Restaurant Reservation and Booking Systems

 

Table management systems and restaurant reservation systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, if you're considering installing a reservation system for your restaurant there are a number of factors to consider when selecting a system and provider.

A restaurant reservation and table management system should provide you with the tools to plan and run your restaurant bookings effectively and manage tables, efficient table management means that a restaurant can maximise the potential of their dining room and this in turn should increase profits. Restaurant reservation systems with the option of combining a table management system are increasing in popularity with restaurant operators. With an increasing number of diners now using the web to find details of their favoured dining location having the facility to take booking via their website is an essential tool for a restaurant operator. Some restaurants have seen an increase of as much as 20% in reservation numbers just by offering online booking from their website. And with the addition of a table management system any restaurant will have full visibility and control of their seating at a glance with a full graphical view of their restaurants table status.

Online Bookings

Restaurants are the most searched for business category on the internet and many restaurants now have a website. A well designed website will attract new customers to your restaurant, online reservations are increasing rapidly with so many consumers seeking out restaurants via the web, a well designed website for a restaurant needs a few key elements that a customer looking to book would want to see. The first is a selection of pictures, potential diners like to see what a restaurant looks like and a gallery of well shot pictures will encourage them to look further.

Another key element is to include a sample menu complete with pricing on the website, many restaurants fall short on this one but pricing is important, any potential diner will want to know not only what is on offer but how much they will be likely to pay. No restaurant should be frightened to show pricing, after all I'm sure whatever is on offer it is considered to be value for money or why offer it?

The final key element is a facility to book online direct from the website, offering an online booking facility direct from the website as well as telephone booking offers the potential diner choice, in an increasingly tech savvy world browsing the web to look for a restaurant has become almost a national pastime. Having an online booking facility available for a restaurant is like having someone available to take bookings 24 hours a day, seven days a week, online restaurant bookings virtually eliminate the need to phone and book a table at a restaurant. Online bookings free up your phone and reduce the chance of someone calling to book a table only to be greeted by a busy tone on the phone.

Their are a number of providers of restaurant reservation systems, these range from systems which offer full integration in to the restaurants website with a live electronic diary to basic online booking systems which will only send an email to the restaurant operator of the required booking. A system with a live electronic diary should always be the preferred option, a live diary system will only display current availability when a curer is booking, it will also automatically update the electronic diary with current table availability as booking are made.

A number of systems also offer table management, with a full table management utility you can see the current and future status of all the tables in the restaurant at a glance, with a table management utility you can also operate a fully automatic wait list. If a customer walks in to the restaurant but there are no table currently available they can be added to the wait list and the system will automatically calculate the time for the next table available and alert the host/hostess who is next to be seated as soon as table become available.