The phone rings in the middle of service. Your team stays with the guest.
Last updated: 23 July 2026
routinefrei takes the organizing off your restaurant, café or hotel, on the phone and in the inbox: reservations, event and catering enquiries, reviews and guest questions. Sorted and documented. Hosting, model region and data flows are agreed before production. We handle the organizing; the hospitality and the kitchen stay with your team.
Launch availability: The public customer-workspace demo currently covers Gmail triage with human approval, Google Calendar booking and an activity trail. Phone, Microsoft, CRM, accounting and industry-software connections described below are scoped pilot modules, not pre-connected features. Open the customer-workspace demo (German interface).
Sound familiar?
- The phone keeps ringing right in the middle of service. Anyone trying to book or ask about a table can't get through, while your team is at the pass and working the floor and no one is free to pick up.
- Reservations, cancellations and changes come in by phone, email and portal all at once. Something gets double-booked, a table sits empty by mistake, an enquiry slips through in the rush.
- Event, catering and group enquiries sit in the inbox waiting for a reply. Whoever answers too late has often already lost the booking to the place next door.
- Reviews and recurring guest questions about opening hours, allergens and the menu pile up. By evening there's no one left to answer them calmly and warmly.
Why does automation pay off in hospitality in particular?
Because a large share of the work on the phone and in the inbox is pure routine: according to industry analyses, over 70 percent of calls to restaurants are routine enquiries about reservations, opening hours and the menu, and up to 35 percent of callers do not get through at all during peak hours. Many then book with a competitor. Exactly this routine can be automated: enquiries get sorted, bookings recorded and replies prepared, while your team stays with the guests.
One day, two versions
Without routinefrei
It's 7:30 in the evening, the house is full, and the phone won't stop. One guest is waiting on their order, two calls are coming in at once, and a catering enquiry has been sitting unread in the inbox since the afternoon. Your server decides second by second who to look after first and lets the phone ring. By the end of the night several reservations never got through, one table was double-booked, and that lucrative event enquiry sat there in the rush until it was booked somewhere else.
With routinefrei
It's 7:30 in the evening, the house is full, and the phone stays calm anyway. The AI phone assistant answers every call right away, offers available times, takes reservations, reschedules on request and notes event and catering enquiries in a structured way for your team. Your server stays with the guests in front of them instead of shuttling between the handset and the tables. Everything to do with taste, hospitality and the kitchen naturally stays with you: the AI doesn't cook or serve, it only organizes and passes everything of substance cleanly to your team, who decide and confirm.
What we automate for you
AI phone assistant for reservations
Answers every call right away, even in the middle of service when no one else is free. Handles standard questions about opening hours, address and menu, takes reservations, reschedules and cancels, and notes special requests in a structured way. Anything your restaurant has to commit to goes to your team, who decide.
Reservation and event enquiry automation
Reservations, cancellations and changes come together in an orderly way, whether they arrive by phone, email or portal. Tables, group and event bookings are recorded cleanly, so nothing gets double-booked and no seat sits empty by mistake.
Email triage with draft replies
Incoming emails are pre-sorted into reservation, event, catering or group enquiry and other. For event and catering enquiries, a ready-made draft reply with your key details is waiting. Your team reviews it, adjusts it and sends, so lucrative enquiries get answered quickly rather than too late.
Review and guest replies
For reviews and recurring guest questions about opening hours, allergens and the menu, friendly draft replies that fit your restaurant are ready to go. Your team approves and publishes instead of writing out every reply by hand in the evening.
How the collaboration works
Analysis
In a free initial consultation we look at where the most time gets stuck on your phone and in your inbox: reservations, event and catering enquiries, reviews. You get an honest assessment of what is worth automating first and what is not.
Setup
We set up the first automation, usually the service email automation + time management: email triage with draft replies and booking coordination with Google Calendar. Your team is shown the ropes and keeps approval over every draft.
Support
After launch we stay on it: we monitor the workflows, adjust when the menu, hours or team change, and expand step by step once the pilot has proven itself.
What you get out of it
- The phone stays reachable even in the middle of service. Guests typically get through faster and book, instead of dialling repeatedly or booking with the place next door.
- Your team noticeably gets its calm back: less juggling several things at once, fewer double bookings, more time for the guests in the room. That's how businesses often experience it.
- Event, catering and group enquiries are documented instead of scattered, so less slips through and replies go out faster. Hosting, model region and data flows are agreed and documented before production. AI use is clearly labelled.
We take over your website too
Many hospitality websites are outdated, slow or have gone unmaintained for years. With the website takeover for restaurants we take over the domain, hosting and upkeep of your existing website, run a technical audit and improve visibility and visitor numbers: load time, SEO basics, your Google Business Profile and a monthly report. Getting started costs from €290 one-off plus website care from €25.99 per month; the domain remains your property. An ordering or reservation flow of your own also saves the 13 to 30 percent commission that delivery platforms charge per order. Our project for the restaurant Levant Hamburg shows what this looks like in practice.
Packages at a fixed price
Pilot automation, €990
One automation, live in 14 days. Includes the time management + email system: AI inbox triage and an appointment cockpit. The low-risk way in, to see what it delivers on a real workflow.
Automation sprint, from €4,900
Several workflows cleanly connected, once the pilot has proven itself and you want to automate more.
These are the core automations for restaurants and hotels. routinefrei automates email, appointments and your knowledge base just the same, builds your website and looks after your advertising on Meta, Google and TikTok. We take on the ongoing operation as your AI partner. See all services and prices. A dedicated page also shows our fixed prices at a glance.
Common questions from hospitality
How do I reduce no-shows at my restaurant?
Automatic confirmations and reminders 24 to 48 hours before the booking work best: according to industry analyses, they cut no-shows by 30 to 40 percent. We set these reminders up together with your reservation flow, so cancellations arrive in time and freed-up tables can be given away again. Whether an additional no-show fee makes sense is something we discuss in the initial consultation; for many restaurants the reminder alone is enough.
Does the AI also answer the phone at my restaurant?
What the customer workspace includes today is email triage, draft replies and booking coordination with Google Calendar. An AI phone assistant that answers calls and takes reservations is a possible pilot project after a technical review: we check in advance whether your phone system and your processes are suited to it, and only start then.
May I let AI answer my Google reviews?
Yes, but not fully automatically. With us, the AI writes drafts in the tone of your restaurant; your team reads, adjusts and approves. That keeps the replies personal, and you stay in control of what is published. Review replies are a possible pilot project after a technical review.
How do I get away from delivery platforms with high commissions?
Delivery platforms charge 13 to 30 percent commission per order, depending on the model. The realistic path is a hybrid strategy: the platforms stay for new customers, while regulars order and reserve through your own website. That takes a well-maintained, fast website with its own ordering or reservation flow; that is exactly what our website takeover & visibility service covers.
Does this also work for a small café without its own IT?
Yes. You need neither an IT department nor technical know-how: we set everything up, train your team and keep looking after the operation afterwards. The way in is the pilot automation for €990, including the time management + email system. According to the digitalisation index, around 90 percent of German hospitality businesses are still at the start of digitising their processes; a small, supported first step is made for exactly that.
Let's take a calm look together, in a free initial consultation, at where the most time is slipping away on your phone and in your inbox. No obligation, no pressure.