Cenaly Team waiter app

Cenaly Team helps waiters work at the table: record guests' wishes, send orders, see ready dishes and show the bill. Floor managers can follow events across all tables.

The app is currently in beta. Before a working shift, check sign-in, a table call and printing on your venue's equipment. The mobile apps overview covers downloads and sign-in methods; this guide focuses on a waiter's daily tasks.

What you need to get started#

• A phone running Android 8.0 or later, with internet access to sign in and load data.
• A staff account with access to the location, or a login code issued by a manager.
• A menu and tables set up by a manager; table assignments for notifications about your tables.
• For a paper pre-bill, a configured venue printer and a connection to it; for guest QR payments, online payment enabled at the venue.

Open the apps page, select Cenaly Team and download the APK to your phone. Allow Android to install apps from that source, then open the file. See Download and Installation.

Google Play is not required for this installation: the website provides a direct APK download. If your phone blocks installation, check the permission for the browser or file app you used to open the file.

Cenaly Team for iPhone and iPad is still in development. Until it is released, use the web panel in your browser; no release date is promised.

Sign in to your venue#

1. Open the app. For password sign-in, fill in “Email” and “Password”, then tap “Sign in”. If your account requires a second step, enter the code from your authenticator app.
2. For code sign-in, ask your manager to prepare a code in “QR Codes” → “Devices” in the panel. Tap “Sign in with QR” and scan the login code. This is not the guest menu QR on the table.
3. If scanning is inconvenient, enter the “Login code” manually. Enter the “PIN” if the code requires one. See device codes for how codes are issued.
4. After signing in, check that you see the correct location and its tables. If several locations are available, select the one where you are working today.

If correct credentials do not work, tap the gear on the sign-in screen. In “Connection”, check the account's region and brand: automatic selection based on network, SIM or time zone may choose a different service. Then try signing in again.

“Invalid email or password” means the credentials were rejected; “Sign-in failed” is a more general sign-in error. “Invalid PIN. Please try again.”, “This login code has expired.” and “Invalid login code.” concern the login code; remedies are listed below.

Start your shift and find your tables#

1. Open “My shift” from the header button or settings. Tap “Start shift” and wait for “Shift started”.
2. If the venue requires you to clock in on site, allow location access. If it requires the entrance terminal, scan the QR on that terminal's screen. The app login QR does not replace the clock-in QR.
3. Open “Tables” → “My tables”. Switch to “All tables” to see the whole floor.
4. For an unassigned order, use “Take this order”. The result is “Order is yours”. A manager is needed to reassign someone else's order.

The manager assigns tables in the table section's “Waiters” mode or through the POS floor plan. Taking an individual order and being assigned a table are different actions. If “My tables” is empty, ask the manager to check assignments.

Use “Break” when taking a break, “Back to work” when returning, and “End shift” when you finish. “My results” shows your orders, open tables, revenue from closed orders and tips. Tips are not part of revenue; results are calculated from orders assigned to you.

Take an order or add-on at the table#

1. Open the table and start an order. If it has several orders, select the right one first; use “New order for this table” for a separate order.
2. Choose dishes from the menu. “Menu from cache” means you are seeing a previously downloaded copy; the time beside it helps you judge how recent it is.
3. For a request about a particular dish, open “Wishes”. Choose a preset such as “No onion”, or type up to 140 characters. Put a general request in “Order note”.
4. If guests and courses are enabled, set the number of guests (“Guests: 4”), assign dishes to guests and choose a course. “All” means the dish is for the whole table. These controls depend on the location's POS view settings.
5. Before answering a question about ingredients, open “About the dish” and check “Allergens”, if provided in the menu. Ask the kitchen if the information is missing.
6. Review the order and tap “Send 3”, where the number is the quantity being sent. Check the sending result or queue bar.

An add-on first collects in “New — not sent”. Previously sent dishes remain under “Already in order · 5”: you do not need to resend the entire earlier order to add more dishes.

The draft survives closing the app. When you return to an “Unfinished order”, tap “Continue”. Deleting the draft removes items that have not yet been sent. If the menu failed to load and no cached copy exists, restore the connection and tap “Retry”.

Respond to a guest call#

In the QR menu, the guest taps “Call Waiter” and chooses a reason:

1. Open “Needs attention” or the table with a call indicator. Check the reason and waiting time.
2. Tap “On my way” on the call; the order card has “Dismiss waiter call” for this action.
3. Go to the table. If the app says the server did not clear the call, restore the connection and retry the action.

By default, a waiter gets audible notifications for their own and unassigned tables. “Notify about all floor events” adds other waiters' tables; managers and owners hear events across the floor. Also check Android notification permission.

Collect dishes and mark them served#

1. On an “Order ready” or ready-item notification, open the table. “To serve · 2” shows ready items and their wishes.
2. Deliver the dishes and tap “Served” beside the relevant item. If you served everything ready, use “All ready served · 2”.
3. If you marked an item by mistake, tap “Undo” immediately — it is available for five seconds.
4. When guests are ready for the next course, tap “Serve course 2”. A held course waits until this command. You can release courses on your own and unassigned orders; a manager is needed for someone else's order.

A served mark means the dish has reached the guest. If a “Not saved…” notice appears, check the order after refreshing: the local change may not have been saved on the server.

