Texting guests or handing out pagers?

The short version

If most of your guests carry phones, texting replaces pagers well and removes the hardware you chase around the dining room. If a large share of your guests would not respond to a text, or you want something to hand a guest at the door, keep pagers or a hybrid. Either way, count before you decide.

How each one works at the host stand

Pagers. You hand a guest a puck, they wait, and you buzz it when the table is ready. The guest never has to share a phone number. The puck also works if cell service inside your building is poor.

Texts. The guest gives a name and a number (or scans a code), and the app texts when the table is ready. Many apps send a confirmation when the guest joins, so you know the number is right. Guests can leave for a drink next door and still get the message.

Browser alerts. A third way sits between the two. Bzz’s features page describes a notification and device vibration sent to the browser the guest already has open, with no SMS. It is free of per-text fees, but the guest must keep the page open. See Bzz.

What pagers cost you that is not on the invoice

We do not publish pager prices, and they vary by system, so use your own numbers. Think through these:

• Pagers that walk out the door. Guests carry them to the car, and you only notice when the stack is short.
• Charging. Someone has to put every puck back on the base, and a dead one quietly ruins a guest’s night.
• Distance. The range you rely on in a long, narrow or multi-floor space may not cover the sidewalk where guests actually stand.
• Handling. A host spends seconds handing out, collecting and resetting each puck, plus time wiping them down.
• Replacement. Lost and broken units add up across a season.

Count the units you replaced in the past year and the minutes a host spends on logistics per busy shift. Then put a number on it.

What texts cost you that is not on the invoice

• A message allowance. Plans often include a set number of texts and charge or stop beyond it. WaitQ’s pricing page, for example, lists notification credits per plan, and its help pages say one credit is one SMS or WhatsApp message sent. Waitlist Me lists notifications per plan with a per-notification fee beyond that. Ready Text lists an included text count and an overage rate. TablesReady counts sent and received texts against its monthly quota, with one tenth of the quota applying outside the US and Canada. Read the specific app page.
• Carrier rules. SpotOn Reserve’s help article mentions a 160-character limit for paging messages and says custom message text needs a custom phone number from SpotOn support. Other apps have their own limits.
• Reply handling. Two-way texting means someone watches the replies during service.
• Guests who do not answer. A text that goes unread is a table held for nothing.

To estimate your own volume, multiply parties per week by messages per party (join confirmation, ready, possibly a reminder, plus replies if you count them), then compare it with the plan allowance. Do this for a slow week and a busy one.

Which apps text

Among the restaurant-relevant apps in our data, every app except Bzz has confirmed SMS notifications, which is what the pager replacement list selects on. Other things you may want from a texting app:

• Two-way SMS. Recorded for apps such as Hostme, Waitwhile, TablesReady and Resy OS. Hostme’s replies run through an Android SMS app, per its help pages. Resy OS’s help pages describe guests replying 1 to confirm or 9 to cancel.
• Wait-time estimates to put in the text. The walk-ins list covers apps with both SMS and estimates.
• A free way to try it. The free plans list names apps whose own pricing page offers a $0 plan with the waitlist.

Choosing between the two

Run this check for two weeks before you commit:

1. Ask your hosts. At the end of each busy shift, ask how many parties had no phone, or a phone they would not share.
2. Track the lost units if you already use pagers.
3. Measure no-shows after the buzz. When a table is called and nobody comes, note whether it was a pager or a text. Your own tally tells you which channel your guests respond to.
4. Price the real thing. A pager system’s total cost for your count of units, against the app’s plan at your message volume.

Then pick the setup that matches. A texting-only restaurant with a few paper or pager exceptions is common. A pager-only restaurant, especially one with a patio or a loud bar, is also fine. A hybrid costs more but covers both groups.

If you switch to texting

• Say it at the door. Tell guests “we’ll text you” and ask them to confirm the number on screen before they leave.
• Keep the text short and clear. Put your name, how long they have to arrive and what happens if they are late.
• Plan for the no-phone guest. Keep a pen or a few pagers at the stand.
• Watch the allowance on your first busy weekend so a cap does not surprise you mid-service.

Small places can start with the small restaurants list, which covers apps you can buy yourself from public pricing.