Best practices

What this is for

These are the habits that work best in restaurants that use fone4table. Each one is based on how the app works and points to the article where the steps are.

Save your customers’ phone number and email

Only the Name and the Language are required, but it’s worth entering the phone number and email too:

• Notifications depend on them. Confirmations, changes, cancellations, reminders and review requests are sent by WhatsApp first (if you have WhatsApp Business connected and the customer has a phone number) and, if that isn’t possible, by email. If the customer has neither a phone number nor an email, they receive no notifications.
• A customer with no phone number or email is deleted automatically. About 45 days after they were created or last edited, and never before their last booking has passed.
• Having both a phone number and an email is the safest option. If the WhatsApp notification doesn’t arrive, the email acts as a fallback.

How to do it: when you create a booking, in Guest type the name, phone number and email and tap Add. To complete a customer that already exists, edit them in Customers. More details in the Customers and Bookings articles.

Tables you choose from the dashboard don’t move on their own

When you create, edit or relocate a booking from the dashboard and choose the table (and also when you seat a walk-in), that table is fixed:

• The system never changes it by itself.
• When looking for space for a new booking from the phone assistant, WhatsApp or the web, it can only move bookings whose table it assigned itself. Yours aren’t part of that shuffle, so the map isn’t reorganised around them.
• Only automatically assigned tables can change on their own, for example when a customer changes the time of their booking by phone or WhatsApp.

What you should do:

• Choose the table that best fits the party. A large table for two people stays occupied and the system can’t move it to make room for another booking.
• If you want to change something, do it yourself: tap the booking and Relocate, or swap tables between two bookings. Moving a booking to another table doesn’t notify the customer.
• If you don’t know the table yet, create the booking without one: it stays Waiting and you can assign a table later.

More details in the Floor map and Bookings articles.

If a shift has different timetables depending on the day, create several shifts

A shift has a single start and end time, the same on every day it’s open. So if breakfast is from 8:00 to 11:00 Monday to Friday and from 9:00 to 12:00 at the weekend, one shift can’t cover it. Create one for each timetable:

1. In Calendar → Shifts, tap Add Shift.
2. Give them the same name (“Breakfast”) and tell them apart in Details (optional): “Weekdays” and “Weekend”. Choose the times for each one.
3. In Weekly hours, tick each shift only on the days it applies to.

It works the same for any shift: lunches with two sittings, earlier dinners on Sunday, and so on. More details in the Calendar article.

Use special days for bank holidays and exceptions

Don’t change the weekly timetable for a single day. Tap the day in the Calendar tab, untick the shifts that don’t open (or tick one that’s normally closed) and tap Create special day. Type the Reason so you remember it later. The day goes back to the weekly timetable with Reset to default.

Keep booking statuses up to date

• Tap Sit when customers arrive and Complete when they leave. Until you complete the booking, the table stays In service even after its end time has passed.
• The figures on each customer’s profile (visits, no-shows, cancellations) are calculated from those statuses.
• If you forget, the next day bookings that stayed in Waiting or Confirmed automatically become No show, and those that stayed in Sitting become Completed.

Create table groups for large parties

The phone assistant, WhatsApp and online booking only join tables that are in a Groups group with a high enough Maximum capacity. If there are no groups, those bookings can’t join tables for a large party. You create them in Customize Maps → Groups → Create group. More details in the Customize Maps article.

Block tables and close areas instead of making up bookings

• To stop customers booking a table, block it for customer channels in Customize Maps (padlock icon). You can still use it from the dashboard.
• To close a whole area for some dates, use Customize Maps → Areas panel → the area’s three dots → Block area for dates. Closures are for whole days.

Keep on top of the Inbox and Messages

• Call back each entry in the Inbox and tap Complete so they don’t pile up.
• In Messages (if you have WhatsApp connected), close the conversation once it’s resolved: that way the WhatsApp assistant takes care of that customer again.

More details in the Inbox and Messages articles.

Adjust booking durations to the size of the party

In Settings → Bookings, keep a realistic Default Duration and use Add range in Duration by party size to give large parties more time. The duration decides how long the table stays occupied. More details in the Settings article.

Give the Admin role only to those who need it

Users with the User role work with the map, bookings, customers, the Inbox and Messages. Admins also see Calendar, Settings, Customize Maps, Users and the help assistant. Change the role in Users. More details in the Users article.

Frequently asked questions

A booking came in by WhatsApp and the system didn’t move mine from the dashboard. Is that a bug? No. The system doesn’t move tables you choose yourself from the dashboard. If you need to change it, use Relocate in Maps.

Is it compulsory to always ask for the phone number and email? No: only the name and the language are required. But with neither of them the customer receives no notifications and their profile is deleted automatically after a while.

Can I have two shifts with the same name? Yes. Use Details (optional) to tell them apart (for example “Weekdays” and “Weekend”) and switch them on for their days in Weekly hours.

A customer doesn’t want to give a phone number or an email. What do I do? Create the booking anyway with their name. Bear in mind that they won’t receive notifications and that their profile will be deleted after a while if you don’t add contact details.