Restaurant Pagers Overview: Enhance Communications

What Is the Importance of Restaurant Pagers?

Customer satisfaction and efficiency are at the heart of a successful restaurant business. Here are ways restaurant pagers can help you run and grow your business smoothly.

Improved customer experience

Short waiting times and efficient communication between your staff and customers significantly improve service quality. Pagers allow your staff to inform diners of the availability of their table without shouting and running around. This way, they free up their time and energy to give the customer an excellent experience.

Pagers also eliminate the need for customers to raise hands, ring bells, or call out servers. They just have to tap a button, and the waiter will come in no time.

Efficient table turnover

Every restaurant depends on a good table turnover to make profits. The higher the number of times a table is occupied, the higher the sales you make in a particular period. An efficient pager system lets you keep track of free tables and speed up the serving process. It allows you to free up tables in short periods.

Enhanced staff communication

Seamless communication between the front desk, servers, and kitchen is essential to mitigating errors. Servers must communicate orders, and chefs must notify servers of ready meals. Mishandling this communication can quickly breed delayed and long orders, leaving you with disappointed clients and frustrated employees. Pagers allow each staff member to notify another of something without physically looking for them.

Improved customer retention

A satisfied customer is more likely to return to your establishment. Making your customers happy goes beyond providing delicious food. You must also offer excellent services, such as friendly interactions and efficiency. Pagers streamline your operations, which helps you make reserving and seating clients smooth. Add that to your chefs’ perfect skills, and customers will return with friends.

What Are the Different Types of Restaurant Pagers?

There are different types of pagers in various designs built to alert users in different ways. As a restaurant owner, understanding how each works is crucial to picking the perfect one for your operations.

Coaster pagers

Coasters are the perfect candidate if you are looking for the simplest pager for your restaurant. These straightforward design gadgets are light and will alert the holder through beeps, vibrations, flashes, or any combination thereof.

Coaster pagers are ideal for simple notifications like informing clients their table or meal is ready. They have simple instructions, and almost anyone can use them without confusion.

Voice/tone pagers

Voice pagers introduce a unique twist: you can send your customers a voice message. They can beep or vibrate like a coaster and relay any information you have in audio form. This information can include an apology for a short delay or an urgent message reminding them their table is ready. The touch of a smooth voice can calm your customers' worries.

Alphanumeric pagers

These pagers also work like coaster pagers, with the added benefit of sending written messages. They have a small screen that displays the short message your staff sends your patron. The screen also allows you to communicate advertisements, offers, and appreciation.

Alphanumeric pagers are ideal for busy and noisy restaurants where voice alerts will prove inefficient.

Two-way pagers

Take your customer service to the next level with two-way pagers that allow the customer and staff to text each other. They allow your customers to relay a message without looking for the hostess.

Two-way pagers are also ideal for crowded and huge establishments where finding a staff member is hard.

Integrating Your Restaurant Pager System to Your POS System

Integrating your restaurant pagers with your Point of Sale (POS) system helps you streamline communication between the kitchen and payout. Here are the benefits of the integration of the two systems:

• Improved order accuracy: Direct communication between the ordering point and the kitchen helps with instant and direct communication. It prevents any errors in the processing, ensuring the cooks prepare the correct meal
• Reduced payout time: Once you serve a meal to a client, the information is shared with the POS system, which generates a receipt. This allows customers to pay quickly and go on instead of waiting for the staff to calculate the bill
• Improves customer service: Reduced service time and smooth transitioning help provide a good dining experience. Integrating your POS and pager systems helps streamline processes, providing a smooth experience
• Easy data management: Integration of systems ensures easy flow and central data storage. This includes reservations, table turnovers, and those who canceled. It will help you leverage the data for better management decisions

What Should You Consider When Choosing a Restaurant Pager?

Investing in a restaurant pager system is a strategic move that requires finances and time. Therefore, knowing your needs is essential to choosing the correct pager from the variety on the market. Here are some things to consider when purchasing a pager for your restaurant.

Ease of use

Restaurant pagers are supposed to help you provide a good dining experience for customers. Therefore, you should go for one that is easy to use. The training should be short and straightforward to ensure your patrons have a smooth time. It also saves a staff member's time explaining how the pager works.

Power durability

Pagers come with built-in rechargeable batteries or replaceable batteries. You don’t want a situation where the battery dies in the customer's hands. It could lead to undelayed messages that could breed confusion. For rechargeable pagers, go for those with shorter recharging times. You want them to charge quickly, especially on super busy days.

Range

Pagers work within a transmission range beyond which the signal can’t travel from a transmitter. Measure the size of your restaurant, from where you expect to place the transmitter to the waiting and dining areas. When buying a pager, check the details for the range.

Brand reputation

What do other restaurant pager users say about the pager you want? Good reviews about a brand mean a quality product and good customer service. This includes warranties, ease-of-repair, and on-time response support.

Comparing the Top Restaurant Pager Systems

Now that you know what to consider when buying a restaurant pager system, what are the top options on the market? Let’s take a look.

PagerTec coaster

If you are looking for a simple, low-cost hotel pager system, the PagerTec complete coaster system is perfect. Its features include:

• Range of up to two miles
• Battery lasts 48 hours
• Notifies users when out of range
• Alerts through flashes and vibrations
• It is easy to set up and use
• Offers 30 days money back guarantee

Nolas 24 Social Distancing Keeping Pagers

Nolas has a favorable rating of 4.3/5 on Amazon and is one of the lowest price options. Here is what makes it unique.

• Alerts through vibration, beeping, flashing, and any combination
• The system has 24 pagers
• Has a 3.7 rechargeable battery that fills in 3-4 hours
• Lasts for 72 hours on standby
• Group alert without reprogramming

Retekkes T111 restaurant pagers

The Retekkes T111 pager system provides high quality at a low price of around $189.99. This explains its Amazon rating of 4.2/5. Here are the features that make it stand out.

• Comes with 20 pagers
• Alerts through buzz, flashes, shakes, and any combination
• Range of 440 yards
• 3.7V, 300mAh rechargeable battery that lasts 20 hours
• Digital control

Shihui 10-pager system
Shihui has a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Amazon, with a few positive remarks and dissatisfied reviews. Its incredible features include:

• Has ten pagers
• Alerts through buzzer + vibration + LED, vibration + LED, LED only
• 3.7V battery that lasts 36 hours when in use

Conclusion

A restaurant pager system can help you streamline operations, satisfy clients, and increase profits. It enables smooth and effortless communication between the staff and clients, promoting efficient and effective collaboration and reducing the risk of mistakes and errors.

However, various types of restaurant pagers have different features and functionalities. As such, you must use the above tips to choose the perfect fit for your business.

You can also integrate your restaurant pager system into your other management systems for harmony. That way, you can track a customer from entry to payout, increasing efficiency and transparency.

If you want a restaurant POS system that integrates well with your pagers, visit our review pages. Compare providers against each other and read our blog posts to find the best pick for your business.

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