The Order Call Standard
Five steps for the room-service call, from the third ring to a time the kitchen can keep. Check the kitchen screen before you quote a time, never after.
- Who
- In-room dining order takers, checked by the supervisor
- When
- Every call, app or tablet order, 24 hours a day
- You need
- The guest profile in the PMS, the ticket screen, today’s sold-out list
- Measured by
- Answered within three rings
- Full order read back on every call
- Time quoted is 30 minutes or less
5 steps
01
Answer
Pick up within three rings, about ten seconds. Use the guest’s name from the screen, then your own. If you are on another call, ask before putting anyone on hold and return within 30 seconds.
Say this
“Good evening, Mrs Laurent, in-room dining, Paolo speaking. What can I bring you?”
Common mistake Answering with the department name only. Her name was on the screen, and she can hear that you didn’t look.
02
Ask about allergies
Before you write the first dish, ask once whether anyone eating has an allergy or a dietary need, and check the profile as well. Write any answer in capitals at the top of the ticket, above the items.
Say this
“Before I take the order, does anyone eating tonight have an allergy, or anything they avoid?”
Common mistake Asking only when the guest orders something with nuts in it. Allergens hide in sauces, oils, dressings and the bread.
03
Complete the order
Ask the questions the kitchen would ask: cooking point, side, sauce on the side or not. Then ask how many people are eating, so the trolley carries the right plates, cutlery and napkins.
Say this
“How would you like the fillet cooked, and is dinner for one or for two this evening?”
Common mistake Sending one set of cutlery with two club sandwiches. The second person eats with the teaspoon from the minibar.
04
Read it back
Read the whole order back in the order it will be served: dishes, cooking points, changes, allergies, number of covers and room number. Let the guest correct you before the ticket goes to the kitchen.
Say this
“One Caesar without anchovies, one fillet medium, two covers, no nuts, room 412. Is that right?”
Common mistake Reading back the dishes and skipping the changes. The mistake is almost always in the change: no onion, dressing apart.
05
Quote a time
Look at the ticket screen before you quote. Give a clock time, never more than 30 minutes away, the ceiling AAA sets; our own target for breakfast is 20 minutes. Start the timer as you hang up.
Say this
“Your dinner will be with you at 20:40, Mrs Laurent. Enjoy your evening.”
Common mistake Quoting the usual 30 minutes while twelve tickets hang on the rail. The guest plans the evening around your number.
Questions the Kitchen Will Ask
Each dish below goes wrong in the same way when the order taker forgets one question. Ask it on the call and the chef never has to ring the room back.
Read one row at each shift briefing for a week, then ask the order takers to add the dishes your own kitchen calls back about most often. The supervisor listens to three calls a shift and ticks the questions asked.
The Standards Library.
No. 58 · In-Room Dining
The Delivery Window Standard
Five steps that bring the tray to the door within five minutes of the time quoted. A call made before a delay is forgiven; the same call after it rarely is.
No. 59 · In-Room Dining
The Tray Set-Up Standard
Five steps from the knock to the closing door. The guest chooses where the meal is laid, and nothing on the tray is lifted, poured or moved without asking.