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From the first ring to the kitchen ticket

HungerCall answers your restaurant’s phone when the team is busy, takes the order or the table booking, texts a payment link and prints the ticket. Here is what each part does, and where it stops.

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01 · The phone assistant

Picks up when your team can’t

You keep your own number and divert calls to HungerCall. Staff answer what they can; calls you divert are picked up by the assistant, which takes the order or the table booking, one question at a time.

  • Asks only what a dish needs

    Collection or delivery, name and number read back, then only the questions a dish needs to be priced, for example can or bottle, or kids or main, depending on your menu. “Extra spicy” or “no onions” is saved against that dish.

  • Reads it back and lets them change their mind

    Before it gives a total it asks about allergies, reads the whole order back and waits for a yes. If the caller changes an item, it is replaced and the order is priced again.

  • Knows what you have run out of

    Staff mark a dish out on the tablet. The assistant says so before it gives a total and offers the nearest alternative from the same part of the menu.

Illustration with sample data.

Keep your number. Divert it.

Customers keep dialling the number they know. You send calls on with a short code: staff answer what they can, and HungerCall answers the calls you send to it. We suggest starting with when busy and no answer.

  • When busy*67*Your line is engaged on another call.
  • No answer*61*The phone rings and nobody picks up.
  • Everything*21*All calls are sent to HungerCall.

These are landline codes. On a mobile or internet phone line you set the divert in your provider’s app. The dashboard’s Settings screen shows your assistant’s number, the codes to dial with it, and the codes to switch a divert off.

Delivery by postcode

For delivery it takes the postcode, reads it back and checks it against the delivery areas, which sets the charge. The customer types their full address into the texted link, and the order waits for it. A postcode outside the delivery areas is offered collection instead.

Delivery needs a UK mobile number, so the link can be texted.

Ready times from your settings

Asked how long it will be, it answers from the kitchen level you set on the tablet, never from memory. Asked for a particular time, it only agrees to one the system accepts, and offers the soonest if not.

Takes table bookings

Date, time, number of guests, name and number, plus any special request. The customer gets a confirmation text and a reminder about an hour before. A caller who rings back can change the number of guests or cancel.

It saves a booking when the time is inside your dining-room hours. It does not check table availability or stop double bookings.

Knows when you are closed

From 8am, if you have not opened yet, it says you are closed and offers a pre-order for when you do. After you have shut for the night, and until 8am, it says you are closed and ends the call.

Answers what it can

Menu, prices, opening hours and delivery areas are answered from the details we load for your restaurant. Anything it cannot confirm, such as whether a dish is safe for an allergy, is handed to your team rather than guessed while you are open.

Ends time-wasters politely

Silent calls end after a few seconds. A caller who wanders off topic is steered back and, if they carry on, the call is ended. Nuisance and silent calls are not charged to you.

Good to know

  • It works to your ordering hours and the morning pre-order window, not around the clock.
  • It cannot change or cancel an order that has already been saved. It passes the caller to your team.
  • The ordering rules follow your menu, so we build them with you when we set you up.

02 · Orders and payments

Priced from your menu, then paid by text

The total comes from your price list, not from the assistant’s arithmetic. The customer gets a link by text, pays on Stripe’s page, and an online order only reaches your kitchen once the payment is confirmed.

  • Totals come from your price list

    The system prices every line from your menu and adds set-meal extras, delivery, the bag charge and any offer. The assistant can only say a total the system gives it, and it cannot mark an order paid. A dish your menu cannot price is refused, not guessed.

  • Change a price on the tablet

    Change a price or take a dish off for the night and the next order is priced with it. Staff can switch dishes out of stock and set prices; the dishes themselves are set up with you.

  • Card details stay on Stripe’s page

    The customer pays on Stripe’s own secure page, so card numbers are never entered on our systems. The assistant is set up never to take card details over the phone.

Illustration with sample data.

Three ways to pay, three kinds of ticket

What happens next depends on how the customer chooses to pay.

  • Pay online by card

    Collection or delivery

    1. A payment link is texted to the customer. For a delivery they add their address first.
    2. They pay on Stripe’s secure page.
    3. Stripe confirms the payment, the order starts and the ticket prints.

