In this article, you will find everything you need to know about Live Availability: what it is, how to use it, and what happens to your existing reservations.
Summary
- What is Live Availability and why use it?
- How to use it
- Troubleshooting & FAQs
What you need to know
Live Availability lets you change the availability and pacing for a service, from the reservation view, without going into your settings. Every change applies to that day only. Your normal configuration is never modified.
💡 The Live Availability feature is included in the Manage and Grow subscription plans. It is available on web, iOS (minimum version 4.0.71) and Android.
1. What is Live Availability and why use it?
Change your dining room while service is running, in seconds.
When an area needs to close or a service is filling faster than you want, you no longer need to leave the reservation view and build a service exception by hand. You make the change where you already are, and your reservations widget reflects it immediately.
What you can change for a service:
- Mark as full — immediately close (or open) online booking availability for a service or specific time slots
- Areas — make a seating area unbookable (or bookable)
- Pacing — set the capacity for the service, cap time slots one at a time or all at once, mark a slot partially full, or reset a slot to its default
Your usual service setup does not change. Any other day opens exactly as you configured it.
2. How to use it
In the web application:
Open the reservation view, ensure that today (or the day you want to change) is selected, then click the Availability settings gear icon on the top right.
In a single pop-up window, you will see tabs for Mark as full, Areas, and Pacing. Choose the tab(s) you need, make your changes in as many tabs as you like, and click Save & Close.
Nothing changes until you hit Save & Close.
Note that if you make an Area unbookable and reservations are already assigned to it, a warning will pop up to tell you how many reservations will be affected and will need new table assignments.
In the mobile app:
When you view the day's reservations, you'll see a separate gear icon next to each service name. Click this icon and follow the same steps as above. Click the tick mark ✔ to save your changes.
3. Troubleshooting & FAQs
Common Issues
- My reservations lost their table — This is expected. Making an area unbookable unassigns the reservations that were seated there, which is what the deactivation message warns you about. The reservations are still there and need to be given a new table.
- I cannot find my change in my Exception list — Changes made through Live Availability do not appear in the Exception list. At the top of the day's reservation view, you will see an orange/red restriction indicator.
- My change did not apply — Check whether a closing period already covers that date. A closing period always takes priority.
- I don’t see the Availability settings button on my iPad or phone — Make sure the Zenchef app is up to date. On iOS you need version 4.0.71 or later; on Android, install the latest version from the Play Store. Then reopen the reservation view.
FAQs
- Does this change my normal settings? No. Every change applies only to the single date you change.
- How quickly does my booking widget update? Immediately.
- What if a colleague is editing at the same time? Your changes are saved to the service itself, so the most recent save is the one that applies. If you want to be sure you are looking at the current state, close and reopen Availability settings.
- How do I undo a change? Make the area bookable again, or use reset to default on a time slot.
- I don’t see the Availability settings button — Live Availability is available in the Manage and Grow plans. Please contact your account manager for more information.