1The booking follows the guest
- Arrival sets the start, departure sets the end.
- Staff don't do anything new: it runs off the status buttons they already use.
- Times are exact to the minute, never rounded.
Welcome Back
Client Reservation
Dynamic Timing
Staff reference
The booking follows the guest
With dynamic timing switched on, a restaurant booking's times follow what really happens. Tapping At Restaurant moves the start to the minute the guest sat down; tapping Departed moves the end to the minute they left. The table then shows when it was actually in use, and any time a party gives back goes straight back on sale.
"Your bookings stop being a guess. The system records when each table was really occupied, frees it the moment a party leaves, and checks the rest of the table's bookings before it moves anything."
How to explain it to a venue
Six points, in this order. Then open "Try it" below and show it live.
2Nothing is lost
- The booked times are kept alongside the actual ones.
- Tapping Not arrived puts the booked times, and the booked table, back.
- Every tap can be undone.
3Late and early guests are treated fairly
- Late: they keep their booked end, and the late minutes are lost.
- Up to 30 minutes early: they keep their booked end too.
- More than 30 minutes early: they get a sitting the same length as they booked.
4It never double-books a table
- It checks the other bookings on that table every time.
- If something is in the way, staff are asked first and nothing is saved until they answer.
- A customer booking online is never overridden.
5Time goes back on sale
- A party leaving early frees the rest of their slot straight away.
- A party staying late holds the table until they leave, and the next booking's start moves to match.
- The red clock on the floor plan shows who is overrunning.
6It's optional
- Venues can switch it off in Settings → Arrival and Departure Times.
- Off: status buttons change the status only.
- Bookings already recorded keep their times.
If a venue says "the booking time changed by itself": it changed when a member of their staff tapped a status. The booked time is still stored, and tapping Not arrived brings it back.
An evening on Table 5
Press play and watch three bookings share one table through an evening. Pause at any moment to explain what just happened. A good way to open a demo.
Back on sale tonight0 min
Messages staff saw0
Popups staff had to answer0
The same evening, with and without dynamic timing
Same three guests, same arrivals and departures. Switch between the two to see what Table 5 looks like in each.
How to read the diagrams
Every example is on one table (Table 5), today. Names are examples; messages in quotes are the exact wording staff see.
What the guest booked
What gets recorded
Time handed back to the table
Another booking on the same table
Guest still seated past their end
Customer booking online right now
Every diagram here shows one table. In the admin timeline each row is a different table. In these diagrams each row is a different booking, all on Table 5, pulled apart so booked and recorded times can be seen side by side. The last row, "Table 5 · in the timeline", puts them back on one line, exactly as the timeline shows that table.
Admin timeline: one row per table
This page: one row per booking, all on Table 5
What each status button does to the times
The same four buttons as always. The times simply follow along.
Not arrived
Puts the times backResets the booking to what was booked, on the table it was booked on. This is the undo button.
At Restaurant
Sets the startStart becomes the minute they sat down. The end stays as booked, except in the cases below.
At Beach
Sets the endFrom the restaurant: the table closes, just like a departure. The guest still shows as on site.
Departed
Sets the endEnd becomes the minute they left. Leaving early frees the table; staying late pushes the next booking.
Arrivals: when they arrive decides the start
Rossi has booked 19:00–21:00. What happens depends on when staff tap At Restaurant.
Drag Rossi's arrival across the evening. The coloured bands are the four arrival rules; the recorded booking changes shape as you cross each line. Each case is then shown on its own below.
Late: arrives at 19:12
19:12 – 21:00The start moves to 19:12. The end stays at 21:00: they booked until then, and the next party is expecting the table then. The late minutes are simply lost.
Staff see
No message. The booking just updates.
A little early: up to 30 minutes before
18:40 – 21:00Arriving at 18:40 moves the start back to 18:40, and they keep the end they booked. Someone a few minutes early is still arriving for their booking.
Staff see
No message, as long as the table is free from 18:40.
Well early: more than 30 minutes before
18:20 – 20:20Arriving at 18:20 becomes a sitting of the same length they booked: 18:20–20:20. Otherwise a guest hours early would hold the table from arrival right through to their booked end.
Staff see
No message, as long as the table is free.
