Order Routing - Routing Rules (HQ)

Routing Rules allow you to specify which Menu Categories (groups of items) print or display on specific devices (Printers or KDS) when an order is placed. Routing Rules can then be Activated or Deactivated at different times of the day or week to meet different business needs. They can also be used to route beverages to a beverage printer, or grilled items to a grill station as opposed to all items going to all stations.

To access Routing Rules, navigate to your site, click the "Order Routing" tab on the left-hand side, then click the "Routing Rules" sub-tab.

Permission Requirements: View Devices, Add Device, Edit Device, Delete Device

Routing Rules

Field	Description
Status	This field displays the status of the routing rule. Green is Active and Grey is Inactive.
Updated Date	The date of the last update to this routing rule.
Updated By	The user that made the last update.
Routing Name	The name of the routing rule.
Description	The description of the routing rule.
Device Name	The list of devices that orders are routed to for this routing rule.
Actions - Activate\Deactivate	Allows a user to Activate (turn on) or Deactivate (turn off) a routing rule. These actions are immediately sent to the devices at the site and do not have to be published to take effect.
Actions - Edit\Delete	Allows a user with the appropriate permissions to Edit or Delete an existing Routing Rule.

From this screen you can either click on the blue "Add" button to add a new routing rule and Edit or Delete an existing routing rule.

Add Routing Rule

To Add a new Routing Rule, click the blue Add button in the upper right area of the screen. It will bring up the window below.

FIELD	DESCRIPTION
Name	The name of the Routing Rule.
Description	The description of the Routing Rule.
Device	The devices included in the Routing Rule.
Printers	The printers included in the Routing Rule.
Services	The services included in the Routing Rule.
Categories	The menu categories being routed to this device.
Items	Future functionality. Individual items being routed to this device.
Actions Edit\Delete	Allows a user with the appropriate permissions to Edit or Delete an existing mapping within the Routing Rule.

When you have entered the Name of the new Routing Rule and a Description, click on the Plus sign above Actions. This will allow you to add the mapping and attributes to this Routing Rule.

Add Default Mapping

You can add as many mappings to a Routing Rule as needed. Each mapping can be applied to a single device and by extension any order printer assigned to that device. The mappings can also specify which optional services and categories that mapping can handle.  There are currently no restrictions to how many mappings can exist.

FIELD	DESCRIPTION
Device	Choose the device from the drop-down menu.
Printers	Choose the order printer (if applicable) from the drop-down menu. This drop-down menu will only display the order printers that have been configured for the device chosen above.
Services	Choose the Service(s) from the drop-down menu. (Optional)
Categories	Choose the Menu Category(s) from the drop-down menu. (Optional)
Items	Future Functionality.

Once you have entered the mapping for the first device, click the black "Save" button at the bottom of the Add Default Mapping window. You can then add additional devices to the Routing Rule by clicking on the Plus sign again and repeating the steps for the new device. Once you have entered all devices into the Routing Rule, click the black "Save" button at the bottom of the Add Routing Rule window to complete the Routing Rule.

NOTE: You can have more than one mapping for the same device. For example, different services for the same device to handle different categories. (Only print beverages for To Go orders)

Edit Routing Rule

To Edit an existing Routing Rule, click on the Edit link to the right of the rule you need to modify. Once you have updated the information for the first device, click the black "Save" button at the bottom of the Edit Default Mapping window. You can then Edit additional mappings within the Routing Rule by clicking on the Edit link to the right of the mapping and repeating the steps. Once you have finished editing all mappings in the Routing Rule, click the black "Save" button at the bottom of the Edit Routing Rule window.

Once the information has been added or updated, you will need to click the black "Save" button. After saving the changes, Publish the information by using the blue “Publish” button at the top of the screen. Choose “Routing Rules” and then click the black “Publish” button.

Active Routing Rules - Load Balancing

If more than one routing rule is active at the same time, the system will equally load balance the number of active orders between the two routing rules. 

For example, the first routing rule has 5 orders, and the second routing rule has 3 orders, the next order will automatically go to the second rule.

NOTE: One order is equal to one item.

NOTE: If a POS user has the SelectRouting permission, the POS will prompt the user to select a routing which overrides the load balancer. Auto-Route can also be selected.