Table service restaurants
Two seatings a night, a room filling at seven: every cancellation left unfilled is a cover lost for good.
Waitlist and groups
A table freeing up at half past six still has value if somebody hears about it right away.
7 days, 20 answered calls, no card
The task it takes over
A restaurant phone rings hardest between eleven and half past one, then between five and eight in an evening — exactly when a room is full and nobody can leave their tables. And a caller who hits voicemail does not ring back: ten other restaurants sit under their thumb.
This add-on works two moments an ordinary booking flow leaves uncovered. First, a cancellation: a table for four freeing up at half past six gets reassigned after a real capacity check, rather than sitting empty all evening.
Second, a group. A birthday for twenty, a corporate cocktail hour, a December office party: those do not settle in a one-minute call, yet they can be captured whole — date, head count, room, dietary constraints, budget — and reach a manager ready to work on.
Step by step
- When full
A waitlist beyond a refusal
A caller leaves with a place on a list, their party size and preferred window noted, rather than a flat “we are full” sending them down a street.
- On a cancellation
Capacity first, a promise second
A freed slot is checked against capacity in a system of record ahead of being offered. No table is confirmed unless a seat genuinely exists.
- For a group
Everything a manager will ask
Date, head count, room or section, menu or budget in mind, declared allergies, occasion: a request arrives complete, rather than one callback per question.
- Afterwards
Anything unusual gets raised
A large group, catering, a complaint: those calls are flagged and passed to a team. A noted allergy goes to a kitchen, with no promise about traces.
An add-on, not a base capability
A Restaurants base answers on hours, access, a menu and approved information, identifies a request type and runs a chosen path — standard table booking sits there.
This add-on adds a waitlist, reassigning a freed seat, and group coordination. A group deposit belongs to a separate payment module, and a full event proposal belongs to an events add-on.
What this changes for your business
Event venues
December concentrates office parties, and response speed often decides a booking. A request captured whole saves you a round trip.
Takeout and quick service
Fewer reservations, yet group requests still arrive: they get noted and passed on rather than ringing into nothing.
What it receives
- Real capacity, exactly as your booking system declares it
- Cancellations and no-shows from a given day
- Waiting requests, with party size and preferred window
- House rules on groups, rooms and lead times
What it produces
- A freed table offered to a compatible waiting request
- A waitlist kept, with order and preferences
- A complete group request, passed to a manager
- Exceptions flagged: complaints, catering, very large parties
A manager keeps decisions on groups, rooms and deposits. Zenvox confirms no table without checking availability, and takes on no allergy responsibility: it records a note and hands it to a kitchen.
What is metered, and what comes from elsewhere
An allowance here covers fill and group requests, rather than ordinary bookings.
- Fill or group requests per month, reset at each period
- Standard table booking stays included in a base
- Inbound calls stay metered on a base, separately
- Messages draw on message allowances already in an account
Your booking platform subscription stays its own: this add-on sits beside it rather than replacing it.
With your booking platform
Part of this market is already equipped, and a status below is technical qualification. With no qualified connection, a waitlist lives in Zenvox.
- OpenTableTo qualifyAn application is required and no Zenvox approval exists; a documentation landing page produced no usable reference.OpenTable
- Point of sale and event toolsTo qualifyA family requirement rather than a certified product: a named system plus established rights are needed ahead of any write.My software is not in the list
Questions about this add-on
A table frees up — does it promise it right away?
No. The freed slot is checked against capacity in your system of record before it is offered: no table is confirmed unless the seat genuinely exists.
An allergy mentioned on the phone — what happens to it?
It is recorded and handed to the kitchen, with no promise about traces. Zenvox takes on no allergy responsibility: it carries the note to where the decision is made.
A party of twenty — does it confirm that?
No. The request is captured whole — date, head count, room or section, menu or budget in mind, declared allergies, occasion — and passed to a manager, who keeps the decisions on groups, rooms and deposits.
Is ordinary table booking already in the base?
Yes. The Restaurants base answers on hours, access and the menu, and runs standard booking. This add-on adds the waitlist, reassigning a freed seat, and group coordination.
Does this replace my booking platform?
No. That subscription stays its own, and this add-on sits beside it. OpenTable is at 'to be qualified' — an application is required and no Zenvox approval exists — and with no qualified connection the waitlist lives in Zenvox.
Where to next
Go back to your restaurant, or read a neighbouring add-on.
Waitlist and groups