Most restaurants depend on two different kinds of income streams to stay afloat: dine-in eating and take-out orders. With our increasing reliance on digital technology, customers have easier ways to order than ever – but employees working back-of-house now have to juggle multiple types of orders just to keep ahead of the rush. This can pose a problem – the busier a restaurant gets, the greater the likelihood of error. To some degree, getting every order right is impossible – a server might mess up, a phone might not get picked up in time, or a chef might make a mistake. These errors must be mitigated as cheaply as possible. If customers call your restaurant and get a busy signal (or no answer at all), an opportunity is missed, and an order might be lost. Worse, a customer might grow frustrated and decide not to use your service at all, effectively taking their business elsewhere. To streamline their communication, restaurateurs have to ensure that their lines aren’t busy when a customer calls and that they can take every call as soon as it comes in. Switching to a VoIP phone system will help avoid lost calls and save your business money and time.
What is VoIP, and What Can a VoIP System Do?
Phones have come a long way in the past 30 years. From landlines and pagers to brick phones and smartphones, these devices have pivoted from home-to-home communication to acting as our personal assistants. Yet, in spite of all of these advances, many restaurants continue to hang on to their landline phones. Many people don’t know that copper-wire phones can be more expensive than VoIP phone solutions. What is a VoIP phone? Sometimes referred to as “internet telephones,” VoIP phones are cloud-based phone systems that function through the internet rather than using a phone signal or a landline. These phones can leverage a variety of services that are common in the restaurant industry today, such as SMS messaging, online ordering, and auto-attendant features. Most large-scale restaurant businesses have already adopted VoIP phone systems, and small restaurants are following suit. With a limited kitchen staff, every employee in a restaurant is critical to maintaining good service. When the phone in your small restaurant starts ringing fast, then the auto-attendant feature of your VoIP system kicks in. Imagine you’re in the middle of a rush, and multiple people are calling in while you’re trying to complete orders in a timely fashion. Who do you help first? A VoIP phone is able to take off some of the burden experienced by restaurant staff by directing calls where they need to go. If three people call your restaurant, and two of them are looking for directions, hours for your business, or even what’s on the menu, an auto-attendant can provide that information to customers with custom-recorded messaging while directing an order to your kitchen. It’s almost like having a secretary for your business as needed. In case your restaurant caters to online ordering, the auto-attendant can let your callers know about this option as well. The best VoIP phone solutions for restaurants pair with online ordering, allowing delivery drivers to communicate with two-way messaging that goes directly from the phone to the driver. The best service is rarely noticed but never forgotten – all it takes is one bad incident, and a customer will never forget what you have done. Restaurants depend on good reviews and high-quality service to retain business – a VoIP phone will do just that.
Benefits of VoIP for Restaurants
Lower Costs
Revenue is the lifeline for every restaurant – to stay afloat, every cost has to be mitigated, and every order needs to be met. VoIP phones are cheaper, more efficient, and more reliable than copper-wire phones and offer friction-free customer interaction that will save you 50-60% each month.
Easy Call Transfer
Some calls are integral to your business even when they’re not food orders – these calls shouldn’t go to the kitchen. That’s why transferring the call to the right person in the least amount of time and effort is important. Wherever a call needs to go, an auto-attendant can help.
Improved Mobility
Most restaurant employees are always on the go, whether they’re in the kitchen, the office, or the front of the house. With a VoIP phone system, a restaurant’s employees can take calls from anywhere, anytime – our iOS and Android-compatible mobile app means you don’t even have to be at the restaurant to take calls.
Simple Installation
VoIP phones are different from landlines – rather than having to run copper wire through your building, our phone systems are plug-and-play. Companies that choose to use their existing phones just have to plug into an analog converter, and your old phone number will instantly be transferred to your new phone with no downtime. Restaurants without high-speed internet will receive WiFi recommendations directly from our team, and we even offer onsite, full-service installation.
Speedy Recovery
VoIP phones are considerably more reliable than copper-wire phones, but even if they do go down, one of our three data centers will be able to track this within minutes and resolve any issues immediately.
SimpleVoIP: An ideal VoIP solution for your business
Plenty of VoIP phone services cater to industries like big businesses, legal firms, and more. At SimpleVoIP, we take an approach specifically designed for restaurant owners and have built out features that uniquely cater to this industry. It’s why we’re the preferred choice for over 5,000 restaurants across all 50 states. The restaurant industry is changing – what can a VoIP system do to keep you ahead of the competition? Contact us today to learn more about any of our 40 great features unique to our service!
