OpenTable Training Manual

Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch

Table of Contents
Company Profile Introduction Screen Overview Making Reservations Sheet View Book View Floor View Reserve Managing Reservations Changing Reservations Moving Reservations Canceling Reservations Changing the Status Floor view Assigning Servers Seating a Party Switching Tables Blocking Tables Waitlist Reports

Company Profile
OpenTable is an online reservation management system that is currently being used in more than 6,000 leading restaurants including the French Laundry, Spago, and other industry giants. The system allows for four means of managing the restaurant, from the reservations and tables, to the guests and marketing. It also provides a means of control with access from Back of the House systems. The touch screen and keyboard combination make taking and managing reservations a breeze, and increases the speed and efficiency of those using it.

Introduction
Getting Started
1. Double-tap the OpenTable Icon on the screen to begin the system which will automatically load to the sheet view. You are ready to begin. 2. You can also tap the Start button in the bottom left corner, and then tap the OpenTable icon on the programs menu.

Exiting OpenTable
1. Press the shift and F10 keys simultaneously. 2. When the dialog box pops up, tap yes to shutdown the system. This will return you to the Windows desktop. From here, you can access the Configuration Tool by double-tapping the Configuration Icon. DO NOT TURN OFF THE COMPUTER!!!

Restarting the System

1. This is only to be done by authorized individuals (Barbara Jean Bruin and Lesley Butler). 2. Exit the OpenTable system as indicated above. 3. Under that Start menu, tap shut down, and wait for the dialog box to appear. 4. Select Restart from the dropdown list. Tap ok on the screen or press enter. 5. The OpenTable system should be left on at all times, as shutting down prevents the system from receiving reservations or updates, and also prevents offsite system backups.

Quick Reference
Use fingers only on touch screen (do not use pens or pencils to tap screen) Keep OpenTable server on at all times!!! Always make sure that a reservation is saved before exiting out of the dialogue box, and that it is made on the correct day for the correct shift.

Screen Overview
The navigation bars along the top and side of the page are visible and accessible from all views except for the reserve view. The side bar allows for movement between the different views of the system, while the top bar allows the user to change between shifts and dates, as well as manipulating reservations.

Key
Top Bar 1. Shift Button 2. Day Back 3. Date Button 4. Day Forward 5. Time Dropdown 6. Cover Count 7. Add Button 8. Change Button 9. Status Button 10. Card Button Changes shifts or meal periods Moves calendar one day back Displays calendar and allows for movement to other dates Moves calendar one day forward Jumps to selected time slot Shows covers for day/shift Inserts a reservations slot Change highlighted entry Changes reservation status Prints card for highlighted party

Side Bar
11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Sheet View Book View Waitlist Floor View Future Guests View Reserve View Now Notes Admin Reports (About) OT Displays sheet view Displays book view Shows current shift In-House Waitlist Displays Floor view Shows waitlist for future dates Searches/edits guest list Displays reserve view Displays shift for current date/time Displays restaurant and shift notes Configures system settings Accesses system reports Displays version and system status

Making Reservations
Reservations can be made in multiple areas including the sheet, book, floor, and reserve views. Sheet View This is the most detailed view in which the guests full information can be displayed, and can be used to verify information with the guest. This view includes the guests name, how many people are in their party, their phone number, any notes concerning their reservation, and when their reservation was made. It also includes an area at the bottom the screen that allows for notes concerning the guest or the reservation. Guest notes appear in yellow and are permanent to the database, while reservation notes are specific to the reservation and are temporary. These appear in red. To put in a reservation, you simply double tap on the slot that the reservation will go in. The second column in the sheet view denotes the maximum number of people allowed in each reservation slot, or the amount of people the table can hold. These reservation slots match the available tables within the RKR. Thus, if there is only one 2 top listed in the 11:30am openings, than there is only one 2 top available. Obviously, a party of 4 could not be taken in this slot. The horizontal lines of the sheet view represent the reservations available. They are arranged in 15 minute increments, allowing for flow and consistency of service.

