How To - Working with the Table Plan

Tables’ Table Planning tab is a unique, visual way to see the current status of your restaurant’s tables. The Table Plan is a map of your restaurant, including tables you can rearrange to match your restaurant’s layout. Once the tables are arranged and their details set (how many customers can be seated at each table), you can assign them to servers and colour-code each server’s section so you can quickly monitor how busy each person is.

Each table also has data attached to it, such as how long a party has been seated, whether or not the table is blocked so customers cannot be seated, and whether the table needs to be cleaned / bussed.

This How To explains the layout of the Table Plan, how to put servers on duty and check their statistics to make sure the workload is balanced between all servers, how to assign tables, and how to seat and unseat customers. The table context menu is displayed larger on tablet devices for ease of use.

The Table Planning tab contains a menu bar of buttons that show additional information when they are selected:

Overview: Lists the current number of customers waiting to be seated, currently seated, the number of servers on duty and the number of tables they are serving, and the number of tables and how many are occupied.
Guest Queue/Guest Summary: Lists the current status of each seated customer and the amount of time they have been seated.
Future Seating: Lists the seats currently allocated to future customers and allows you to seat customers for advanced bookings.
Seated: Lists the currently seated customers, and allows you to seat additional customers.
Servers: Lists all servers, whether or not they are on duty, and the number of tables and guests they have served.
Map: The Map Editor allows you to edit the Table Planner’s arrangement of tables.

You can zoom in on the table plan to see more detail, using ‘pinch and zoom’ on mobile devices or the mouse wheel on PCs. Alternatively, the controls in the bottom right-hand corner of the window allow you to move the table plan and zoom in and out as required.

Table information is truncated so that it does not overlap other tables. This means that when the table plan is too small to display information, an ellipsis is shown to indicate that information is available.

As the view is enlarged, more information is displayed. For example:

Icons used to identify table status (priority 1), bus state (priority 2) and walk in customers (priority 3) are displayed for each customer account. If more than one of these states could apply, the one with the higher priority is displayed in preference.

Seating Walk-In Customers from the Table Plan

The Table Planning tab allows you to seat walk-ins without having to first put them on a wait list. When a walk-in customer is seated in Tables, an account is opened automatically in Aztec.

To seat walk-in customers from the table plan:

On the Table Plan, select any tab except the Future Seating or Servers tab.
Select the required table for the walk in customer
A pop-up menu is displayed showing the following buttons:

Select + Walk-in.
The Choose Party Size window is displayed:

Enter a name for the walk in customer.
Select the number of covers by pressing a number icon or select the number of adults, children and highchairs from the drop-down list.
Enter a pager number if appropriate. Enter the pager number assigned to the customer, or select the Pager icon to select a pager.
Select an unallocated pager (green) or an allocated pager (red) to transfer the pager to the selected guest and remove it from the original guest. (Select OK to confirm the change.)

If you return to the Choose Pager window, the selected pager will have a light red border.

Select Add to seat the customer immediately. If Customer Wait areas are defined for the site, select the required area from the available list.

If after seating a walk-in customer you realise that that customer had booked and that you have an entry in the Guest Queue/Guest Summary with all their booking details, you can replace the Walk In entry on the table plan:

Select the booked customer in the Guest Queue/Guest Summary.
Select the table with the walk in customer.
Select Seat under the customer in the Guest Queue/Guest Summary.

Moving Customers to a new table

If you need to move a customer to a new table, you can move them in Aztec or in Tables.

We recommend that you use Aztec to move a customer because that way the wait time will be retained after the move.

To move customers to a new table in Tables:

Select the table whose customer you want to move.
Press Unseat. The customer is removed from the original table and returned to the Guest Queue/Guest Summary.
Select the customer in the Guest Queue/Guest Summary.
Select the new table.
Press Seat.
The customer is moved to the new table and the wait time is reset to zero.

Switching between the Plan and the Timeline View

The Plan / Timeline buttons allow you to toggle between the traditional table plan view and the timeline view. The Timeline view allows the host to see an overview of the day ahead in terms of reservations and those already seated.

This can be used to identify gaps in the booking schedule allowing you to offer customers different timeslots if their preference is unavailable.

The Outlook-style calendar shows both reservations and guests currently seated.

