Why no-shows happen
A booking made weeks ahead is easy to forget. There may be no reminder, no phone number to reach the guest, and no easy way to cancel.
What to ask on the call
Take a phone number every time. Confirm the party size, because it often changes. Ask the guest to tell you if plans change, and say how.
Confirmation and cancellation wording
Say your policy plainly and politely, for example how much notice you would like if someone needs to cancel. Repeat the date and time back at the end of the call.
Use a waitlist to refill a cancelled table
When someone cancels, a waitlist lets you offer the table to a guest who asked for it earlier. Without one, the table often stays empty.
Where Tableline helps
Novi books, moves and cancels bookings into the booking desk, which includes a guest list and a waitlist. It takes a name and number on each booking. We make no claim about how many no-shows this prevents. Plans are monthly in US dollars: $249 for 200 calls, $399 for 300 calls or $499 for 500 calls, plus a one-off $250 set-up fee. See the pricing page for what every plan includes.
Keep reading
- Tableline pricing
- Phone answering for restaurants
- Holiday rush and your phone: preparing for the calls before a busy holiday
- Who answers the phone during service? Five ways restaurants cover it
- Missed calls at a clinic: why patients call elsewhere and how to cover the phones
- Phone or online booking for a salon: why you still need someone to answer
- Garage phone calls: booking service slots when the whole team is under a car
- Choosing a restaurant phone system: landline, VoIP, answering service or AI
- AI phone answering or voicemail: what happens to the caller who wants a table
- Taking reservations by phone: a simple process that does not lose bookings
- Handling allergen questions on the phone: what staff should say and when to hand over
- Slang, Loman, Hostie, Bite Buddy or Tableline: how to compare restaurant phone agents
- AI receptionist for dental and physio clinics: handling booking calls
- AI receptionist for salons: stop losing bookings while your hands are busy
- AI phone answering for auto repair shops: booking slots and quote calls
- What a good restaurant booking call sounds like
- Voice AI for restaurants: what it does and what it does not
- What happens to a booking call you miss during a Friday rush: a checklist
- How to set up call handover to a human: a checklist
- AI receptionist pricing: what a restaurant should expect to pay
- AI phone answering or a human answering service? A plain comparison for restaurants
- What happens when a restaurant misses a call
- What a good phone handover looks like