Very late: after the booking has already ended
21:30 – 23:30Tapping arrived at 21:30 on a booking that ended at 21:00 moves the whole booking to now, keeping its length. If another booking needs the table sooner, staff are asked first.
Staff see
Seated at 21:30 until 23:30.
Other bookings on the table
Moving a start earlier, or a sitting later, can bump into another booking. The system reads the latest bookings every time (not whatever is on screen) and never quietly double-books.
Another booking cuts a sitting short
16:00 – 17:00Rossi turns up at 16:00, three hours early, so their sitting would be 16:00–18:00. But Andersson has this table from 17:00. A sitting can never run into the next booking, so it is capped at 17:00. That is shorter than they booked, so staff are asked before anything is saved. The same happens to a very late arrival whose sitting would run into the next booking.
Popup
Table needed at 17:00. They are here early and the table is booked again at 17:00, so they would be seated now until then - 1 hr rather than a full sitting.
Buttons: Seat until 17:00 · Change table · Cancel. If the full sitting fits, they are simply seated. If less than 15 minutes would be left, only Change table or Cancel is offered.
The previous guest is still at the table
popup firstRossi arrives at 18:40, but Andersson (17:00–19:00) is still marked At Restaurant. Choosing They have left ends Andersson's booking at exactly 18:40 and seats Rossi from 18:40. No gap, no overlap.
Popup
Table still occupied. Table 5 is occupied by Andersson until 19:00.
Which popup appears depends on what is in the way
The popup only appears when something holds the table at the minute the guest arrives. If several things do, the most serious is asked about first, then the next. Rossi (booked 19:00–21:00) arrives at 18:40: pick what is holding Table 5, then press any button in the popup to see what it does.
Previous guest still seated
Table still occupied
Table 5 is occupied by Andersson until 19:00.
They have left – seat at 18:40Change tableSeat at 19:00 as bookedCancel
"They have left" marks Andersson departed at 18:40. If Andersson is already past their end, it says they "were due to leave at 19:00 and are still seated".
Previous guest never came
Table still booked
Table 5 is booked to Andersson, 17:00–19:00, who has not arrived yet. Marking them a no-show frees Table 5 - you can undo this.
Mark no-show and seatChange tableSeat at 19:00 as bookedCancel
Andersson stays "not arrived", is flagged as a no-show and loses the table. Nobody is recorded as having eaten.
Previous guest is at the beach
Table booked for a beach guest
Table 5 is booked to Andersson, who is at the beach and hasn't been seated yet. Releasing Table 5 seats this guest now. Andersson's booking stays, without a table, for when they come up.
Release table – seat at 18:40Change tableSeat at 19:00 as bookedCancel
Only the table is released. Their booking, times and beach status are untouched.
A customer is booking online
Table held online
Table 5 is being booked by a customer right now, for 18:00–20:00. It frees up at …
Change tableSeat at 19:00 as bookedCancel
Never offers to take the table: the customer may be paying at that moment.
The table is blocked
Table blocked
Table 5 is blocked for 17:00–19:00. Unblock it from the table itself if that is no longer needed.
Change tableSeat at 19:00 as bookedCancel
Unblocking is left to the table itself, where the permission check lives.
What the other buttons mean
- Change table opens the table picker, searching for a table free from the arrival minute. If no table works, staff come back to the same question, so nothing is left half-done.
- Seat at 19:00 as booked marks them arrived and leaves the times exactly as booked.
- Cancel backs out completely. The guest is not marked arrived and nothing is saved.
Departures & overruns: when they leave decides the end
Rossi was seated 19:12–21:00. Brookes has Table 5 next, 21:00–23:00.
Leaves early: departed at 20:30
19:12 – 20:30The end becomes 20:30. The half hour they didn't use goes straight back on the table for walk-ins, new bookings and online availability.
Staff see
No message.
Stays late: departed at 21:20
19:12 – 21:20The real departure is recorded, and the next booking's start moves to 21:20 so the two never overlap. Only the start moves, never the end, so it can't knock into a later booking. It happens automatically, with a message rather than a question.
Staff see
The next booking on this table now starts at 21:20.
If a departure runs past the whole of the next booking, that booking is left alone: The next booking on this table ends before 23:10 and has been left unchanged - please check it.
