For catering companies

AI Receptionist for Catering Companies

The wedding inquiry that called during your prep shift booked another caterer by dinner.

Vona answers every event inquiry, day or night, in English y espanol, captures the date and details, and gets you the lead before the caller moves on.

Customized to your business — when we're done, she'll know it almost as well as you do.

Wedding-date inquiry Corporate headcount call Still-exploring budget browser
See what your missed calls cost ↓ Put Vona on my line

Curious how she sounds? She's on the line now: +1 (561) 566-1668 · English y español

Vona is answering now · 24/7 · English y español, mid-sentence · several calls at once · live demo line
Demo line · live

“This call may be recorded. This is Vona at the front desk — how can I help?”

The demo line answers as a general front desk. Your Vona answers in your business's name, with your book.

The phone, before and after

One line in. Every call answered.

First, a normal day without Vona. Then, the same hour with Vona answering.

WITHOUT VONA
The phone rings. Nobody can pick up.
Illustration: A caterer mid-setup at a venue, arms full of chafing dishes, glancing at a phone buzzing unanswered on a…
RINGING · NO ANSWER
WITH VONA
Several calls at once — all answered. The booking lands on your phone.
Vona answers a wedding inquiry while staff plate at a venue.
CALL 1 · ANSWERED
Vona answers a wedding inquiry while staff plate at a venue.
A corporate inquiry comes in Spanish at the same moment.
CALL 2 · AT THE SAME TIME · ESPAÑOL
A corporate inquiry comes in Spanish at the same moment.
A third caller's date, headcount, and budget get fully captured.
CALL 3 · HANDLED
A third caller's date, headcount, and budget get fully captured.
Every inquiry lands as a text with a consultation booked.
BOOKED · ON YOUR PHONE
Every inquiry lands as a text with a consultation booked.
Read her

Read the call. Then dial it yourself.

Illustrative transcripts written to Vona's rails for catering. The number is live if you're curious.

Transcript · illustrative

The still-exploring holiday party call

A caller with no fixed date starts browsing options; unedited.

Call it yourself — +1 (561) 566-1668

Read the transcript
CALLERHi, we're thinking about catering for a holiday party but nothing's locked yet.
VONAThat's most calls — let's get the shape of it. Roughly how many guests, and do you have a month in mind?
CALLERMaybe eighty people, sometime in December.
VONAEighty guests, December — got it. Are you picturing a sit-down dinner, a buffet, or passed apps?
CALLERProbably passed apps and a buffet.
VONANoted. I'll get you scheduled for a tasting consultation so our team can put real numbers to that.
Transcript · illustrative

The deposit-and-lead-time question

A caller asks about booking terms before committing to a date; unedited.

Call it yourself — +1 (561) 566-1668

Read the transcript
CALLERIf we want you for a wedding in October, how far out do we need to book, and what's the deposit?
VONAPer our sheet, we ask for bookings at least eight weeks out for a wedding of that size, and the deposit is 25% to hold the date.
CALLEROkay, and is that deposit refundable?
VONAI can only tell you what the sheet says — it's non-refundable after the tasting is scheduled. For anything beyond that, I'll have our events coordinator call you to go over the full contract.
CALLERThat works, thanks.
VONAI'll get that consultation on the calendar and text you the details now.
A day on your line, handled

Excerpts from her call log.

The daily reality of a catering line — not a scripted happy path.

9:14 AM
Wedding-date inquiry (locked)
“"June 14th, about 150 guests, venue's already booked."”
Captures date, headcount, and venue against the sheet's lead-time rule, and books a tasting consultation instead of leaving it to a callback.
10:30 AM
Corporate headcount call (exploring)
“"Sometime in December, maybe 80 people, still figuring out details."”
Treats 'still exploring' with the same thorough intake as a locked date — headcount, month, and service style captured, consultation booked.
11:52 AM
'When's my proposal' — she won't guess
“"I sent details last week, when will I actually get a quote?"”
Never invents a timeline for someone else's work. Flags the events coordinator to follow up today rather than guessing at a turnaround.
1:15 PM
Solicitor / vendor
“"I'm calling about a rental-equipment partnership, got a minute?"”
Courteous and terminal, logs the number, never puts a vendor pitch through to the owner during a busy week.
2:40 PM
Bilingual inquiry — Español
“"Buenas, necesito cotización para una quinceañera en agosto."”
Follows into Spanish mid-call, captures date, headcount, and event type against the same sheet, same rails, no transfer.
4:05 PM
Large-budget lead
“"We're planning a 300-person gala, budget's flexible, six months out."”
Captures headcount, budget range, date, and venue status, and flags it for the owner directly — a booking this size gets a same-day callback, not a queue.
She's holding your whole book

Test her on it.

The knowledge Vona carries for catering — verbatim, never invented.

Shown for a fictional catering business · your Vona carries yours
Plated dinner service Buffet-style service Passed hors d'oeuvres / cocktail hour Tastings, by appointment Bar service (licensed staff) Delivery-only drop-off catering for smaller events Fictional example

Lead times, deposit percentages, and tasting policy are stated exactly as the sheet lists them — she never invents a discount, a refund exception, or a faster lead time to close the call.

