Why handovers matter
No assistant, human or AI, can answer everything. What matters is what happens when it reaches the edge of what it can do.
A good handover makes the caller feel looked after. A poor one makes them repeat themselves or hang up.
What the caller should hear
A short, honest explanation of what is happening, for example that the question needs someone on the team and the call is being passed over.
The caller should not be left in silence, and should not be asked to start again from the beginning.
What the team should get
A few clear lines: who is calling, what they asked, and what has already been done. That lets the person pick up the conversation where it stopped.
If nobody is free to take the call, the caller should be told so and given a clear next step, such as a callback.
Who decides when to hand over
You do. Typical reasons are a question the assistant is unsure about, a request outside the usual bookings, or a caller who simply asks for a person.
With Tableline you set the rules for when Novi passes a call to your team.
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
- 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