Assigned guests are displayed in black
Seated guests are coloured according to their status and a status icon is displayed if one has been defined at head office
Conflicts are highlighted in red. For example, if a reservation was pre-assigned then a walk-in has been seated at the table prior to the reservation arriving with an overlapping turn time.
As you scroll through the reservations, the guest details section remains visible showing the following information:
- Course identifier
- Loyalty status
- Guest name
- Number of seated guests
- Booking time o table number
- Notes: Booking notes [B], Customer notes [C], Menu identifier [M], Special Offer [S] Deposit required [D], Payment required [P]
- Pager number
- Deposit value taken
The minimum and maximum capacity for each table is shown below and to the right of each table number.

The Timeline view is accessible from the Table Planning tab via the Overview, Guest Queue/Guest Summary, Future Seating and Seated tabs.

An alternative compact view is available that just displays the customer’s name and table number. Users can toggle between the compact and detailed view by selecting the button in the top-right of the timeline.

The Guest Queue/Guest Summary, Seated and Overview tabs display up to four hours of booking data. The Future Seating tab displays data for the session or the entire day as defined by the user:

Switching into Server View

The Server button allows you to see which servers are attending to each table. In Server mode the tables are colour-coded corresponding with the server colours. If a table has seated guests, their status continues to be displayed on the table label.

To return to the standard guest view, select the Plan button.

Adding New Servers

To add new servers to the table plan:

On the Table Planning tab, select the Servers tab. A list of all servers is displayed.
Servers who are on duty appear in coloured bars.
Servers who are not on duty appear in grey.
Select New.
The New Server box is displayed.

In the Name field, enter the new server’s name.
If the server is on duty now, tick the ON DUTY checkbox.
Select the COLOUR box to choose a colour to represent the server on the Table Plan.
Click away from the colour selection palette to return to the New Server window.
Select Add.
The server is added to the list.

Putting Servers on Duty

To put servers on duty:

On the Table Planning tab, select the Servers button.
A list of servers is displayed.
Servers who are on duty appear in coloured bars. Servers who are not on duty appear in grey. The * (asterisk) column is used to manually designate who the next server is to seat. By selecting the * column next to the server name, a checkmark is placed next to the server name in both the subtab and the map views.

To put a server on duty, select a server’s name or select New to add a new server to the list.
The Edit Server box is displayed.

Select the On Duty check-box to put this server on duty.
Select the colour box to choose a colour for the server.
On the Restaurant Map, select the tables you want to assign to this server.
Select Save.
The server is shown in the list with a colour (on duty).

Checking Server Statistics

All servers have three statistics that are tracked:

Party History (P): A running tally of all the tables that the server has had sat while on duty this shift.
Guest History (G): A running tally of the number of customers the server has had while on duty this shift.
Load (L): The number of currently occupied tables that the server is serving.

Selecting Reset Stats will reset the Party (P) and Guest (G) history for all servers. Selecting Reset All will unassign servers from their tables and clear all server statistics.

To check server statistics:

On the Table Plan, select the Servers button. The list of servers is displayed, along with their statistics.

If section templates are being used server statistics are not recorded.

Assigning Tables to Servers

To assign tables to servers:

On the Table Planning tab, select the Servers button.
Select the name of a server.
The Edit Server box is displayed.

Before you can assign tables to a server, the On Duty check-box must be selected.
On the restaurant map, select the tables you want to assign to this server.
When you have finished assigning tables, select Save.
On the restaurant map, the assigned tables will be color-coded to match the server.

When a server goes off duty, you can quickly reassign those tables to another server by selecting on the server’s name, then using the Transfer All Tables To drop-down list to choose the server who will wait on those tables. Then select the Reset Tag POS button to move the server name tags. Or move the tags manually on the restaurant map by dragging with the mouse to their new location.

To return to the Dashboard, select Save or the X in the corner of the Edit Server box.
Select and drag the color-coded server tags to show the assigned areas by server name.
Select an assigned table to see a pop-up menu that lets you edit the server and perform other actions.

Assigning Servers to Table Sections

To assign servers to a section:

On the Table Planning tab, select the Servers button.

Select the name of a server.
The Edit Server box is displayed. Before you can assign a server to a section, the On Duty check-box must be selected.

Select the On Duty check-box and select Save.
Select the same server in the list a second time.
The Edit Server box is displayed, showing the available sections.

Select the sections you want to assign to this server in Available Sections.
The chosen sections are transferred to the list of assigned sections.
When you have finished assigning sections, select Save.
On the restaurant map, the assigned tables are color-coded to match the server.

When a server goes off duty, you need to change the section templates that are used to ensure that all tables are attended.

To return to the dashboard, select Save or the X in the corner of the Edit Server box.

