I don't use Open Table myself, but find it interesting they specifically target hotel staff members with their OTconcierge. Not sure how current the following article is, submitted to us by one of our students: OpenTable.com Launches OTconcierge; First Full-Service Concierge Solution Offers Personalized Online Access to Restaurant Reservations Nationwide OpenTable.com (www.opentable.com), the leading supplier of Internet-enabled customer relationship management, yield management and reservation management tools to the restaurant industry, today announced the launch of OTconcierge, the first interactive online solution to give hotel concierges direct access to the reservation books at hundreds of the country's top restaurants. The launch of OTconcierge advances OpenTable.com's goal of bringing the conveniences of real-time online reservations to everyone that makes dining reservations, whether they are reserving for themselves or for others. OTconcierge -- a highly interactive and personalized online interface connected via real private network to the electronic reservation books (ERBs) at OpenTable.com's member restaurants -- has been in beta testing at four of San Francisco's busiest hotels for the past four weeks and is being progressively deployed throughout the OpenTable.com restaurant network, beginning in San Francisco, Chicago and New York. The new interface was designed and developed by OpenTable.com with continual input from concierges at the Hotel Palomar, Pan Pacific Hotel, Galleria Park Hotel, and The Fairmont. "OTconcierge is an incredible concept," said Thomas Wolfe, head concierge at San Francisco's prestigious Fairmont Hotel and OTconcierge beta user. "It virtually eliminates mistakes. Never before have I been able to make dinner reservations at 6:00 in the morning, which I did three times this morning using OpenTable.com's system. OTconcierge is easy to use, and I can access my hotel guests' reservations from any Internet browser, which makes it incredibly convenient. OpenTable.com gives me instant online access to the best restaurants in the Bay Area, and it's my feeling that the restaurants that are not offering reservations on OpenTable.com yet will be doing so within the next year, or they will miss out on business not only from dining consumers but from hotels as well." OTconcierge brings concierges all of the tools that are available to consumers on OpenTable.com's original interface -- including 24/7 access to tables at restaurants around the country with no busy signals or waiting on hold, instant online confirmation of reservations, and a restaurant reservation search engine that allows them to search for availability according to preferences including city, neighborhood, cuisine type and price range -- or by a customizable list of favorite or nearby restaurants. OTconcierge goes beyond this basic offering to bring concierges the ability to easily make, cancel, modify and manage multiple reservations for their hotel guests from one online page. The new offering enables better communication between restaurants and concierges, including the ability for restaurants to distinguish between hotel and other reservations, instantly recognize the hotel and the specific concierge that made the reservation, and to compile reports on the number of reservations made by specific concierges within any given timeframe. Concierges are also able to compile reports on guest cancellations or no-shows, as well as on the number of reservations delivered to particular restaurants. OTconcierge also enables concierges to view and modify reservations made by other concierges at their hotel, in order to easily provide hotel guests with the best service possible. "OTconcierge is a tremendous time-saver," said Kathy Cady, concierge at San Francisco's Galleria Park Hotel. "The fact that I no longer have to call all over town in search of availability gives me more time to focus on my guests, which is what this job is really all about. Even when the guest knows exactly where they want to dine, and the restaurant has availability, I know that I can save time by making the reservation on OTconcierge. OpenTable.com has found a way to streamline the restaurant reservation process, and my hotel guests are always impressed that I can make their reservations without picking up the phone." Mark Belhumeur, chief concierge at San Francisco's Pan Pacific Hotel, said, "OpenTable.com has been very attentive to the needs of concierges in the development of OTconcierge. They have incorporated our suggestions and considerations into the product from the beginning of the development process, and the result is a system with a user-friendly interface that is not only a valuable time-saver, it's easy and enjoyable to use." "OTconcierge is a win-win proposition for both the hotel and the restaurant industry," said Jeff Edwards, OpenTable.com's CEO. "We're enjoying working with the concierge community to deliver out-of-town guests to our partner restaurants. Concierges make significantly more reservations on a daily basis than the general public; the concierges in our beta test make up to 65 restaurant reservations per day. OTconcierge gives us the ability to deliver business and pleasure travelers to our member restaurants, which will ultimately help us achieve our goal of helping OpenTable.com member restaurants increase revenues and improve the bottom line."
