How it works
From a ringing phone to a printed ticket
Follow one order from the first ring to the kitchen. Then see what we set up with you, what happens when you are closed, and what stays in your hands.
One order, start to finish
A call, from ring to ticket
This is the route a phone order takes. Where it changes depending on how the customer pays, we say so.
Your customer rings the number they already know
You keep your own number. You divert it to your HungerCall number, so calls reach HungerCall when your line is busy, when nobody picks up, or for every call.
Good to know. On a landline, diverting is a short code. On a mobile or internet phone line you set it up in your provider’s app. The Settings screen on your tablet shows your HungerCall number and the codes.
Call diversion
Set on your restaurant’s own phone line
When busyGood place to start
Calls reach HungerCall while your line is engaged.
No answerGood place to start
Calls reach HungerCall if nobody picks up.
Everything
Every call goes to HungerCall, whatever your team is doing.
Each diversion has its own code to switch it off again.
HungerCall answers and takes the order
It greets the caller with your restaurant’s name, then works out from what they say whether the order is for collection or delivery. It asks one question at a time, in short plain words, and takes a name and mobile number, reading the number back to check it.
When a dish needs a choice, such as can or bottle, it asks rather than picking for the caller. Callers can change their mind at any point: a change replaces the item and the order is priced again.
Good to know. For a delivery it takes the postcode, checks it against the delivery areas and works out the delivery charge. If the postcode is outside them, it offers collection instead.
Illustration with sample data. It repeats the order back and works out the total
Before it prices anything, it asks about allergies, sides or drinks, and whether the customer wants the order as soon as possible or for a set time. Then it reads the whole order back and waits for a yes.
Only then does it give the total for the food, delivery and bag charge, and ask how they would like to pay. If a dish has run out, it says so and offers the nearest thing on the menu.
Good to know. Your system prices every line from your menu. A customer who pays online also sees a small online service charge on their payment page. If a dish cannot be priced yet, the assistant asks the one question that settles it instead of guessing.
Where the total comes from
Worked out by the system, then read out
Every dish
Priced from your menu, at your prices.
Delivery
The charge follows the customer’s postcode. Delivery orders only.
Offers
Applied by the system when one fits.
Bag charge
A small charge on every order.
Online service charge
Added only when the customer pays online by card. It is itemised on their payment page.
The phone assistant
Reads out the total the system gives it. It does not do the sums.
It texts the customer a payment link
Once the customer has said yes and chosen to pay online, the order is saved and a text goes to their mobile with the total and a link to pay.
If the link is left unfinished, the customer gets one reminder after 5 minutes. After 15 minutes the order is given up and your tablet flags it, so someone can call.
Good to know. Paying at collection instead? Then no payment text is sent and the order goes straight to your kitchen. A landline cannot be texted, so a landline caller who wants delivery is put through to your team.
Illustration with sample data. The customer pays by card on Stripe’s page
The link opens Stripe’s own payment page. Card details are entered there, never on HungerCall’s. Every charge is itemised before the customer pays, including a small online service charge.
Stripe tells HungerCall when the payment has gone through. Nothing depends on the customer’s browser, and your kitchen sees the order only once the money is confirmed.
Good to know. Card is the online option. Customers who would rather pay when they collect, or pay the driver, can do that instead.
Before the kitchen sees it
For an order paid online
The customer opens the link in their text
They pay by card on Stripe’s page
Stripe confirms the payment to HungerCall
The ticket prints in your kitchen
If the customer never pays, nothing reaches the kitchen, and your tablet flags the order so someone can call.
The ticket prints and the order appears on your tablet
Once payment is confirmed, the ticket prints in your kitchen. It shows the items, whether the order is for collection or delivery, a PAID or NOT PAID box, and a boxed kitchen note for any allergy or special request the caller gave.
The same order appears on your tablet, where your team can follow it through, mark it ready and reprint the ticket. The Overview refreshes itself every 20 seconds, and the printed ticket is your signal that a new order has arrived.
Good to know. If the printer cannot be reached, the ticket is held and retried for up to an hour. Your tablet warns you if the print agent or the tablet app stops checking in, and the Printer page shows the queue.
Illustration with sample data. The customer gets a text when it is ready
When your team taps Ready on the tablet, the customer is texted: their order is ready to collect or, for a delivery, on its way. It goes once, even if the button is tapped twice.
Orders that came through a payment or address link also get a text as they start, with a link to follow the order and, if you have set your kitchen times, an estimated time. For deliveries, that link shows Preparing, then Out for delivery, then Delivered.
Good to know. Orders paid at collection do not get a text when they are placed. Their first text is the ready one.
Illustration with sample data.
Payment routes
Not every order takes the same route
Whether the order is for collection or delivery, and how the customer pays, decides when it reaches your kitchen.
- Waits for payment
Collection, paid by card
The customer is texted a payment link. The order reaches your kitchen once Stripe confirms the payment, and not before.
- Straight to the kitchen
Collection, paid at collection
The ticket prints straight away, marked NOT PAID with a reminder to take payment at the counter. No payment text is sent.
- Address, then payment
Delivery, paid by card
The assistant takes only the postcode on the call. The customer types their full address into the link, and paying unlocks once it is saved. The order starts after payment.
- Address, then straight in
Delivery, paid to the driver
The customer confirms their address on the link and the order starts. The driver is paid on arrival. If the link is left unfinished, the order is dropped after 15 minutes.
