Using the kitchen display

The Kitchen display shows every round sent to the kitchen as a ticket, live, on a tablet, TV or computer in the kitchen. It's built to be read from across the room: big type, a dark high-contrast screen by default, and a timer on every ticket. Cooks tap an item as it's done and press the big button on the ticket as they start and finish it, and the waiter, takeaway board and guest's phone update at once. The kitchen display is included in the Growth plan and above, and in the free trial.

How do I set up the kitchen display screen?

Open Kitchen display in the sidebar (under Service) on the kitchen device. Staff with the Kitchen role see only this screen. Owners and managers can open it too; waiters, cashiers and hosts don't have it in their sidebar.

1. Sign in on the kitchen tablet or computer with a kitchen staff login (see Staff roles: who sees what).
2. Open Kitchen display. It fills the whole screen. The header shows the station, your outlet name, how many tickets are New, Preparing and Ready (and how many are Late), the clock, and a Live light. New tickets appear by themselves; you never need to refresh.
3. Press the Full screen button (the expand icon, top right) to hide the browser bars. Press it again to leave full screen.
4. Leave the sound on (the speaker icon) so new orders chime.
5. Pick the screen's look with the sun / moon button: dark (the default, easy on the eyes in a hot, dim kitchen) or light (for a bright kitchen). Each device remembers its own choice, and so does the sound setting.
6. Set the device's screen timeout to "never", or keep it plugged in, so the screen doesn't sleep.

If the connection drops, the Live light turns red and says Offline: showing the last orders. The screen keeps showing the tickets it already has and catches up by itself when the connection returns. Press Dashboard (top right), or the Esc key on a keyboard, to leave the kitchen display. In full screen, the first Esc leaves full screen.

If each section has its own screen (for example a bar screen and a tandoor screen), open the kitchen display on each device and pick that section's station at the top (see below).

Language on this device: shared screens like the kitchen display show a small language switch (EN / हिन्दी) in the top bar. It changes the language on this device only, whoever is signed in. If someone picks a language from their own user menu, that clears the device setting. See Using AirQR in Hindi.

What do the columns and colours mean?

The kitchen display has three columns, plus an optional fourth:

Every ticket has a header you can read from a distance:

• A big block on the left says whose ticket it is: TABLE 4, a takeaway token like T12, a bar TAB with the guest's name, or the order number.
• Next to it: the order type (Dine-in, Takeaway, Delivery), R2, R3… for later rounds on the same table, the order number, whether it came from a QR order, the POS or a Kiosk, the name of the waiter or cashier who took it, and the guest's name if given.
• A pulsing NEW tag for the first minute, so a new ticket catches your eye.
• A red ALLERGY tag when the order or an item has a note that mentions an allergy. The dish's allergens (for example milk, gluten) show as small tags under each item, and turn red on an allergy ticket.
• A live timer (minutes and seconds) since the ticket arrived, with a thin bar under the header that fills as the ticket ages.

Each item shows its quantity in big type, its size, add-ons as small tags, and cooking notes highlighted in yellow. A single item packed on its own shows a black Parcel tag next to its name. Parcels show a black Parcel · pack to take away (or Takeaway · pack it / Delivery · pack it) strip across the ticket.

The timer colours. Colour is never the only signal: the timer also changes its icon and says the word.

Tickets that are ready stop their timer and turn green. The strip at the bottom of the screen reminds you what the colours mean. The number of late tickets also shows in the header.

Your own target time. Owners and managers can set how long a ticket should take at each station in Settings → Stations, under Target time. The ticket turns amber at that many minutes and red at twice that. For example, a target of 8 turns tickets amber at 8 minutes and red at 16. Leave it empty to use the defaults (10 and 20 minutes on a kitchen screen, 6 and 12 on a bar screen, 10 and 15 on a pickup counter).

All day. On a large screen the All day panel on the right adds up every item still to make in New and Preparing (for example "Butter Naan 14"), so the tandoor knows how many to fire. Items already ticked off are not counted. Press All day at the bottom to hide or show the panel.

Filter by order type. The buttons at the top right (All orders, Dine-in, Takeaway, Delivery) show only tickets of that type, with a count on each. The columns and the All day totals follow the filter.

How do I move a ticket from New to Ready to Served?

You can work a ticket two ways, and mix them:

• Tap an item when it's done. A green tick appears and the item fades. The first tick starts the ticket (it moves to Preparing), and when every item is ticked the ticket moves to Ready to serve by itself. Tap a ticked item again to undo it.
• Tap the big button at the bottom of the ticket to move the whole ticket to the next step. You can also tap the coloured header of a New ticket as a shortcut for Start. Ready always needs the button (or the last tick), so a stray touch never bumps a ticket.

