What do you want in a reservation/booking management system?

[alex.p]

Hi everyone, I'm very glad I found this forum because I've been searching everywhere for somewhere to ask EPOS-related/restaurant-technology questions.

I'm a software engineer/developer and have been developing a restaurant booking suite, it allows you to plonk your tables down in a layout, take reservations from customers online, restrict booking times, manage how many reservations can fit in one table per night - you probably know the rest. At the moment I've had several questions floating around in my head and I'd love it if people could give even just an answer to one of the questions - just so I can get an idea of whether this is viable or not.

1. Do you use a reservation/booking management system to take reservations?

2. If you have an EPOS system does it require an Internet connection, do all/any EPOS systems require Internet ?

3. How easy would it be for you to obtain a laptop/notebook - put it next to the phone which gives you your bookings and give it an Internet connection - IE would it be as easy as simply connecting to a wireless source that's already there or would it require knocking walls down to thread cables through?

4. Would dealing with reservations through a laptop/notebook be viable in a restaurant?

5. How willing would you be to initially draw a rough layout of your restaurant before you start using the software for the first time? (takes roughly 10 - 15 minutes).

Although I cannot offer you anything back for answering the questions I can give you free reign to suggest what you want from a booking system - that's if you need one at all. If you already use a booking/reservation management system is there anything else you'd want from it? This could be anything from better reliability to statistics such as how many bookings are made in a week/month/year etc. As I'm the sole architect of the software I can mold it to how you see fit (to a certain extent )

Thanks for your time,

Alex

[retailworld]

Hi, and welcome to the forum Alex.

I can't say I'd use it myself, but I can offer the following advice:

1) No - I don't do reservations
2) Most basic tills don't require internet connectivity. However, anything requiring integrated card authorisation, e-gift cards, e-topups etc will need internet access
3) Could you offer a laptop as part of your service? People might not know what to look for in a laptop if they were to buy one.
4) Yes, but it would be icer to do it through a PC or EPOS till?
5) I would, but many wouldn't - factor this into the cost of the software and you complete this task.

[m8internet]

I will answer your questions, based on purchasing and booking online experience

1. Do you use a reservation/booking management system to take reservations?

I much prefer reservation systems that allow the customer to chose or "random"

2. If you have an EPOS system does it require an Internet connection, do all/any EPOS systems require Internet?

It would only require internet connection if customers are booking by this method, otherwise two separate systems would be required!

4. Would dealing with reservations through a laptop/notebook be viable in a restaurant?

I doubt this would be practical in any restaurant, fixed displays is more common
However I can see the benefit of having the facility networked and one laptop able to access all functions, allowing it to be moved throughout the premises