OpenTable has released details of major updates to its restaurant management product GuestCenter.
Designed to focus on availability and customisation of the restaurant, the new functionality gives restaurateurs greater control over the number of diners they seat and where they’re positioned, including when they accept large parties.
The update also enables restaurants to show availability for non-traditional seating, opening up bar-side, high-top, counter and outdoor areas for reservations.
Christa Quarles, CEO for OpenTable, said “We understand that restaurateurs are constantly juggling competing priorities and globally our goal is to help them operate more efficiently. They know when they want to make tables available, when they may receive more walk-ins, when they can accommodate large parties and when they have bar-side or outside space available. The enhancements ensure these options can be easily implemented and made available to diners. Our technology ensures that operations are customised to each restaurant's specific needs so that they can deliver great hospitality night after night.”
The benefits of the GuestCenter product updates include:
- Greater control over the diner flow through each service period
- Categorisation of table types to create additional availability by making bar-side, counter, high-top and outdoor seating bookable
- Users can define large party size seating times for bigger groups at times when the restaurant can best accommodate them
- Users can define shift periods within a service to offer different availability by peak and off-peak times
GuestCenter is OpenTable’s flagship cloud-based hospitality product for restaurants. Available on iPad and desktop, it enables restaurants to surface real-time availability to the OpenTable diner network, which seats more than 21 million diners per month across more than 40,000 restaurants around the globe.
