Once you've finished setting up your KDS, you're ready to start receiving and displaying orders on your screen.

Screen Layout

1. KDS Name
2. Number of items not yet collected at this station
3. Settings
4. Connection status
5. Full screen
6. Order filter by status
7. Completed orders
8. Order filter by type/source
9. Tickets display

Order Status Filter

This filter allows you to control what kinds of order statuses are displayed in the KDS. It also allows you to access completed tickets.

• Total tickets in the system waiting to be completed.
• New tickets
• Tickets being prepared
• Tickets ready to collect
• Tickets on hold or unfired
• Completed tickets

By default, all order statuses are displayed. You can filter the display by individually selecting only the desired statuses. You can return to viewing all ticket statuses by selecting All.

Completed tickets are archived and can be viewed by selecting the Completed button. These tickets are cleared at the end of the shift as signaled by the POS. Return to the active order display either by selecting All or toggling the Completed button.

Order Type Filter

This filter allows you to control what types of orders are displayed on the KDS. These types are based on the accounting groups set up in the Back Office. Dine-In, Delivery, and Pickup are the default accounting groups and can be changed according to your needs.

• Total tickets at this station waiting to be completed
• Tickets for Dine-In
• Tickets for Delivery
• Tickets for Pickup

By default, all order types are displayed. You can filter the display by individually selecting only the desired types. You can return to viewing all ticket types by selecting All.

Order Tickets

Here is a sample order ticket summary using the Full view setting and breakdown.

Ticket Summary

• Collection Code: The unique identifier for the order
• Server: The name of the server who placed the order
• Type: The type of order, which can be dine-in, delivery, or pickup
• Covers: The number of guests in the order

Ticket Body

• Course number: The course number, for restaurants that serve courses
• Number of items: The total number of items in the order
• Hide/Show items: The arrow next to the number of items can be toggled to hide or show the list of items in the ticket
• Order placed time > Order started time > Order completed time
• List and number of each item in the order with action button: Each press of the action button moves the item forward through the sequence: Preparing > Ready to collect > Completed

Once all items in the order are picked up, the order is completed and the ticket is moved to the archive (Completed) for reference.

Under Settings, the ticket summary can be set to Condensed view which collapses the ticket summary (Collection code, Server, Type, Covers) into two rows and two columns with the same information but using only icons.

Changing the order status

KDS tracks and displays the status of each order. It can also display summaries of the order statuses and type. As the order is placed and the item moves through production, the status needs to be manually updated to maintain an accurate picture. Changing an order from one status to the next is sometimes called "bumping" for short.

Statuses typically move in the sequence New > Preparing > Ready to collect > Completed.

You can change the status of the order to the next in the sequence by one of three methods:

• Double-tapping the ticket just above the timestamps,
• Tapping and holding the ticket just above the timestamps and then selecting the next status, or
• Bumping an item in a ticket with multiple items.

The other two statuses, On hold and Canceled, can only be accessed by long-pressing (or clicking and holding) the ticket summary. New and Ready to collect can be disabled when first setting up your KDS or via the settings menu.

• New (Gray): Tickets are created and appear in gray on KDS
• Preparing (Blue): Once any item in the ticket begins preparation, you can click the item or the "Play" arrow on the action button next to it. This will move the entire ticket to the Preparing state and the timestamp to the ticket.
• Ready to collect (Green): When an item completes preparation, you can click the "Bell" action button again. Once all items have been completed, the ticket will turn green indicating the entire ticket is ready to collect and mark the Completed timestamp. When an item has been collected/served, you can click the "Checkmark" action button once more for each item. Once all items have been collected/served, the ticket is completed and is archived under the Completed button. 
• On hold (Brown): A ticket can be paused at any time via KDS by long-press to bring up the Status selection menu and selecting On hold. Tickets on hold can be restarted by tapping an item in the order or selecting New from the selection menu.
• Canceled (Red): A ticket can be canceled at any time via KDS by using a long-press to bring up the Status selection menu and selecting Canceled.

Order alerts

When a new order ticket appears in the KDS, the ding of a bell will sound as a notification. To ensure the sound is audible, verify that the:

• Volume is enabled and turned up on your display device
• Browser tab is not muted
• App has permission to play sounds
• Device is not being used to play music by another application (e.g.,: Spotify).

If an order sent to the KDS is modified from a POS device, its order ticket will blink with the new information until a user taps on it to confirm the update. The blinking also stops if the order status is changed. If an updated order is on multiple KDS screens, confirming the change on one screen does not confirm the change on other screens.

Ticket sorting

Tickets are sorted by their received timestamp in the queue. Earliest tickets received are on the left, later tickets are added to the right. This reflects the first-in, first-out system used by most establishments.

