VOCA is the booking system.
If you have no booking system you do not need to buy one to get started. The bookings live in VOCA behind a real capacity gate.
What actually happens
The booking is written straight into VOCA's database behind a lock that serialises two calls wanting the same last table. Only one gets it. We have run parallel bookings against the same time and got zero double bookings.
You set capacity, opening hours and how long a booking runs. Kim never books more than you can take, and a guest asking for a time you do not have gets a different suggestion instead of a hopeful maybe.
Everything shows under Bookings in the portal alongside the conversation it came from. If something looks wrong you can read exactly what was said instead of guessing what the guest meant.
The connection in short
Four steps
- 1Set opening hours and capacity under Venues in the portal.
- 2Set how long a booking runs and how far ahead Kim may book.
- 3Decide where the line is for handing over to staff instead.
- 4Call your own number, book a time and watch it appear under Bookings.
What Kim will not do here
We spell this out because it is cheaper for everyone to know up front than to find out with a guest on the phone.
- VOCA is not a point-of-sale system and prints no kitchen tickets. If you need that, the booking should live in the system that does it, and you connect that instead.
- Staff book in VOCA's portal, not in a separate scheduling tool. If you want to keep your calendar as the working surface, the Google or Outlook connection is the right choice.
- There is no table-by-table floor plan. Capacity is seats and times, not a layout.
Read on for your industry
About this connection
Can we move to a real booking system later?
Yes. You connect it under Integrations and Kim starts writing there instead. Old bookings stay in VOCA so you can go back and look.
What if two guests call at the same time about the last table?
The database lock decides. One gets the table, the other gets a different suggestion in the same conversation. That is tested, not hoped for.
Do staff see bookings without logging into the portal?
They get a notification when a booking comes in, and the day's list is readable in the portal. If you want them in a calendar, the Google or Outlook connection is better.
