Industries
An AI phone assistant for restaurants that books the table and seats the party
Lumate, from lumate.io, is an AI phone assistant for restaurants. It answers your booking line in a natural voice, takes the name, the party size and the occasion, and writes the booking straight into a floor plan it builds from your own tables, so the party is seated before anyone has to open a diary.
The film
Hollin & Thyme is an invented 20-table bistro in London. Its owner, Sofia, gives Lumate her floor plan and asks for an app. Then a guest rings to book for six, and the booking lands on the plan.
What happens in the film
- 01
Builds the app from the floor plan 0:04
Sofia hands Lumate her floor plan and asks for an app. Lumate builds a table plan of the bistro's twenty tables.
- 02
Answers the phone 0:16
A guest asks for a table for six at half past eight; it is his wife's birthday. Lumate answers as the bistro's AI assistant, says the call is recorded, and asks for his name and for any requirements for the table.
- 03
Reads the booking back 0:47
Lumate says the booking back: six people, tonight at 8:30, under Owen Reed, for a birthday. It notes the table only once he says that is right.
- 04
Seats every party 1:02
Both six-seat tables are taken at half past eight, so the plan pushes tables seven and eight together. Press play on the plan and the whole evening runs: who comes in, where they sit and when tables free up.
What Lumate does here
It answers on the line you already have
Lumate is one extension on your company's PBX, such as 3CX or Asterisk, so your PBX can send the booking line to it. Calls that ring your WhatsApp can be answered too.
In the docs: Phone systems, Calls and voice
Callers can add a booking to your app
A collection in an app can be marked so that callers may add a row. The docs' own example is a restaurant's table bookings. Lumate says the details back first, fills only the fields you allowed, and adds at most three rows a call.
In the docs: Chats, tasks and apps
It tells callers only what you chose to share
On a call Lumate reads out only the fields and knowledge notes you marked for callers. Anything else on your customers' cards stays unsaid, and nothing about other customers is ever read out.
In the docs: Calls and voice, Chats, tasks and apps
Every call opens with the truth
Calls start with a recording notice, and in the film Lumate says it is the AI assistant. It never denies being an AI when someone sincerely asks.
In the docs: What Lumate is, Calls and voice
A person can step in on a live call
Anyone allowed to can read a call as it is spoken, listen to both sides, and take it over; the agent goes quiet and your extension rings.
In the docs: Calls and voice
The data stays on your machine
Lumate runs on your own Windows PC or server. You bring your own OpenAI key for calls and your own Claude account for the agents.
In the docs: Install on Windows, Security and compliance
Transcript
Read the transcript of the film
Sofia runs Hollin and Thyme, a twenty-table bistro in London. She gives Lumate her floor plan and asks for an app. Lumate builds it. A guest calls. Lumate answers, and the booking goes straight into the app.
Owen: Is that Hollin and Thyme?
Lumate: Hello, Yes, Hollin and Thyme. You're through to Lumate, the AI assistant. This call is recorded.
Owen: Hi! Could I book a table for six tonight, around half past eight? It's my wife's birthday.
Lumate: That's lovely! May I take your name for the booking, and do you have any notes or requirements for the table?
Owen: Owen Reed. R, E, E, D.
Lumate: Great, just a second. I have a table for 6 tonight at 8:30 under Owen Reed for your wife's birthday. Is that all correct?
Owen: Yes, please. That's right.
Lumate: One moment, Your table's noted for tonight at 8:30 pm.
The plan seats the party of six. Both six-seat tables are taken at half past eight, so it pushes tables seven and eight together. Press play, and the whole evening runs: who comes in, where they sit, and when tables free up.
Lumate. Your company's AI team, at lumate.io.
Questions about Lumate for this business
Can an AI really answer a restaurant's phone?
Yes. In the film a guest rings Hollin & Thyme and Lumate answers as the bistro's AI assistant. It takes his name, the party size and the occasion, reads the booking back and notes it once he agrees. A person can listen to a live call on the office line or through WhatsApp Web and take it over.
Does the booking go straight onto the table plan?
In the film it does. The booking goes into the app Lumate built from the owner's floor plan, and the plan places the party. The docs also describe a table-bookings collection that callers can add rows to, with Lumate saying the details back before it adds one.
Can it push tables together for a party of six?
In the film both six-seat tables are already taken at half past eight, so the plan pushes tables seven and eight together for the party of six. That plan was built from one bistro's twenty tables; yours is built from your own.
Does the caller know they are talking to an AI?
In the film Lumate says so at once: "You're through to Lumate, the AI assistant. This call is recorded." Calls always open with a recording notice, and Lumate never denies being an AI when someone sincerely asks. In Türkiye it says it is an AI by default.
Does it work with the phone system I already have?
Yes. Lumate registers as an extension on your company's PBX, for example 3CX or Asterisk, and the PBX sends calls to it. Calls can also go through WhatsApp Web from your office browser.