The kitchen is cooking.
fonea is taking reservations.
Between 11:30 am and 2 pm the phone never stops ringing — and nobody has a free hand. fonea takes reservations, answers questions about opening hours and menu, and captures allergies structurally. Your service stays with the guest.
What is fonea for restaurants?
fonea is an AI phone assistant that takes reservations for Swiss restaurants 24/7, answers questions about opening hours and menu, captures allergies and special requests structurally, and syncs everything directly into your reservation software — in German, French, Italian, English and Spanish.
The hospitality reality
Why traditional phone solutions fail during service
Peak phone times = peak service times
The phone rings most between 11:30 am–2 pm and 6 pm–9 pm. Exactly when kitchen and service run at full capacity. The chef de service cannot stand at a table and answer the phone at the same time.
GastroSuisse industry report
Voicemail loses reservations — and catering deals
A caller leaving a message at 12:15 pm books the next restaurant on the Google list. For catering requests of CHF 5,000–15,000, that hurts twice.
CHF 120–15,000 per missed call
Online reservation systems alienate regulars
Older guests and regulars pick up the phone — not a smartphone form. Relying only on OpenTable or Bookatable cuts out exactly the 55+ generation with the highest spend.
Multilingual service is a must in tourism
In Zermatt, Lucerne, Interlaken or Geneva, guests call in English, Italian or French. A German-only voicemail costs every second tourist reservation.
What changes
How fonea relieves your restaurant
No missed calls — even mid-service
fonea handles arbitrarily many parallel calls while your team focuses on the guests in the house. No busy tone, no voicemail.
Reservations land straight in your software
Date, time, party size, allergies, special requests — captured structurally and synced to your reservation system or emailed to the manager.
Multilingual without extra staff
fonea detects the language automatically and replies in German, French, Italian, English or Spanish. Guests from all over Switzerland and abroad feel welcome.
Allergies cleanly documented
Gluten-free, lactose intolerance, nut allergy — fonea asks consistently and passes the info to the kitchen before the guest arrives.
Set up in 30 minutes
How we set up fonea for your venue
Kick-off
We discuss your opening hours, closing days, reservation rules, menu concept, and typical special requests.
Scripting
We write responses for your top questions (opening hours, daily menu, allergies, parking, terrace) in all required languages.
Integration
Connect to your reservation software or email workflow. Call forwarding via Swisscom, Sunrise, or Salt — your existing number stays.
Go-live
Test calls between lunch and dinner service, fine-tuning, handover. You keep full control of scripts and escalation paths.
Typical call scenarios
How fonea handles guest calls in practice
Friday evening table reservation
Standard reservation cleanly captured with all details — synced straight into your reservation software.
Opening hours and menu question
Opening hours, menu questions and brunch info around the clock — even on a closed Monday.
Allergy request with callback from the chef
fonea recognises the limits of automation: severe allergies = chef conversation. Clean handover, scheduled callback.
FADP, food safety and guest trust
Why fonea is the right partner for Swiss restaurateurs
Data hosted in Switzerland
All persistent data (reservations, transcripts, guest context) is hosted with our Swiss partner Supabase. No guest data leaves Switzerland persistently.
Transparent subprocessors
Full list of all vendors (Supabase, Telnyx, ElevenLabs, Google, Anthropic, OpenAI) with data residency and DPF status. 30-day advance notice on every change.
FDPIC-compliant disclosure
Every caller is informed at the start of the call that an AI system is in use. It is part of our compliance DNA and cannot be disabled.
The personal touch stays
Regulars who want to speak with you personally are always put through. fonea steps in only when nobody can pick up — it does not replace the owner.
Prezzi
Prezzi trasparenti
Incluso
- 120 minuti di conversazione IA inclusi
- DE, FR, IT, EN, ES + svizzero tedesco
- Integrazione calendario e prenotazione appuntamenti
- Segreteria IA 24/7
- IA interattiva per il servizio clienti
- Notifiche email e SMS
- Disdetta mensile, senza vincoli
Incluso
- 500 minuti di conversazione IA
- 3 chiamate simultanee
- 3 numeri di telefono
- Assistenti illimitati
- Utenti illimitati
Funzionalità
- Tutto di Basic
- Chiamate in uscita
Incluso
- Da 2'000 minuti
- Chiamate simultanee su misura
- Numeri di telefono su misura
- Assistenti illimitati
- Utenti illimitati
Funzionalità
- Tutto di Professional
- Voce personalizzata
- Zero Data Retention
- SLA su misura
Frequently asked
What restaurateurs need to know before using fonea
Can fonea communicate opening hours and closing days correctly?
Yes. You configure lunch service, dinner service, Sunday brunch, closing days and holidays. fonea knows seasonal schedules (e.g. terrace only May–September) and answers questions like "Are you open on Easter Monday?" correctly — in French or Italian too.
How does fonea handle tourists and multilingual calls?
fonea detects the caller's language automatically within the first seconds and switches to German, French, Italian, English or Spanish. For venues in Zermatt, Lucerne, Interlaken, Geneva or Lugano this is critical — an English-speaking tourist group never hits a German voicemail.
Does fonea integrate with my reservation software?
Yes. fonea syncs reservations structurally to your reservation software (OpenTable, Lightspeed, Bookatable, localsearch and others) or sends a structured email summary to your manager. If you have no software yet, a formatted email is enough.
Is fonea FADP-compliant for a Swiss restaurant?
Yes. All persistent guest data is hosted in Switzerland (Supabase, infrastructure in Geneva). Transient voice processing (STT, LLM, TTS) runs on European servers in Germany with DPF or SCC safeguards. The revised FADP (effective 1 September 2023) and the GDPR are fully respected.
Does fonea work during high season and at Christmas?
Especially then. fonea handles arbitrarily many parallel calls — on Valentine's Day, on Swiss National Day, in peak ski season. No busy tone, no queue. That is the decisive difference from a single person at reception.
What happens with emergencies or complaints?
fonea detects emotional requests and complaints and transfers immediately to the defined person (owner, manager, general manager) — to mobile, to the venue, via SMS alert. If unreachable, fonea captures the matter structurally and prioritises a callback within 30 minutes.
Will fonea annoy my older regulars?
fonea introduces itself as an AI assistant (FDPIC requirement), but sounds natural and understands Swiss German dialects. Regulars who want to speak with you personally can always be transferred. Older guests in particular prefer an immediate answer over a voicemail — they want to get through, not to leave a message.
Can we switch fonea off after high season?
Yes. The contract is monthly with no minimum term. Many venues keep fonea running year-round because the relief is noticeable off-season too — but that is your call.
Further reading
Restaurant und Catering: Kein Anruf mehr verloren
KI-Telefonassistent für Restaurants und Catering: Reservierungen annehmen, Catering-Anfragen erfassen, Mehrsprachigkeit. Für Schweizer Gastronomiebetriebe.
Viersprachig am Telefon: KI für die Schweiz
Mehrsprachiger KI-Telefonassistent: Automatische Spracherkennung, Sprachwechsel DE/FR/IT/EN und Schweizerdeutsch-Verständnis.
Saisongeschäft: Erreichbar ohne Temporärpersonal
Saisonale Schweizer KMU bewältigen Anrufspitzen ohne Temporärpersonal. KI-Telefonassistent als flexible Lösung, pausierbar in der Nebensaison.