QSR Automations announced this week that DineTime, its iPad-based guest management solution, will add online reservations and email marketing to its suite of features. The platform already offers wait list handling, two-way SMS texting, a guest book, and a variety of operational analytics.

Previously, DineTime managed reservations using a reservation book. Restaurants would input reservations directly into the software from the hostess stand. Now, however, DineTime lets restaurants add a browser widget to their websites for reservations; once a guest books a time, the widget syncs with DineTime immediately, eliminating the need for reservation handling at the hostess stand.

The online reservation feature is meant to assist restaurants in using their websites as a marketing tool. In addition to the online reservation widget, this DineTime update will also allow operators to create email marketing campaigns to send guests. With the information saved in DineTime's guest books, restaurants can easily promote events, special promotions, and menu updates.

Pricing for DineTime Host 3.0 is tiered, and it depends on the number of wait-listed and reservation parties a restaurant schedules per month. There are four pricing tiers—Free, Pro, Premium, and Elite—but only Premium and Elite give restaurants the online reservations capability. 

Pricing for DineTime Host with online reservation capabilities starts at $99 per month per location and will allow up to 1,200 wait list and reservation parties, for restaurants using Premium. The Elite plan, meanwhile, seats an unlimited number parties for $199 per location monthly.

While only Premium and Elite clients will typically have the online reservations capability, DineTime is offering a free two-month trial of online reservations to restaurants that use its Free or Pro plans, according to Lee Leet, president and CEO of QSR Automations. 

“Increasing guest communication and building loyalty is another way DineTime is helping restaurants bring in more business,” Leet says.