Restaurants
Handle reservation calls while your team looks after guests.
The phone rings mid-service. Marlin answers it, takes the reservation in the caller’s own words, offers a real alternative when the sitting is gone, and amends the booking the guest already has instead of creating a second one.
What exists when the call ends
- Restaurant
- Bella Bistro (Sample)
- Date
- Tonight
- Time
- 19:30
- Party size
- 6 guests
- Confirmation reference
- SMP-4417
- Revision
- 2 — amended
Take a reservation call yourself
Try the awkward parts rather than the easy one: ask for a time that has gone, then change your mind about the time and the party size. The record of what Marlin did records what was actually written.
From “have you got a table?” to a reservation with a reference
Three stages, and you can inspect the output of each one afterwards. Nothing is written into a reservation record until the guest has confirmed the details back.
-
What the guest says
A date, a rough time and a number of people — usually in that order and rarely in that form. Marlin asks only for what a reservation needs: date, time, party size, a name and a contact number.
-
What Marlin checks
Availability for that party size at that time. If the sitting is full it offers the nearest slots that actually hold that many covers, instead of asking the guest to call back later.
-
What exists afterwards
One reservation carrying date, time, party size and a confirmation reference, plus any note the guest asked to attach. An amendment updates that record and keeps the reference.
Guest said
“Do you have a table for four tonight at 8?”
“Actually, can we make it 7:30 and six people instead?”
Reservation record
- Date
- Tonight
- Time
- 19:30
- Party size
- 6 guests
- Reference
- SMP-4417
- Revision
- 2
Amended in place Sample record
What it may do on a reservation call, and where it stops
Every task below is one you switch on. The party-size ceiling, the note-handling rule and the wording are configured per restaurant, not decided by the agent.
| Situation on the call | What Marlin does | Record produced | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table available | Reads back date, time and party size, waits for an explicit yes, then writes one reservation. | Reservation with date, time, party size and a confirmation reference | Reservation created |
| Requested sitting is full | Says the time has gone and offers the nearest slots that hold that party size. It does not invent a table, and it does not put the guest on a waiting list you do not run. | Reservation at the alternative the guest chose — or no record at all, if none suited | Alternative offered |
| Party size or time changes | Re-checks availability for the new shape, then amends the reservation the guest already has. The confirmation reference stays the same and the revision number moves. | The same reservation, updated — one record, not two | Amended in place |
| Group above your configured limit | States plainly that it cannot hold a table that size, and offers to raise a follow-up request so a person calls the guest back. It never tells the guest the table is theirs. | Staff follow-up request with party size, preferred day and the guest’s number — no table held | Handed to a person |
| Allergy, dietary or access note | Records the note in the guest’s own words and attaches it to the reservation. It does not tell the guest a dish is safe, and it does not confirm that a step-free route or a particular table is available. | Note attached to the reservation, plus a staff follow-up flag | Recorded, staff to confirm |
| Cancellation | Finds the reservation, reads it back, and cancels only once the guest has confirmed it is the right one. | Reservation marked cancelled, reference retained in the log | Cancelled on request |
Exceptions a restaurant should expect
- An allergy question is not an allergy answer. Marlin writes down what the guest told you. It will not say a dish is free from an allergen, because that depends on tonight’s kitchen and not on a website.
- Access requests are recorded, not promised. A wheelchair space, a quiet table or room for a pushchair becomes a note plus a staff follow-up. Confirming it needs someone who can see the floor tonight.
- Groups are a person’s job. Above the party size you set, the call becomes a callback request. Deposits, set menus and private-room terms are never quoted by the agent.
- No write, no tick. If the reservation system does not confirm the write, the log shows an not confirmed and asks for the diary to be checked. It does not report a reservation it cannot prove, and it does not silently retry.
- The guest can always ask for a person. Handover is available at any point in the call and is recorded in the record of what Marlin did.
What a restaurant deployment needs connected
The conversation works without any of this. Writing a reservation does not. Each connection is published with a type and a status, and Planned connections are not selectable.
| Connection | Why a reservation call needs it | Integration type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reservation or diary system | Read availability, create a reservation, amend it, cancel on request. Without it Marlin can capture the request but cannot write the table. | Via connector | Requires verification |
| Email follow-up | Draft the guest’s confirmation, and send the group or allergy follow-up to a staff address. | Native | Supported |
| Calendar | Keep private dining and events out of the general diary when they are held somewhere else. | Via connector | Requires verification |
| Guest records | Recognise a returning guest, attach a call note, keep a standing allergy note against the right person. | Custom | Requires verification |
| Live transfer to the host desk | Move a group enquiry or a complaint to a person while the guest is still on the line. | Planned | Not yet available |
A reservation call at a sample restaurant, start to finish
Bella Bistro is a fixture, not a customer. Call Marlin has no published restaurant references yet, and no testimonial, logo or cover count appears on this site until a named restaurant has approved one.
- Call answeredAgent names the restaurant and states that this is a sandbox demonstration
- Request capturedTable for four, tonight, around 20:00
- Availability checked20:00 full in the sample diary; 19:15, 19:45 and 21:00 offered
- Detail confirmedGuest chooses 19:45; the reservation is written only after an explicit yes
- Amendment handledGuest moves to 19:30 for six — one record updated, reference retained, revision 2
- Follow-upConfirmation prepared and placed in the demo inbox — prepared, not delivered
What a restaurant pilot is scoped and quoted on
There is no published price list. A pilot is quoted against the reservation workflow you actually run, so you are not paying for a shape that does not fit your dining room.
The variables that move the quote
- Which reservation tasks are in scope. Capture only, or capture plus write, amend and cancel.
- Which systems have to be connected. A verified connector is setup work; a system with no connector is custom work, quoted before it starts.
- Conversation time. Usage is charged on time spent on calls, with the unit and any included allowance stated in the agreement.
- Telephony. Carrier and number costs, listed separately from the agent itself.
- Sittings and seasonality. A restaurant with two hard service peaks is a different shape from one taking calls all day.
Tell us what your phone does during service.
Which calls interrupt the floor most, what your reservation system is, and where a person has to stay in the loop. We come back with a scoped pilot and what it would take to run it.