Virtual PBX for restaurants and hospitality: stop losing reservations

The phone in hospitality: the most neglected channel

In the hospitality industry, the phone is still the main channel for reservations, menu inquiries, special requests and private events. But it’s also the hardest channel to handle when the team is in the middle of service.

Without a structured way to handle calls:

• Weekend reservations get lost on Friday at lunchtime.
• Inquiries about private events never reach the right person.
• There’s no record of how many calls went unanswered or who called.
• Customers calling after hours don’t even get a response message.

How a restaurant manages calls with Glofera Connect

Queue with a custom message

When all lines are busy, the customer hears your own message: “We’re currently on other calls. We’ll be with you in a moment.” They don’t hang up. They wait. And as soon as someone’s free, the team picks up.

Smart voicemail after hours

Outside of service hours, the call goes straight to a voicemail in your own voice: “Thanks for calling [name]. Our hours are X to X. You can leave us a message and we’ll call you back tomorrow.” The customer knows they’ll be taken care of. They don’t go to a competitor.

Forwarding to the person handling reservations or events

Do you have someone specific who manages private events? The PBX can detect when a caller selects the “event or celebration” option and forward it straight to that person, even if they’re off-site.

One number for all your locations

If you have more than one location, customers always call the same number. Internally, the call gets routed to the right location based on the customer’s selection. Centralized management, with no confusion.

A record of missed calls

Every unanswered call gets logged with the number and time. When service wraps up, the manager can review the list and return the calls. Reservations that would otherwise have been lost for good.

Nothing to install, no number changes

The virtual PBX runs on your existing infrastructure. There’s no physical equipment to install, no need to change the venue’s phone number, and the team is up and running within days.

We set up the entire protocol: greetings, schedules, call forwarding, voicemail. You tell us how your venue works, and we translate that into the PBX setup.

Frequently asked questions about virtual PBX for restaurants and hospitality

Can the system tell the difference between a regular reservation and an inquiry for a private event?

Yes. The greeting menu can include a specific option for events and celebrations — “if you’re calling to organize an event or celebration, press 2” — which forwards directly to whoever handles that type of booking, even if they’re off-site. That way, large-group or corporate event inquiries don’t get buried among weekend reservations and always reach the person who can manage them.

What happens to calls coming in on Friday at lunchtime when service is packed?

Exactly what you decide ahead of time. The most common options for restaurants: a queue with a custom message so the customer knows someone’s on the other end, forwarding to the manager’s mobile if the team can’t answer at that moment, or voicemail that logs the number so you can call back once service is done. What never happens is the call vanishing without a trace.

How do you handle the difference between kitchen hours and phone support hours?

They’re configurable separately. You can set the phone to take calls from 11am even if service doesn’t start until 1pm, and have voicemail kick in automatically outside those hours with your message. Holidays, the August closure, or your weekly day off get scheduled in advance — the system applies it on its own without anyone having to remember to change it each time.

Do missed calls get logged so I can call back about reservations?

Yes. Every unanswered call gets logged with the exact number and time. When service ends, the manager has the full list and can return calls in order. In most cases, the person who called to book is still interested if you call them back within a few hours. The problem was never a lack of customer interest — it was that nobody knew they’d called.

Does it work if we have several venues with different phone numbers?

Yes. You can keep each venue’s current number or unify them under a central number with a menu that routes to the right location. If a customer calls to book at your Gracia location and lines are busy, the call can be redirected to the reservations coordinator without the customer noticing a thing. You can also manage call statistics for all your venues from a single dashboard.

Does the floor team need training to use the PBX?

No. The team works exactly as before: they pick up the phone when it rings. What changes is what happens when they can’t answer — and the system handles that automatically based on the protocol we set up. Nobody has to learn any new software or change how they work.