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RESTAURANT PAGING SYSTEMS

One of the hardest parts of running a restaurant is dealing with a packed house. Customers are lost when they get tired of waiting and leave. Others become angry when their orders take too long coming out of the kitchen. Hosts and hostesses become overwhelmed between answering questions for waiting customers and looking for customers whose tables are ready.   One of the best ways to improve the management of a busy restaurant is through the use of a restaurant paging system.

There are several different uses for a restaurant pager:

• The first involves giving a pager to each waiter on the floor. When the kitchen is finished preparing a table's order, the expeditor or chef pushes a button on a panel which sets off the waiter's pager, alerting him or her to come pick up the order.

• The second use of restaurant pagers involves giving a pager or "coaster" to each customer as they are put on a waiting list. When the customer's table is ready, the restaurant host or hostess sets off the pager, alerting the customer to come to the hostess stand to be seated. Some softwares offer an alternative to using guest pagers by alerting customers directly on their cell phones when their table is ready.

• A third possible use of a restaurant paging system is for alerting managers based on possible restaurant service problems determined by management.

Why a waiter pager?

1. Communications between the kitchen and eating areas are improved.
2. Food is served promptly while hot.
3. Tables turn more quickly.
4. Customer satisfaction is improved, generating more repeat business.
5. Good customer service increases profits!

Why a coaster pager, cell phone paging system or visual display for customers?

1. Reduces crowding at the host area when new customers walk into the bar or restaurant.
2. Increases customer count at the bar while customers wait for the table.
3. Increase efficiency of the host/hostess.
4. Eliminates the hostess yelling in an already-crowded restaurant and possibly mispronouncing the customer’s name.
5. A video monitor can display the waitlist, allowing the customers to view it without asking the host or hostess.
6. Locate customers more quickly and your tables will turn faster.
7. Reduce walkouts due to excessive waiting or customers not hearing the hostess calling their names.
8. Customer satisfaction is improved, generating more repeat business.
9. Good customer service increases profits!

Cell phone paging offers the additional advantages:

• Cell phone paging is great for an establishment located near other restaurants where guests tend to put their names on multiple lists and see who calls them first.
• Cell phone paging systems don't require the purchase of pagers, coasters, chargers, repeaters, or a transmitter.
• Some cell phone paging systems allow customers to accept a table, cancel, or ask for more time to be assigned to a table. This two-way communications system helps the management of your tables.

Here is a list of some basic questions you should ask when you purchase, lease, or rent a Wireless Restaurant Paging System for servers, managers, or customers:

1. Among the eight best-known manufactures of guest pagers, coasters, and software, who offers the best solution for your restaurant's needs?
2. What is the transmitter's distance limitation?
3. What is the maximum number of pagers for either customers or servers their system can handle, and how many do you need?
4. What is the cost for replacement of pagers or coasters should they break or customers or staff lose them?
5. Do the pagers work with rechargeable battery or a disposable AAA?
6. Do they offer two-way communication with your waiting customers?
7. Does the restaurant paging system allow the staff to update the status of tables from anywhere in the restaurant?
8. Do the pagers have the anti-theft feature of only being able to work with that particular system?
9. What is the overall investment cost for the system(s) you need and the monthly or yearly fees required to properly maintain and operate the hardware, software, or phone line?

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NEW AND USED RESTAURANT PAGERS, COASTERS, CELL PHONE PAGING, AND RESTAURANT PAGING SYSTEMS.