David Charlton, Managing Director, HeyGuest

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, August 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Restaurants are missing almost half of incoming phone calls during normal operations, with many of those inquiries representing valuable bookings and revenue opportunities. To help operators capture every booking opportunity, AI concierge platform HeyGuest has partnered with OpenTable, one of the world's leading restaurant reservation platforms, enabling restaurants to automate guest communications and manage reservations in real time.

The partnership comes at a time when hospitality businesses are under increasing pressure to balance rising operating costs with growing guest expectations. Research shows that 43% of restaurant phone calls go unanswered during typical operations, with 60% of those missed calls relating directly to revenue-generating inquiries such as table bookings, takeout orders and private event inquiries. Nearly seven in ten customers (69%) give up if nobody answers the phone, while 85% won't call back after reaching voicemail, meaning restaurants can lose potential guests before they even step through the door.

For many operators, the challenge is greatest during peak service when teams are focused on delivering exceptional hospitality while guest inquiries continue to arrive across phone, webchat, email, social media and messaging platforms. At precisely the times restaurants are generating the most revenue, they are also at the greatest risk of missing new business.

Built specifically for hospitality, HeyGuest integrates directly with OpenTable, giving restaurants access to live availability and enabling guests to book, modify or cancel reservations instantly through AI. Whether guests are reserving a table, inquiring about a celebration, modifying an existing booking or asking about hours of operation, every interaction can be handled quickly and consistently, helping operators convert more inquiries into confirmed bookings without increasing pressure on restaurant teams.

Unlike standalone voice AI or chatbot solutions, HeyGuest brings together voice, webchat, email and social messaging into a single AI concierge platform that works seamlessly alongside OpenTable. Operators benefit from one intelligent system capable of managing guest communications across every channel, ensuring a consistent guest experience while freeing teams to focus on face-to-face service.

Available to all restaurants using OpenTable, the integration makes HeyGuest's AI concierge technology accessible to more than 65,000 restaurants, bars, wineries and hospitality venues worldwide. OpenTable helps restaurants fill more than 1.9 billion seats every year, and together the two platforms enable operators to convert more guest inquiries into confirmed reservations through conversational AI.

David Charlton, Managing Director of HeyGuest, said: "Restaurants have spent years investing in online ordering and digital communication, yet one of their highest-value sales channels remains the telephone. Every unanswered call represents a guest actively looking to spend money, and too often that opportunity is lost simply because teams are busy delivering service.

"Guests don't think in channels – they simply expect a quick response wherever they choose to get in touch. By bringing OpenTable's reservation technology together with our AI concierge, we're helping operators ensure every guest inquiry receives an immediate response, turning more conversations into confirmed bookings while allowing teams to focus on delivering exceptional hospitality.

"OpenTable is trusted by hospitality businesses around the world, making it a natural partner for HeyGuest. Together we're enabling restaurants to embrace AI without replacing the reservation platform they already know and trust, helping operators maximize every booking opportunity while delivering the fast, seamless experience today's guests expect."

HeyGuest builds on more than a decade of hospitality technology expertise from iovox, the company behind the platform. Founded in the UK in 2007, iovox has supported automated restaurant bookings and guest communications for hospitality businesses for over ten years, facilitating more than $1.3 billion in dining revenue in the UK. Drawing on that experience, HeyGuest combines conversational AI with proven hospitality expertise to help operators manage guest communications across voice, webchat, email and social messaging through a single, unified platform.

For more information about HeyGuest, go to: https://heyguest.ai.

Jenny Carter
Jenny Carter Communications
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