Steps to taking a Reservation

1. Walk in or phone reservations should be treated in the same professional, polite manner. a. For a phone reservation, the following wording should be used. Thank you for calling the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch, this is Natalie, how may I assist you? (Guest response) And what day would that reservation be for? (Guest response) It will be just one moment, let me pull up that date. Would you mind spelling your last name for me? And your first name? May I please get the best phone number to reach you? b. For a walk in guest trying to make a reservation, the following wording should be used. Welcome to the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch, how may I assist you? (Guest response) Let me pull up that date, itll just take a moment. (The remainder of the conversation can take place in the same format) 2. To select the proper date for the reservation, the date and time buttons in the upper left corner can be used, as well as the calendar button for reservations farther away.

3. After the proper date is chosen, double tap on the desired slot. This means at the proper time, and for the right number of guests. A party of two should be placed on a 2 top, not on a 6 top, and a 4 top reservation should never be taken in a reservation slot that has a maximum of 2 people. This will cause a dialog box to open. 4. Politely ask the guest for their last night, and check to make sure that the spelling is correct. Do the same for the guests first name. If there is a guest with this name in the database, it will pop up in the white area of the dialog box. Before selecting a guest from the database, please ask the guest for their phone number to double check that it is the same individual, and double tap on the name. If it is a new guest and they are not in the database, double tap the new guest button. 5. The Make a Reservation Dialog will appear on the screen. Politely ask the guest for additional information to input the reservation details onto the reservation screen. 6. Some of the information on the screen is not required to complete the reservation, but can be added if the guest has specific requests. This includes the reservation and guest codes and notes. To input specific notes to the guest or the individual reservation, double tap on the white notes box and a new dialogue box will appear that additional information can be entered in to. For more permanent notes such as VIP or Friend of the RKR that can apply to multiple reservations, double tap on the codes box. 7. However, it is required that every reservation has the name of the individual who took the initial reservation. These initials are placed in the user box, and can either be typed in or can be found in the drop-down arrow. 8. Once the reservation is complete, tap the save button. This will prompt you to a confirmation screen. Read off the information to the guest to ensure that everything is correct. Next, ask the guest if they would like an email confirmation. If the answer is yes, politely ask for their email address, and select either send now for real time emails, or morning of. If the guest is not interested, finish the reservation confirmation.

Book View
Unlike the sheet view, the book view is more condensed and contains all of the reservation slots for a particular shift. The process of making a reservation is exactly the same, but the view of the screen on which it is made is just slightly different.

Floor View
It is also possible to make a reservation on the floor view. The reservation sheet is on the right side of the screen. Current reservations for the shift are listed under the first tab, which is shown by default. To make a reservation in this view, tap on the All Slots tab. This will switch the screen, and will display any available reservation slots. Double tap on the slot desired, and continue to make the reservation like the sheet and book views.

To the right of this is the waitlist, and this can be used for walk-in guests who are interested in a reservation during the current shift. A reservation through the waitlist can be created by the same process, and allows for a quoted time in which the reservation will begin blinking red.

Reserve
The final way to make a reservation is with the reserve button. This is the most efficient way to make reservations for any date and time, without having to go through the sheet or book view. The reserve view is especially helpful when making reservations for more than a few days in advance. On the reserve view, you can select the month, date, and year desired by the guest, as well as the time that they would like to dine. By entering in how many in the party size, the system will compile a list of available slots for the guest to choose from. This is the only view that allows the user to search for an available reservation. Once an available slot is chosen or an alternate date or time is suggested, the individual taking the reservation can proceed in the same manner as the other views.

Managing Reservations
After reservations are initially made, they can be changed, moved, or cancelled at the request of the guest.

Changing Reservations
Many guests will call in after their initial reservation is made to make adjustments. After locating the reservation on the proper date given by the guest, double tap on the reservation to pull up the reservation dialogue box. From this screen, you can adjust the time of the reservation, the number of people in the party, add or delete any notes concerning the reservation or the guest, or change a phone number given by the guest. However, should any changes be made, you must hit save before exiting the reservation, and it is important to again confirm the details of the reservation with the guest.

