The drive-thru lane is a demanding environment for equipment that often involves sensitive electronics. And, as anyone in the QSR business can attest, crew members can be pretty tough on drive-thru equipment... especially drive-thru headsets and belt-pacs. That's why it's so important to practice regular maintenance on your equipment... to avoid often high costs of drive-thru headset repairs, drive-thru timer repairs and drive-thru system repairs.

Perform Regular Maintenance

Remember that drive-thru headsets and drive-thru timer systems are equipment - just like your grills, fryers and refrigerators - and they need to be maintained. Following are some tips on how to prolong the life of your drive-thru headsets and avoid costly drive-thru repairs.

• Prevent wear and tear on belt-pacs by disconnecting cables and connectors only when troubleshooting.
• Use clothing clips to prevent belt- pac cable from catching on something.
• Equipment can be cleaned with a mild household cleanser sprayed on a damp cloth. Squeeze out excess liquid first; and do not spray cleanser directly on product.
• Use a soft bristle toothbrush to remove crumbs from crevices around buttons.
• Check date code on batteries and replace every 18-24 months.
• When adjusting headset microphone position, hold the boom at its base, not at the microphone tip.
• Store equipment in a cool, dry place.

Equipment Maintenance Agreements

For peace of mind, a drive-thru repair Equipment Maintenance Agreement (EMA) can help minimize downtime and maximize your equipment's lifespan. CE offers monthly EMAs for all HME, Panasonic, and 3M drive-thru products. For a low fixed monthly fee, you can guard against the surprise expense of drive-thru equipment repairs. Makes budgeting a snap... with no worries, hassles or long-term contracts to deal with.

Free Technical Support and Online Maintenance Videos

Sometimes you just have to ask a quick question, or deal with a small problem that doesn't warrant a full-blown drive-thru repair. So wouldn't it be nice to just pick up the phone and get it taken care of? CE makes it easy for our customers with free drive-thru repair technical support. Just call 877-731-0334.

CE also offers a host of drive-thru repair and drive-thru maintenance videos online to help with repairs. So before you make that call for service, go to our drive-thru maintenance videos page. Chances are you can fix the problem yourself, and save your restaurant some money.