While they are still sitting there past 21:00
held until nowUntil someone taps Departed, nobody knows when they'll leave, so a party still marked At Restaurant after their end keeps holding the table up to the current minute. It isn't offered to walk-ins or new bookings meanwhile. Today only.
- A red clock appears on the table on the floor plan.
- The overrunning booking's card shows
Over 12 min
(orDue to leave now
in their last minute). - The waiting guest's card shows
Table occupied
, with a button to open the booking that's overrunning. - Seating the waiting guest anyway brings up the Table still occupied popup; They have left records the late departure.
Moved to the beach: tapped At Beach at 20:10
19:12 – 20:10Going from the restaurant to the beach ends the table exactly like a departure. The guest still shows as on site; only their restaurant time closes.
Mistakes & undo
Every tap can be taken back.
Back to Not arrived
Puts the booked times back, and the booked table if a table change moved them. It then re-checks the table: if something now occupies it until later, the start goes back to when the table is free rather than re-creating a clash.
Staff may see
Put back to 19:20 - the table is occupied until then.
Departed by mistake
Tap At Restaurant again. The booking reopens: the real arrival time is kept and the end goes back to what was booked.
Undo only affects the booking being undone. A booking ended through a popup ("They have left") stays ended. A no-show can be undone separately; if the table has since gone to someone else, the booking comes back without a table, and any deposit taken is pointed out.
Tap the status buttons yourself
Table 5 as it appears on the floor plan. Set the clock, then tap a status just as staff would, and watch the times, the table and the message change. Rossi is booked 19:00–21:00; Brookes has the table next from 21:30.
18:50
Rossi · 2
2Tap a status
Try it: move the times and watch the table react
Same rules as the booking system. Set who else is on the table on the left and the clock on the right; the quick buttons jump to the common cases. Rossi is booked 19:00–21:00 on Table 5, Andersson before (17:00–19:00), and optionally Brookes after (21:30–23:30).
Who else is on Table 5
Andersson, the booking beforeBooked 17:00–19:00
Brookes, the booking afterBooked 21:30–23:30
The clock · Rossi is booked 19:00–21:00
Small print
The rules behind the edge cases.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Exact minutes | Times are recorded to the minute: 19:07, never rounded to 19:00 or 19:15. |
| Very short visits | A party that leaves after ten minutes is recorded as ten minutes. The only floor is one minute, so a double tap can't make a booking vanish: End set to 19:13 - a booking needs at least a minute on the table. |
| Seating a late or early guest | Needs at least 15 minutes before the table's next booking, or staff are sent to Change table. |
| After midnight | A booking can't run past midnight, so a departure at 00:15 is recorded as 23:59: End set to 23:59 - a booking cannot be recorded past midnight. |
| Departed but never sat down | Only the status changes. Times move only for guests who were actually At Restaurant. |
| Beach first, then lunch | A beach guest coming up to eat for the first time is an ordinary arrival; the start is set then. |
| Beach bookings | Beach bookings have no times, so they never move. Only the restaurant booking does. |
| No table assigned yet | The times still move, with nothing to clash with. After arrival the table picker opens so staff can seat them. |
| A booking on a past date | The status changes; the times are left alone: Status updated for … – times not changed. |
| A booking on a future date | Nothing changes. Staff are offered to move the booking to today first: This booking is for … |
| Connection trouble | If online holds can't be checked, nothing is saved and staff are asked to try again. |
| Switching it off | Settings → Arrival and Departure Times. Off: status buttons change the status only. Recorded bookings keep their times, so reports over that period mix booked and actual times. |
Questions venues ask
Short answers to give.
"The booking said 19:00, now it says 19:12. Did someone change it?"
Staff marked the guest arrived at 19:12. The booked 19:00 is still stored and comes back if the arrival is undone.
"Why did the 21:00 booking change to 21:20?"
The party before was still at the table until 21:20. Only the start moved, so the two bookings don't overlap on the record. Its end is unchanged.
"Why won't it let me seat a walk-in on Table 5?"
Look for the red clock. The party there is past their end but still marked At Restaurant, so the table is held until they're marked departed.
"Why was the early guest only given until 17:00?"
Another booking starts on that table at 17:00. Staff were asked before seating them and could have picked a different table.
Test yourself: what would happen?
Six quick questions for new staff. Pick an answer to see Table 5 and the reason.