Beverage dispensing system

1. A dispensing control of a beverage dispensing system, comprising:

a processor configured to receive information indicating actuation of a switch that is associated with one particular dispensing port of a plurality of dispensing ports and is not associated with the other dispensing ports of the plurality of dispensing ports; and

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, wherein the processor directs the RFID tag reader to obtain information from an antenna associated with the particular dispensing port associated with the activation of the switch.

2. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processor and the RFID tag reader are part of a retrofit kit that is retroactively installed into the beverage dispensing system.

3. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processor is a central processing unit that is configured to receive the information indicating actuation of the switch from an input/output (IO) board, and wherein the central processing unit is configured for providing a calculated amount of dispensing time to the IO board to instruct the IO board to allow dispensing from the dispensing port for the calculated amount of dispensing time.

4. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processor is part of an IO board, wherein the IO board is configured for activating dispensing of beverage from the dispensing port, wherein the processor is configured to receive information indicating actuation of a switch that is associated with an ice dispenser, wherein the IO board is configured for activating dispensing of ice for a predetermined time period in response to actuation of the switch associated with the ice dispenser.

5. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the RFID tag reader is configured for sending a radio frequency (RF) signal to the antenna to cause information to be written to an RFID tag.

6. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

a processor power supply for providing power to the processor;

an RFID power supply for providing power to the RFID tag reader; and

a multiplexer in communication with the RFID tag reader;

wherein the switch is a dispensing button that is depressed.

7. A dispensing control component of a beverage dispensing system, comprising:

a plurality of antennas that are configured to receive a signal from a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, wherein each one of the antennas is associated with a particular and different one of a plurality of dispensing ports; and

a multiplexer configured to control communication with the plurality of antennas, wherein the multiplexer is configured for sending signals to an RFID tag reader, and wherein a processor directs the RFID tag reader to obtain information from at least one of said antennas.

8. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 7 , further comprising an RFID tag reader configured for reading from and writing to the RFID tag, wherein the multiplexer controls transmission and receipt of signals to and from the plurality of antennas, wherein the multiplexer is integrated with the RFID tag reader.

9. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the plurality of antennas and the multiplexer are part of a retrofit kit that is retroactively installed into the beverage dispensing system.

10. The dispensing control component as set forth in claim 7 , further comprising:

a hood assembly having a touch screen monitor and speakers;

an IO board in communication with the speakers of the hood assembly, wherein the IO board controls actuation of the dispensing ports;

said processor in communication with the IO board, wherein the processor instructs the IO board to allow actuation of a particular dispensing port for a calculated amount of time;

an RFID tag reader configured for reading from and writing to the RFID tag, wherein the multiplexer controls transmission and receipt of signals to and from the plurality of antennas; and

a user selectable switch for selectively enabling and disabling functioning of the RFID tag reader such that the beverage dispensing system is capable of functioning with RFID tag reading and without RFID tag reading.