OpenTable.com Launches OTAdmin
August 16, 2000
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (August 16, 2000) — OpenTable.com (www.opentable.com), the leading supplier of Internet-enabled customer relationship management, yield management and reservation management tools to the restaurant industry, today announced the launch of OTAdmin, the first interactive online solution to give corporate assistants and travel planners direct online access to the reservation books at hundreds of the country’s top restaurants. The launch of OTAdmin advances OpenTable.com’s goal of bringing the conveniences of real-time online reservations to everyone that makes dining reservations, whether they are reserving for themselves or for others in the course of their job.
OTAdmin — an interactive and personalized online interface connected via real private network to the electronic reservation books (ERBs) at OpenTable.com’s member restaurants — has been in use at a number of corporations around the country since its release last month. The company plans to aggressively market the system to corporate assistants and travel planners in the coming months in keeping with the rapid growth of their restaurant network, which now serves 17 US cities and will soon expand into European markets. The company expects rapid adoption of the new interface by administrative assistants around the country, particularly after the launch of OpenTable.com’s comprehensive dining rewards program, which is currently available online and will be launched officially later this month. OpenTable Dining Rewards will reward administrative assistants for making reservations online with points redeemable for OpenTable Dining Cheques, which are used like travelers’ checks at any OpenTable.com member restaurant.
OTAdmin brings administrative assistants all of the tools that are available to consumers on OpenTable.com’s original interface — including 24/7 access to tables at restaurants around the country with no busy signals or waiting on hold, instant online confirmation of reservations, and a restaurant reservation search engine that allows them to search for availability according to preferences including city, neighborhood, cuisine type and price range — or by a customizable list of favorite or nearby restaurants. OTAdmin goes beyond this basic functionality to enable corporate assistants to create multiple profiles for multiple diners, and make reservations online for any or all of those people at any of the hundreds of restaurants in the OpenTable.com network.
“OTAdmin advances our goal of bringing our real-time restaurant reservation functionality to anyone that makes reservations, whether they are reserving for themselves or for others in the course of their job,” said Jeff Edwards, OpenTable.com’s CEO. “We’ve already seen a tremendous increase in online reservations in cities where administrative assistants are actively using our service, and we expect those numbers to continue to grow. Our restaurant partners are definitely interested in hosting corporate meetings, events and business travelers, and we’re delighted to bring them this new avenue for reaching an attractive demographic.”
About OpenTable.com
OpenTable.com is dedicated to harnessing the power of the Internet for restaurants and providing dining consumers and hospitality professionals with the best possible reservation experience. The company’s proprietary electronic reservation book (ERB) introduces revolutionary customer relationship management, marketing, and yield management tools, as well as real-time online reservations, to the restaurant industry. OpenTable.com has strategically partnered with leading Internet and media companies including America Online (AOL) Digital City, OracleMobile.com, The Chicago Tribune’s Metromix.com, The New York Times’ NYToday.com and The Boston Globe’s Boston.com. OpenTable.com’s customers include more than 800 of the nation’s top restaurants. The company is backed by leading venture capital firms Impact Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital, as well as American Express. OpenTable.com is based in San Francisco, California, and has offices in fifteen cities including New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington DC. For more information about OpenTable.com or its online restaurant reservation network visit www.opentable.com or call 1.800.OPENTABLE.
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