Pinnacle was founded on January 16th, 1989 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida by Don Potter and Stevan Barber who previously had worked for Siemens-Nixdorf throughout the 80's in various positions. Their main focus was on providing computer based business solutions to small and medium sized companies.

Upon the closure of Nixdorf's Miami Lakes branch office, Potter and Barber founded Pinnacle Software Inc. The company was established to offer continued support for their Nixdorf customer base. They were looking for new opportunities to expand their business potential so they looked for other business solutions to further their endeavors.

Through personal contacts they found out about POSitouch, a restaurant "touch screen" computer based business solution that was being successfully sold and implemented in New England. POSitouch was the right product at the right time for Pinnacle to embrace. Pinnacle secured the exclusive right to represent POSitouch in Florida in September 1989.

Pinnacle was the first company to offer an "open" computer based touch screen solution for restaurants and the first company slogan was "we don't sell cash registers, we replace them". By 1992, Pinnacle focused all of its resources toward the "hospitality market place and expanded operations to Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, Jacksonville and Pensacola. Further expansion in 2005 saw the opening of the Birmingham, Alabama office.

Pinnacle's success can be attributed to its ability to provide clients with tailored business solutions that help maximize profitability by increasing productivity, controlling expenses and managing loss prevention. Most Pinnacle employees have a hospitality background and understand the demands placed upon their clients and their operations.

In addition Pinnacle provides outstanding support on a continuous basis, seven days a week, three hundred sixty five days a year including all major holidays. Customers have access to the help desk at all time via a toll free phone number. Help desk personnel can assist clients remotely through on-line desk top support. Pinnacle also has a full staff of field technicians who are ready to serve clients, on-site with fully stocked service van and on-line diagnostic tools.

Pinnacle has expanded its product offering through the years to include integrated digital surveillance, iControl Enterprise Management, on-line order entry, gift card and loyalty programs, Northstar Recipe Viewer, accounting interfaces, and more.
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Pinnacle was founded in January of 1989, and we started as a company that did business applications for small business computer systems. And later in 1989 we started with point of sale for the restaurant industry. In fact, we were the first company that sold computer systems to the restaurant industry rather than cash registers.

We work with restauranteurs who are frustrated with the profitability in their own business. We do this by providing not only a great point of sale system, but everything that connects with the point of sale system, such as loss prevention, we have digital surveillance systems which tie into the point of sale so you can get a handle on theft and pilferage. We have marketing programs with gift and loyalty. Basically, we're the company that's going to put it all together for you, so you can run your business and not have to worry about the computer system.

Most of our sales consultants have had extreme experience within the hospitality industry. They have either owned restaurants or they've managed restaurants. Our guys, when we put them out in the field, we want them to take the time and listen, and by listening we understand what your business is. We want to identify whether we are a good fit, and if we are a good fit, then we want to move forward. And, through understanding your business we put our best foot forward and bring the tools to the trade to help you make more money.

I think the greatest thing that Pinnacle brings to the table is our expertise in the hospitality industry. Our team of people that you work with that are experts in their fields, they know and understand the restaurant industry. In the restaurant industry, your business comes in small spurts - lunch, dinner, late hours, and we know that when something happens with the computer system, you don't want to be waiting for a call back or have someone call the next day. That's why we have true 7 by 24 support, where anytime you call Pinnacle, someone's going to answer the phone.

The next is our field service, I remember one of the customers I sold way back when, when he was saying to me, "Look, I don't want to hear your guy drives all the way down to our site and doesn't have the part." So, today we've invested in service vehicles. We have all the parts that keep your business up and running. The third thing is, having sales consultants who really know the industry. You know, anyone can sell you a system, but having someone come out there and really try to figure out what you're trying to accomplish in your business, and then provide you with the right tool to do that. That's what Pinnacle is all about.

In this day and age, when everyone's vying for your business, you need a partner you can count on, and you can try Pinnacle to be that long term partner.

Don Potter at a 1994 tradeshow conference.