    The ticket showsPaid

    Link not finished? By default there is one reminder after 5 minutes, and after 15 the order is given up and flagged for your team to call.

  • Pay at collection

    Collection

    1. The order goes straight to the kitchen.
    2. The ticket prints marked not paid, with “Take payment at counter”.
    3. No payment text is sent.

    The ticket showsNot paid

    Your team takes the payment when the customer comes in.

  • Delivery, pay the driver

    Delivery

    1. The customer is texted a link to confirm their delivery address.
    2. Once they have, the order starts and the ticket prints.
    3. The ticket says “Driver collects” with the amount.

    The ticket showsNot paid

    The driver takes the payment on arrival.

The texts your customer gets

  1. Payment link

    Sent as soon as the order is saved. For a delivery it asks for the address too.

  2. One reminder

    If the link is still unfinished after 5 minutes, which is the default.

  3. Being prepared

    When the order starts: a link to follow it and, if you have set your kitchen times, an estimated time.

  4. Ready or on its way

    When staff tap Ready or Out for delivery. It is sent once, even if you tap twice.

Every charge shown before they pay

The payment page lists what the customer is paying for, line by line:

  • Subtotal
  • Any discount
  • Online service charge
  • Delivery, or “Free”
  • Bag charge
  • Total

Good to know

  • Card is the only online payment method. An order paid at collection gets no payment text, and no text at all until you tap Ready.
  • If you cancel an order after the customer has paid, it shows as “Paid: refund owed”. The refund itself is made outside HungerCall.

03 · The kitchen

A clear ticket in the kitchen, paid or not paid

Each order that starts is sent to your kitchen printer, with allergies, notes and the payment state in separate boxes. You tell callers how busy you are with one tap.

Illustration with sample data.

What is on the ticket

  • Collection or delivery in a box. Pre-booked orders show the wanted time in large type.
  • Items with quantities, and set-meal choices indented underneath.
  • Totals, with any discount, delivery and charges.
  • A kitchen note box for allergies and requests.
  • Customer name and phone, then a collection code or the delivery address and driver note.

Paid or not paid, in a box

PAID for an order paid online. NOT PAID for an order to be paid at collection, with “Take payment at counter”, or “Driver collects” on a delivery.

If you reprint, the ticket shows the order’s payment state at that moment.

Your printer, two ways to connect

Thermal receipt printers (the ESC/POS kind) over WiFi, Ethernet, USB or cable, and ordinary printers through the Windows printer driver.

An always-on PC or Raspberry Pi running the print agent collects each ticket and prints it, or the Android tablet app can print straight from the tablet.

Tickets wait if the printer is off

A ticket stays in the queue until the printer confirms it. If the printer cannot be reached, it is held and tried again every 15 seconds for up to an hour.

The dashboard warns you if the print agent or the tablet app stops checking in, and any ticket can be reprinted from the order.

Tell callers how long it will take

One tap on the dashboard’s Overview sets the kitchen to Normal, Busy or Very busy. Each level carries the times you set in Settings. A level above Normal lasts for the day you set it, then goes back to Normal on its own.

It changes three things

  1. What the assistant tells a caller who asks how long their order will be.
  2. The earliest time it will accept when a caller asks for a particular time.
  3. The estimated time in the customer’s “being prepared” text, which is your time for that level plus 10 minutes.

What it does not do: it does not stop, slow or reorder orders, and it does not change prices.

  • NormalCollection20 minDelivery20–50 min
  • BusyCollection30 minDelivery30–60 min
  • Very busyCollection40 minDelivery40–70 min

Starting times. You set your own for each level, anywhere from 5 to 240 minutes.

Need to stop new phone orders altogether? The Taking orders switch on the Overview pauses collection and delivery. The assistant tells callers orders are paused, and still takes table bookings and answers menu questions.

