Pizza Twist: the counter screen answers “is my order ready?”
The problem a collection counter has
An order goes in at the counter and comes back over the same counter a few minutes later. In between, every waiting customer has exactly one question — is mine ready? — and the only people who can answer it are the ones making the food.
With nothing on the wall answering it, the question gets asked out loud, repeatedly. Staff break off what they are doing to reply, or call out over the noise of a kitchen and hope the right person hears. Customers stay pressed against the counter, because standing anywhere else risks missing the call.
That is the gap a live order token board fills, and it is what Pizza Twist uses their screens for.
What they run
The same screens, the same account and the same playlist as before — with the live order token board switched on. The board is not a second display bolted to the wall and it is not a separate system to log into. It is a state the existing screen enters when there is something to show.
| Setting | How it is set up |
|---|---|
| Sector | Restaurants and takeaway |
| Where it plays | The screens customers can see while they wait for an order |
| Default state | The site's normal scheduled playlist |
| While orders are live | The order token board takes over the whole screen |
| What the board shows | Order numbers in two columns — Preparing, and Ready to Pick Up |
| Audio | Each order is called out loud as it becomes ready |
| When the queue clears | The playlist returns on its own, with nothing to switch back |
How the board behaves
-
The order goes on the board
The number appears under Preparing, alongside everything already in the queue. Because there is now something to show, the token board takes the screen and the playlist waits its turn.
-
It moves to Ready to Pick Up
When the kitchen finishes the order, the number crosses to the Ready to Pick Up column and the screen calls it out loud — so it reaches the people who were not watching the screen too.
-
The board stands down
Once no orders are outstanding, the token board hands the screen back and the normal playlist comes up again by itself. Between rushes the screen goes back to its usual job.
What it does for staff and customers
- The question “is my order ready?” is answered on the wall, so it does not have to be asked at the counter.
- Staff stay on the task in front of them instead of stopping to check and reply each time.
- The spoken call-out reaches customers who have stepped away, are on their phone, or simply are not facing the screen.
- Waiting customers can see the whole Preparing list, not only their own number, so they have a sense of where they are in the queue.
- Handing an order over becomes a number on a screen rather than a name shouted across a room, which is easier in a noisy space.
- The screen is not permanently given over to the queue — whenever there is no queue, it is back to earning its keep on the playlist.
- It is the same screen, the same player and the same account as the rest of the signage, so there is no separate queue display to buy, mount or manage.
About the numbers. There are none, deliberately. We have not run a before-and-after measurement at Pizza Twist, so this page carries no percentage, no revenue figure and no wait-time saving. What is described above is what the setup does; what it is worth is something each site is better placed to judge than we are.