Configuring phone number formats

Aloha Takeout allows easy configuration of U.S. phone number formats, as well as the ability to define phone formats for other areas of the globe. The' Default Phone Type' and 'Require Phone Number For Customers' settings are moved to a new tab in Maintenance > Takeout Configuration > Takeout Settings named 'Phone Numbers.'

U.S. Aloha Takeout installations in less populated regions can benefit from the 'Default Area Code' functionality. For towns that typically have one area code for both land and mobile numbers, this can reduce the phone entry to seven digits. Installations with a larger customer base may turn this off to enter full 10-digit phone numbers with varying area codes.

Non-U.S. installations can benefit from varying phone number layouts. This allows sites to configure varying area code and local number digits. Sites can also define multiple unique phone formats, if there are local and regional variances to the type of phone numbers a customer may use.

Defining how Aloha Takeout searches phone numbers

To further streamline the ATO user experience, we provide the 'Primary format' attribute to help assist ATO in displaying a phone number as it is typed into the guest search bar on the Look Up screen. For example, when you type "0201234567", (020) 123-4567 appears in the search text window. If you wish to search for a number by its local part only or for a number with a different length area code, the procedure is no different. When you type a numeric string, such as "12345", the database searches for local numbers that begin with 12345, as well as all numbers where area code + phone number begins with (123) 45.

Configuring phone formats for U.S. operations

With Takeout selected in the product panel, select Maintenance > Takeout Configuration > Takeout Settings > Phone Numbers tab.
Select the phone type that applies to the majority of customers that call your site for orders from the 'Default phone type' drop-down list. For example, if the site is located in a residential area, set the default phone type to "Home." Every new customer record defaults to this phone type; however the system allows you to manually change the type.
Select Require phone number to force you to enter a phone number when adding a new customer to the database. The system validates the phone number based on the phone format, to require the correct number of digits. Recommended: Selected.
Type the number of phone digits for telephone numbers in your area in 'Number phone digits.' Once you have entered the required number of digits in the search bar and ATO does not find a match, the Express Guest Entry screen appears to allow the entry of additional guest information. You must select Enable Express Customer Entry for this feature.
Type the minimum number of digits you allow for a phone extension. The default is four.
Type the maximum number of digits you allow for a phone extension. The default is four.
Select Require extension for guest office phone numbers to force you to enter an extension when the phone type is 'Office.' If an extension is not entered and you attempt to save the customer record, a prompt for an extension appears. If the customer does not have an extension, you can type "no" in the extension to continue. Recommended: Clear this option unless your customers tend to have extensions.
Optionally, enter a default area code for smaller communities with a single area code. With the rapid adoption of mobile phones, this option may not be practical except in small communities.

a. Select Pre-populate default area code in small communities where the majority of your customers have a single area code for home, office, and mobile numbers. When enabled, the system uses the area code digits entered in 'Default Area Code' to pre-populate the area code. This saves screen touches by only entering the local number.

b. Select Hide area code if equal to default to reduce excess screen information and simplify phone numbers. When enabled, if the area code of a customer phone number matches the default, the area code does not appear on various ATO screens including the Lookup, Pick Up, and Order Details screens. Only the seven-digit local number appears.
Select Use default U.S. phone format to force the (AAA) LLL-LLLL format, where AAA=area code and LLL-LLLL= the local number (exchange – extension). When selected, the 'Phone Number Layouts' frame is disabled. This helps simplify and minimize configuration for U.S. installations.Recommended: Selected for U.S. installations; cleared for non-U.S. installations.
Clear Area code must start with for U.S. installations.