Courses

Orders with multiple courses are sent to the KDS as individual tickets for each course. Each ticket is shown with its course number. The top line of the ticket is divided into color-coded sections, one per course, to make it easy to follow its progress. As courses are completed, they are moved to the Completed area, same as any other ticket.

Combined course tickets

In Settings, you can choose to display each course on a separate ticket (default) or to combine all the courses from an order into a single ticket.

If you choose to combine courses into a single ticket, each course is displayed in a stack. As courses are completed, the next course moves to the top of the stack and gets a new received timestamp. Completed courses are moved to the bottom with a line through them but can still be viewed.

Customizing KDS Settings

Quick settings sidebar

Clicking Settings brings up the Quick settings sidebar on the KDS. This can be used to tailor the amount of information shown on the KDS display. The information can be modified even further under All settings.

• All settings: Click to open the full settings screen with access to all of the settings.
• Language: Select your preferred language for the KDS from the drop-down menu.
• Ticket summary view: Ticket summaries can be displayed in either Full view or Condensed view. Condensed view collapses the first four rows (Collection code, Server, Type, Covers) into two rows and two columns with the same information but using only icons.
• Show filters > Station: Toggle on to display the top row of information, with the station name and the number of items (not tickets) not yet completed.
• Show filters > Order status: Toggle on to display the second row of information, with the Lightspeed logo, the total number of orders, and a summary of the various statuses.
• Show filters > Order type: Toggle on to display the third row of information, with the total number of orders, and a summary of the various order types.

All settings

The All settings menu has many more display options available as well as the ability to reset the station to change any properties configured at setup. Under Station Management, you can further customize the Ticket summary, Order Status, Color theme, Layouts, Language and time, Wait Times, and Routing.

You'll find the option to Reset station, which restores it to the default settings and ready to be configured anew.

Ticket summary

Customize what information appears on each ticket. Toggle each option on or off. A preview of what the customized ticket appears in the top right corner. Click Save to confirm the changes.

• Customer: Displays the customer's name to distinguish and assist correct delivery of the order.
• Order ID: Displays the order's unique identifier.
• Number of customers: Displays the quantity of customers for each order to assist prioritizing production.
• Server: Displays the server responsible for the order in case questions arise.
• Type: Displays the order's destination to assist tracking and correct delivery.
• Floor: Displays the order's floor for businesses with multiple floors.
• Order Source: Displays where the order originates, such as online or via a delivery service.
• Pickup Time: Displays the expected time for collection

Order Status

Here you may add or remove either the New or Ready to Collect order statuses via this menu. Click Deactivate to remove any status. Click Activate to add it back to the sequence. Click Save to confirm the changes.

Changes made here only apply to this KDS station and will not be reflected at other stations. Each station is configured individually.

Color theme

Select the color theme for the KDS, either Light or Dark.

Layouts

Select the layout for the tickets in the KDS. Each layout will display the tickets differently.

• Direct line view: This layout will display the ticket in full from top to bottom to maximize each ticket's visibility. The area beneath the ticket may remain empty but all the information on each ticket that can fit on the screen will be visible at once.
• Equal view: This layout divides the screen into equal sections to maximize the use of the screen's area. However, the ticket may not display its full details as the KDS may truncate it to fit within the required area.

Language and time

Different regions use different languages and display time in different ways. These options allow you to specify how KDS displays these according to your local preferences.

• Language: Select your preferred language from the drop-down menu.
• Time format: Select your preferred time format.
  • 24-hour time 00:00 - 23:59
  • AM/PM: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM

Wait Times

Wait time is the expected average time to complete an order. Setting these values in the KDS can provide additional visibility on extended wait times.

• Enable Timer: Toggles the Wait time functionality on or off.
• Average: Displays the expected wait time for completed orders. The value is calculated using the time entered in Delayed after.
• Delayed After: This is the elapsed time after which KDS will flag a ticket as being delayed, in minutes. Delayed tickets will pulse with an orange glow.
• Late after: This is the elapsed time after which KDS will flag a ticket as being late, in minutes. Late tickets will pulse with a red glow.

Click Save to confirm the changes.

Routing

Similar to the screen when first configuring your KDS, this page can be used to add or remove ordered items that will be sent to this KDS station. The total number of selected items that will be routed to this KDS station is listed. Because there may be a large number of items available, a search bar and filter options are provided to assist in navigation.

• Search: Search bar that can be used to find any item or items by name.
• Filter option > All items: Display all items.
• Filter option > Accounting groups: Filter items by their accounting group.
• Filter option > Menu categories: Filter items by their menu categories.

Click Save to confirm the changes.