Moving Reservations
Reservations can also be changed by moving them to a different date or time slot. It is much more efficient than creating a duplicate reservation. To do this, select or highlight the reservation that you would like to move. Tap the change button in the upper right corner, and this will open a Change Entry dialogue box. The first slot is Move Entry. Select this by tapping on the move button. After selecting the date that the reservation will be moved to, tap the empty reservation slot and tap move in the dialogue box at the bottom of the page.

Canceling Reservations
Reservations can be cancelled in the same manner as they can be moved. With the information provided by the guest, find the reservation that they would like to cancel. To ensure that it is the proper person canceling the reservation, politely ask the guest to give you the phone number that is on the reservation. Without this information, they may not cancel another guests reservation. After highlighting or selecting the reservation, tap the change button in the upper right corner, and tap the second button, Cancel Entry, and then tap ok. Tap yes in the confirmation box to finish canceling the reservation. Reservations can also be changed through the use of the Status button. Highlight the reservation that you wish to cancel, and then tap the Status button in the upper right corner. This will prompt the user with a list of choices as to the status of the guest. Select cancelled from the top left corner. This will cause a dialogue box to appear, in which you should select yes to cancel the party.

Changing the Status of a Reservation

There are many reasons to change the status of a reservation, and the party status box is divided into multiple categories. This category can be used ahead of time when confirming reservations, or during the shift to indicate the current table activity.

Cancel/ No Show
To cancel or no show a reservation, tap the corresponding box in the leftmost column. This can be done during the shift if a party does not show, or if a guest calls in to cancel their reservation.

Expected
The status buttons in this category all relate to the confirmation of the reservation. As the hosts are responsible for confirming reservations prior to the actual reservation date, you would use these buttons to indicate the status. If you were able to speak with the guest and confirm their reservation, you would tap the Status button in the upper right corner, and then tap the Confirmed button under the expected column. The same method would be used if the host left a message or had a wrong number, and the corresponding buttons would be used.

In-House
The In-House status buttons correspond to the arrival of the guests for their reservation. Because the RKR does not have a paging system, ignore the bottom three buttons. However, the other two buttons can be used on a regular basis. If part of the reservation has arrived, but not all, you can select the Partially Arrived button.

Seated
These status buttons can be used to indicate the status of a table during their reservation. For example, by changing a tables status to Cleared, the host will be aware that although they cannot seat the table just yet, they can place a reservation on that table within a short time. If there is a party of 4, yet only three have arrived, you can seat the party by dragging the reservation to the table, and then tap the Status button, and tap the Partially Seated button. This will keep the reservation in the listing to the right, so that when the final guest arrives, the host does not have to search through each table to determine where the guests party is.

Floor View
The floor view will be the most used view while the restaurant is open for service. On the left of the screen is a replica of the dining room with corresponding tables and table numbers. To the right of the screen is the listing of reservations for the current meal period. Underneath the reservations area is a Servers button which displays the current servers and their current and total covers for the shift.

Assigning Servers
A master list of the servers for the week is located under the Admin button on the left navigation bar. Tap the Admin button, and then select or tap the first tab, Server List. This will display the list of servers for the week, and the color that indicates their sections. These colors can be changed by tapping on the color where it reads Click to Edit. To move individual servers to the current shift, highlight the servers name and tap the right arrow button ( > ). The left arrow ( < ) can be used to move that server back to the master list. To move the entire server list to the current shift, tap on the double right arrow ( >>) or the double left arrow ( << ) to bring them all back. Once this is completed, tap Save. This will most likely be done by the manager at the beginning of the shift. Return to the Floor View by tapping it on the left navigation bar. Tap on the Servers button on the right side of the screen. The names of the current servers will appear on the left, the middle column indicates how many current covers they have, and the rightmost column indicates the total number of covers that they have served for the shift. Each name appears in the color that corresponds with that server. To create each servers section, highlight the servers name, and then tap the tables that are within their section, as dictated by the managers. This will create a colored ring around the table that matches the servers color. To move to the next server, simply highlight their name, and proceed in the same manner. Continue with this process until you have completed all of the server assignments. Tap the Servers button again to close the server list, and tap yes to save the server assignments in the dialogue box.

