Tech Talk: Made to Order | Video

Jerame Novak | 11/28/2012

It seems that technology is always changing how we do things. Cell phones let us make calls on the go. E-mail is taking the place of letters. And now, the familiar drive-thru speaker is getting an upgrade. Last month the new Subway restaurant in Bowman became the first Subway in the state to let drive thru customers order their sandwiches using a touch screen.

When Chris and Amanda Johnson opened their new Subway restaurant in Bowman, they decided make their drive thru high tech.

"It`s basically kinda like a big giant iPad. All you do is you just go to the drive thru and it starts talking to you and you start pushing buttons like what kind of sandwich or salad," Amanda said.

Instead of talking to someone over a speaker, customers enter what they want on a screen and their orders print inside.

"I thought it would be a great idea. For one, I`m hearing impaired, so I figured it would be the best thing for me as you don`t talk to people at all. You just look at a computer screen and start making the sandwiches," Amanda said.

And if you`re a returning customer, you can type in your phone number to see orders that you`ve made in the past.

"All you have to do is go to the date and which sandwich you decided on that specific date, push it and then you`re done," Amanda said.

While it is only a little over a month old, the new system is starting to catch on.

"I like it. It hasn`t messed up any of my orders yet. So it seems to be pretty good. And it saves, so you don`t have to try to remember every time what you like," said customer Dan Pederson.

"A lot of them like it. We`ve got quite a few regulars that just keep going through it," said Subway employee Dalton Breen.

Which is great news to the owners.

"I think it`s a great system. I hope it picks up. It`s very easy to use and it`s a great technology," Amanda said.

The system is also climate controlled, so it will be able to work year-round.

In case you`re wondering, there still is a speaker on the drive thru in case you need help with something.

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