Method and system for entering orders of customers

A method of entering a drive-through take-out food order at a restaurant, comprising the steps of:

• establishing a two-way voice communication link between a personal computer and a drive-through order-placing station, said drive-through order-placing station being located adjacent an exterior of the restaurant and said personal computer being located at an offsite location relative to the restaurant and said drive-through order-placing station;
• receiving at said offsite location a food order from a customer located in a vehicle in a drive through lane of the restaurant, said order being received verbally via said voice communication link by a restaurant employee located at said offsite location;
• establishing a data communication link between said offsite personal computer and an onsite restaurant sales-management computer system that is utilized to facilitate food preparation, fee collection, and recordation of sales relative to food orders placed within the restaurant;
• and
• transmitting information concerning a food order from said offsite personal computer to said onsite restaurant sales-management computer system so that food ordered by the customer is properly prepared and provided to the customer and fees are collected from the customer at the drive through lane of the restaurant based on the information transmitted by said offsite restaurant employee.

A restaurant/store management system for entering orders, comprising:

• an order-placing station located at a restaurant/store;
• an onsite computer-based system within the restaurant/store for facilitating preparation, fee collection, and sales recording functions with respect to orders input into said onsite computer-based system;
• an offsite communication device and data entry terminal at a location offsite relative to the restaurant/store and said order-placing station;
• a first communication link between said order-placing station and said offsite communication device;
• and
• a second communication link between said offsite data entry terminal and said onsite computer-based system;
• whereby customers at the restaurant/store place orders by communicating via said first communication link to a person at said offsite location and the person thereafter enters the customer's order into said onsite computer-based system via said second communication link.