Settings - Online Settings
Would you like guests to be able to add themselves to an online Standby List for a specific date/ time and number of covers?
What controls standby list availability?
Yield Management:
The online standby list will only offer standby slots to 50% of you maximum yield setting within each of your services.
This can be found by going to settings > services > edit the service in question > yield management, please see below;
In this example, this venue is accepting 14 covers per time slot.
Therefore when a time slot is full, and standby list is activated - a maximum of 7 guests will be able to join the standby list for each time slot that is fully booked.
The standby list takes into account Your close outs and the days you accept online reservations.
Close outs:
For example, if you have closed out the 25th of December completely, no guests will be able to add themselves to the standby list for this date.
Equally, if you close out a service, or particular time slot, guests will not be able to add themselves to the standby list for these dates, services or timeslots.
Online Bookings settings:
By going to settings > online settings > online settings, you can choose which days of the week you accept online reservations for.
If you have a day of the week unticked in this setting, guests will be unable to add themselves to the standby list for those days of the week.
NOTE: none of your other online settings will control standby list availability including rules and channel configurations.
How does it work?
When a timeslot becomes fully booked, guests will be invited to join an online waitlist.
Diners will be clearly guided that this is not a reservation, but rather that they will be added to a standby list:
You'll be able to see all of the customers who have added themselves to the standby list for a specific date within your diary.
Icon 1 - Edit Option.
Allows you to edit the comments against the waitlist booking.
For example, ''customer called and said they are happy to come in anytime from 6pm - 8.30pm if a table becomes available''
Icon 2 - Check Option
Allows to ''check'' if availability has become available and if you can can in fact seat the reservation on an available table(s).
Icon 3 - Decline Option
Allows you to remove a booking from the waitlist.
The idea here is if you called the guest/ the guest contacted you and said they no longer need the table and they found another venue for their booking, you can remove them from the list to avoid confusion internally.
Icon 4 - Notify Guest Option
Allows you to send an email to the guest telling them a table has become available and they can book now.
It is made clear that this email does not mean they have reservation and that they will need to make a new online reservation based on availability that has recently become available.
How do I activate my online standby list?
This can be done quickly and easily by going to:
- Settings
- Online settings
- Tick '' Allow Customers to Add Themselves to Standby List''
- Save
Adding a customer to the standby list internally
- Click on the book button
- Select services/date etc
- Press search
- Select the Standby Tab