A customer-facing display on a second Android tablet

A customer-facing display in Opero is a second Android tablet that faces the guest and mirrors one register. As the cashier rings the order, the guest sees each item, its modifiers, the quantity, the photo, the subtotal, the tax, any card processing-fee note and the total. Once the order is sent, the screen asks for a tip using your location's presets, and when the card clears it shows a thank-you. There is no dedicated hardware to buy for it and no per-screen fee on any plan.

What is a customer-facing display in Opero?

It is a web page, opened on an Android tablet, that shows the guest exactly what the paired register is building. You add it in Devices as a "Customer display", point it at one specific register, and stand it on the counter facing out. From then on it follows that register: a welcome screen between orders, the live cart while the cashier rings, a tip picker once the order is sent, and a thank-you when payment lands.

The display reads the same cart the register is working on, which comes from the same menu every other Opero screen reads. The item name, photo and modifiers the guest sees are the ones on your menu, not a second copy kept in sync by hand. If a cashier changes a quantity or removes a line, the guest's screen catches up within a couple of seconds.

• ✓One display mirrors one register, chosen in Devices and re-pointable at any time.
• ✓No login on the guest screen: it is set up with a short one-time code or by opening its URL.
• ✓The screen reports presence, so Devices shows whether it is online.
• ✓It picks up new Opero releases on its own, reloading only between orders so it never refreshes mid-sale.

What does the guest see while the cashier rings the order?

The guest sees the order build line by line, with the running money underneath. Before anyone types, the screen sits on a welcome state: your logo and brand color, or a splash image you have uploaded. The moment the cashier enters the guest's name, the screen greets them by it. Then each item appears as it is rung, with its quantity, the modifiers chosen and the item's photo.

• ✓Every item with quantity, modifiers and photo, in the order it was rung.
• ✓Subtotal, the tax line with your location's rate, and the total.
• ✓If you surcharge credit cards, a note with your fee label stating that it applies when paying by credit card and not on debit or prepaid.
• ✓A density that fits the whole order on one screen, so nobody scrolls at the counter.

The money shown on the display is presentation. The amount actually charged is computed on the server at checkout from the same order, with the tip the guest picked and any credit-card fee added at tender, so the display is a mirror of the bill, not the source of it.

How does tipping on the second screen work?

When the cashier sends the order, the display switches to a tip picker with four buttons: No tip plus your location's three preset percentages. The guest taps one, the register's checkout reads that choice, and the card is charged with the tip included. The tip is picked before the card is run, never after, and the card itself is still tapped on the card reader bought from us, not on the display.

This matters more than it sounds for a counter-service shop. Opero's card reader does not prompt for a tip on its own. At the counter, the customer-facing display is how a card tip is collected. Without one, a card sale at the register goes through with no tip step; cash tips are still keyed at the register and the cashier picks who they go to.

• ✓The three presets are set per location, so a bakery and a bar in the same account can ask differently.
• ✓The tip is calculated on the items after any discount, never on tax or a processing fee.
• ✓If the server refuses a tip for any reason, the guest sees an error rather than a button that silently did nothing.
• ✓Tips land in daily reporting. A cash tip is keyed by the cashier at the register, who picks which staff member it goes to.

Why is the tip the guest picks the tip that is charged?

Because the display never sends a dollar amount anywhere. It stores the percentage the guest chose, and the server re-derives the tip in cents from the subtotal it already holds. At charge time, checkout re-reads that stored tip on the server for the card reader, the payment link and the cash paths alike. A tampered or stale screen cannot inflate a tip, and a display that lost its connection cannot leave a tip half-applied.

The tip buttons work without a login by design, because the display has none. It is keyed to the register's device id and bounded by time limits: a cart in progress and a sent order each expire, after which the display can no longer post a tip against them. The same rule applies to every Opero screen that touches money: the screen never tells the server what to charge; the server works the amount out from the order it already holds.

How does pairing work: one display, one register

Pairing is two steps in Devices. First, add a device with the role "Customer display" and pick the location. Its device page shows "Pair a screen" with a short code that works once and expires after fifteen minutes; on the tablet, open operoos.com/pair and type it, and the tablet lands on its display page with nothing to sign in to. You can also just open or bookmark the display's URL in a browser.

Second, on that device page, choose which register the display mirrors. Pairing is one display to one register. An unpaired display shows a "not paired to a register yet" setup screen so it is obvious what is missing, and you can re-point it to another register from Devices at any time; reload the display page on the tablet and it follows the new register.

Branding: your name, logo and color on the guest screen

The customer display carries the branding you set once in Admin → Appearance: your logo and brand accent color. The same setting brands the self-order kiosk and the digital menu board, so a guest sees one identity whether they are ordering at a kiosk, reading the board or paying at the counter. Branding is account-wide, one logo and color for every location and every guest screen.

• ✓Logo and brand accent color from Appearance.
• ✓An idle splash image between orders, as a still image; the looping attract video is a kiosk-only feature.
• ✓The greeting uses the guest's name as the cashier typed it.

Hardware: any Android tablet you already own

The display runs on any modern Android tablet, in the Opero Android app or in Chrome. Opero sells no pole display and no dedicated customer-facing unit; the second screen is a tablet you supply, stood on the counter facing the guest. Nothing is plugged into it: no card reader, no printer. Payment still happens on the register with the location's required card reader bought from us, one per location.

The display needs a live internet connection the whole time, the same as the register. It refreshes from the server every couple of seconds, so it is polling-based rather than instant. If the connection drops, the display stops updating; there is no offline mode and no cached playback. Android only, like every Opero screen.

What the customer display does not do

The display is a mirror and a tip picker. It is not a payment terminal and it is not a guest data capture screen. If any of the following is a requirement for you, Opero's customer display is not the right fit today, and we would rather you know before you buy.

• ✓Tip presets are percentages only, three per location plus No tip. There is no custom-amount entry and no dollar-amount presets.
• ✓The guest cannot tap, insert or swipe on the display. The card is still presented on the card reader bought from us, at the register.
• ✓No tip can be added on the display after the card has already been run.
• ✓No signature capture.
• ✓No email or text receipt entry on the guest screen.
• ✓No loyalty phone-number lookup and no guest survey.
• ✓One display per register. A second register needs its own display tablet.
• ✓A kitchen display switched into POS mode does not mirror to a customer display.
• ✓Polling, not realtime: changes reach the guest screen within a couple of seconds, not the same instant.
• ✓English only. Opero's Spanish is a kiosk feature and does not reach the customer display.
• ✓No offline mode: the display cannot show or update anything without a connection.

Which plan includes the customer display, and what does it cost?

Every plan. The customer display is part of Opero at $149 per location per month for quick-service and counter restaurants, part of Opero Full-Service at $249 per location per month, and part of Enterprise. Devices are unlimited on every plan, so there is no per-screen charge for adding a display to each register. The only hardware you must buy is one card reader per location, bought from us; the display tablet is yours.

Because the display sits on the register's cart, it works with everything the register does on your plan: counter orders, open items, combos and modifiers, pay-then-fire, and cash with change math. Table checks settled on a handheld are an Opero Full-Service feature and take their tips on the handheld, not on a customer display.