How to Make Ordering Easy with Advanced Catering Menus in Resource Central

Why use Word documents, spreadsheets, or pen and paper to order catering when you can automate the process with resource booking software like Resource Central? Booking a meeting and ordering catering doesn’t have to mean manual, error-prone processes. A meeting room booking system like Resource Central allows you to easily find and book meeting rooms and make catering requests directly from Microsoft Outlook^®.

Staff members who need catering for their meetings can book the catering services that they want, when they want them, in Resource Central. They can also modify, cancel, or manage their bookings with ease.

Advanced Features for Caterers

Resource Central isn’t just made to benefit organizations that book catering services. Resource Central boasts a catering interface, where caterers can log in to view their daily task list and generate reports. An incredibly useful feature of Resource Central for caterers are its advanced catering menus. Caterers can set up their catering items in fixed menu structures. In other words, they can group items and then sell them as one item.

For example, a caterer can create a fixed lunch menu that includes a sandwich, soft drink, and fruit, or a breakfast menu that includes coffee, tea, and bagels. Then, meeting organizers can order their desired number of fixed breakfast or lunch menus. These menus contain specific items that are always served when a user orders a particular menu.

The possibilities for setting up menus in Resource Central are broad in scope. You can set up a variety of menus to give people plenty to choose from, including large breakfast menus, small breakfast menus, dinner menus, vegetarian menus, and so much more. In addition to offering products as part of a fixed menu, caterers can offer items a la carte. Not unlike a fast food restaurant, users have the option to order a burger a la carte, or they can order a burger as part of a fixed meal that includes the burger, a drink, and fries.

Product Variations in Catering Menus

Menus can also be set up with product variations. Caterers can set up a sandwich menu that allows users to choose from 10 different types of sandwiches, for example. If a meeting organizer were to order 20 sandwich menus, he would then be prompted to select the types of sandwiches he wants. For instance, he could choose to order 12 chicken sandwiches and 8 corned beef sandwiches as a part of that order.

Caterers also have the option to set limitations on the number of product variations that can be included in orders of certain quantities. For example, a 20-sandwich order could be limited to three sandwich types so that the user is unable to ask for more than three different sandwich types within that particular order. This will prevent caterers from having to accommodate an excessive number of product variations within a single order. While the sandwich type can vary, the menu itself will remain fixed, in that the user will get a bottle of water, fruit, or any other item that the caterer chooses to incorporate into that fixed menu.

Why Switch to Resource Central?

In the past, ordering catering for a meeting was time-consuming and difficult. With a solution like Resource Central, you can place your catering order at the same time as when you book your meeting on your desktop. Resource Central software is integrated with Outlook, so you don’t have to log into a separate system to complete your order. The catering staff at your company or external provider will automatically be notified of what you need and then they can manage the order accordingly. It’s a win-win solution.

Whether your organization has in-house catering facilities, or you work with an external service provider, you’ll wonder how you ever did without Resource Central booking software. From smaller organizations to large corporate settings, Resource Central makes it easier for you to organize and manage meetings, catering orders, visitor management, and much more.

Sign up for a free trial or free online demo of Resource Central today!