Good to know

  • Tickets are laid out for 80mm paper. Every printer you choose prints every ticket; there is no splitting between kitchen and bar.
  • Printing from the tablet itself works in the Android app only, not in a browser. We link your printer to your account and go through the set-up with you; you provide the printer and either an always-on computer or an Android tablet.
  • Until you have set a kitchen level, the assistant tells callers your team will confirm the time rather than guessing.

04 · The tablet dashboard

Every order and booking on one tablet

A dashboard for the counter tablet shows each order as it starts, what needs a phone call, and the day’s bookings. Staff move an order along with a tap.

  • Today, and everything before it

    The Overview shows today’s orders with filters such as Waiting for payment, Preparing and Ready. Collection and Delivery list every order, newest first and grouped by day. Search by name, phone number or order number.

  • Shows what needs a call

    An order whose customer has not finished paying, or has not sent an address, is flagged so your team can ring them. A banner warns you if the print agent or the tablet app stops checking in.

  • Everything is a tap

    Start an order, mark it paid, chase the payment, mark it ready, out for delivery, collected or delivered, cancel it or reprint its ticket. Tap a phone number to call the customer.

Illustration with sample data.

The life of an order

Each order sits at one step, and staff move it on.

  1. Waiting

    For the customer’s payment, or for a delivery address. After 15 minutes unfinished it is marked “Link not finished” so you can call.

  2. Preparing

    The order has started and the ticket has printed.

  3. Ready · Out for delivery

    Tap it and the customer gets a text, once.

  4. Collected · Delivered

    A delivery left as Out for delivery for 60 minutes is marked Delivered for you.

Off the main path: Not collected, Not delivered and Cancelled. Cancelling asks you to confirm, and any order can be moved back to an earlier step, so a mis-tap is easy to undo.

Bookings on a calendar

The tables the assistant books appear on a month calendar, Monday first, with the time and name on each day. Below it, the latest 200 bookings list the guests, the time and any special request, each with a button to print the slip again.

Good to know

  • The assistant saves a booking when the time falls inside your dining-room hours, up to three months ahead. It does not check table availability or stop double bookings, and there is no table plan.
  • A caller who rings back can change the number of guests or cancel. Staff can reprint a slip from the dashboard.

Illustration with sample data.

Where it runs

Two ways to run it, and neither goes through an app store.

A web app for your tablet

Open it in the tablet’s browser and add it to the home screen. It then opens full screen, in landscape, in light or dark to suit you.

An Android app, installed directly

For Android tablets that cannot install web apps. It is the same dashboard, with the screen kept on and the sign-in kept, and it can print your tickets from the tablet.

It is installed directly on the tablet, not from an app store.

Needs the internet

There is no offline mode. If the connection drops, the Android app shows a “No internet connection” screen with a Retry button, and reloads itself when the connection is back.

Good to know

  • The Overview refreshes itself every 20 seconds and other pages update when you open them. There are no sound or push alerts, so the printed ticket is how your kitchen knows there is a new order.
  • Everyone at the counter shares one login. An owner PIN sits in front of billing and printed reports, and recordings have their own PIN. There are no separate staff accounts.

05 · Offers

Offers the till honours

Switch on the offers you want and the system applies them at the till, so the assistant cannot promise a discount the price will not honour.

Five standing offers

10%

The most any offer can take off, or free delivery. It is a hard ceiling that cannot be raised from your dashboard or our admin console, and offers cannot stack past it: only one applies to an order, whichever saves the customer most.

  • First orderMoney off a customer’s first order, checked against the number they ring from and your order history.
  • CollectionA percentage off collection orders, apart from set meals.
  • DeliveryA percentage off delivery orders, apart from set meals.
  • Local deliveryMoney off and free delivery for the postcode areas you choose.
  • Free deliveryThe delivery charge waived for chosen areas, with nothing off the food.

For each one you set the percentage, a minimum order, a limit on what one order can save, start and end dates and, for the two area offers, the postcode areas. No other offers can be created.

The assistant does not push offers. It mentions one when a caller asks, or when a discount has been applied. If you switch it on, it can also say “you’re £3 away from 10% off”, once per call.

06 · Recordings and support

When a customer complains, you have the whole story

Calls the assistant takes can be played back with their transcript. A complaint becomes a support case, the caller is put through to your manager, and the assistant is set up never to promise a refund.

