Press Release

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Lisa Wilson

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ASI Handheld Creates “Buzz” at NRA Show

Chicago, IL (May 22, 2002): The ASI Handheld POS System made a big splash at the 2002 Restaurant Show sponsored by the National Restaurant Association this year. There were over 75,000 visitors in attendance at the show and wireless handheld technology was THE hot topic they were all talking about.

In a well-attended presentation in the NRA Technology Pavillion on May 18, ASI CEO, Alex Malison, gave restaurateurs a glimpse of a future where handheld POS Systems will be the tool of choice for tableside ordering. He closed by predicting “Five years from now handhelds will be as ubiquitous in full service restaurants as the touchscreen is today.” (Read more about Mr. Malison’s presentation on the NRA website: www.restaurant.org/show/news.)

Although a number of POS companies were demo-ing handheld point-of-sale systems at this year’s NRA show, the patent-pending ASI Handheld was the ONLY product to take advantage of new handwriting recognition capabilities built into the operating systems of pocket PCs. ASI's new user interface looks very compelling when compared to the clumsy touchbutton approach favored by other POS companies. The ASI Handheld is designed to be as easy to use as pencil & pad and it is the only handheld POS system that has proven itself beyond a doubt in real-world, full service restaurants.

Ray Morrison, owner of the Royal Mile Pub, in Wheaton Maryland attended the NRA Show to share his enthusiasm for the ASI Handheld System that was installed in his business at the beginning of this year. “Table turns are way up now,” he says. “And because my waiters are so much more efficient they can handle more tables than before. So my staffing needs and labor costs are way down. But the really amazing news about the ASI Handheld is how much the waiters love to use it. It’s so easy to jot down an order. And yet when they need to consult the list of all 75 malt whiskies we sell, they have it right there at their finger tips.” Royal Mile waitress Anne Marie Diogo concurs, “The ASI Handhelds make everything so much faster and easier.”

ASI has always set itself apart from the competition with an emphasis on user-friendly design and system stability. The company’s approach to a handheld interface continues in this tradition.

Founded in 1988, ASI specializes in Point of Sale (POS) and Management software for the foodservice industry. ASI offers its software products through a network of 200+ Value Added Resellers (VARs) across the continental US, Canada, Europe and Asia.