To use the OpenTable integration, you'll need an OpenTable account. If you haven’t created an account yet, visit OpenTable to get started.

About OpenTable

OpenTable is a reservation platform helping you to manage and seat reservations in your restaurant. This way, you can shorten waiting times and use the maximum capacity of your restaurant.

The OpenTable integration with Lightspeed Restaurant synchronizes OpenTable guest and reservation data to Lightspeed and sends financial data back to OpenTable.

When you seat a reservation in OpenTable, it will appear on your Lightspeed Restaurant table layout, and the status is updated in OpenTable as the meal progresses in Lightspeed Restaurant until the receipt is fully paid. The table status updates in the following sequence: seated, starter, main, dessert, paid.

The OpenTable integration features

• Enriching your data: The OpenTable integration allows you to match all information about a guest's dining experience back to reservations in OpenTable.
• Smoothing transitions: The moment a guest is seated in OpenTable, the guest and reservation information is immediately transferred to the POS.
• Sending table status updates: The Course Mapping feature keeps your OpenTable Floor Plan up-to-date with the latest status of tables.

Setting up the OpenTable integration

Enabling the OpenTable integration

For the OpenTable integration to function properly, the table numbers in OpenTable must exactly match the table numbers in Lightspeed Restaurant.

1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed Restaurant credentials.
2. From the navigation menu, go to Integration > Reservations.
3. In the OpenTable section, click More Details.
4. Click Enable Integration to open a new browser tab. The new browser tab will load the OpenTable Guest Center, where the integration can be enabled.
5. Log in to the OpenTable Guest Center with your OpenTable credentials.
6. Select the restaurant you'd like to connect to the OpenTable integration.
7. From the OpenTable website, click Integrations.
8. Select Lightspeed K from the list of integrations.
   

   If a green check mark appears on the Lightspeed K tile, then the selected OpenTable restaurant is already integrated with another Lightspeed account. The integration must be manually disabled from the already connected restaurant, or by OpenTable.

9. Follow the on-screen instructions to link your Lightspeed Restaurant account with your OpenTable account.

Configuring the OpenTable integration settings

Once you've enabled the integration, continue setting up the OpenTable integration by configuring its settings. 

1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed Restaurant credentials.
2. From the navigation menu, go to Integration > Reservations.
3. Click OpenTable.
4. Fill in the appropriate information for auto check creation and course settings.

   Auto check creation settings:

   • Automatically open checks in the POS: Toggle on to automatically open checks in the POS app when seating a party in OpenTable. If you'd prefer to manually open checks when seating a party in OpenTable, then toggle off. No matter which option you choose, check data will sync from the POS app to the Guest Center when table numbers are exactly the same in both Lightspeed Restaurant and OpenTable.
   • Include walk-in parties from OpenTable: Toggle on to automatically open checks in the POS app when seating walk-in parties. If you'd prefer to manually open checks for walk-in parties, or to only automatically open checks for reservations made in OpenTable, then toggle off.
   • Use OpenTable order profile: Toggle on to create checks with the OpenTable order profile. If you’d prefer to create checks with your existing order profile instead, then toggle off.

   Course settings:

   For OpenTable to receive automatic table status updates as the meal progresses, map statistic categories from Lightspeed Restaurant to OpenTable statuses.

   To add statistic categories in Lightspeed Restaurant and map them to OpenTable statuses: 

   1. From the navigation menu, select Menu > Accounting groups.
   2. Under Actions, click Edit on the existing accounting group you'd like to add a statistic category to.
   3. Fill in the Category and Value fields, where Value corresponds to the statistic category you'll map to OpenTable statuses. For example, the accounting group 'Alcoholic drinks' could have the statistic category of 'Beverages.'
   4. Click Save.
   5. From the navigation menu, go to Integration > Reservations.
   6. Click OpenTable.
   7. Under Course settings, click Add to add a statistic category to each course.
   8. Select the statistic categories you'd like to add to each course.
5. Click Save.

Using the OpenTable integration

The OpenTable Guest Center web app lets you manage your reservations. Check, modify, and seat guests using OpenTable, and see their reservations appear in Lightspeed Restaurant.

Managing reservations in OpenTable Guest Center web app

Guests can book reservations by using the OpenTable app, by calling the restaurant, or by simply walking in and asking for a table. The workflow in the OpenTable Guest Center varies depending on how the reservation is booked.