Course at a set time, repeat to kitchen and table “for a time”#

• Course at a set time. The guest wants dessert at 21:30 — next to “Serve course 3” tap 🕒, pick “In 30 min” (options round up to 15 minutes) or type the time in “Time (HH:MM)” and tap “Set”. “🕒 To kitchen at 21:30” appears under the course title. At that time an open web kitchen screen fires the course by itself and prints the station ticket. You can still fire it earlier with the button; “Clear time” in the same dialog brings back manual firing. The time must be at least 5 minutes ahead and today.
• “🔁 Repeat to kitchen”. The kitchen ticket got lost or soaked — tap the button under the order total. Kitchen screens show “🔁 REPRINT 21:40” on the ticket and print a copy at their stations. Next to the button you see “Repeat #2 · 21:40 · Anna”. The order and its total do not change; the copy contains only what has already gone to the kitchen.
• Table “for a time”. A banquet or guests asked to be served at 19:00 — tap the “🕒 For a time” chip under the table order header and pick the time. The chip shows “Serve at 19:00”. The kitchen screen keeps the order in “Upcoming” and releases it early enough for the dishes to be ready. If that time has already passed today, it is set for tomorrow — the chip shows the date.

All three actions are available where “Serve course” is: on your own and unassigned orders, and for a manager on someone else's. They work the same way in Cenaly Team for Windows. The waiter apps do not print the copy themselves — kitchen screens do, so at least one web kitchen screen must be on.

Show the bill and move an order#

1. Tap “Bill” in the order card. Show the guest the full-screen bill with items, service charge, discount, tip and total. If part has been paid, check “Remaining”.
2. For paper, tap “Print bill”. Wait for “Bill printed” or “Printed on the cash register (fiscal printer)”. A queue message means the guest has no paper yet.
3. For payment on the guest's phone, open “QR to pay”. The guest scans it and continues in their table menu. The QR does not enable online payment if it has not been set up.

If QR payment shows a warning about a difference in amounts, compare the total on the guest's screen: taxes, coupons and service charges may be calculated differently, and the cashier's discount may not carry over to online payment.

To move guests, open “Move to table” in the order card, choose a free table at the same location and confirm. Check the new table on the order. You cannot select an occupied table: merging is done in the web POS. Paid or closed orders cannot be moved.

Take payment and check the result#

1. Tap “Pay” on the bill and check the remaining amount.
2. Choose “Cash” or “Card”. For cash, enter the amount received to see the change; add a tip if needed.
3. Confirm payment and wait for the result screen. “Card” only records the payment method: the waiter app has no card terminal integration for charging the card. The actual charge is made separately.
4. Check every part of the result before moving to the next table.

If you see “Payment not recorded”, restore the connection, check the order and use “Retry” on the same screen. Taking money again is not a way to fix a recording error.

Continue working without internet#

A previously loaded menu remains available from cache. You can enter an order and send it to the queue: “Queued: 2 · will be sent when back online”. This does not yet confirm that the kitchen received it.

Once connectivity returns, wait for the queue to send and check the order. If a line says “Not sending…”, read the reason and tap “Retry” after resolving it. Deleting an entry may lose a guest's order that has not reached the kitchen.

Authorized devices at the same location find one another automatically on a shared Wi-Fi network. Changes from the kitchen or POS may therefore appear on the phone even when internet access is lost. Sign in to the right location while connected beforehand; joining the same Wi-Fi alone does not grant access to its data. A local update does not replace server confirmation.

Completing payment requires a connection. Without internet, do not treat payment as completed: restore connectivity and check the result and server confirmation. An order queue does not provide a complete offline payment flow with a fiscal receipt.

On cenaly.ru, the list updates by periodic polling while the app is open: normally every 5–20 seconds, less often after errors. Check “Updated 10 s ago”. Do not rely on receiving a call with the app closed here.

Get help#

Open “Support” in the web panel and copy the “Support code”; ask your manager if you cannot access the panel. The waiter app itself has no separate screen displaying this code.

Write to support@cenaly.ge or use the methods in Support. Include the support code, location, order number, event time, phone model and exact error text. Attach a screenshot if helpful; your password and login PIN are not needed.

Remote screen sharing for the waiter app is not available yet. Web panel support features do not mean that a specialist can see your phone screen.

Limitations#

• The app is currently in beta; the iPhone version is in development.
• A course at a set time, “Repeat to kitchen” and a table “for a time” are carried out by an open web kitchen screen: without one, the course will not fire by itself and the ticket copy will not print.
• Use the web POS to split bills, merge tables or enter a promo code.
• “Card” does not control a payment terminal. Completing and checking payment requires a connection.
• Assigning a call to a particular employee, a missed-call log and physical table call buttons are not available yet.
• Regular waiters can view the floor plan and reservations; they can cancel an order themselves while all items are still new. Ask a manager once items have gone to the kitchen.
• Retrying a failed fiscal receipt and connecting a printer are not provided as separate waiter app tools. Pass the issue to the cashier.
• Do not rely on guaranteed notifications when the app is closed; on cenaly.ru, list updates require the app to be open.

Troubleshooting#

Frequently asked questions#

How is “My tables” different from “Take this order”?#

The first shows tables assigned by the manager. The second assigns the selected order to an employee, which also matters for personal shift results.

Where can I split a bill for a guest?#

Ask the cashier: splitting and merging are available in floor orders. The waiter app does not yet provide this action.

Does “On my way” tell everyone that I own the call?#

Not yet: it clears the call but does not assign it to a specific waiter. Coordinate with colleagues before going to the table.

The queue has cleared — is payment complete?#

Check the order and payment result screen. Sending a command, recording a receipt, fiscalization and server confirmation are separate results.

Related sections#

• Mobile apps — downloads and shared sign-in methods.
• QR codes and device codes — issuing login codes.
• Hall panel — managing tables and calls.
• Floor orders — web POS operations.
• Kitchen (KDS) — preparation and readiness.
• Support — reporting an issue.
• Apps for your team — which app each employee needs.
• Staff notifications — orders, waiter calls and reservations.
• Shift schedule — who works when.
• Several POS devices per location — waiter phones alongside POS terminals.
• Service charge — the service line on the bill.
• System requirements — Android and browser versions.