TablesReady
TablesReady is a waitlist service that allows users to easily manage waitlists, order backlogs, and other waiting scenarios relevant to their industry. Using guests' cell phones instead of expensive pager systems, TR helps business owners save time and money.
At the moment we started our collaboration more than 7 years ago, the client had an idea, a product vision, basic designs, and the architecture plus code that needed optimization and integration of new concepts. The first Valor-built app version utilized PHP and AngularJS, but as time went by, we implemented several crucial modernizations. Also, we've reached a great deal of success with analytics that help track average wait times, busy hours, and walk-ins.
Key Features List:
– Guests can join a waitlist or make reservations, also book services with a TR link or by SMS registration
– TablesReady sends automated SMS reminders about the upcoming bookings
– Line management functionality, ability to create and manage guests’ profiles
– Analytics and statistics of peak hours, wait times, and service delivery timelines
Technologies & services:
JavaScript
PHP
Node.js
PostgreSQL
MongoDB
AngularJs
Angular
heroku
firebase
AWS
Twilio
Recurly
D3.js
Redis
WebSockets
Socket.io
In time, we felt the necessity to breathe new life into the platform – boost its ability to scale and serve bigger audiences. Moving TablesReady to newer frameworks would give our clients more opportunities to develop the product and quite effortlessly integrate new features into it.
Migration to Node.js and Angular
We migrated the code of the application from PHP to Node.js, and from AngularJS to Angular correspondingly, which brought greater flexibility and many more benefits listed below. Another part of this big transformation was switching from the MongoDB database to PostgreSQL, which was a bit challenging but worth every effort.
Challenge: As we had to move the application from a non-relational database to relational, accurate work with data was a must. We had to make sure nothing got lost because of the transition, and this consumed time and required domain expertise.
Solution: Even though the major part of the transition was automated, we also applied manual schema mapping to ensure accurate data migration.
Impact
Increased performance of the TablesReady platform
Simplified integration of new features
Clear and manageable codebase
Improved error handling
New functionality
Our client wanted to give more freedom and flexibility to the TablesReady audience in terms of managing subscriptions and getting the most out of the platform for every particular business. Initially, users had two plans to choose from: a paid subscription and an enterprise plan, both with a free trial period. Valor’s team has added new functionality to the admin panel that allows users to subscribe to a free plan or pick the most suitable among several Premium plans depending on their guests’ turnover. Also, users now can set up the subscription types and switch between plans on their own!
Impact
Greater customization as users can pick optimal subscription plans and switch between them at any moment
Higher clients’ satisfaction with the app as they can manage their expenses more efficiently
Updated UI
We reworked the user interface to make the app more user-friendly, and up-to-date. Our goal was to make the user flow throughout the system more smoothly. Also, we add a dark mode feature to give an option to users to choose which mode they are comfortable using.
Before
After
Before
After
Impact
Improved user experience with the platform
Intuitive interface that saves time for managing orders and lines
Among numerous plans for the future, the reorganization of the accounts structure is possibly the biggest and the most substantial one. Currently, there is a one-to-one relationship between accounts and locations, but we will make that a 1-to-many relationship. This will bring business accounts the opportunity to have multiple points of sales, with each having its own subscription model. Looking forward to this new feature, and to describing it in the next reviews!
Mike Errecart
The owner and CEO of TablesReady
I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the developers Valor is able to find. They write good code, communicate well in written English, and have been very easy to work with. And despite the war, there’s been absolutely no downtime or lost productivity, except for those first 2 days after the invasion. (Not that this was something I asked for – it wasn’t – but it’s just a testament to the team and culture.)
