KOT software that prints the ticket the moment the order is placed
In Dines, a kitchen order ticket is a side effect of the order, not a job someone has to remember. A waiter sends the order from the floor, the cashier takes it at the counter or a guest orders from the table QR, and the KOT prints on your thermal printer before anyone has walked to the kitchen.
This page explains how KOT printing works in the Dines restaurant POS, what the ticket shows, how the Dines Print Agent drives your existing printer, and what happens when the internet or the printer lets you down.
- Automatic KOT per order
- 80 mm thermal printers
- Works beside Swiggy / Zomato printing
- Reprint from the dashboard
- Keeps printing offline
What a KOT is, and why hand-written ones fail
A kitchen order ticket tells the kitchen what to cook, for which table, in what quantity, with which variations. In most Indian restaurants it is still a carbon-copy slip: the waiter writes it, tears one copy for the kitchen and keeps one for billing. It works until the restaurant is busy, which is exactly when it matters.
Hand-written KOTs fail in predictable ways. Handwriting is misread. A second round for the same table becomes a second slip that the kitchen cannot connect to the first. The billing copy goes missing and the bill is rebuilt from memory. And every ticket costs a walk to the kitchen, which during a rush is a waiter not on the floor.
KOT software removes the slip from the waiter’s hands. The order is captured once, on a phone or at the counter, and the ticket is produced from it, printed where the kitchen is, with the table number, the time and the source already on it. Dines does this as part of the restaurant POS, so the same order that printed the KOT later becomes the bill.
How KOT printing works in Dines
From the tap on the phone to paper on the counter, in the order it happens.
- Step 01The order is placed
From the waiter app, the counter screen or the table QR. Dines records it against the table or as a counter / takeaway order.
- Step 02A print job is created
Dines builds the KOT from the order: table, items, quantities, variants, add-ons, notes, source and time. One ticket per order, in the number of copies your restaurant sets.
- Step 03The Print Agent picks it up
The Dines Print Agent on your Windows PC is paired to your restaurant and collects jobs for it the moment they appear.
- Step 04The printer prints
The agent prints through the printer’s Windows driver on 80 mm thermal paper and reports back, so the dashboard shows the ticket as printed.
Additions to a running table print as their own KOT marked as an addition, so the kitchen sees a new ticket rather than a changed one. Takeaway and counter orders print with their order number and, where the restaurant uses them, a token slip for the guest.
A small Windows program that drives the printer you already own
Install it once on the restaurant PC, enter the pairing code from your dashboard, and it prints only your restaurant’s tickets. The pairing survives updates.
It prints through Windows, so any 80 mm thermal printer that can print a Windows test page works, over USB or the network. No special firmware or cables.
Swiggy, Zomato or any other software that prints to the same printer keeps doing so. Dines jobs queue beside them.
Choose how many KOT copies print per order and which paper roll you use. Ticket layout is designed for a 3-inch roll and legible at kitchen distance.
Print Bill sends the itemised bill to the same printer, so the kitchen ticket and the guest’s bill come from one setup.
The agent can download and install its own updates when Dines enables them for your restaurant, after you confirm in its settings.
What happens when the internet or the printer fails
The internet drops mid-service
Dines is cloud-based, but the restaurant PC that runs the Print Agent also runs the order-taking screen. When the connection is lost, orders taken on that PC are saved locally and the KOT still prints through the agent on the same machine. When the connection returns, those orders sync to the cloud and join the day’s records. Billing and the other surfaces need the connection back, so the kitchen keeps cooking while the rest catches up.
The printer is off, jammed or out of paper
Print jobs wait. Nothing is dropped because a printer was not ready, and the dashboard shows which tickets are still pending. Once the printer is back, the queue prints. A manager can also reprint any KOT or bill from the order itself.
The PC is restarted
The agent starts with Windows and keeps its pairing, printer choice and any waiting tickets, so a reboot during service costs the time of the reboot and nothing else.
Printed KOTs or a kitchen display?
Both are ways of getting the order to the cook. Paper is what most Indian kitchens prefer: a ticket can be clipped at the station, moved, and ticked off with a pen, and it survives heat, steam and a wet hand. A kitchen display shows the same tickets on a screen with status lanes, which suits kitchens that want to mark dishes ready back to the floor.
Every restaurant running on Dines today prints paper KOTs through the Print Agent; a kitchen display system is available for those that want a screen. Our guide to kitchen display systems covers when each is the right choice.
What to check in any restaurant KOT software
- A KOT prints automatically for every order, from every source, without a manual print step.
- Additions to a table print as a separate ticket the kitchen can tell apart.
- It works with the thermal printer you already have, through a standard driver.
- The printer can still serve your delivery-platform tickets.
- Jobs queue when the printer is down and can be reprinted.
- Orders and tickets keep flowing on the restaurant PC during an internet outage.
- The same order that printed the ticket produces the bill.
- Copies per ticket and paper size are configurable per restaurant.
Frequently asked questions
What is a KOT in a restaurant?
A KOT, or kitchen order ticket, is the slip that tells the kitchen what to cook for which table. In KOT software it is generated by the order itself and printed or displayed automatically, instead of being hand-written by a waiter.
Which printers does Dines support?
Any 80 mm thermal printer that installs as a Windows printer, which covers the common ESC/POS receipt printers used in Indian restaurants, over USB or the network. The Print Agent prints through the Windows driver, so if Windows can print a test page, Dines can print a KOT.
Can the same printer keep printing Swiggy and Zomato tickets?
Yes. The Dines Print Agent sends its jobs through the normal Windows print queue alongside whatever else prints there. Nothing about your existing setup changes.
Does a KOT print for QR orders too?
Yes. Orders from waiters, the counter, takeaway and table QR codes all generate a KOT the same way, tagged with their source so the kitchen knows where it came from.
What if the printer is off or out of paper?
The order is never lost. Jobs wait in the queue and print when the printer is back; managers can reprint a KOT from the dashboard.
Does Dines need a kitchen display screen?
No. Paper KOTs through the Print Agent are the standard setup and what every restaurant on Dines runs today. A kitchen display screen is available for restaurants that want one.
The order, bill and report loop the KOT belongs to.
The bill built from the same orders the KOT printed.
Where most KOTs start.
The on-screen alternative to paper tickets.
When each one is the right choice.
One PC, one printer, the whole restaurant.
Watch a KOT print from an order placed on a phone.
Book a demo. Bring your printer model and we will tell you exactly how it connects.