To arrange the color-coded server section and server tags on the restaurant map, first select the Map tab, then select Map and finally choose Edit. You can now move the tags as required. Click X on the Map Editor window to save your changes. A server tag will be displayed on all rooms in which that server has tables in their assigned sections. Select an assigned table to display a pop-up menu that lets you edit the server and perform other actions.

Section Templates – Server goes off duty and is replaced by another server

With section templates enabled, when it comes to the end of a shift, you can change the servers that are on duty and maintain all the active sections.

To replace a server in a section:

Select the Servers tab.

Select an unassigned server.

In the Edit Server window, select the On Duty check-box and select Save.
The server is highlighted in the designated colour to indicate that they are on duty.

Select the same server a second time and select the section (from the list of available sections) in which the new server will be working.

The selected section is transferred to the Assigned Sections list.
Select Save. The new server is added to the selected section in the Servers list.

Select the server that you want to take off duty.
Select the Off Duty check-box for the selected server and select Save. The server will become unassigned leaving just the new server active in that section.

Section Templates – Server goes off duty and is not replaced

With section templates enabled, when you have a different number of servers on duty after a shift change, you can switch to a different section template to share out the tables between the servers.

If you are changing templates to reduce the number of sections, any servers assigned to sections that are not included in the new template will be unassigned.

If you are changing templates to one with more sections you must ensure that, after activating the template, you assign servers to the sections that were not on the previous template. Any servers assigned to sections in the previous template will stay in their assigned section numbers and will now have the tables that are in the section of the new template.

Note the example below where, before changing the section template, you should move the server from section three to section two:

Select the Servers tab.

Select the server in section 3.
Add section 2 to their assigned sections.

Select Save.
The server from section 3 is now also assigned to section 2.

Select the Map tab and Section Templates.
Select the two-server section template from the drop-down list and select Activate.
Select the Servers tab.
Section 2 now contains two servers.

Select the server who is going off duty and deselect the on duty check-box.
Select Save.

Each section now has a server.

Balancing the Workload

When things get busy, it is important to spread out the work among servers. When seating customers, you can check the number of customers for each server, to spread the load around. This section explains how to check the workload assigned to each server, and how to adjust it if needed.

If section templates are being used, the data described here is not recorded.

To balance the workload:

Check the Dashboard by selecting the Overview button. Here, you can see at a glance how many parties/customers are in the Guest Queue/Guest Summary, how many have been seated, how many servers are on duty (and the total number of servers), and how many tables are currently occupied:

Select the Servers button to see the total number of Parties (P) and Guests (G) that a server has managed during the current shift, and look at the value for Load (L), which tells the number of parties this server is actively serving.
The * (asterisk) column is used to manually designate who the next server is to seat. By selecting in the * column next to the server name, a check mark is placed next to the server name in both the sub-tab and the map views.

Selecting Reset Stats will reset the Parties (P) and Guest (G) history for all servers.

Selecting Reset All will unassign servers from their tables and clear all server statistics.

Seating Customers from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary on a PC

To seat customers from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary:

On the Table Plan, select the Guest Queue/Guest Summary button to see any customers who are currently on the Wait List (designated by a W) as well as Reservations (designated by an R).
Note that the time shows either how long the customer has been waiting (for example, 0:01) or the time remaining (for a reservation).
If configured, the Guest Queue/Guest Summary can also display a B or C icon in green to indicate a booking or customer note.
Seated, Arrived and Expected guests are grouped separately.

On the PC, click and drag a customer onto the required table.

Seating Customers from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary on a tablet

To seat customers from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary:

On the Table Plan, select the Guest Queue/Guest Summary button to see any customers who are currently on the Wait List (designated by a W) as well as Reservations (designated by an R).
Note that the time shows either how long the customer has been waiting (for example, 0:01) or the time remaining (for a reservation).
If configured, the Guest Queue/Guest Summary can also display a B or C icon in green to indicate a booking or customer note.
Seated, Arrived and Expected guests are grouped separately.

Select a customer’s name to start the seating process.
The Enter Guest Details window is displayed showing the quoted wait time, check in time and quoted turn time.

Select the required table on the table plan or on the timeline.
On the table plan, the selected table(s) will be highlighted:

On the timeline, the selected table will be highlighted:

Select more than one table if the customer’s party extends to more than one table. The tables will be joined on the system while the customer is active.

Select Seat or Assign as appropriate.

If a deposit has been taken for the guest, you will be prompted to Seat and redeem the deposit or seat without redeeming the deposit

Once a customer has been seated, the name is moved from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary to the Seated Guest list.
If you double-click the customer in the guest queue/guest summary, the Enter Guest Details window now shows the tables at which the selected customer party is seated in the bottom-left.

