How Heep Works: From Missed Call to Confirmed Booking in 2 Minutes
Heep turns every missed call into a confirmed booking in under 2 minutes, 24/7. See how the AI assistant for restaurants works, step by step.
The question we get in demos is almost never "does it work". It is: what gets written, where, and by whom, when a guest cannot reach you at 11 pm.
Two things are easily conflated. Recovering a request means sending a message and waiting for a reply. Writing the booking means creating the line in your system, in the right service, with the right covers. Heep does both, in that order.
What follows describes each step, what triggers it, and what it does not do.
< 2 min from a missed call to a confirmed booking in your reservation system — with no team member having to pick up the phone.
Every missed call is a lost booking
An unanswered call leaves no trace, unless something records it. That is the whole question: the request exists, it has no written support.
The problem is not the volume of demand, but the impossibility of having somebody free on every channel at every hour. Heep does not replace that somebody: it moves the request onto a written channel, where it can wait without being lost.
- A large share of calls goes unanswered during service hours: your operator gives you the exact figure
- < 30 sec between the missed call and the first Heep message to the guest (Heep internal measurement)
- 15+ languages handled natively — the guest replies in theirs (Heep, April 2026)
How it works, step by step
Here's what happens when a guest calls and nobody picks up.
The call goes unanswered, the sequence starts
Heep only sees the call if your line passes it on: forwarding on no answer, to a dedicated number or from your own. Without it, nothing goes out.
The rule decides what goes out, and to whom
Time window, type of call, a known number: the sequence obeys the rules you set, not a blanket trigger.
WhatsApp or SMS, whichever works for the guest
If the number is linked to WhatsApp, the message goes there; otherwise, by SMS. The guest receives it whatever their device.
The guest replies, and the language is detected
French, English, Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese: the reply goes back in the language of the message received, without the guest having to pick one.
Heep handles the full conversation
It collects all necessary information (date, time, covers, allergies, special requests), checks live availability and proposes the right slots.
The booking is written into your system
No double entry: Heep writes to SevenRooms, Zenchef or TheFork Manager, and the line appears like any other, with its source.
Estimate my recoverable bookings
Why it changes everything for your restaurant
- Requests recovered rather than lost. The missed call becomes a usable conversation again, provided the forwarding is in place and the rule allows it.
- A conversation that holds outside service. The guest writes at 3 am, the reply goes out straight after: that is where writing beats the phone.
- Your team freed from calling back. The time spent calling back and noting bookings goes back to the floor.
Case study — Noto Paris (Moma Group)
- Before Heep: 20% of calls missed during service, no follow-up system.
- After deployment: 2,500 calls recovered and 1,600 confirmed bookings per month.
- Deployment: a few days from brief to activation. Zero additional hires.
See exactly how many calls you're losing each week. Calculate my recoverable revenue
Built for restaurants, not a generic chatbot
Plenty of tools promise to "manage your messages". The useful difference is not the vocabulary but two checkable points: whether a vague request is understood, and whether the booking is written into the book.
Generic chatbot
- Rigid pre-written responses
- Doesn't understand vague requests
- Redirects to an external link
- Not integrated with your booking system
Heep
- Understands context and nuance
- Handles vague requests and last-minute changes
- Books directly inside the conversation
- Natively connected to Zenchef, TheFork, SevenRooms
Three things to check before you commit. That your line can forward unanswered calls. That your booking system grants the access needed: on SevenRooms it depends on region and contract. And that its own reminder is off, or the guest gets two messages.
See also: how Heep integrates with Zenchef and the missed calls revenue calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Does Heep work if my restaurant has no booking system?
Yes. Heep can manage reservations via WhatsApp or SMS alone, without a booking system. Integration with Zenchef, TheFork or SevenRooms is a bonus, not a prerequisite.
How quickly is Heep up and running?
A few days. Heep learns your menu, hours and rules during an initial brief. Activation is handled by our team, no technical work required on your end.
What happens if a guest asks something Heep can't answer?
Heep escalates automatically to your team. You receive a notification and can take over the conversation in one tap. Heep never blocks a guest.
Can Heep handle multiple restaurants simultaneously?
Yes. Heep is natively multi-venue. Each restaurant has its own profile, hours and rules. You manage everything from a single dashboard.
