Customer displays
What this is for
Two screens that face customers rather than staff. They're different things and solve different problems.
| Screen | Faces | Shows |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Display | The person paying, at the till | Their bill, building live |
| Customer Order Board | The room | Which orders are preparing and which are ready |
Neither needs a login. Both are opened in a browser on a second screen.
Customer Display
A screen turned toward the guest at the counter, mirroring the till in real time.
As the cashier adds items, the guest sees:
- Each item, quantity and price as it's added
- Subtotal, discount, charges, taxes, tip and delivery fee
- The total
- The order number
- Cash due and change, when paying by cash
- A payment QR code, where you use one
It updates about once a second, so it keeps pace with a cashier working quickly.
Why bother
It removes an entire category of dispute. A guest watching their bill assemble catches a wrong item at the moment it's added, not after the card has gone through — and it visibly shows you're not adding anything they didn't order.
Where card payments are common, it also gives someone something to read while the terminal thinks.
Setting it up
- Connect a second screen to the till — a monitor, a tablet, anything with a browser.
- Open the Customer Display address on it.
- Turn it to face the guest.
It follows the cashier signed in on that till. When no order is being built it sits idle, which is the correct resting state.
Customer Order Board
A screen in the room showing what's cooking and what's ready. The thing people glance at while waiting for a number to be called.
Two columns:
- Preparing — in the kitchen.
- Ready for Pickup — waiting at the counter.
When there's nothing, it says Waiting for orders... rather than sitting blank.
Tokens and order numbers
The board works from token numbers — short numbers, reset daily, unique per order type. Much
easier to shout across a room than CF-2026-0042.
Enable tokens per order type under Settings › Orders › Token Number Settings.
Show Order Number on Board adds the full order number alongside the token, for guests holding a receipt with that number on it.
Where it earns its place
- Counter service and quick service — replaces calling names.
- Pickup-heavy operations — customers see progress instead of asking.
- Food courts and busy takeaway counters — the board absorbs the questions.
Table service doesn't need one. The food arrives at the table.
Setting it up
- Put a screen where waiting customers can see it.
- Open the Customer Order Board address on it.
- Enable token numbers for the order types you want on the board.
It refreshes itself. Mount it, open it, leave it.
Practical notes
- Neither screen needs a login, which is exactly why they must be positioned so only the intended people see them. A customer display facing the room shows every bill in the restaurant.
- The board shows today's orders. It clears with the day.
- Any browser works — a cheap tablet or an old monitor on a stick PC is plenty.
- Set the screen to never sleep. A blank display is worse than no display; people stop trusting it.
- These need a connection. Offline, they stop updating. See When the internet drops.
Good to know
- The customer display follows the cashier's session, so each till needs its own.
- The order board reads from kitchen tickets, so an order that was never sent to the kitchen never appears. See Kitchen tickets.
- Both are per branch.
Next
Orders are covered. Next comes the people placing them — customer records.