Product documentation
Services and capacity
Set when your venue accepts bookings and the limits TablePace uses to protect each service.
Capacity is where you tell TablePace what a normal service looks like before bookings start filling it.
A service answers two different questions:
- When can guests book? — the service day, start and end time, advance-booking window and maximum party size.
- How much demand can arrive? — total service covers, bookings and covers per arrival interval, table time and turn buffer.
TablePace checks these rules together with the published floorplan. A time is only available when the service rules allow it and suitable seating can fit the booking.
Create a service
Open Capacity and choose Add service.
The service editor takes you through four stages. For a normal dinner service:
- Give it a clear name such as Dinner.
- Select the days it runs and set the opening and closing booking times.
- Set table time, turn buffer and pacing limits.
- Set the overall service limit, maximum party size and how far ahead guests may book.
When creating a service, you can apply the same settings to several days at once. TablePace creates a recurring service for each selected day.
Start with realistic limits
Use limits your team can actually serve, not the theoretical maximum number of chairs in the venue. A 60-seat room may need a lower arrival limit if the kitchen or floor cannot comfortably receive 30 covers at once.
You can refine the rules later. The Capacity test workspace is designed for trying changes before relying on them in the live guest journey.
What affects a booking request
For a requested date, time and party size, TablePace considers:
- whether an active service runs on that day;
- whether the time is inside the service window;
- minimum and maximum advance-booking rules;
- maximum party size;
- total service cover limit;
- pacing limits for the arrival interval;
- progressive pacing, if enabled;
- blackouts and date-specific overrides;
- suitable table or configured combination availability for the full booking duration.
If a booking cannot fit, see Why a booking may be unavailable.