OctoTable is an official Google partner and offers the Reserve with Google service to make it easier to manage reservations. This integration allows you to receive reservations directly from your Google My Business or Google Maps, providing a significant opportunity to increase visibility among potential customers.
How the integration works
The real-time connection between Reserve with Google and OctoTable, ensures an instant update of available tables. Manual reservations made on OctoTable are instantly reflected on Reserve with Google.
⚠️ However, any change to service settings do not take effect immediately, but may be reflected over a period of up to 24 hours.
Therefore, if you add tables, activate out of service, or change configurations in Services/OpeningHours, those changes will be live on Google in about 24 hours.
Features and Limitations
1. What you can do with Reserve With Google
Out-of-service activation
Restrict room reservations by time slot or entire service
Associate one or more rooms to the service
Check-out to free up tables
Use the waitlist
2. Things you can't do with Reserve with Google
Let the customer choose the room or table
Receive a reservation request
Require a reservation deposit and credit card
Use automatically grouped tables
Create services with overlapping schedules: e.g. Aperitif 6pm-8pm and Dinner 6pm-10pm; if you have created two services with overlapping schedules, you need to choose which service you send to Reserve with Google (go to Configuration>Services/Opening Hours) and disconnect the Reserve with Google link from one of your services (click here to find out how).
Considerations and Suggestions
To allow customers to book for more people than the single-table capacity, create grouped tables. For more information on grouped tables, read this article.
The maximum number of people you can book on Google depends on the capacity of the table with the most people created in Octotable.For example, if you have only created tables of 4 people and a table grouped by 8, on Google you can book up to 8 people.
For special events outside your regular business hours, create the event on OctoTable, and update the times on Google My Business.
If availability runs out, the customer will find the time slot blacked out, and may book for the same date if another time slot is available.
For more information on special events not included in the regular schedule, please read the dedicated article.