It has been said by many in the technology field that the iPad is the future of technology and it will determine the progress of mobile computing within the next five years. Many people remain skeptical that the iPad could usher in the future of technology as we know it. However, if you take the invention of the iPhone as any indication then you may understand that the invention of the Apple iPad means many things to many people. For users it means that mobile computing will develop in ways never before considered possible and for developers it means that applications and programs will come to life as never before imaginable. I was skeptical about the iPad leading into the future until I visited a local Italian restaurant and noticed they were handing out the iPad for customers on the waitlist. For the first time in my life, I wanted to be on the waitlist and that was because of the iPad.
This restaurant used the iPad as their pager solution in order to store customers’ information once they required placing on the waitlist. This is done with the use of a program for the iPad called Waitlist Manager and it allows the host/hostess to input the customer information including table size, name, start time, end time and expected wait time. Once a table is available the party can be paged on their device and the record will be removed from the waitlist. Important notes can also be stored on any customer that is currently waiting and all of this information that be gathered within the program and the restaurant can use this information in order to better serve the customer. The data can be helpful in determining service levels and aspects of the dining experience that need improvement. There is also a section of the application that accepts reservations and this will help to have the table ready once the customer arrives. If you are still skeptical then you should consider that an alternative restaurant pager solution system runs thousands of dollars and the iPad had added benefits. It saves the restaurant the investment of a different restaurant pager solution and it provides happiness for guests. One of the biggest problems that restaurants face during any busy time is that customers leave resulting in lost revenue. With the iPad, customers were happy to wait because they enjoyed playing the games that were included on the iPad. Other customers were simply watching movies and some were using the Internet to catch up on the latest news. Every customer in the restaurant wanted to wait because of the iPad and the restaurant benefited because not one customer left and this is the future of technology.
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Restaurant Paging Says:
This is an amazing story, I would be a nervous wreck if I handed out that many iPads, they must have a proven theft prevention system in place. It’s quite an effective way to garner attention but I don’t know how financially feasible it would be for most establishments.
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Geoffrey Simpson Says:
As an alternative use of the iPad and pager systems, our application, http://www.DinerConnection.com lets the host/hostess use the ipad to enter customer’s names onto the waiting list. When their table is ready, the application sends a text message to the waiting customer on their own cell phone.
This eliminates the need for a proprietary pager system altogether, and allows the customers to enjoy waiting not crammed into a waiting area tethered by a pager.
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Brandon Munson Says:
Very interesting article. The point is clear, the days of the coaster pagers are numbered. With the proliferation of cell phones its apparent restaurants or other businesses that reply on pagers no longer need to make that kind of investment.
Although the iPad has a “cool factor” it does have some limitation one needs to consider before making the investment. Our system, http://mobilematradee.com is a 3 in 1 restaurant guest pager solution with both wait list and reservation management system along with a powerful mobile marketing program. Our clients, which include Dave & Busters, use mini laptops and Apple iTouch’s to manage their wait list. We have tested Mobile Matradee on the iPad and it works great for the most part but the draw back isn’t the system but rather the qwerty keyword of the iPad. Unlike and iTouch or iPhone the iPad it is difficult to use your thumbs to type like you would on a cell phone and traditional typing doesn’t feel natural on the digital keyboard. We’ve found by adding an external keyword the hostess can quickly type in the guests name and cell phone number much more efficiently than using the digital keyword. Keep in mind, technology is about efficiency and increasing table turn is what it’s all about. To learn more check out our blog at http://blog.socialmobiletrends.com -
Restaurant Reservation System Says:
I cant see issuing IPads to customers ever being an option, it is just to expensive to purchase the quantities needed and even if you were willing to invest that amount of money stopping them walking out the door would be a nightmare.
Cell phone paging is an option that some restaurants are interested in but again it has drawbacks, i.e. not everyone has a mobile phone when they visit a restaurant and if they do not everyone wants to hand out their private number.
Having supplied guest pagers to the hospitality sector for many years we watch this space closely, we can see the beneifit in having both paging to mobile phones & traditional coaster (or more often digital pagers such as GuestCall IQ these days), this is why we decided to incorporate both in to our TableControl system, this system managers reservations, tables and the wait list and can call the guest via cell phone or guest pager.
Like most products paging systems are no different, what the smart restauranteur is looking for is one solution not a stack of different hardware & software.
TableControl also integrates directly in to the UK’s most popular kitchen management system and can also page the serving staff automaticaly when food is ready in the kitchen and when guests are seated in their section.
We are so confident that restaurants will love the application we give a 28 day free trial. You can read about it here http://www.tablecontrol.com