HotSchedules Releases New Mobile Logbook, Now the Most Comprehensive Task Management and Communication Tool for Restaurants

AUSTIN, Texas, July 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- HotSchedules®, provider of mobile technology for the restaurant and hospitality industries, today unveiled Logbook, a mobile task list and communication tool that can replace or enhance traditional paper systems. Currently, Logbook is used by over 12,000 locations. The new features, designed for smartphones, tablets, and web browsers, add significant functionality, including task lists based on best practices from the Manager's Red Book. The new release will help managers run more efficient shifts that deliver a consistent guest experience, every day and at every location. 

Disorganized storefront operations and poor shift-to-shift communications breeds chaos and weaken both the guest experience and overall store performance. HotSchedules Logbook addresses these challenges by consolidating all operational tasks, to-dos, maintenance schedules, personnel issues, and communications into one cloud-based solution that managers and staff can access from a mobile device.

Native device features like the camera, email and bar code scanner will make it easier for employees to communicate and document shift information in real-time or search records by topic at a later date - something that is difficult to do with archived paper systems.

HotSchedules Logbook gives both corporate-level operations and individual managers the ability to define, assign, and track tasks and checklists for an entire restaurant operation. Restaurants can choose to use pre-designed task lists based on the best practices of more than 120,000 restaurant and hospitality locations, or they can customize task lists to fit their operation.

All shift notes are updated in real time and come with mobile notifications so that managers can see what has or hasn't been completed and resolve issues before they become emergencies. Logbook collects data on task completion so managers, owners and headquarters can analyze, compare and improve performance at every store.

In addition, Logbook's communication tools enable managers to instant message with employees, broadcast announcements, issues surveys, and send videos of a new procedures and processes. Overall, Logbook's feature set ensures that restaurants deliver a consistent experience and comply with directives around safety, food handling, cash handling, HAACP, and employee management.   

In the near future, restaurants will be able to speed up regular safety and temperature checks by upgrading Logbook with Bluetooth® devices. For instance, Bluetooth sensors can be configured to check and update oven temperatures, and employees will be able to use barcode scanners to confirm task completion on-the-fly, reducing errors and keeping stores in compliance. Logbook is available as part of HotSchedules or as a standalone mobile app solution.

Logbook has changed the game for customers like CRAVE Restaurants. "Previously, our in-store communications consisted of clipboards full of notes with no dates," said Jim Hofer, Operations Support for CRAVE, in a case study. "Now, everything is under one umbrella and can be managed consistently and far more accurately. Finding records is a breeze and we can hold each other accountable. There's a cost savings there too."

Brooklyn's Restaurant in Stillwater, Oklahoma also finds the communications tools essential to their operation. "We lean on the Logbook to keep track of personnel issues and ongoing repairs and maintenance," said Carly Rodreick, General Manager. "It makes it so easy to go back and search for a specific incident later on."

"The new Logbook combines all the best features of our Manager's Red Book, including Universal Tasks lists for restaurant and hospitality operations, with our HotSchedules Digital Logbook. We're upgrading everything and bringing them into one mobile app," said Anthony Lye, CEO at HotSchedules. "This is a major leap for HotSchedules because we're bringing together two best-in-class tools and adding innovative features that will give our customers the competitive edge they need to succeed."

About HotSchedules
HotSchedules provides mobile technology for the restaurant, retail and hospitality industries. The company delivers a comprehensive suite of cloud-based software designed to automate operational challenges such as recruiting, training, scheduling, business intelligence, shift communication, labor and inventory management. Its world-class products include HotSchedules®, Jobsabi™, Schoox, The Manager's Red Book™, Logbook, Macromatix and numerous applications built on the Bodhi™ platform. HotSchedules is proud to serve more than 1.8 million users in over 110,000 locations across 26 countries. For more information visit: http://www.hotschedules.com.  

SOURCE HotSchedules

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