What a booking call needs
Name, party size, date, time and a phone number. Add any note, such as a high chair or a birthday. Repeat it all back before you finish.
Common mistakes
Skipping the read-back. Not asking for a phone number. Not saying your cancellation policy, if you have one. Writing it on a scrap of paper that gets lost.
Peak hours and unanswered rings
The calls come when you are busiest. Decide who owns the phone at peak times, and what happens when nobody is free. Our Friday rush checklist has a plan you can use this week.
One list instead of paper plus an app
Keep every booking in one place, whether it came by phone, online or in person. Two lists lead to double bookings.
Where a voice assistant fits
Novi books, moves and cancels into the booking desk with its floor plan and guest list. See the features page, and what a good booking call sounds like. 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
- Reducing restaurant no-shows: what you can ask on the booking call
- 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
- 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
