topic Can I send a text to a guest without a KDS? in Restaurant Operations

Can I send a text to a guest without a KDS?

kathrynsabol — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 17:09:02 GMT

We do not have a KDS but want to text guests, can I still send a guest a text from the Orders Hub?

Re: Can I send a text to a guest without a KDS?

Rob — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 18:27:25 GMT

Unfortunately, you need a KDS to let guests know when their order is ready, but I think you can send a welcome message to guests if you only have the Orders hub. I am not able to test it.

Send Text Message When Order is Fulfilled

Send Text Message When Order is Fulfilled

Re: Can I send a text to a guest without a KDS?

rcmck — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 18:30:48 GMT

Just need to turn these on, but you would just have to mark the orders ready yourself without the KDS.

Re: Can I send a text to a guest without a KDS?

jeffreyjp — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 23:02:41 GMT

Rob, I run the Toast system for a bakery/retail chain which only takes advance orders. We just started using Catering & Events Pro to handle scheduled orders. Customers can place orders online, and the orders are showing up on our KDS screen, getting fulfilled, and sent to our Orders Hub. But they do not seem to trigger SMS messages to the customer when we mark them Complete from there. In the screenshot you posted it says, "Order Ready Messaging is available for orders placed through the Online Ordering website and Local by Toast or Curbside dining behavior." Are Catering orders treated differently in the system than other online orders?

Re: Can I send a text to a guest without a KDS?

Rob — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 22:13:16 GMT

Hey, that's a great question! It seems like it is different. The only SMS features I could find were for invoicing. Catering is a newer module, so there could be updates to change this in time. I will contact my team to confirm, but I believe they are different!

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