5 ms·

A lot of the Uber-for-food-delivery startups use them for ordering at restaurants because there is no text-based API to restaurants and the UX of receiving an a

by patio11 10y ago

A lot of the Uber-for-food-delivery startups use them for ordering at restaurants because there is no text-based API to restaurants and the UX of receiving an automated phone call is poor. They're pervasive in finance, insurance, employee benefits, etc. They're also a good one-to-many API multiplexer. So many businesses can take a fax and have a human operate on it that many software companies can use them to add actuators to their software without having to bizdev the company into adding an actual API integration.

ryanworl 10y ago
To explain the typical workflow here, the restaurant receives a fax from the marketplace with a phone number to call to acknowledge the delivery. There is a short numeric code on the fax print out that the restaurant types into the IVR system. This is how these marketplaces can confirm someone is there to actually receive the order and provide that feedback to the customer that their order has been received. I think (but am not sure) that they can provide time estimates through the IVR system as well.
- bpicolo 10y ago
  Depends on the company, but this is the gist of it. There are frequently options outside of fax, as well. It's one of several.
digi_owl 10y ago
My understanding is that holding a fax copy of a contract with a signature is as good in court as holding the contract itself. But holding a PDF of same is not.
- beamatronic 10y ago
  Electronic signing is a thing however. Faxes are successful because they are the technology "lowest common denominator" for business
  - cbhl 10y ago
    I was under the impression that HelloFax/HelloSign basically did this -- they would let you digitally sign the document, and then fax it out to someone (possibly yourself).
- sveit 10y ago
  TradeHarbor offers a service called EmailToSign [1] that allows you to sign PDFs using your voice. [1] http://tradeharbor.com/2017/hosted-apps/ http://tradeharbor.com/2017/hosted-apps/
bambax 10y ago
> food-delivery So it's easier/cheaper for a restaurant to have a dedicated phone line for faxing (plus fax and supplies) than connect a printer to a PC? Is this because someone needs to actually print incoming emails or orders? And if yes, is there an opportunity for some kind of software solution that would always print what it receives, with no human intervention?
- ybot 10y ago
  The short answer is 'yes' — fax machines are actually a pretty great solution to this problem. If you think about it, there isn't really that much overhead for having a fax line and a $40 fax machine vs running a full computer + printer combo, set up is trivial, faxes have a very well-understood track record, and the 'sender' gets direct feedback on whether or not the physical document was successfully delivered. If there's a software gap here, it's being filled as features in modern Point Of Sale systems. That space is really crowded right now (Revel, Clover, Toast, 'more modern' offerings from legacy providers like Micros and NCR). There may be an opportunity to provide a more niche offering rather than a comprehensive solution like those, but the space is far from empty.
  - bambax 10y ago
    I'm not looking for startup ideas in this domain, I was just wondering "in general". If the PC + printer is already there (surely it has to be for accounting, etc.) why have a fax. But ok, if the fax and the phone line cost next to nothing and it "just works", then sure it makes a lot of sense.
    - ybot 10y ago
      A lot of these restaurants _do_ have a PC + printer in a back room or office somewhere. If the restaurant is owned by a group (or small chain), that setup may only exist at one location. They can (and do!) put the fax machine right by the kitchen.
- beamatronic 10y ago
  What would your software run on? A PC? Who is going to keep it up and running, make sure it is connected to the Internet, etc. It requires a lot less employee training to maintain and operate a fax machine. Can you build a better mousetrap?
noer 10y ago
For years the operating procedure for Seamless/Grubhub/Delivery.com orders was a form that would be faxed to a restaurant, the restaurant would communicate that order to the kitchen (either by it's own POS system, writing the order on a regular order ticket or even giving the kitchen the fax sheet) and then the service would call the restaurant and the employee would enter the confirmation code into the phone. Some restaurants moved towards having tablets and receiving order via an app, but I'd guess that fax is still an option since it's difficult to integrate with a bunch of different POS systems and there are also a fair amount of restaurants that use hand written tickets to communicate orders to a kitchen. I wouldn't be surprised if this Fax API is the same technology that those companies use to fax orders to restaurants.
- fragmede 10y ago
  Kitchens are still a rough place for technology, and even though the latest iPhone might survive a drop in the toilet, I don't want to drink the soup after a phone's taken a swim in it. I've seen tablets in cafes at the front of the house, and sometimes the cashier (who can't touch food while they're also touching money) copies the order off the tablet and onto a piece of paper and passes it off to the kitchen the old fashioned way, while acknowledging it was received on the tablet.
tonyhb 10y ago
AFAIK HotelTonight also use faxes for every booking, as do almost every other booking site. Mainly due to the same issue: all hotels use different systems.
sstradling 10y ago
Exactly. I used phaxio with a group-ordering side project I built a while back, there really was no better option for getting/confirming orders to restaurants reliably. Love that Twilio is doing this (even though I'm out of the food-delivery business!).

