Refreshments
Refreshments is a list of what the desk can offer a visitor: tea, cold drink, bottled water, a working lunch. Each one carries a unit cost, so the client can see what hospitality at the front desk actually costs over a month.
What it is for
The receptionist should not be typing "2 tea and a water" into a notes box, because nothing can be counted afterwards. This list gives her a fixed set of items to pick from on the visit, and each item carries a cost, so the hospitality the front desk orders can be totalled by month or by department when the client asks where the canteen money went.
Keep it short. Six or eight items is enough at a factory: tea, coffee, cold drink, bottled water, biscuits, working lunch. A long list slows the desk down and the extra detail is never used.
Every field, in plain words
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refreshments | The short code for the item. | TEA | Must be unique. |
| Name | What the item is called, as the receptionist will read it. | Tea with biscuits | |
| Unit Cost | What one of them costs. | 60 | In rupees. Keep it roughly current so a monthly total means something. |
How to configure it
- Ask the client for the canteen rate list. It usually exists already.
- Open Refreshments. Code TEA, Name Tea with biscuits, Unit Cost 60. Save.
- Add the rest: WATER bottled water 50, COLD cold drink 90, LUNCH working lunch 450.
- Review the costs when the canteen rates change. Changing a cost here changes what future visits are counted at.
Scenarios
The client wants to know what the front desk spends on hospitality
That is the only reason Unit Cost exists. Keep the costs current and keep the receptionist picking items on the visit rather than writing them in a note, and the figures can be read back per month.
A visitor was given something not on the list
Pick the nearest item and write what was actually served in the line note on the visit. If it happens often, add the item to this list instead.
What it is connected to
- Visitor Registration is the only screen that uses this list. The receptionist adds one line per item ordered for the visitor.
If something looks wrong
- "The refreshment list is empty on the registration screen" - no items have been created yet.
- "The costs are out of date" - they are typed here and nothing updates them. Edit the items when the canteen rate changes.
- "I cannot find a total of refreshments for the month" - the cost sits on each item and the items sit on each visit. Reading them together is a report over the visits, not a field on this screen.