Clock POS update (27 Apr 2015)

Table Bookings

This new Clock POS module allows booking restaurant tables.

Apart from telephone bookings, Clock POS also provides a Web Booking module. Booking a table online is intuitive and easy. The user interface is responsive and operates conveniently on smartphones and tablets, too. Booking via the web booking engine is as follows:

• Clients select date, meal (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, etc.) and the number of guests.
• The system offers the available times for booking a table.
• Clients select time, fill in their contact details and create the booking.
• The system registers the booking, selects a specific available table automatically and sends a confirmation letter to the client.
• Done!

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Table Types and Tables

To set up the module start with the table types and the tables themselves from 'Management' – section 'Bookings' - 'Table Types' and 'Tables'.

The Table Types are defned by two main parameters: 'Min seats' and 'Max seats'. They determine what table type is offered to guests booking online. When booking a table, clients specify the number of guests. The system offers a table type whose 'Min seats' and 'Max seats' parameters contain the specified number of guests.

For example: you have tables for 4 and tables for 6.

• For the tables for 4, you set 'Min seats' as 2, and 'Max seats' as 4. Then these tables will be offered to clients booking for at least 2, but for no more than 4 people. They will not be offered to clients making a booking for 1 person.
• For the tables for 6, you set 'Min seats' as 2, and 'Max seats' as 6. Then, these tables will be offered for bookings for 2-4 people, if that there are no free tables for 4 available, and for bookings for 5-6 people. If there are no free tables for 6 available for a certain time period, this period will not be offered for selection.

After the table types, set the tables themselves: for each table fill in its name (or number) and its respective type. The number of tables defines the capacity of your restaurant.

Meals

The meals, or the times of day for which bookings can be made, must also be set in the web booking engine. For example, 'Breakfast', 'Lunch', '5 O'Clock Tea', 'Dinner', etc. To do this, go to 'Management' – section 'Bookings' - 'Meals'.

Start time/ End Time

Each meal has a start and an end time. All bookings for a specific meal fall in the interval between the start and the end time set for it.

For example, for 'Dinner' set a period from 18:00 to 23:00. Then the first Dinner booking can be for 18:00, and the guests from the last one must leave by 23:00.

Scale (minutes)

Select the interval between the available times offered.

For example, if you choose 15 minutes, your clients will be offered the following times: 18:00, 18:15, 18:30, 18:45, etc. If you select 30 minutes, the times offered will be 18:00, 18:30, 19:00, 19:30 etc. The table calendar will use this scale.

Default Duration (minutes)

Fill in the expected average duration of the meals. This will be the duration the Web Booking Engine uses when table bookings are created.

For example, for Dinner set 120 minutes (2 hours). So, in the interval from 18:00 to 23:00 (5 hours), there can be two bookings per table maximum. Also, guests will be offered the available times from 18:00 to 21:00, so the last booking can leave at 23:00 at the latest.

Activation of the Web Booking Engine

To activate the Web Booking Engine:

1. Create a new user:

• go to 'Management' – 'Users', specify user name e.g. POS WBE
• go to 'Management' – 'Account Info' and select the newly created user in the User field.
• Create a language:
• go to 'Management' – 'Languages and Text'
• click 'New'
• select a language
• click 'Create'
• Set the language
• go to 'Management' – 'Account Info'
• select the new language in field 'Wbe default language'
• click 'Save'

Bookings, List and Calendar

You can use the List or the Calendar to create, edit and review bookings. To open the list or the calendar from the main screen, click the 'book' menu and the respective option from its dropdown menu.

Calendar

Table Calendar

In the Calendar you can see all the valid bookings, except the voided and the pending ones.

Clicking a booking opens it in Edit mode.

Clicking an available time opens the new-booking screen. When creating a booking from the back office, you can set any duration, even if it is beyond the end time of the meal.

List

In the 'Bookings' list you can see all the bookings for a certain date, grouped by meals.

The voided bookings and the pending ones are also included.

Use the 'New' button to create a new booking.

Web Booking Engine

To see your own Web Booking Engine, select 'Web Booking Engine' from the menu.

You can integrate the web booking engine into your website by creating an iframe with the URL of the web booking engine. The URL can be found in the meal setup screen: 'Management' – section 'Bookings' - 'Meals'.

Other

• Menu items – colour and sort order.

  You can set different colours for different menu items and/or arrange the items in the order which best suits your needs. Both colour and order can be edited for each item separately, or for multiple items at once.