Editing Guest details from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary

To edit guest details from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary:

On the Table Plan, select the Guest Queue/Guest Summary tab.
Select a customer’s name to edit it.
The Enter Guest Details window is displayed:

Edit the customer details as appropriate (some optional fields may not be present)
Edit the turn and wait times by selecting the Turn/Wait box or choosing Back to display the Choose Wait Time window.
Edit the party size by selecting the Guests box in the top left to open the Choose Party Size window.
Seat or pre-seat the customer by selecting a table in the table plan and pressing Seat or Assign.
The customer is now shown in the queue with a green W (wait list) and the table selected for pre-seating shows the wait time, or a green R to show that it was a reservation.
When you are ready to seat a customer who has been pre-seated, select the table to display a pop-up screen and select Seat.
If a deposit has been taken for the guest, you will be prompted to Seat and redeem the deposit or seat without redeeming the deposit. The menu shows the time this customer was put on the wait list and the Table Plan shows that the customer is seated.
Select the Seated Guests button to see how long all of the guests have been seated.
Once a guest has been seated, the name is moved from the Guest Queue/Guest Summary to the Seated Guest list.
Edit the pager number assigned to the customer, or select the Pager icon to select a pager.
The selected pager will have a light red border.

Select an unallocated pager (green) or an allocated pager (red) to transfer the pager to the selected guest and remove it from the original guest. (Select OK to confirm the change.)

Select Suggest to select a new table for the guest if required.

If you have edited the cover count, date or time, Tables will automatically clear the assigned table, so you will need to select a new table.

Select Update to save your changes once complete or Here to mark the guest as having arrived.

Additional features of the Guest Summary

The Guest Summary sorts guests into distinct groups to make it easier for staff to assess which customers need the most immediate attention.

Each section can be collapsed to hide the information or expanded as required.

The three sections of the Guest Summary are:

Seated
Arrived
Expected

If you hover over the table column, a list of tables at which that customer is seated or assigned is displayed in a pop-up box.

Seated

The seated section displays:

guests in order (longest seated to shortest seated).
the time the guest has been seated (counts upwards).
C or B to identify if Customer or Booking notes have been attached.
colour coding to match the guest in the summary with the course currently served. (This colour is also replicated on the guest on the table plan.)
the number of covers / parties in the section header.

Arrived

The seated section displays:

all guests that have been added through the Waitlist, Quick Add or Reservations guests and marked as here on the Waitlist tab.
times in dark red when the time is approaching and light red when the time has passed.
the time of day the customer is expected to be seated or a countdown to the expected seating time (as configured at brand or site level).

You can drag guests from the Arrived section onto the table plan and choose whether to assign or seat the guest.

Expected

The expected section displays:

expected guests/parties for each session (or whole day if sessions are not used).
guests in order (quickest to arrive to furthest expected)
times in dark red when the time is approaching and light red when the time has passed.
all guests until they are seated, altered or cancelled/marked as no-show (even if a session has passed, guests will remain in the list until they are removed manually.)

You can drag guests from the Expected sections onto the table plan and choose whether to assign or seat the guest.

Blocking Tables

If configured at brand level, users can block (and unblock) tables from the current time to midnight on the same trading day by selecting the table in the plan and selecting the Block option.

The blocked tables are marked with a blocked sign to prevent them from being used. The sign will also display a countdown to show the number of hours for which they will remain blocked.

Alternatively, users can block the use of certain tables for multiple days by selecting Add Timed Block from the Future Seating window. This ensures that tables are kept free from bookings on a day / time in the future for a specific event.

To block a table:

Select the Table Plan tab.
Select the Future Seating tab.
The following Future Seating fields are displayed:

Select Add Timed Block and the following window is displayed:

Select the tables you want to block on the table plan (in either plan or timeview mode).
The selected tables are highlighted with a red border.
Select the start and end time/dates between which you want to block the selected tables.
Select Block Tables. The blocked tables are marked with a blocked sign to prevent them from being used. They will remain blocked for the duration specified or until the block is removed manually.

Assigning tables automatically

Users can speed up assigning reservations to tables using the auto assign tool. The system assigns guests automatically based on group size to ensure table availability and yield are maximised.

Tables does not re-assign a table to a guest when the cover count, date or time has been edited. Users must select Suggest to choose a new table.

Tables that have been defined as Walk-In tables in Site Admin cannot be assigned automatically. Walk-In tables can only be assigned manually, and are identified by the W overlay

To assign reservations to tables automatically:

On the Table Plan, select the Future Seating button.
Select the calendar icon to choose the date whose reservations you want to assign automatically or enter a date using the drop-down lists.
Alternatively, navigate to the Reservations tab, select the required future date and select the date shown in blue on the left side of the screen. Any note or alert associated with the day selected will be displayed.

