iPad Wait List App Will Text You When Your Table Is Ready

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Name: NoWait

Quick Pitch: Restaurant wait list that replaces pagers and eliminates lines.

Genius Idea: iPad app lets the restaurant notify their guests when their table is ready — via text message.

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Restaurant wait lists can be unorganized and frustrating – guests are often waiting for their pager to buzz or name to be shouted long after their expected wait time.

Instead of shouting names or tracking wait lists on paper, NoWait lets restaurants send a text message to their guests when their table is ready.

The innovative app eliminates pagers and lines, and allows guests to wait where they want until their table is ready.

"In today's information age, everyone wants immediate information, improved experience and they don't want to be forgotten," Robert Myer, CEO of NoWait, told Mashable. "NoWait reassures restaurant guests of their wait time so they can wait where they want."

NoWait's "What's My Place?" feature notifies guests of their approximate wait time via text message, and shows them which number they are in line.

Hosts can also engage with their guests while they wait by sending them a mobile menu or drink suggestion. After dinner, they can send a "thank you" text message for dining at the restaurant.

NoWait is primarily geared towards casual dining restaurants that don't accept reservations, such as Red Robin, T.G.I. Friday's and Texas Roadhouse. The app syncs with the iPad, iPhone and iPod so that managers, servers and other hosts can receive updates on their devices in real-time.

NoWait offers three plans for restaurants based on the number of parties a month: free for 200 parties, $114 a month for 1,200 parties and $199 a month for 2,500 parties.

These plans also include analytics about guests, and marketing features that allow restaurants to create email and text message marketing lists and send campaigns.

"For the restaurants, NoWait is a way to gain more customers per night and thus increase their revenue," says Myer. "Customers get a more enjoyable experience with real-time information so they can wait where they want and still go to the restaurants they want to."

Would you like to use NoWait when you dine out? Tell us in the comments.

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Series presented by Microsoft BizSpark

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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives software startups three-year access to Microsoft software development tools, marketing visibility to help promote their business and a connection to the BizSpark ecosystem, giving them access to investors, advisors and mentors. There is no cost to join, so if your startup is privately owned, less than three years old and generates less than U.S. $1M in annual revenue, sign up today.