Food Service Management

Technical Support

Technical support is available from 8 AM (most often earlier) through 4 PM to answer your phone calls. In most cases, we can also remotely connect to your food service hardware so that immediate and direct support can be provided to you. These tools allow us to see what you see so that we can guide you on your next steps.

Our team is also always monitoring email for messages from our customers. Using the email address [email protected] delivers your message to our full team to assure relevant and more rapid responses.

We also prioritize a strong working relationship with your district technology staff, acting as your liaison to ensure your food service solutions run smoothly while you focus on food service.

Training

We provide initial and ongoing training, both in-person or remote, to streamline cafeteria operations and ensure your success. Our team offers task-specific support year-round for new employees or system updates.

Our customized training materials are accessible on our NUTRIkids and Mosaic websites for both managers and cashiers.

We also maintain a Food Service Website for your convenience.

Hardware Support

Cafeteria environments are demanding, requiring hardware built for durability and consistent performance. Our solutions are rigorously tested to withstand these conditions and maintain reliability. Should an issue arise, we provide temporary equipment to ensure your operations continue without interruption while replacements are managed. You can view our current hardware catalog here.

Our team manages the entire hardware lifecycle, including providing quotes, coordinating procurement, handling delivery and setup, and managing the responsible disposal of legacy equipment.

Software Maintenance

We proactively review and implement product updates as they are released. Our preliminary testing ensures that all software changes perform as expected.

To support your team, we document these updates as needed and create concise, user-friendly training materials tailored for the staff impacted by the changes.

Data Exchange

We facilitate nightly data exchanges between your student management system and food service platform, ensuring your applications always operate with the most current student and caregiver details.

• Automated Updates: Nightly data exchanges sync student and caregiver information from your Student Management System to the food service software. We also ensure that pre-enrolled students are represented in the system so that their first experience at the serving line is a good experience.
• Parent Portals: Every few minutes, food service systems communicate with MySchoolBucks.com for any updates to funding by a student’s caregiver, and to convey purchasing details.
• Reporting: We ensure weekly migration of data to the Student Information Repository System (SIRS) and support for accounting/management reports.
• Compliance: All solutions are fully compliant with USDA requirements, with regular monitoring of new regulations.

A more detailed explanation of data exchanges is available here.

User Groups

We host at least two regional user group meetings each year—typically remotely, with in-person attendance also available at the CNYRIC.

• September Meeting: We guide staff through student verification, NYSED reporting, and direct certification. Fall User Group Meeting (Sample).
• June Meeting: We prepare for year-end and start-of-year activities, while sharing updates on software functionality and state requirements. Spring User Group meeting (Sample).

We also use short questionnaires to ensure our meeting agendas address your team's specific needs.

Start of Year Tasks:

Late August and early September the CNYRIC team conducts all of the tasks that are suggested by the vendor, plus we add in some of our own to help you ensure that food service lines are ready for the arrival of students. Our goal is to make that first day as smooth as possible. Some of the tasks we conduct are:

• Make backups of your data;
• Import all of your student information;
• Verify income guidelines;
• Update menu items, when requested, to match your needs;
• Update meal prices as requested;
• Review and update menu board layouts for cashiers (if requested);
• Update reimbursement rates for the new school year;
• Thoroughly review system security settings to add, update, or remove personnel, ensuring least privileged access security levels and role assignments;
• Conduct data verification testing to assure systems are ready to go;
• Once student photographs are available, we will import them to begin appearing at each point of sale.

Start of Year / End of Year

As each year concludes, we conduct all of the end-of-year tasks as recommended by the manufacturer, plus we add in a few of our own that have proven helpful to districts through the years. Our goal is to work with you to get your financial books properly closed so everything can be aligned for the year ahead. Some of the tasks included in this process include:

• Working directly with food service personnel to help them through their end of year process;
• Verify that student balances and statuses are carried over for next year;
• Create backups of databases (excepting cloud-based products);
• Conduct the end of year processes recommended by product developers;
• Create year end archives to be used for future reference (3-year retention, does not include cloud-based products);
• Specify eligibility cut off dates for free/reduced and temporary applications;
• Clear existing serving line and administrative notes within the database (if required);
• Prepare the system for use by any Summer feeding programs.

Needs Analysis &
Upgrade Recommendations

Prior to adopting a food service system (or switching to a different system), our team examines your existing operation to determine the best choice and implementation options based upon your needs.

Should you choose to move to a new food service system, we coordinate and facilitate product conversions using a rigorously tested project management procedure that ensures a smooth transition.