To learn more about managing reservations in OpenTable Guest Center web app, check out Learn how to use your product.

Managing reservations in Lightspeed Restaurant POS

After seating a reservation in the OpenTable Guest Center, the Lightspeed Restaurant POS will mark their table as occupied, as well as create a check for the table.
From there, follow the usual workflow for serving customers by taking their order and processing their payment. All data, like adding items or creating the bill, in the Lightspeed Restaurant POS will be sent to the OpenTable Guest Center in real-time.

To manage reservations in Lightspeed Restaurant POS:

1. Log in to the Lightspeed Restaurant POS app.
2. In Tables view, select the table where the reservation is seated to open and view their order.
3. Tap Select and add items to their order.
4. Process their payment at the end of the meal.

Once the payment is processed in Lightspeed Restaurant POS, the table status will update to 'paid' and an itemized receipt of their meal will be available in the OpenTable Guest Center. Guests can also view their receipts in the OpenTable app under their reservation history.

Disabling the OpenTable integration

If you decide to stop using the OpenTable integration, then you could easily disable it from the Back Office. The integration will also be disabled on OpenTable's side. Your previous settings will save, so you could re-enable the OpenTable integration at any point in the future.

Frequently asked questions

Subscription

• No, the OpenTable integration is free for merchants with existing Lightspeed and OpenTable accounts.

Setup

• If you disabled the OpenTable integration before December 2022, then you need to connect OpenTable and request that they remove the integration from their system before reactivating it in Lightspeed Back Office.

• When the auto-check creation setting is enabled, all checks are assigned to this order profile by default, even if another order profile is scheduled.
  To avoid having the scheduled amount profile overridden, disable auto-check creation in the Back Office.
  To modify the default order profile for checks opened by OpenTable in the Back Office, go to the business location under Integration > Online ordering > Reservations.

• We strongly recommend keeping Lightspeed Restaurant POS open on one of your devices to avoid delays in opening checks on the POS. The device assigned to receive orders for reservations can be set in the Back Office for the business location under Integration > Online ordering > Reservations.
  Your master device must run the Restaurant POS app during the shift, but you can switch there between applications on other devices.

Reservations

• The OpenTable integration transfers the guest's full name, email, and phone number from OpenTable to the Lightspeed POS app.

• If auto-check creation is enabled, then the check will be opened when the party is marked as partially seated in OpenTable.

• If auto-check creation is enabled, then a check will be opened on the table with the lower numeric value when you merge two tables for a reservation.

• The OpenTable integration doesn’t currently support viewing upcoming reservations.

• When a reservation is canceled in OpenTable, the corresponding check will be voided in the POS, and the table status will be updated in OpenTable.

• The OpenTable integration doesn’t currently support waitlist management.

Orders

• The OpenTable integration doesn’t currently support sending orders from OpenTable to the kitchen display system.

• Any modifications made to an order in OpenTable won’t be synced to the POS. To update the order, you’ll need to manually update it in the Restaurant POS app.

• If two items are sent with different table status mappings in the same course, then the later table status will be used. For example, one item has the statistic group Salad and is mapped to the Starter status, while another item has the statistic group Burger and is mapped to the Main status. If both items are sent in the same course, then the table status in OpenTable will be set to Main.

Checks

• If auto-check creation is enabled, then all checks split from the initial check will be displayed in OpenTable.

• Voided checks are displayed alongside the original check in the OpenTable Guestbook.

• If a guest receives a check after their meal, then that means email notifications are turned on. To turn off email notifications, disable this setting in the Back Office.

• The OpenTable integration doesn’t currently support automatic check closing. You must manually close checks in OpenTable to free up the table.

• If you switch tables in OpenTable when auto-check creation is enabled, then the data sync will continue to work, but you’ll need to manually move the check to the new table.

• Tips added after payment in the Restaurant POS app won’t display on the check shown in OpenTable.

Troubleshooting

• There are two possible reasons opened checks don’t appear in the POS after seating in OpenTable:
  First, your table numbers in OpenTable don't match your table numbers in the POS. If your table numbers are labeled alphanumerically in OpenTable (for example, T5), then they won’t be mapped to the POS. To fix this issue, check your table numbers in the POS tasks and edit them accordingly making sure they’re the same in both systems.
  Second, the device set up to receive reservations doesn't have the Restaurant POS app open. To fix this issue, ensure that the Restaurant POS app is running on your master device.