Case study: VoIP for restaurants

Like the traditional telephone, VoIP can be used by many types of companies and businesses. Every business will benefit from this technology differently. In this case, we are going to show you how a VoIP phone system can help you improve your relationship with your customers and increase your sales.

Telephony needs of restaurants

The telephony needs in a restaurant can sometimes seem very simple, a phone and a person to answer it, but if you really want to satisfy your customers, you have to consider all the options you have to get the most out of it. With VoIPstudio we can help you, from the simplest setup for a coffee shop, to a large restaurant that needs more options to deal with all the customers.

Whether it’s starting a new business (opening a restaurant), or having to change providers for one reason or another, VoIPstudio is very useful because of how quick and easy it is to set up and have it ready to go.

We can provide new numbers for your business in no time at all, or we can port your existing numbers in no time at all. No physical installation is required unless there is a preference on the part of our customers.

Although VoIPstudio only requires a device (computer or mobile) compatible with the application and internet connection, you can also use our systems with a conventional telephone or even a mobile phone. This would be enough to receive and make calls from anywhere in the world.

Possibilities and options with VoIPstudio

Having a good customer communication system is crucial, especially in the current pandemic situation. People are no longer entirely comfortable in public places for fear of catching the disease and there are a multitude of regulations that prevent businesses from being able to survive, as they depend on people physically coming to the premises. This makes it necessary for communication to be exquisite.

The pandemic has taught us, but even so, pandemic or no pandemic, it is important to have good customer service so that all customer needs can be met in a single call. Wasting customers’ time can make them change their minds if they are having a hard time getting a reservation or placing a delivery order.

With VoIPstudio’s settings, you have many possibilities depending on what means of communication you have available. You can activate our numbers in WhatsApp business to make reservations and orders via WhatsApp, you can also inform with a voiceover if you have a website to make reservations.

In VoIPstudio you can define several job positions: Reservations, kitchen, administration, etc. In each of these positions you can decide from where you prefer to answer the calls or from where you want to make them: Mobile App, a wireless or desktop IP phone, or from a computer. You can simply ring them all at the same time and answer from wherever is most convenient.

Hardware example:

Yealink T19PN	Yealink W60P

To facilitate the flow of calls and the work of the call handler, many configurations can be made. For example, you can create an answering machine, to create a welcome message, or a mailbox with a personalised message with the timetable, holidays, or any other need.

Examples of phone configurations for restaurants

If a restaurant has a lot of take-away orders, but also a lot of reservations, you can use an answering machine to ask customers to make reservations via WhatsApp or a website.

On the other hand, you can also give those who need to place an order the opportunity to do so via a conversation. In the message, you can simply tell them to stay on hold and to contact a restaurant worker, so that whoever takes the calls will have less of a burden on them.

The answering machine can say, for example: “Thank you for calling… To make a reservation you can send a WhatsApp to this number and we will get back to you shortly” or “To make a reservation go to www.myrestaurant.com”.

If the customer is still on the phone, you can add: “To place an order, please stay on hold and we will get back to you soon”.

Another scenario could be that you only say that you only do takeaway in the winters because in the summer you have too many people and you can’t keep up with them. Then you can set up a summer and winter timetable, if they call in summer you can create a message that notifies customers directly, for example:

“Thank you for calling …, if you wish to place an order, I inform you that we do not deliver until X-X-X, to make a reservation send a WhatsApp to this number or stay on hold and we will be with you shortly.”

When it is winter, another answer is automatically selected which does allow takeaway or home delivery, and the same if you have holidays every year. In the VoIPstudio software, you can set up a schedule for those specific days, and you can notify your customers with a message that you are closed and when you will be back.

Other VoIP features for your restaurant

One of the utilities that we can make the most of is to separate calls by schedule. That is, if they call during working hours, the call is answered, and if not, a message is sent saying that we are closed and then we confirm our schedule with the client. For example:

“Thank you for calling… unfortunately we are closed, we inform you that our opening hours are from 9 am to 3 pm”.

In VoIPstudio there is a feature that can be very useful, we are talking about call recordings, so you can listen to a call again in case you forgot the order or you are not sure if you wrote it down correctly. An interesting feature of call recording is that you don’t have to store the recordings on your device and run out of space, they are stored in the cloud, you can listen to them through the app and even download them.

Integrations with reserve ledgers

If you already have a virtual reservation book, you can integrate it with the telephone system. So that when you receive an incoming call you can identify if the caller is a regular customer or find out at a glance if the caller has a pending reservation. Providing quick access to the details of the booking to find out the status and make adjustments if necessary.

This is the case for VoIPstudio’s integration with the Restoome reservation book.

Why do we recommend VoIP for restaurants?

VoIP is not only an advantage when it comes to having different options, but it also has very good prices and very good mobility. While other solutions ask for very high prices, in VoIPstudio for only 8€ per month you will be able to run an extension and a numbering system. All other PBX features that we have talked about during the post are free of charge.

In case you have to change premises, you don’t have to move phones, switchboards, or worry about things breaking and losing data, as everything is stored in the cloud and can be recovered in seconds. If by any chance, they change location they can quickly be offered another number with the area code of their new location and even a different country.

What are you waiting for? Start working with VoIPstudio and offer your customers the best possible service.