Choosing which screens pop
What this covers
The Answer calls toggle in the top bar — how it works, why it is per screen rather than per restaurant, and how to set up a venue with several screens. Requires the Phone Integration feature. No special permission: every staff member controls this for the screen in front of them, including Hosts and Waitstaff.
The toggle
Look for the phone icon in the top bar, next to the other icons. Clicking it turns this screen's call answering on and off, and a short message confirms which way you just went.
| Icon | Means |
|---|---|
| Green phone | Answering calls, and connected — calls will pop here |
| Grey phone | Answering calls, but not currently connected — refresh the page |
| Crossed-out phone | Not answering calls on this screen |
| Faded icon | No trigger URL exists yet; clicking explains and offers a link to settings |
| No icon at all | Phone integration is switched off for the restaurant, or not on your plan |
The distinction between green and grey is worth learning, because it is the only early warning you get. Grey means this screen has opted in but has temporarily lost its live connection, so a call would not arrive. It usually recovers by itself; a refresh fixes it immediately.
Why it is per screen
Because a pop is only useful where somebody can answer a phone.
A restaurant might have a host-stand tablet, a manager's laptop in the office, a screen in the kitchen and a tablet behind the bar. Popping every call on all four would train everyone to ignore them. Popping only on the host stand — where the phone is — makes the pop mean something.
What "this screen" precisely means
This is the part worth reading twice, because it is not quite what most people assume.
The setting is remembered by the browser on that device, not by your staff account. Consequences:
- Logging in on a different device does not carry the setting across. A new tablet starts off.
- If two people share the host-stand browser, they share one setting. Whoever set it last set it for both.
- If you log in on the same device in a different browser, that is a separate setting.
- All the tabs of one browser stay in step — turn it on in one and the others follow immediately.
- Clearing the browser's data resets it to off.
In practice this is what you want at a host stand, where the screen has a job regardless of who is standing at it. It only surprises people who expect it to follow them around like a personal preference, which it does not.
Setting up a multi-screen venue
- Host stand — on. This is the one that matters. Pair it with Blocking pop so it cannot be missed (link Pop behaviour settings).
- Bar or second phone point — on, if calls are genuinely answered there.
- Manager's office — on during quiet periods when the office answers the phone, off during service. It takes one click, so treat it as part of opening up.
- Kitchen or Orders screen — off. Nobody there is going to take a booking.
- Personal phones — off, normally. Turning it on means guest details appear on a personal device, which is worth a thought before you do it.
Make it part of the opening routine: whoever opens turns the icon green at the host stand. It takes a second, and it is the difference between the feature working and quietly not.
Good to know
A screen that is opted out receives nothing at all. It is not hiding a pop it was sent — it never subscribes in the first place, so no guest information reaches that device. That is deliberate: a screen in a public area that is switched off is genuinely not holding anybody's details.
It needs a trigger URL to exist first. Until an Owner or Manager has created one (link Connecting your phone system), the icon is faded and clicking it tells you why rather than doing nothing.
Several screens can answer at once. The same call pops on every opted-in screen simultaneously. Nobody claims a call and nobody blocks anybody else.
One pop at a time per screen. If a second call arrives while a pop is open, the pop switches to the new call rather than stacking — and its dismiss timer starts again. Two calls in quick succession will not bury your screen.
This is separate from your personal settings. Your language, theme and password live in your own profile (link Your profile and preferences); call answering belongs to the screen.