- A postcode outside the delivery areas is not a dead end: the assistant offers collection instead.
- Delivery needs a UK mobile number so the link can be texted. A landline caller who wants delivery is put through to your team.
Getting set up
We set it up with you
We build your account, your phone assistant and your number, and link your printer to your account. You divert your phone, provide a printer and a tablet, and enter your hours and your manager’s number. The exact steps are agreed with you, and there is no self-service sign-up.
What HungerCall does
Set up for you
Your account
Creates your restaurant’s account and gives you your sign-in details.
Your menu
Sets up your menu and prices with you, so orders are priced from your own list.
Your phone assistant
Builds the assistant that answers your calls.
Your HungerCall number
Sets up the number your calls are diverted to.
Your printing
Links your printer to your account, through the print agent or the Android app, so tickets know where to print.
Your tablet
Gets your dashboard onto your tablet, in its browser or as the Android app.
What you do
On your side of the counter
Divert your phone
Send calls from your own number to your HungerCall number: when busy, on no answer, or for everything.
Have a printer ready
Have a receipt printer in your kitchen, and either a computer that stays switched on for the print agent or an Android tablet that prints the tickets itself.
Keep a tablet to hand
Somewhere your team can see the dashboard and mark orders ready.
Set your hours
Enter your opening and ordering hours in Settings, so the assistant knows when to take orders and when you are closed.
Add your manager’s number
Enter the number that complaints should be put through to.
The exact steps depend on your phone provider, your printer and your tablet. We go through them with you.
Book a demoWhen you are closed
When you are closed, HungerCall says so
Callers who reach HungerCall outside your ordering hours are told plainly where they stand. Here is what they hear at each point in the day.
From 8amuntil you open
Pre-ordersIt takes a pre-order
The assistant says you are closed, then offers to take a pre-order for when you open. It takes the name, number and order as usual, and it needs a time.
- If the caller says “as soon as possible”, it turns that into your first real slot and checks they are happy with it.
- A pre-order can be for a time up to seven days ahead.
- Table bookings are taken too.
While you are openyour ordering hours
OpenOrders and table bookings
Calls diverted to HungerCall are answered, and orders and table bookings are taken as normal.
- You set your ordering hours in Settings, separately for collection, delivery and sit-in.
- If delivery has finished for the night but collection has not, a caller who asks for delivery is offered collection with the same order.
After you closefor the night, until 8am
ClosedA polite goodbye
The assistant tells the caller the restaurant is closed at the moment, thanks them for calling and ends the call.
- No order, booking or message is taken overnight.
- The call is not put through to the restaurant, because nobody is there to take it.
Checked before the call starts
HungerCall checks whether you are taking orders before the assistant speaks, so callers hear about a closed or paused kitchen first, not after giving a whole order.
If you pause orders
During a rush your team can pause new phone orders with one tap. The assistant says orders are paused, but still takes table bookings and answers menu questions.
If you are shut all day
On a day you are closed all day, the assistant says when you next open and offers a pre-order for then.
Staying in control
What stays in your hands
HungerCall takes the call. The decisions that belong to you and your team stay with you.
Your menu and prices
Every total is worked out from your own price list, and the assistant is told never to change a price because a caller asks. Change a price, or take a dish off for the night, from your tablet, and the next order is priced with it.
- You can change a price or mark a dish out of stock.
- Adding or renaming dishes is done by us with you, not on the tablet.
Complaints and refund requests go to your manager
When a caller complains, the assistant apologises once, writes it up as a support case and tells the caller it is passing them to the manager. It never approves or promises a refund, a replacement or free food. Your manager decides.
- The call is put through to the number you set in Settings.
- If nobody answers, it takes a message and saves it as a case for your manager.
- Cases wait on the Customer support screen on your tablet.
Allergy notes reach your kitchen
If a caller mentions an allergy, it is written into the order and printed in a boxed kitchen note. Your tablet tags orders whose note reads like an allergy (a keyword match, so it is a prompt, not a check) so they stand out.
The assistant holds no allergen information and never guesses whether a dish is safe. During service, a question like that goes to your team.
Kitchen pace
One tap sets Normal, Busy or Very busy. It changes what the assistant tells callers who ask how long an order will take, and the earliest time it will agree to. It does not slow or stop orders.
Pausing orders
Pause new phone orders with one tap when the kitchen needs a breather. Table bookings carry on.
Listening back
Play back recent calls with the transcript beside them. Recordings sit behind their own PIN, even for someone who is already signed in.
What you’ll need
Things to have in place
Your side of the set-up, with the limits that go with each.
An internet connection
Your tablet needs to be online to show orders. The dashboard does not work offline. If the connection drops, the Android app shows a “No internet connection” screen with a Retry button.
A tablet, or the Android app
The dashboard is a web app: open it in your tablet’s browser and add it to the home screen. Android tablets that cannot install web apps use the Android app instead, which is installed directly rather than from an app store and needs Android 8.0 or newer.
A printer set-up
A receipt printer for your kitchen tickets, connected through the print agent (a small program on a computer that stays switched on) or through the Android app over USB or WiFi. Tickets are designed for 80mm paper, and printing from the tablet itself needs the Android app.
A phone that can divert calls
Your restaurant’s phone line needs call diversion. On a landline it is a short code. On a mobile or internet phone line you set it in your provider’s app.
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.