The buttons are:

1. Start (in New) moves it to Preparing when cooking begins.
2. Ready (in Preparing) moves it to Ready to serve. The waiter, the takeaway board, the order-ready TV screen and the guest's phone all show it as ready.
3. Served (in Ready to serve) clears it from the screen once it leaves the pass.

This is often called "bumping" a ticket. Anyone who can open the kitchen display (kitchen staff, managers and owners) can move tickets.

Tapped the wrong button?

• Right after you press Ready or Served, a "Bumped …" message shows for a few seconds with an Undo button. Undo puts the ticket back exactly as it was.
• For a minute after a bump, Recall last shows at the bottom right. It brings back the ticket you bumped most recently on this screen (a ready ticket goes back to Preparing, a served ticket back to Ready to serve).
• On a Preparing or Ready ticket, press the small back-arrow (Move back) to return it one step.
• For a ticket already served, press Show served at the bottom, find it under Recently served, and press Recall. It goes back to Ready to serve. Served tickets stay recallable for 20 minutes.

How do I filter the kitchen display by station?

Every menu item has a station, set in Menu builder on the item under Send to station. Your outlet's stations (Kitchen, Tandoor, Bar, Coffee counter…) are set up in Settings → Stations (see Stations and station screens). Under the header you'll see All stations plus a button for each station, with how many open tickets it has.

• Tap a station (for example Tandoor) and the screen shows that station's name and icon in the header, and only the tickets with tandoor items, with only the tandoor lines on each ticket.
• Under the items, a line such as "+ 3 other items on this order at Kitchen" tells the tandoor what the rest of the order is waiting on.
• On a station's screen, Ready means "my part is ready". The ticket moves to Ready to serve on that screen, and shows "Done here · waiting on Kitchen" until the other stations finish. The ticket becomes ready for the waiter and the guest only when every station has finished its items.
• The All day totals follow the filter too.
• Tap All stations to see everything again.

The choice is per screen and part of the address (for example /dashboard/kitchen?station=tandoor), so the tandoor tablet can stay on Tandoor while the main kitchen shows All stations. A station set to the Bar screen, Pickup counter or Expo / packing type opens that screen instead of these columns (see The bar screen).

Sending all drinks to the bar: in Menu builder, open a drinks category's ⋯ → Rename / edit and choose Bar under Send every item to a station. Every item in the category moves to the Bar station at once. Bar tabs show as "Tab · guest name" on the ticket (see Running bar tabs).

How do I approve QR orders on the kitchen display?

If Settings → Ordering → Staff must approve QR orders is on, guest QR orders don't go straight to the cooks. They arrive in New with a dashed blue border and wait for someone to check them with the table.

• Owners and managers see Accept and Reject on the ticket. Accept sends it to the kitchen (and prints its KOT); Reject cancels those items.
• The Kitchen role can't approve. Kitchen staff see "Waiting for front-of-house to confirm" until a manager or owner accepts it. If a manager isn't always near a kitchen screen, consider turning the approval setting off.

Tickets waiting for payment: takeaway or online orders marked pay first show "Waiting for payment at the counter". They don't chime and can't be started yet. Once the cashier confirms payment, the ticket becomes a normal new ticket and chimes. See Takeaway tokens.

What happens when the POS changes a ticket the kitchen already has?

If a cashier or waiter voids an item or adds to a ticket that is still in New, Preparing or Ready, the kitchen display chimes and shows "Order changed: #…". On the ticket:

• An Updated badge appears in the header.
• Voided lines are struck through on a red background with a red Cancelled tag and "Don't make · (reason)". They can't be ticked off.
• Newly added lines are highlighted green with a New tag.
• If everything on a ticket was voided, it reads "Everything on this ticket was voided — don't make it." Press Clear to remove it.

If KOT printers are set up, the kitchen printer also prints a VOID or CHANGE slip with just the changed lines. See How printing works.

How do I reprint a KOT and turn the sound on or off?

Reprint a KOT: press the printer icon (Print KOT) at the bottom-left of any ticket.

• If KOT printers are set up in Settings → Printing & screens, a copy goes to every kitchen printer that makes something on that ticket, marked REPRINT so nobody cooks it twice. You'll see "Sent to the kitchen printer".
• Without KOT printers, a small print window opens so you can print through the browser.
• A QR order waiting for approval can't be printed yet ("Accept the ticket first.").

The print icon only shows on plans with printing.

Sound: the speaker icon at the top turns the new-order chime on or off for this screen (the screen remembers the choice). With sound off you still get a pop-up message for each new or changed order. Most browsers only play sound after you've tapped the page once, so tap anywhere after opening the screen.

Troubleshooting the kitchen display

For printer problems see Printer troubleshooting. Still stuck? Call or WhatsApp +91 96573 22724, or email support@airqr.in.