The system automatically jumps to the correct date on the Future Seating tab.

Select All Day or a specific session from the drop-down list.
A list of all customers booked for that date and session time is displayed.
Select Assign All.

All the guests on the list for that date/session will be assigned to a table.

A notification message displays the number of guests assigned and any failures.

Select OK to return to the Future Seating window to resolve any failures.

Allocating a Customer booking in advance to a specific seat

Users can allocate a customer to a specific seat for advanced bookings.

To allocate a seat:

On the Table Plan, select the Future Seating button.
Select the calendar icon to choose the date whose booking you want to allocate to a seat (or enter a date using the drop-down lists)
Select All Day or a specific session from the drop-down list.
A list of all customers booked at that date and session time is displayed.

A message at the top of the table plan tells the user the date and session that is reflected by the current table plan.

Change the sales area if required by selecting a new sales area from the drop-down list.

Select the layout that you want to apply on the specified date.
Customers are allocated to a specific seat, so if the layout is changed at a later date, the assigned seat will be retained.
If the changed layout removes the assigned seat number, the customer will be moved to the top of the layout image to be reassigned.
Select and hold a customer’s name to start the seating process.
Details about the customer’s booking are displayed in a black box. (e.g. booking type, arrival date/time and table number if any.)

Drag the cursor over the top of a table to assign the selected customer to that table.
A message box is displayed prompting the user to confirm the pre seat on the selected table.

If you are using the timeline, you can select a customer from the guest queue and then select the required table in the timeline.

Select Assign.
The table plan is updated accordingly.
To reserve the table (so that it is not reassigned), select the table and choose Lock. The table is now reserved for that customer and will not be changed by any subsequent table shuffling. A padlock symbol is added to the Guest Queue to make it clear which tables are locked.

To release the lock, select the table and choose Unlock from the list of options.

Shuffling pre-assigned bookings to maximise capacity

Users can shuffle pre-assigned bookings to redistribute bookings to maximise the number of covers that can be served.

If reservations are assigned at the start of the day using the Assign All function, and additional reservations are made over the course of the day, table allocation may not be as effective as it could be. The Shuffle All function re-evaluates all assigned guests and redistributes bookings to maximise capacity.

You can only shuffle assigned bookings – once customers have been seated, they cannot be moved. The shuffle process also cannot move assigned bookings that are locked to a specific table. To remove a locked table, right click the table in the plan and select Unlock.

To shuffle your table reservations:

On the Table Plan, select the Future Seating button.
Select All Day or a specific session from the drop-down list.
A list of all customers booked at that date and session time is displayed.
Select Shuffle All.
An information box is displayed to show how many guests were reassigned and the number of guests that couldn’t be reassigned.

Select OK to return to the table plan.
Assign those guests that couldn’t be shuffled automatically to a suitable table manually.

Updating the Table Status

To manage table status:

Select a table where one of the customers is seated.
A pop-up menu appears with a number of options.

Select any of the following options:

Select Bus to flag that the table needs to be cleaned.
Select Block to prevent customers from being seated at a particular table for 12 hours (or unblock if already blocked.)
Select + to add a new or existing customer.
Select + Walk In to seat a new customer recording only the size of the party
Select Out when the customer leaves and the table needs to be cleaned.
Select Out & Clear to show that the customer has left and the table has been cleaned.
Select Unseat to return the customer to the Guest Queue.
Select View to review and/or update the guest’s details.
Select Order to display the customer’s order.

When you select one of the buttons, the pop-up window disappears and the table’s status is changed on the Restaurant Map.

You can also clear a table by choosing the customer’s name from the Seated list. Information about the customer is displayed in the View Guest box and the table where the customer is seated is highlighted.

Select either the Out button or the Out & Clear button.

To review a customer’s order status:

Select a table whose order status you want to update. A pop-up menu appears with a number of options.

Select the Order button. Order details for the selected customer are displayed, along with the name of the server who took the order.

Updating the Order Status

To update an order status:

Select a table whose order status you want to update.
A pop-up menu appears with a number of options.

Select the button that reflects the change you want to make. The appearance of these buttons is configurable by Company administrators, so they can be any colour, with or without an alphanumeric character or an icon.
Examples of these buttons are shown in the image below:

When the customer pays the bill at the POS, the system automatically displays a green tick over the £ icon in the information box as shown below.