  • Play calls back

    The recording plays in the dashboard with the transcript beside it. Click a line and the audio jumps to that moment. Each call is linked to the order, booking or support case it produced. The list shows your most recent calls; how long recordings are kept depends on the voice service.

  • Behind its own PIN

    Recordings need a separate 6-digit PIN, even for someone already signed in. By default it unlocks for 10 minutes and then locks again, and five wrong tries means a 15-minute wait.

  • Flags the calls to follow up

    The list marks calls that were put through to a person, and calls to ring back: one that ended abnormally after it had saved something, or a complaint that did not reach a manager.

  • Cases you can work through

    The Support screen lists cases most severe first, with search and filters. Each has a timeline, a link to the recording and room for notes. Staff move it from Open to Resolved, and resolving needs a written note.

Illustration with sample data.

What happens when a customer complains

Four steps, and the assistant decides none of the outcomes.

  1. Listens and apologises once

    It does not argue, explain policy or say who was at fault.

  2. Checks the order

    It matches the complaint to an order using the number the caller is ringing from. A name alone is never enough.

  3. Writes it up as a support case

    The system, not the assistant, decides how serious it is. Refund requests, safety issues and anyone asking for the manager are flagged for one.

  4. Puts the caller through to your manager

    It is a real phone transfer to the number you set. If nobody answers, the assistant takes a message and saves it as a case.

Set up never to promise a refund

It records a refund request and passes it on. It does not approve, reject or promise a refund, a replacement, a discount or free food. The manager decides.

Allergies go on the ticket

A caller who mentions an allergy is not sent anywhere: it is written into the order and printed in the kitchen note box, and the dashboard tags the order so staff acknowledge it.

Whether a dish is safe for an allergy is a question for your team. HungerCall holds no allergen data and never guesses.

Safety comes first

For a suspected allergic reaction, illness or a foreign object in the food, it is set up to skip the checks, record the essentials and transfer the call straight away while you are open.

Good to know

  • There is no automatic alert to your manager when a case is opened. They find out through the phone transfer, or by opening the Support screen, which refreshes every 30 seconds.
  • A transfer only works if you have set a number to put callers through to. Outside your hours nobody is put through: the assistant says you are closed and ends the call.
  • The allergy tag is a keyword match on the order note. The system does not know what is in any dish.

07 · Understanding your business

See how the week actually went

The Analysis page counts what happened in your restaurant: sales, busy times, best sellers and the orders that were cancelled, not collected or not delivered. It makes no predictions and gives no advice.

Choose all time or the last 7, 30 or 90 days, and it shows:

  • Sales, and how much of it is paid
  • Orders, collection and delivery
  • Average order, and the biggest one
  • Outstanding, unpaid value
  • Lost orders: cancelled, not collected or not delivered
  • Best sellers, the top eight by quantity
  • Busiest days of the week
  • Orders by hour
  • Top customers, and what each usually orders

Illustration with sample data.

Today at a glance

The Overview shows today’s sales and orders, how many are finished and in progress, when the next one is due and the average order. It compares today’s sales with the same weekday last week.

An order taken just after midnight counts towards the night it belongs to.

Printed reports

Print a business report for today, this week or this month on your ticket printer, behind the owner PIN. It lists orders placed, revenue and average order, and offer discounts given.

Reports print on paper; there is no on-screen version.

See what you are charged for

The Billing screen, behind the owner PIN, lists what you used and what it cost: each call with its length, what was billed and why, and each text. The lines add up to the total.

How pricing works

Good to know

  • Sales are the total value of orders, including delivery and other charges.
  • An order paid at collection or to the driver stays marked unpaid in the figures even after it has been handed over, so Outstanding can include cash you have already taken.
  • Anyone signed in on the shared login can open Analysis, which shows customer names and numbers. Billing and the printed reports are behind the owner PIN.

Ready to hear HungerCall take an order?

Book a demo and we’ll show you how it answers the phone, prices the order from your menu and prints the kitchen ticket.

Book a demosales@hungercall.uk