Posted: 03rd Aug, 2004 By: MarkJ
Strange as it may seem, BT has teamed up with Lastminute to supply broadband users with access to a new super fast online booking system for restaurant tables. Did we mention the new 'bright pink' Internet kiosks as well?:
BT and lastminute.com deal whets appetite for broadband take-up
BT has joined forces with lastminute.com to bring the broadband revolution to Britain's restaurant industry with the launch of a superfast online queue busting booking system.
The venture will enable restaurants to advertise table vacancies the instant they become available - acting much like an interactive reservations book - live to the half a million people who visit lastminute.com everyday.*
The service is a complete broadband-based system designed with the specific needs of a restaurant in mind.**
It includes access to BT business broadband for those restaurants that are not yet broadband enabled, a live diary management and booking system as well as a stylish internet terminal, all designed to enable any restaurant to fill their tables more effectively.
The booking system also provides access to a range of marketing partners that will help advertise the restaurant more effectively.
This is BT's first initiative tailored to drive broadband uptake within this sector of the leisure industry.
A second initiative - aimed at combining BT's broadband capacity with lastminute.com's expertise in the lucrative internet lifestyle market, is the roll-out of bright pink multimedia 'kiosks' where customers will be able to book great deals on local hotels, shows, restaurants, holidays and family-friendly events via the lastminute.com web site.***
Already available in key London sites, the kiosks will be rolled out to Birmingham, Manchester and other UK locations to be confirmed over the next month.
Woohoo, just what you'd want to be seen using at a "key" site, a bright pink Internet kiosk. Hopefully it's a bit more appealing to women.