Seating a Party
There are two ways to seat tables from the Floor View. It is important to remember when seating tables that each servers load is as equal and balanced as possible. Thus, the seating of tables should rotate through the servers.

Steps to Seating a Party

1. Tap on the reservation under the reservations tab to highlight it. 2. Tap the Seat button in the lower right corner, and then tap the desired table on the floor to seat the party. 3. Or, after tapping the partys name on the reservation sheet, you can drag the reservation by keeping your finger on the screen, and removing it once you have moved the reservation on top of the table that you have chosen.

Steps to Seating Multiple Tables 1. Some larger reservations or banquets will use more than one table. First, tap the reservation to highlight it. 2. Tap the Seat button in the lower right hand corner, and then tap the Multi button that appears in its place. 3. Tap all of the tables that you would like to use for the party. 4. Tap Multi again to complete the seating.

Seating Walk-ins
1. Tap the Walk-in button on the bottom right hand of the screen. 2. Choose the size of the party in the dialogue box, and politely ask the guest for his or her name. 3. Tap ok, and seat the party as normal from the reservations list by tapping the Walk-in reservations and tapping the desired table.

Switching Tables
Not all guests will be happy with the table you choose for them. Should they want to switch tables after the host has already sat them, you can merely move the reservation on the screen from one table to another. Tap the partys current table, and drag it to the new table that you moved them to.

Blocking Tables
At the beginning of the shift, it is important to check the reservations that are on the books. Some reservation may have specific table preferences like the PDR or Table 11 by the window. To prevent other reservations from being seated on those tables, the host must block the table.

Steps to Blocking a Table

1. Make sure that the reservation with the request for a specific table has the table number listed in the Table column. 2. Tap the empty table that you would like to block. 3. Tap the Block Table button that appears in the bottom right corner. The table is blocked and a red X will appear over it. 4. To unblock a table once the reservation has arrived, tap the blocked table. 5. An Unblock Table button will appear in the lower, right hand corner. Tap this button, and the red X will disappear. 6. Seat the reservation as you normally would. 7. Or, you can simply seat the reservation at the blocked table by selecting the reservation and tapping the Seat button. 8. A dialogue box will pop up asking if you want to seat the blocked table; tap yes.

Waitlist
The waitlist option can be used for parties that walk in without a reservation. To add their name to the list, tap the waitlist tab above the reservation list on the floor view.

Steps to Adding a Party to the Waitlist

1. Tap the Add button in the upper right corner of the navigation bar. 2. Fill in the information for the waitlist reservation as you would any other reservation. 3. Tap the corresponding time button for the quoted wait time. 4. Add specific notes as to the appearance of the guest to the Reservations Notes if need be.

Reports
There are many available reports to analyze various aspects of service in the RKR. To access these reports, tap the Reports button on the left navigation bar. A list of Reporting Options is provided on the left, and a list of Marketing Options is on the right.

Reporting Options
Not all of the reports listed will be beneficial to service at the RKR, but certain reports will be used fairly often. The cover count report can be printed right before service, and given to the back of house, so that they are prepared for when rushes and larger parties are expected. The close of shift report can be used by the management team to analyze cover counts for the day. It also indicates the number of cancellations and no shows, the percentage of walk-ins, and party size. A guest count report can be printed periodically and given to servers to account for the tables that they were sat, and to provide them with the names of the guests that they are serving.

Marketing Options
The different marketing options can be used as a part of the Marketing section of the 382 and 383 project. Emails can be sent out through the guest database to increase awareness of weekly Managers Specials or to invite guests to return for special occasions.