Text Paging Rollout Checklist
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A step-by-step checklist for moving a host stand from pager buzzers or shouted names to guest text paging without disrupting a single service.

[ ] Write down how the stand runs today: who greets, who quotes, who pages, and who has the authority to hold a table, combine tables, or bump a walk-in for a late reservation.
[ ] Set the hold window in minutes for a paged table and the grace period for late reservations, and have the manager sign off on both numbers.
[ ] Write the check-in script every host will use, including the sentence that explains the text page and the hold window before the guest starts waiting.
[ ] Draft the three core messages: the check-in confirmation, the table-ready page with the hold time and where to come, and the halfway reminder during the hold. Keep each to a sentence or two with the restaurant name in it.
[ ] Decide who is allowed to send a page and from which device, so two hosts never page the same party or page from a personal phone.
[ ] Choose a fallback for guests who decline to share a phone number, such as a paper ticket or a spot near the stand where the host calls a name.
[ ] Confirm with the vendor that messages go out through a proper carrier route, and ask exactly how a failed or delayed delivery is shown to the host.
[ ] Test delivery with staff phones on at least three carriers, from the host stand, the patio, and the parking lot, before any guest sees a message.
[ ] Check that the check-in confirmation arrives within seconds, so a mistyped number shows up while the guest is still standing at the stand rather than thirty minutes later.
[ ] Confirm that guest replies come back to the stand and that the host can read them without switching screens or unlocking a phone.
[ ] Turn on the hold timer so every paged party shows a visible countdown, and agree on what the host does the moment it expires.
[ ] Decide how large parties are handled: their own queue, their own quote based on the specific table combination they are waiting for, and who can approve seating an incomplete party.
[ ] Decide how reservations and walk-ins share the list, including how many tables are held back for walk-ins on nights when they reliably come.
[ ] Run the new tool alongside the old method for a few slow shifts so hosts learn it without a full lobby watching them.
[ ] Put the hold policy and the greeting script on a card at the stand where any cover host can read it in five seconds.
[ ] Brief servers and bussers on what changes for them, which is usually faster resets and nothing else, and tell them how seated parties get marked.
[ ] Assign one person per shift to mark parties seated or removed in the moment, so the list stays true for everyone still waiting.
[ ] Pick the first real service night deliberately: a moderate night with an experienced host, not the busiest Saturday of the month.
[ ] Keep the old pagers or paper list within reach for the first two weeks in case of a signal problem or an outage.
[ ] After two weeks, pull the waitlist report and review quoted versus actual waits, the walkaway rate, and how many holds expired, with the whole host team in the room.
[ ] Adjust the quote buffer, the hold window, and the message wording based on what the data shows, then retire the old method for good.
[ ] Run your own pager fleet invoices through the pager buzzer vs text paging cost calculator so the switch is justified by your numbers, not a sales page.