Ansela / Who it’s for / Restaurants and takeaways
For restaurants and takeaways
The kitchen’s flat out and the phone won’t stop. She takes the table requests.
Ansela answers in your restaurant’s name, gives opening hours, location and menu answers from what you’ve told her, and takes table requests for you to confirm. She doesn’t take orders or payments.
£1.99 your first month, including VAT, then from £99 a month + VAT. 60 minutes in month one. No contract.
Set up in about 15 minutes.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.
Is there an answering service for restaurants and takeaways?
Yes, for questions and table requests. Ansela is an AI phone receptionist. She answers in your restaurant’s name, gives opening hours, location and menu answers from what you’ve told her, and takes table requests for you to confirm. She doesn’t take takeaway orders or payments. Plans start at £99 a month + VAT.
01
The table request that came with an allergy
This is the kind of call a restaurant gets before the evening rush. The caller changes the party size, and the allergy question goes to the owner instead of being guessed at.
Example call; Brindle Street Kitchen and the caller are made up.
This call may be recorded. Thank you for calling Brindle Street Kitchen. Please hold for a moment while I connect you.Recorded, and played before she picks up.
Brindle Street Kitchen, Ansela speaking. How can I help?
Hi, can I book a table for Saturday? Four of us. Well, five, my sister might come. It’s my mum’s birthday.
Is that four or five, and what time were you thinking?
Five. Let’s say five. Half seven.
Half past seven on Saturday for five. I can’t see the table plan, so I’ll take it as a request and Sam will confirm. Can I take a name?
Joanne Pickles. And one of us has a nut allergy. Is the dessert menu all right for that?
I can’t answer allergy questions, because I’d only be guessing and I won’t do that. I’ll put it on the request so Sam can speak to you about it before Saturday.
Right, good. It’s 07700 900552.
Thanks Joanne. That’s a request for five at half past seven on Saturday, for a birthday, with a nut allergy in the party. Sam will call to confirm.
02
What she does for a restaurant, and what she won’t
She works from what you give her: your opening hours, address, parking, menu details, and how you want table requests handled.
- “What time do you open?” and “Where are you?” answered from your own wording.
- Menu questions, answered from the menu and details you’ve given her, and prices only if you have given them.
- Table requests with name, party size, date, time and occasion, put into your Ansela diary or sent to you as a message to confirm.
- A call you want to hear about straight away, put through to your mobile when your rule says so.
- Won’t take takeaway orders or card payments. She isn’t an ordering system, and she has no live table plan.
- Won’t guess at allergy or dietary-safety questions. She takes a message or puts the call through to you, as you decide.
- Won’t promise a table. She takes a request and says you’ll confirm.
03
Who answers the phone in a restaurant at the Friday-night peak?
Usually nobody, or whoever is nearest the pass. The phone rings through a full service and the caller wanting a table for Saturday gives up and tries somewhere else.
At the peak you may prefer the line to go to a person, and that is a fair choice. The plan includes 600 minutes a month and Starter takes 1 call at a time (Team 3, Scale 3), so check it against your busiest hour. Ansela suits the quieter hours and the calls you’d otherwise miss.
04
Can an AI receptionist take table bookings for a restaurant?
She takes a request: name, party size, date, time, occasion and a number. It goes into her Ansela diary or to you as a message to confirm. She has no live table plan, so she never says a table is free.
If you use a booking system, she doesn’t connect to it. You confirm each request yourself.
05
What about allergy and dietary questions on the phone?
She never guesses. An allergy or dietary-safety question gets a message taken, or the call put through to you, whichever rule you’ve set. A wrong answer here matters far more than a missed call, so the answer stays with you.
If you want her to repeat anything from your own allergen information, that is your call to make, and a common rule is a message or a put-through.
06
Can she take a takeaway order?
No. She isn’t an ordering system and she doesn’t take card payments. If a caller wants to order, she can tell them what you’ve given her, such as your opening hours or where to order.
If most of your calls are orders, Ansela is probably not the right thing for your main line. She suits the questions, the table requests and the calls that arrive while the kitchen is busy, such as opening hours, directions and whether you have a car park. The things she won’t do are listed above.
Plans start at £99 a month + VAT: see what each plan includes. Paying a per-call service now? See how Ansela compares.
07
The front of the house before the first sitting
We built Ansela because we kept ringing tradespeople who couldn’t pick up, and then booking someone else. She isn’t a call centre. She answers in your name, says what you’ve told her to say, and writes down what the caller wanted.
If she gets a call wrong, forward us the recording.
Ansela[email protected]
08
How do you set up Ansela?
You choose a plan before your number goes live.
For restaurants and takeaways: keep your current number and divert it to Ansela, or take a new UK business number for your website and cards, or use both.
- Give her your website and your menu. She reads them and comes back with your hours, your address and what she’d say about the menu, for you to check and correct.
- Write the rule for allergy questions, then test it. Choose a message or a call put through to you. Have the call above with her in your browser and ask what you’d expect to be asked.
- Divert your mobile. We give you a UK number. One short code diverts your mobile to it when you don’t pick up. Another turns it off.
09
What does Ansela cost? Three plans, no contract
Starter has a set number of minutes and takes 1 call at a time, so check it against your busiest hour before you divert the main line.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.
| Plan | A month + VAT | Minutes | Calls at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterSole traders, one or two vans | £99 | 600 | 1 |
| TeamDiaries for up to 10 people | £279 | 1,800 | 3 |
| ScaleSet up with you, not self-serve | £499 | 3,500 | 3 |
Minutes are time she spends on the phone with callers. Extra minutes are 20p each, up to a limit you set.
First month £1.99 including VAT, with 60 minutes, on Starter. Card needed; nothing else to pay in month one. Cancel from your billing page and it stops at the end of the month you’ve paid for. Plan prices exclude VAT.
Not VAT-registered? With VAT that’s £118.80 a month on Starter, £334.80 a month on Team and £598.80 a month on Scale.
Scale is set up with you. Need her plugged into your own systems? Talk to us about Enterprise.
10
Questions restaurants and takeaways ask
Can she take takeaway orders?
No. She isn’t an ordering system and doesn’t take card payments. She can tell a caller your hours and where to order, if you’ve given her that.
Can she take a table booking?
She takes a request: name, party size, date, time and occasion. It goes into her Ansela diary or to you as a message to confirm, because she has no live table plan.
What if a caller asks about allergies?
She never guesses. She takes a message or puts the call through to you, whichever you’ve decided.
Should the line go to a person on a Friday night?
Possibly. The plan includes 600 minutes and takes 1 call at a time, so at your peak you may prefer the line to go to a person, and Ansela for the quieter hours.
Does she know which tables are free?
No. She can’t see your table plan or any booking system, so she never says a table is available. You confirm every request.
Do I have to change my number?
No. We give you a UK number and you divert your own to it with a short code (codes by network). Turn the divert off whenever you like.
What is a minute, and can she take two calls at once?
A minute is time she spends on the phone with callers. Starter includes 600 a month, extra minutes are 20p each up to a limit you set, and Starter takes 1 call at a time. A caller who rings while she’s busy can leave a voicemail, which doesn’t use your minutes.
Is there a contract, and what happens after the £1.99 month?
No minimum term. After the first month it carries on at your plan price plus VAT unless you cancel, which you can do from your billing page at any time.
Next time it rings at the pass, let her take the table.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.