Restaurants

Storm Internet has been committed to providing high-speed Internet access to those in Ottawa and the surrounding area, while providing excellent customer service, since 1996. Since then, we have continued to grow in the services we offer and the number of employees in our offices.

We’ve recently had the chance to catch up with Doug Feltmate, a Hospitality Planning Consultant, who as a hobby of his profession, has a locally owned restaurant in Ottawa’s east end – St. Martha’s Brasserie d’Orleans, where he spends his time with the direction and management of the restaurant. We were able to learn more about the restaurant industry and how Storm was able to help his business.

It all started one day when Doug was working in the restaurant, and in came Birket, Storm’s CEO. The two got talking and it wasn’t long before Storm Internet was able to get started on this new adventure. This interaction happened a little over two years ago, and St. Martha’s Brasserie has been a happy customer ever since. But how was Storm able to help the restaurant succeed? What challenges might they come across where Storm can help with a solution? We wanted to make sure St. Martha’s Brasserie had everything they needed to provide the ultimate experience for their customers.

Something many people may not know is how effective a strong Internet connection can be to restaurants, and how it impacts their everyday lives. If they don’t have the Internet up and running, they have to close for the day. But why is this?

Let’s start with the basics. The Internet is in our lives every single day. We use the Internet at work, at home, on our phones, and even many appliances and devices have a Wi-Fi connection. So, having an Internet connection is essential in restaurants. Giving customers free access to Wi-Fi is one thing, but in the middle of this pandemic, customers need to fill out a survey answering all the typical COVID-19 screening questions. St. Martha’s Brasserie makes this easy for anyone who comes to the restaurant by providing a QR code and having the customer fill out the survey. Having free Wi-Fi accessible to their customers makes this step much easier.viewing menus online is the new thing. We are seeing less and less restaurants handing out physical menus due to COVID-19. With that being said, St. Martha’s Brasserie needed to provide their customers with the essential tool they needed to view the menu – free Wi-Fi. Click here to take a look at their menu.

COVID-19 has impacted many industries across the world, including restaurants. Everyone has had to make adjustments to continue to serve their communities. Well, here is where Storm Internet comes into play again.

Doug needed a way to extend their patio outdoors and have a way where customers did not have to go inside to pay their bills. Outdoor dining can be challenging, but we were able to provide St. Martha’s Brasserie with Enterprise Grade Internet, allowing for the Wi-Fi to be extended onto their patio. This allowed them to bring out their portable POS terminal/card reader, allowing customers to pay outside and continue to follow COVID-19 protocols, instead of having to pay indoors.

“We needed to make sure it could extend out since we couldn’t bring people inside to pay a bill.”

But what else do restaurants use the Internet for on a typical day, pre-pandemic? Well, everything is run on the Internet – their POS (point of sale) systems, scheduling, security, communication tools and equipment.

An example of a POS system is their computers they use to place your order. At the end of your meal, they are able to print off your bill. Essentially, this is how you pay for your meal. There are point of sale terminals that are portable – this is the machine you use to pay with a debit/credit card. These need to be Wi-Fi enabled to process your payments. Security cameras are needed for many reasons that we don’t need to get into. But in order to record and save videos, you need to have access to the Internet.