Toast and comparable point of sale platforms
Network and hardware configuration around Toast and similar restaurant point of sale systems, including terminal failover so one bad router does not stop service. Application bugs escalate to the vendor.
Restaurant & Cafe IT · Vancouver, BC
IT support for restaurants and cafes in Vancouver
A restaurant or cafe in Vancouver cannot afford downtime the way an office business can. If the point of sale system goes down at 7pm on a Friday, you are turning away revenue in real time, not just missing an email. Hexafusion supports Lower Mainland restaurants, cafes and small hospitality groups with point of sale uptime, kitchen display reliability, guest Wi-Fi that does not interfere with your operations network, and payment card security handled the way it actually needs to be, not the way a generic IT provider assumes.
Restaurant and cafe systems we support
Kitchen display systems
Network reliability for kitchen display and order routing systems, kept separate from guest-facing traffic so a busy dinner service does not slow down the kitchen.
Guest Wi-Fi
A guest Wi-Fi network separated from your point of sale and payment network, so a customer streaming video never shares bandwidth or security exposure with your operations.
Payment terminals and card readers
Network segmentation and configuration for payment terminals, built around PCI DSS requirements rather than treated as an afterthought.
Reservation and waitlist systems
Connectivity and workstation support for reservation and waitlist platforms used at the host stand.
Back office and accounting systems
Licensing, backup and connectivity for back office scheduling and accounting systems used by management off the floor.
Privacy and compliance
PCI DSS applies to any restaurant or cafe that processes card payments, which in practice is nearly every location, and sets specific requirements for how payment terminals and the network around them must be segmented and secured. BC PIPA governs how you collect, use and disclose employee and customer personal information, such as loyalty program sign-ups, and PIPEDA applies alongside it for activities in the course of commercial activity. If you collect customer data through a loyalty app or email list for marketing, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) sets consent and identification requirements for those messages. This is general information, not legal advice.
Common IT problems we fix for restaurants and cafes
- Point of sale going down during service. Usually a network or terminal hardware issue rather than the software itself. We build in failover so one failure does not stop the line.
- Guest Wi-Fi slowing down the point of sale. A single shared network means a busy dining room full of phones can degrade your terminal speed. We separate guest and operations traffic properly.
- Kitchen display lag during peak hours. Often caused by network congestion rather than the kitchen display software. We profile and separate traffic to keep orders flowing.
- Payment terminal network not properly segmented. A common PCI DSS gap we find in smaller locations. We configure segmentation that actually meets the requirement instead of assuming it is already in place.
- Reservation system losing connectivity at the host stand. A weak access point location, not a software defect. We assess coverage and fix the physical network layout.
- No IT ownership across multiple locations. A small restaurant group rarely has anyone whose job is IT, so the same network and payment security gaps repeat at every location. We standardize and manage it centrally.
How AI can improve your work
- Shift scheduling drafting. AI tools can draft a first-pass weekly schedule from staff availability for a manager to adjust and finalize. Privacy safeguard: Keep staff personal information inside your own scheduling and Microsoft 365 systems, not a public AI tool.
- Menu and promotion copy drafting. Copilot can draft social media and menu description copy for a manager to review before publishing. Privacy safeguard: Nothing sensitive here, but keep supplier pricing and cost data out of any public-facing AI drafting.
- Customer review response drafting. AI can draft first-pass responses to online reviews, which a manager reviews and personalizes before posting. Privacy safeguard: Do not include a customer's personal details beyond what they themselves posted publicly.
- Inventory and ordering summaries. AI tools can summarize point of sale sales data into a simpler reorder suggestion for kitchen management. Privacy safeguard: Export sales data only into systems you control; do not feed supplier account numbers into a public tool.
- After-hours reservation and inquiry handling. An AI phone assistant can take reservation requests and answer common questions when the host stand cannot pick up. Privacy safeguard: Configure the assistant to avoid collecting payment card information by phone; that should go through your point of sale instead.
How Hexafusion helps
We start with an AI readiness assessment that looks at where a restaurant's management and front-of-house team could realistically use AI tools. We set up Copilot and other approved AI tools securely inside your Microsoft 365 tenant, configure data protection so staff and customer information cannot leak into a public AI model, and train managers on safe use. For restaurant groups that want to go further, we build custom assistants, including our own AI phone assistant for reservation and overflow call handling. Any AI build-out beyond basic setup and training is scoped and quoted as its own separate project.
Which plan usually fits
Most single-location restaurants and cafes land on Managed, our recommended plan: unlimited remote help desk during business hours (subject to our Fair Use Policy) and onboarding and offboarding support for a staff roster with high turnover. Multi-location groups or operators wanting a deeper security posture around payment card networks often move to Secure, which adds onsite support. Onsite support is included only on our Secure and Enterprise plans; remote-only plans do not include a site visit. After-hours response, a quarterly vCIO review and ongoing testing are Enterprise-only. Servers, including any on-premises server or always-on cloud server you want us to manage, are an add-on and are not included in any plan. See plans for full details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you support Toast POS?
Yes. We handle the network and hardware infrastructure around Toast and comparable point of sale platforms. Application bugs escalate to the vendor.
Can you keep our point of sale running if the internet goes down?
We build in failover options where feasible so a connectivity blip does not stop service entirely, though full offline capability depends on your point of sale platform's own features.
Can you separate guest Wi-Fi from our payment network?
Yes. We set up a properly segmented guest network so customer devices never share bandwidth or security exposure with your point of sale and payment systems.
What payment security rules apply to us?
PCI DSS applies to any location processing card payments and sets requirements for how your payment network must be segmented and secured. This is general information, not legal advice.
We have multiple locations. Can you standardize our setup across them?
Yes. We build a consistent network, point of sale and security standard and manage it centrally across locations, rather than treating each site as its own one-off setup.
We do not have an IT person. Is that a problem?
That is who we are built for. Most restaurants and cafes have no one whose job is IT, which is exactly why point of sale and payment network issues repeat until someone takes ownership of them.
Reviewed by Alex Barari, Founder, former PCI DSS Internal Security Assessor (ISA).
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Alongside restaurants and cafes, see hospitality IT support. See the full list on industries we serve.
Hexafusion at a glance. Vancouver-based since 2020 · downtown office at 997 Seymour Street · Dell authorized reseller · Microsoft Solutions Partner · founder is a former PCI DSS Internal Security Assessor · on-site service across 14 Lower Mainland municipalities · flat-rate managed plans with a 60-second initial ticket response and a 15-minute engineer reply during business hours.
Compliance baseline behind every Hexafusion engagement
Restaurant and cafe IT support is delivered against a documented baseline aligned to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security baseline controls and current cyber-insurance underwriting expectations.
- Identity and access: Microsoft Entra ID with Conditional Access, multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforced on every account, compliant-device sign-in.
- Endpoint protection: Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) on every device, deployed before the user receives the laptop.
- Disk encryption: BitLocker on Windows, FileVault on Mac, with central key escrow.
- Backup and recovery: Managed backups with documented retention and periodic restore tests.
- Privacy aware: Audit logging, role-based access, and a breach-response process kept current with Office of the Privacy Commissioner guidance.
Who you actually work with
Hexafusion is led by founder Alex Barari, a former PCI DSS Internal Security Assessor with 15+ years in enterprise IT and cybersecurity. Every engagement is supported by the same Vancouver-based team that designs the security baseline, reviews the alerts, and shows up on-site when remote troubleshooting reaches its limit.
