4.95 minutes between placing order and picking up; 4.72 parked in a separate waiting area at pickup when order was not ready; and 3.38 placing their order.  

Slow speed of service doesn’t just have negative ramifications for customers, either. If food is taking a significant amount of time to make and bring out to patrons, you and your employees will be unable to attend to other needs around the restaurant, such as keeping your workspace clean and safe to cook in. 

Slow speed of service can be attributed to multiple different factors, whether that’s employee negligence, a limited number of staff present to run the store, or an unexpected rush that wasn’t scheduled around correctly. 

Whatever the case may be, finding a reliable solution to help you monitor your QSR is vital, as it can help pinpoint the areas of your restaurant that need optimization to lead you towards a quicker, better food serving experience. 

The Benefits of Cloud Video Security for Speed of Service 

Cloud video surveillance offers a unique way to combine your security-strengthening efforts with your speed of service goals. 

A complete cloud video solution can take the burden of identifying areas where your restaurant needs assistance off your shoulders, as well as go beyond that with a powerful alerting and searching engine based off unique events. This can free up hours of time, letting you focus on what’s important for your employees and your QSR. 

While a strong cloud video security platform can offer a variety of different uses, there are three primary features which can boost your speed of service from the get-go, including: 

• Video analytics 
• Remote management 
• Active alerting and searching 

1. Video Analytics 

Video analytics offer a way to identify and monitor areas within your business that need to be optimized, including queue lengths, customer engagement, and drive-through times. Data from this area can then be leveraged to figure out where operational bottlenecks are occurring so you can eliminate them, ensuring your customers are working quickly and your patrons are being served quickly. Implemented tools can help you monitor the data coming in from your video analytics solution for easier application: 

• Customizable Dashboards: Easily create customized dashboards that focus on key aspects of service speed. These dashboards provide a quick overview of performance and allow for in-depth analysis of specific areas. In-restaurant dashboards allow teams to visualize elements of service and react quickly to situations that need attention. Drive-thru lanes can be tracked with AI-enabled analytics via timers that alert you to cars that have been waiting longer than normal or a queue line that’s too long. From there, effective line-busting strategies can be put in place, such as having employees move through drive-thrus to take orders or opening another lane.   

• Employee Performance Tracking: A video analytics platform can track individual employee performance, identifying efficiency while also monitoring those who may need additional training or support. 

• Historic Reports: Detailed time-stamped reports can show the time taken for each service step, such as monitoring queue lengths and times that can help you identify trends throughout a given period. This data helps in assessing the overall speed of service and pinpointing areas that need improvement. If certain days or times of the year tend to be busier than others, managers can easily schedule their employees to ensure the success of those working and the restaurant. Dwell times can also be tracked to see if in-store sales displays are successful, or if there may be potential ways to rework your marketing initiatives. 

• Alerts: Proactive alerts within a video analytics platform can be configured to notify managers if certain service benchmarks are not met. For instance, if the time taken to serve a customer exceeds a pre-defined limit, an alert can be sent to take immediate action. Alert functionality can be set up so you can continue working on other projects around your restaurant without having to monitor your video system around the clock. These alerts can also notify you if your employees aren’t helping customers, if customers are left unattended, or if someone has entered a restricted area. 

AI-powered video analytics brings a smart, modern approach to business intelligence and can uncover a multitude of new ways to improve your speed of service by identifying the primary roadblocks that are limiting the productiveness of your workplace operations. 

2. Remote Management 

A video security platform that offers centralized or remote management is another essential component to prioritize when looking to improve your QSR’s speed of service. 

Remote access to your security footage gives you the ability to respond to events without being on site, whether that’s in a situation where your employees’ or customers’ safety is compromised, or an operational issue needs to be remedied. For management, this can be a huge help (especially if you’re managing multiple locations), as you can focus on any off-site needs while still being informed of what’s happening at the physical location in case any problems limiting your speed of service arise. 

For those managing the software, such as IT operators, remote management also significantly reduces any unnecessary labor surrounding your security. User management can be easily adjusted from anywhere, which eliminates the need to reset passwords and helps protect video from employees who do not have authorization to access it. Additionally, health monitoring can alert you to the condition of your video surveillance system. If a camera or recorder is down, your team can immediately address it to make sure there are no vulnerabilities in your security. A solution built around automating those tedious tasks can give IT valuable time back to help with more pressing matters as they arise, saving the whole QSR team resources. 

3. Active Alerting and Searching 

Active alerts with push notifications can help you improve your QSR’s speed of service by responding to events in a timely manner. 

Alerts grant insight into events generated by a video surveillance system, from queue length to theft. Alerts can be based on several different factors, including: 

• Motion detection 
• Analytics 
• Access control 
• Intrusion 
• Health and storage retention 

Alerts can help you react to situations that need your assistance, and searching can give you eyes on situations that need additional review or investigation. If your queue lengths are longer than average, the drive-thru isn’t moving, or employees aren’t engaging with customers in a timely manner, alerts can be sent to your phone or email so you can respond quickly. 

A cloud video platform that can quickly find and export video based on specific criteria can assist investigations into internal fraud or theft of any kind as well, keeping your business secure. 

Find Out More About the Advantages of Cloud Security Systems for Your Restaurant 

Cloud security systems can help uncover new insights into QSR operations, which can identify bottlenecks affecting speed of service. By implementing a complete video solution, restaurant operators can improve their speed and quality of service to benefit their customers, employees, and operations. 

OpenEye Web Services’ (OWS) security solution utilizes video analytics, centralized management, and active alerting and searching to bring QSR operators a secure, scalable platform for the needs of today and tomorrow. 

If you’d like to learn more about how OWS can revamp your restaurants’ speed of service, including the application of point-of-sale integration and automated health monitoring, book a demo with OpenEye to see this powerful solution in action.