Nobody can take a reservation during the dinner rush.
The phone rings hardest exactly when the floor is busiest. A restaurant answering service that takes reservations, catering enquiries and large-party bookings.
The calls worth the most arrive when you can least take them. A twelve-top, a private event or a catering order is many times an ordinary cover, and those callers ring during service because that is when they think of it. A phone ringing out during the rush is lost revenue that never appears anywhere you would see it.
Six to nine is simultaneously your busiest service and your busiest phone hour. Every member of staff is on the floor. The answering machine takes a reservation request that is read at midnight, by which point the caller has booked elsewhere.
A call it takes without you.
Thanks for calling — would you like to make a reservation?
Yes, for eight people on Friday evening.
Of course. What time were you thinking, and is it a special occasion?
Around seven. It's a birthday.
Lovely — I have seven o'clock on Friday for eight. Can I take a name and number?
- ✓Calls answered through the rush, every time
- ✓Reservations taken with party size and time
- ✓Catering and private-event enquiries qualified
- ✓Hours, location and menu questions handled
It answers from the menu and allergen information you give it. Anything it has not been told, it takes as a note for the kitchen rather than guessing — a wrong allergen answer is the one mistake a restaurant cannot make.
Restaurants answering service — questions
Does it book into our reservation system?+
It books into the calendar you connect. Large parties and private events can be flagged for a manager rather than booked automatically if you prefer.
Can it handle catering enquiries?+
Yes — headcount, date, venue and budget captured and routed to whoever handles events, which is a different conversation from a table for two.
What about takeaway orders?+
That depends on your setup. Most restaurants keep ordering in their own system and use the agent for reservations, hours, location and events.
How soon can it be live?+
Two to four business days, built around your hours, menu, seating and how you want large parties handled.
How does an answering service work?+
Your business line is forwarded to the service, either all the time or only when you don't pick up. From the caller's side nothing changes — they dial your number and somebody answers. Ours answers, asks the questions you've set, and books the appointment into your calendar, then the details reach you.
What is an answering service?+
A service that answers your business phone when you can't. Traditionally that meant an off-site operator taking a message for you to return later. An AI answering service handles the call to a finished outcome instead — qualifying the caller and booking the job rather than passing you a message slip.
How much does an answering service cost?+
Most small businesses pay between $200 and $1,500 a month depending on volume and whether calls are handled by people or AI. Per-minute plans typically run $1.00–$2.00 a minute, per-call plans $1.50–$3.50 a call. Ours are flat: $249/mo with 500 included minutes, or $995/mo with 2,000.
What are the advantages of an answering service?+
Three that matter. Every call is answered, so enquiries stop going to voicemail. Several calls are answered at once, so nobody gets a busy signal on your busiest day. And it covers the hours you can't — nights, weekends and holidays — which is when the most urgent calls tend to arrive.
How do I choose an answering service?+
Call it before you buy it. Published pricing, no long-term contract, and a service built around your trade rather than a generic script all matter — but the only reliable test is hearing how it handles a call. Our demo line is a real number that answers at any hour.
What should I look for in a call answering service?+
Whether it books or only takes messages; what it costs when you exceed the plan; whether hold time and robocalls are billable; how quickly it goes live; and whether it can be briefed on what counts as an emergency in your trade. Ask for the overage rate specifically — it is the number most often left out of a quote.
Stop losing the calls you never hear.
Plans start at $249 a month. Live in two to four business days.