The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign processes approximately 543,000 point-of-sale transactions per month in its dining halls and on-campus restaurants for its 45,000 students. Visitors use a mix of dining plans and credit cards to pay for their meals. In January 2016, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign implemented Heartland OneCard, now part of the TouchNet family of products. OneCard is an easy-to-manage POS system and dining solution that provides a robust API which enables integration with different systems across campus.
“Our Technology and Dining Services staff worked very closely with OneCard throughout the implementation process,” says Bryan Johnson, Project Manager for University Housing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The OneCard team visited campus on three different occasions, including the week the system went live, and we held weekly check-in meetings to ensure work was progressing as planned. End-user training was provided by OneCard to all dining staff in the weeks leading up to go live.”
Flexible, easy-to-use
The OneCard POS system is customizable to fit the needs of cashier staff and individual institutions. Touchscreen keyboards are configurable down to the number and size of keys, placement of items, color scheme and use of product photos. Specific function keys can be grouped near each other for an intuitive user experience.
With OneCard Dining, institutions can set customized meal plan options and allow for the use of meal credits for purchases at Á¡ la carte dining locations. OneCard Dining also allows for the acceptance of declining balances, such as University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Illini Cash. Before OneCard, the declining balance account could be used only within housing. Now students can use Illini Cash at Starbucks and other on-campus restaurants and vending locations across campus.
“Implementation of the OneCard system provided a reliable and scalable point-of-sale system,” says Johnson.
Increased operational effectiveness
The financial reporting capabilities of OneCard resulted in more efficient financial reconciliation at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Johnson says. The Task Scheduler function provides automatic reporting of key data to stakeholders.
“There are standard reports, but each user can also create their own custom reports for a one-time use or recurring use,” says Johnson. “Once reports are created, users can set data and display outputs how they would like, and continue to export a templated report on an ongoing basis.”
Beyond dining operations, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students can use their Illini Cash to rent ice skates, play racquetball and pay for other campus recreation activities that require a fee. Using their Illini Cash, students can also set up and pay for print jobs online through the OneCard system.
Heartland OneCard is now TouchNet OneCard. As part of the TouchNet family of products that automate campus Commerce and Credentials, it is a key platform within the TouchNet 360U™ strategy of seamless integration throughout the campus enterprise.
This piece was produced for TouchNet + Heartland by University Business. For more information, visit www.touchnet.com/onecard
