Configuring Reservation Settings for a Dining Room (for POS and the Portal app)

• About Configuring a Dining Room with Reservation Settings
• Opening the Reservation Settings of a Dining Room
• Configuring the Reservation Settings
• Not Allowing Reservations for a Meal Service
• Not Allowing Reservations for a Day of the Week
• FAQs:
  • Is there a limit to the days in advance that a reservation can be placed in the Portal app?
  • In the Portal app, can I prevent a resident from placing a reservation on a specific date or date range?

About Configuring a Dining Room with Reservation Settings

A POS revenue center of type dining room can be configured with table reservation functionality. If so, then a host/hostess in the POS can manage reservations for that dining room (see POS Dining Room - Managing Table Reservations in Host Mode) and a Portal app user can make reservations in that dining room (see MealSuite Portal App - Making Reservations).

Opening the Reservation Settings of a Dining Room

To open the reservation settings of a dining room, complete the following steps:

1. In the Core system, select Settings from the left navigation sidebar. The Settings panel appears to the right. 
2. From the Settings panel, select Point of Sale Settings > Revenue Centers. The Revenue Center screen appears.
3. Click the name of the revenue center you want to open. The screen for that revenue center appears. 
   
   
    
4. From the right navigation pane, click Reservations to automatically navigate to the Reservations section. 
   
   
    
5. Click the Edit icon (first screenshot below) to opens its fields for editing (second screenshot below). 
   
   
   
   

Configuring the Reservation Settings

With the reservation settings of a dining room open (explained above), complete the following steps to configure reservation settings. 

1. Select the Enable Reservations option. The screen refreshes with the reservation settings.
    
2. You enter the default reservation settings for each meal service (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner). Via the Configure reservation settings for drop-down, you have the option of entering settings for the whole week (i.e., the same settings for each day of the week) by selecting the Entire Week option, or entering settings for each day of the week by selecting the Each Day option. 
    
3. For each meal service, select or enter the settings, described as follows:
   • Default Reservations Length (minutes) - enter the default length of time (in minutes) a table will be reserved for (e.g., 60). This time can be adjusted by the POS operator. 
      
   • Start Time and End Time - select the time period for which reservations can be seated for the meal service. For example, Dinner reservations can be seated between 16:00 and 19:00. 
      
   • Max Capacity Total - this field automatically defaults to the seating capacity of the dining area associated with the POS location, but can be increased or decreased as needed. 
      
   • Max Reservations per 15 Minutes - enter the maximum number of total reservations that can be booked within a 15 minute interval; this ensures there is not a large rush of tables at one interval, and instead is spread out through the meal service time that is set via the Start Time and End Time above.
      
   • Table Block Timing - enter the pre-reservation length of time a table appears "blocked" for prior to its actual reservation time; this to prevent a diner from being seated at a reserved table prior to its reservation time. For example, assume the Table Block Timing is set to 45 minutes and someone reserves a table for 5:00 PM, the system shows the table as reserved (i.e., blocked) at 4:15 PM (45 minutes prior to the 5:00 PM reservation).  
      
4. Click the Save Changes button to save your changes.

Not Allowing Reservations for a Meal Service

1. Open the reservation settings of the dining room (explained above). 
    
2. If not wanting to allow reservations for a meal service on a specific day of the week, then from the Configure reservation settings for drop-down, select Each Day. The screen refreshes with tabs for each day. 
   
   
    
3. If not wanting to allow reservations for a meal service for the whole week, then from the Configure reservation settings for drop-down, select Entire week. 
   
   
    
4. If Each Day is selected from the Configure reservations settings for drop-down, then select the desired day that will not allow reservations for a meal service.
   
   
    
5. For the meal service to not allow reservations, keep the Start Time and End Time fields blank (i.e., do not enter times). And in all other fields for the meal service, enter 0.
   
    
6. Click the Save Changes button to apply your changes. 

Not Allowing Reservations for a Day of the Week

To not allow reservations for a day of the week:

1. Open the reservation settings of the dining room (explained above). 
    
2. From the Configure reservation settings for drop-down, select Each Day.
   
   
    
3. Select the desired day.
   
   
    
4. For each meal service of that day, keep the Start Time and End Time fields blank (i.e., do not enter times). And in all other fields for the meal service, enter 0.
   
   
    
5. Click the Save Changes button to apply your changes. 

FAQs:

Is there a limit to the days in advance that a reservation can be placed in the Portal app?

Yes. Please open a support chat and ask for a live agent to set the number of days in advance a reservation can be placed. If you are MealSuite Support, please refer to the following article: Configuring the Portal App for POS Orders (i.e., Paid Orders) (INTERNAL) > Enabling Residents to Make Table Reservations. 

In the Portal app, can I prevent a resident from placing a reservation on a specific date or date range?

Yes. Please open a support chat and ask for a live agent to configure a date or date range in which reservations cannot be placed. If you are MealSuite Support, refer to the following article: Configuring the Portal App for POS Orders (i.e., Paid Orders) (INTERNAL) > Enabling Residents to Make Table Reservations.