RESTAURANT ANSWERING SERVICE
An answering service that completes the booking.
Fork Time is a restaurant answering service connected directly to the reservation book. It answers calls with the menu, hours and policies your restaurant approved, checks live availability, completes bookings and changes, and hands requests to staff when a decision needs a person. The result is a confirmed next step rather than a message waiting to be returned after service.
WHAT IT ANSWERS
Restaurant calls do not arrive in one neat category. A guest may want a table, need to change a booking, ask about an allergy, check whether children are welcome, join a waitlist or discuss a group enquiry.
Fork Time handles the requests covered by the restaurant information and booking rules you approve. It can create, change and cancel reservations against live availability, answer common guest questions and collect the context for requests that need staff input.
When confidence is low, it does not invent an answer. The conversation is transferred or prepared for follow-up with the caller's details and request already attached.
ANSWERING SERVICE OR VOICEMAIL
Voicemail records a problem for later. A traditional answering service can take a message, but the person answering may not have live access to the book. Fork Time holds the reservation system itself, so the caller can leave with a confirmed table rather than a promise that somebody will call back.
| Guest request | Voicemail | Fork Time |
|---|---|---|
| New reservation | Records a message | Checks live availability and completes the booking |
| Booking change | Records a message | Updates the live reservation when the rules allow |
| Common restaurant question | Waits for staff | Answers from approved restaurant information |
| Request needing judgement | Waits for staff | Hands off with the context already collected |
Fork Time is not an outsourced human call centre. It is an AI front of house designed for restaurant guest conversations and connected to the same live book your team uses.
AFTER HOURS AND DURING SERVICE
The service remains available while the team is on the floor and when the restaurant is closed. Opening hours, booking windows, party-size rules and service periods still apply. If a guest calls outside service, Fork Time can offer the next valid availability rather than pretending the restaurant is open.
The production examples in the 5,500 restaurant calls report explain how after-hours demand, completed reservations and human handoffs are measured across live venues.
ONE SERVICE ACROSS EVERY CHANNEL
Calls are only one part of the guest conversation. From the AI Front of House plan, Fork Time also manages supported SMS, email, WhatsApp and web-chat conversations. Each conversation lands in One Inbox against the guest record, so the team can see what has already been handled.
For the voice-specific workflow, languages and handoff model, read AI phone answering for restaurants.
PRICING AND SETUP
AI guest conversations are included from the $199 USD AI Front of House plan, per restaurant location, with no per-cover fees. Setup uses the restaurant's approved menu, hours, policies and booking rules. Phone ordering is available on the $299 plan through supported CloudWaitress and Square workflows.
EVERY CALL ANSWERED
Let the caller leave with a confirmed next step.
The demonstration uses examples based on your restaurant and service style.