Sometimes it’s easier to make a call to your favourite food spot than to navigate through endless web pages to make a digital booking. Sometimes. A local software company called Dineplan has signed a deal with Google to give South Africans the ability to make restaurant bookings directly through Search, Maps or even Assistant.
Hey Google, make a reservation…
While Dineplan was built to manage bookings, it’ll now offer its booking services directly through the multinational search engine company. It’ll be integrated with something called ‘Reserve with Google’ — a feature that allows users the ability to make online bookings easily.
Read more: Google Assistant will soon learn how to pronounce the names of your contacts
Once a booking is made through the platform, customers will receive an automatic Calendar entry, push notifications of reservation details and notifications when the reservation is coming up. They’ll be able to edit the booking, cancel and confirm all through its’s ecosystem of apps. It’ll also display availability before the request is sent through, so no need to bother a hellishly busy staff on a Friday night — just move on to your next best option.
“To be able to offer restaurant bookings through Google will provide diners another promising avenue to make bookings through the Dineplan network,” says Dineplan director Martin Rose, according to BusinessTech. “With bookings on the business profile showing up in Google Search results, this will present a very convenient and efficient way for diners to make their reservations.”
While Dineplan is already a well-known online booking system in South Africa, this will increase its reach and functionality with the help of Google.
