IVR Reservations
SeatOn supports Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for taking phone reservations automatically. IVR interacts with humans through the use of DTMF tones input via a phone keypad. Enabling your customers to enter reservations by themselves results in fewer incoming calls, and increased productivity for your staff.
1. Introduction to IVR reservations
3. How to create reservation through the SeatOn IVR system
1. Introduction to IVR reservations
When a customer makes a call to your restaurant, and your employees are perhaps unable to answer, the call can be forwarded to the IVR software, which will greet the customer with the prerecorded message and ask them to enter wishing date and time for their reservation via phone keypad. If entered correctly and confirmed, the reservation will then be automatically loaded into the SeatOn application. Your employees only have to later review pending IVR reservations and authorize them.
Before using IVR reservations for SeatOn, you have to enable it first (please note that the functionality can be enabled only for Standard and Professional plan users. Check the Pricing page for details).
Please check IVR settings for more information for enabling the IVR and its usage. After the IVR is enabled, you will receive phone number for IVR reservations from us. This number will be dedicated solely to your restaurant.
Here are suggestions on how you can integrate and set up IVR reservation system as a standalone service to your customer or as an integrated solution with the existing IVR service of your restaurant.
Scenario 1 - Standalone IVR reservation system - Guests call directly to the SeatOn IVR number dedicated to the restaurant
You provide your customers with the SeatOn IVR number dedicated to your restaurant, and they call it directly.
Scenario 2 - An Integrated solution with the existing restaurant phone number - Forward unanswered call to the SeatOn IVR number
Your customers call your restaurant's phone number. If the call is unanswered after X rings (e.g. staff is too busy), the call is forwarded to the SeatOn IVR number dedicated to your restaurant.
Scenario 3 - An Integrated solution with the existing restaurant IVR service - an existing IVR system will forward to the SeatOn IVR number when reservation option is chosen by customers
If you already have some sort of an IVR system, you can make SeatOn reservations part of it. If the customers choose to make a reservation option from your main IVR menu, the call is forwarded to the SeatOn IVR number dedicated to your restaurant.
3. How to create reservation through the SeatOn IVR system
When a customer makes a call and the IVR system responds to it, the customer will be greeted and asked to enter the date and time of a reservation, as well as the number of persons for the reservation. All entries are done using a phone keypad. If the entry of this information was successful, a customer will finally be asked for confirmation of everything which was entered.
After the customer confirms the reservation, it is listed in the application in the Pending reservations, where employees can review, approve, or reject it.
For detailed instructions how can your guests use the SeatOn IVR system, please check the IVR usage page.