Create a manual booking from the Bookings page when a customer contacts your team directly or when you need to enter a booking on their behalf.

Manual bookings are saved with the dashboard source.

Before you create the booking

Check the selected location first. Bookings are location-specific, and the available tables, staff, services, and time slots come from that location's setup.

You should also confirm:

  • customer name
  • customer phone number
  • customer email, if the customer wants email updates
  • date and time
  • party size for restaurant bookings
  • service and staff member for service appointments
  • notes or special requests
  • whether to notify the customer

Restaurant booking flow

For restaurant locations, the manual booking flow asks for the reservation time, party size, and table selection. Speako checks table capacity and availability for the selected time.

If no tables are available, check table setup, table capacity, selected time, and existing bookings.

Service appointment flow

For service businesses, the flow asks for the service, time, staff member, and customer details. Speako loads available staff based on the selected service and time.

If no staff are available, check staff availability and whether the staff member is linked to the selected service.

Recognising returning customers

When a dashboard booking is created, Speako checks whether a customer with that phone number already exists. If found, it can update the name and email. If not found, it adds the customer to your customer list.

💡 Tip: Use the customer's real phone number whenever possible. Phone number matching helps Speako recognise returning customers.

After creating the booking

The booking appears in the calendar with a confirmed status. Open the booking details to review the customer, resource, time, and booking reference.

If the customer should receive a confirmation, make sure the notification option is selected and a usable customer email is available.

If creation fails

Read the error before trying again. Common causes include a booking time in the past, an end time before the start time, a party size outside the selected table's capacity, a missing service or staff member, or a resource conflict with an existing confirmed booking.

Fix the setup or booking details, then create the booking again.