Technology moves at a breakneck pace, and keeping up with the latest products could be a full time job in itself. In the food service industry, restaurants are starting to recognize the areas where newly affordable technology like high definition television screens, wireless internet access, and the internet itself can help their business become more efficient and improve customer service.

More and more restaurants are beginning to use digital media to advertise to customers. The television has become increasingly common in restaurants of all types, and the presence of that screen gives you the opportunity to communicate with customers in new ways. Specials and menus never looked as good as they do on an HD TV.

Wireless internet (Wi-Fi) has also become a fixture of most urban and downtown centers. Coffee shops were the first big adopters of Wi-Fi in the food service industry, but that doesn’t mean your restaurant shouldn’t be providing a free connection to customers as well. It can be a great way to turn those typically dead weekday afternoons into a bustling hotspot, and give your customers an added value they have come to expect wherever they go.

And now that many of your customers are using “smart” phones like the iPhone, a whole new world of interactivity has been born, starting with the “apps” anyone can download. With smart phones and unprecedented levels of connectivity, online ordering has become possible for restaurants, and some have already started to use it. Allowing customers to order online can be a double-edged sword, however, and implementing and managing it properly is vital.

In fact, taking customer orders is probably the area of restaurant operations most affected by new technology. In addition to online ordering, some restaurants have started giving servers hand-held devices that communicate orders directly to the kitchen, saving the server that extra trip to the POS system. And there is even text ordering now – allowing customers to send in orders via text message.

Of course, getting excited about all this technology is great, but you can’t begin to implement new gadgets and services without building one of the most fundamental parts of the digital age: a website. Building a website doesn’t have to be hard, but it can become involved.

Technology is going to continue to affect how your restaurant does business. Staying on top of the trends that are moving through the food service industry can help your restaurant stay relevant to your customers, and hopefully improve your operations along the way.