by patio11 10y ago

ryanworl 10y ago

To explain the typical workflow here, the restaurant receives a fax from the marketplace with a phone number to call to acknowledge the delivery. There is a short numeric code on the fax print out that the restaurant types into the IVR system. This is how these marketplaces can confirm someone is there to actually receive the order and provide that feedback to the customer that their order has been received. I think (but am not sure) that they can provide time estimates through the IVR system as well.

bpicolo 10y ago
Depends on the company, but this is the gist of it. There are frequently options outside of fax, as well. It's one of several.

digi_owl 10y ago

My understanding is that holding a fax copy of a contract with a signature is as good in court as holding the contract itself. But holding a PDF of same is not.

beamatronic 10y ago
Electronic signing is a thing however. Faxes are successful because they are the technology "lowest common denominator" for business
- cbhl 10y ago
  I was under the impression that HelloFax/HelloSign basically did this -- they would let you digitally sign the document, and then fax it out to someone (possibly yourself).
sveit 10y ago
TradeHarbor offers a service called EmailToSign [1] that allows you to sign PDFs using your voice. [1] http://tradeharbor.com/2017/hosted-apps/ http://tradeharbor.com/2017/hosted-apps/

bambax 10y ago

> food-delivery So it's easier/cheaper for a restaurant to have a dedicated phone line for faxing (plus fax and supplies) than connect a printer to a PC? Is this because someone needs to actually print incoming emails or orders? And if yes, is there an opportunity for some kind of software solution that would always print what it receives, with no human intervention?

ybot 10y ago
The short answer is 'yes' — fax machines are actually a pretty great solution to this problem. If you think about it, there isn't really that much overhead for having a fax line and a $40 fax machine vs running a full computer + printer combo, set up is trivial, faxes have a very well-understood track record, and the 'sender' gets direct feedback on whether or not the physical document was successfully delivered. If there's a software gap here, it's being filled as features in modern Point Of Sale systems. That space is really crowded right now (Revel, Clover, Toast, 'more modern' offerings from legacy providers like Micros and NCR). There may be an opportunity to provide a more niche offering rather than a comprehensive solution like those, but the space is far from empty.
- bambax 10y ago
  I'm not looking for startup ideas in this domain, I was just wondering "in general". If the PC + printer is already there (surely it has to be for accounting, etc.) why have a fax. But ok, if the fax and the phone line cost next to nothing and it "just works", then sure it makes a lot of sense.
  - ybot 10y ago
    A lot of these restaurants _do_ have a PC + printer in a back room or office somewhere. If the restaurant is owned by a group (or small chain), that setup may only exist at one location. They can (and do!) put the fax machine right by the kitchen.
beamatronic 10y ago
What would your software run on? A PC? Who is going to keep it up and running, make sure it is connected to the Internet, etc. It requires a lot less employee training to maintain and operate a fax machine. Can you build a better mousetrap?

noer 10y ago

For years the operating procedure for Seamless/Grubhub/Delivery.com orders was a form that would be faxed to a restaurant, the restaurant would communicate that order to the kitchen (either by it's own POS system, writing the order on a regular order ticket or even giving the kitchen the fax sheet) and then the service would call the restaurant and the employee would enter the confirmation code into the phone. Some restaurants moved towards having tablets and receiving order via an app, but I'd guess that fax is still an option since it's difficult to integrate with a bunch of different POS systems and there are also a fair amount of restaurants that use hand written tickets to communicate orders to a kitchen. I wouldn't be surprised if this Fax API is the same technology that those companies use to fax orders to restaurants.

fragmede 10y ago
Kitchens are still a rough place for technology, and even though the latest iPhone might survive a drop in the toilet, I don't want to drink the soup after a phone's taken a swim in it. I've seen tablets in cafes at the front of the house, and sometimes the cashier (who can't touch food while they're also touching money) copies the order off the tablet and onto a piece of paper and passes it off to the kitchen the old fashioned way, while acknowledging it was received on the tablet.

tonyhb 10y ago

AFAIK HotelTonight also use faxes for every booking, as do almost every other booking site. Mainly due to the same issue: all hotels use different systems.

sstradling 10y ago

Exactly. I used phaxio with a group-ordering side project I built a while back, there really was no better option for getting/confirming orders to restaurants reliably. Love that Twilio is doing this (even though I'm out of the food-delivery business!).