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Food and drink

AI receptionist for takeaways, restaurants, pubs and cafes

In short

VolaVoice answers the phone for food and drink businesses when the kitchen, the counter or the bar is busy. It takes orders from your menu, takes booking requests for your team to confirm, answers questions from what you have told it, and sends you the outcome.

A busy independent cafe counter with a glass cake display and till, a barista at the espresso machine on the back bar, customers queuing and others seated by the window, and a cordless phone by the till

Works for

  • Takeaways
  • Fish and chip shops
  • Pizza shops
  • Kebab shops
  • Food trucks
  • Restaurants
  • Bistros
  • Gastropubs
  • Pubs and bars
  • Cafes and coffee shops
  • Licensed clubs
  • Bakeries and cake makers
  • Caterers
  • Butchers
  • Fishmongers
  • Greengrocers
  • Delis and specialist food shops
  • Off-licences

What happens when the phone rings in the middle of service?

Vola answers it, so you can keep plating, pulling pints or boxing a cake. The order, booking request or message reaches you in writing, with the caller's name and number.

Which calls does a food and drink business get?

The callWhat the receptionist does
Collection order, from a curry to a Christmas turkeyTakes it from your menu or price list and reads it back
Table for six on Saturday, or the function room for a christeningTakes a booking request for your team to confirm
Cake or buffet for a partyTakes the details and passes them to you to quote
Opening hours or the menuAnswers from the details you approved
Allergy questionPuts the caller through to your team before any order is final
Complaint or "where is my order?"Takes the details and passes them to you
Call once you have closedAnswers, and sends you the outcome

What does a call sound like?

A collection order

Vola

Thanks for calling [Your business]. I'm Vola, an AI receptionist. How can I help?

Caller

Can I get two chicken tikka wraps and a large chips for collection, please?

Vola

Two chicken tikka wraps and one large chips, for collection. Anything else?

Caller

No, that's it.

Vola

Our team can tell you about allergens in any dish. Does anyone have an allergy?

Caller

No.

Vola

Could I take your name and number?

Caller

Amira, 07700 9xx xxx.

Vola

Thanks, Amira. I've sent your order to the team. You pay when you collect.

A table request
Caller

Do you have a table for six on Saturday at eight?

Vola

I can't see the diary, but I can take a booking request for six on Saturday at 8pm. Could I take your name and number?

Caller

Tom, 07700 9xx xxx.

Vola

Thanks, Tom. Your request is with the team. It isn't booked until they confirm with you.

A cake enquiry
Caller

Hi, I'd like a birthday cake for Saturday the 14th, for about twenty people.

Vola

I can take the details for the team. Could I take your name and number?

Caller

Jo, 07700 9xx xxx.

Vola

Thanks, Jo. I've passed this to the team, who will be in touch about the design and price.

Where do your orders and requests go?

Every call is transcribed and summarised on your dashboard, and the outcome is emailed to you. Booking requests and messages reach you straight away. You approve what Vola knows before it goes live.

What will it never do?

It cannot see your diary, so it never confirms a table or says you are full. Your team does. It never tells a caller a dish is free from an allergen, and allergen information stays your responsibility. It does not take card details on the call. You take payment as you do now.

How does Vola work for any business?

  1. 1. Add your websiteVola learns about your business from your website and the facts you give it.
  2. 2. Check and approveYou see what Vola knows and where each answer comes from, and you approve every answer before it goes live. Nothing is published quietly in the background.
  3. 3. Hear it, then switch it onTest your receptionist, then forward your calls to your VolaVoice number, all the time or only when you are busy or after closing. It answers every day, including evenings and weekends.

What you control. Vola answers only from the facts you approved. When it does not know something, it does not guess. It takes a message or puts the caller through to the number you set. You choose that number, and whether Vola tells callers it is an AI at the start of a call. If a caller asks, it always says so.

What you see afterwards. Every call is transcribed and summarised on your dashboard, and the outcome is emailed to you. VolaVoice keeps the written transcript, never the audio.

If you have not set a transfer number, callers who need a person hear a short message that you cannot take calls right now. If you use all your minutes, Vola stops taking calls and forwards them to your transfer number.

Trial and price. Try it free for 14 days. Cancel before day 14 and pay nothing. Then from £49 a month, rolling monthly, no fixed term.

What could a missed call cost? Try your own numbers in the calculator. It is a scenario estimate, not guaranteed revenue.

Where can I read more?

Frequently asked questions

Can it take payment?

It does not take card details on the call. You take payment as you do now.

What if a caller has an allergy?

Vola asks every caller who orders. If someone has an allergy, it puts them through to your team before the order is final.

Hear a receptionist built from your website

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Sources

  1. Allergen guidance for food businesses (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), Food Standards Agency (GOV.UK)

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