The thinking behind the partnership was that clients of fine dining restaurants may not want to reserve a table online, which is the option currently offered by OpenTable, explained Simon Davey of Tablebook.me.
“What Tablebook.me offers is a premium telephone service which works alongside the current OpenTable service,” he said.
Personalised phone service
Restaurant telephone numbers listed on OpenTable or on the restaurant’s own site would redirect to a reservations call centre operated by Tablebook.me.
Caller ID technology would allow the reservationist to identify which restaurant a customer is calling and answer the call with that restaurant’s greeting. It would also allow for VIP caller recognition so loyal patrons can still receive personalised service.
“The partnership between Tablebook.me and OpenTable delivers a real time link between Tablebook.me and the restaurant, meaning that each reservations book is constantly updated every minute,” said Davey. “For high end and fine-dining restaurants this means that the customer can speak to a real person, offering a more personalised service.”
Currently, Tablebook.me is only targeting restaurants using OpenTable, but Davey said the Tablebook.me service can be adapted for use with other restaurant reservation services.
“The Tablebook.me service is most useful for restaurants which are not open all hours ensuring that they don’t miss any opportunities for bookings with a 24hr reservationist service. “
For more information, go to www.tablebook.me