Service area
Serves within the sheet's stated travel radius; venue and off-site setup terms are confirmed against the sheet, not assumed.
Hours & after-hours
Office line answers 9 AM–6 PM weekdays for consultations; the phone line itself answers every call, any hour, for intake.
Calendar rules
Bookings require the sheet's minimum lead time (currently eight weeks for large events); tastings are scheduled by appointment only, never promised same-week.
Owner
Large-budget or unusually short-lead-time inquiries, and anything a solicitor tries to route around her.
Events coordinator
Every booked consultation, proposal follow-up questions, and contract or deposit-term questions beyond the sheet.
Kitchen lead
Dietary-restriction and menu-customization questions flagged for a direct answer before the tasting.

Dates inside the lead-time minimum, or headcounts beyond current capacity, get a warm answer about the constraint up front — and the number is still captured, because a rescheduled date next season is still a booking.

What she handles · the book
Do you do a plated dinner or just buffet?Can we get a tasting before we book?What's your lead-time minimum?Do you handle bar service too?
What she handles · the calendar
How far out do we need to book?Is a tasting available next month?When do you need a final headcount?
What she handles · the jargon
Passed apps and a buffetSit-down for a hundred and fiftyDeposit to hold the dateFinal headcount two weeks out
What she handles · en español
Necesito cotización para una quinceañera.¿Cuánto es el depósito para reservar la fecha?¿Con cuánto tiempo de anticipación debo reservar?
Catering owners try to break her

That's the point.

Every answer below is scripted, approved wording — written into her rails and re-tested on the real line after every change.

No card numbers by voice
Can I just give you my card for the deposit right now?
I can't take a card number over the phone — I'll text you a secure link for the deposit, and no card details ever pass through this call.
Applies to every deposit and payment, no exceptions.
No contract terms beyond the sheet
Is the deposit refundable if we cancel?
I can only tell you what the sheet says — anything beyond that, like a cancellation exception, needs the events coordinator on a real contract conversation.
En españolSolo puedo decirle lo que dice la hoja — cualquier cosa más allá de eso, como una excepción de cancelación, necesita que el coordinador de eventos hable con usted directamente sobre el contrato.
Never negotiates or invents contract language.
No lead-time promises beyond the sheet
Can you squeeze us in for next weekend even though it's short notice?
I won't promise a booking the sheet's lead-time rule doesn't support — I can flag it as a rush request for the owner to call you back on directly.
She states the real minimum, never a hopeful exception.
Solicitor / vendor screening
Can you connect me with the owner about a rental-equipment partnership?
I'm not going to route a vendor pitch through during a busy intake day — I can take your number and pass it along.
Courteous and terminal, every time.
Banned phrases — everywhere
I'm sure we can waive the deposit for you Don't worry, we'll definitely fit you in next weekend Just give me your card number now That deposit's refundable, no problem I'll guess when the coordinator gets back to you We can skip the tasting if you're in a hurry

And when a caller asks if she's an AI, she says yes. Every time.

Every call ends up in writing

A faithful recreation of the capture screen.

Saved mid-call — hang-ups still leave a lead. Texted and emailed the moment the call ends.

Demo data · all fictional
Leads Fictional example
(name pending)561-555-0211
Wedding, June 14, 150 guests, venue booked
locked datelarge event
Ferris Consulting561-555-0223
Corporate holiday party, ~80 guests, December, exploring
corporateexploring
Familia Ríos561-555-0237
Quinceañera catering inquiry, August
españolquinceañera
Messages for the team
For Events coordinator

Caller asked when their proposal would be ready after submitting details last week — please follow up today, don't leave it queued.

For Owner

300-guest gala inquiry, budget flexible, six months out — flagged for a same-day callback, not the regular queue.

Your whole front desk, on one screen. What you see here is a faithful recreation of that capture screen, drawn from fictional demo-call data.

On your website too

Your website gets a receptionist.

The same Vona — now in the corner of your site.

Tap once to talk — the same Vona answers in the browser, mic only, no phone required.

Intake chips let a visitor route themselves in one tap; every lead lands in your log the moment it's captured.

For food & retail: Vona hands the visitor to a secure checkout — never card data in the widget.

The demo is generic on purpose

Built around your business, not from a template.

We customize Vona's knowledge and capabilities to your requirements — your services and prices, hours, service area, team routing, calendar, the way you triage. When we're done, she knows your business almost as well as you do.

Share your service sheet, deposit and lead-time policy, and events-coordinator routing — Vona answers with your terms, not a generic quote.

01

You share

Your services/price sheet, hours, routing, and calendar — your calendar stays yours, revocable in one click.

02

Vona learns your book

Services, sheet facts, service area, hours, team routing, and referral policy — configured, not guessed.

03

Vona answers in your name

On your number, in your business's name, with your book — not the demo's.

Precedent

Catering is the newest desk Vona sits at.

The same receptionist already answers for working businesses — each vertical gets its own vocabulary, rails, and rig.

Real estate
Live demo line · Eva
Law firms
Live demo line · Carmen
Auto repair
Live today
Pet grooming
Live today
Restaurants
Live today
Catering
You are here
What your missed calls cost

Your line. Your numbers.

Change any number. The arithmetic is ours; the loss is yours.

default from Invoca, 2026 (broad cross-industry rate; no catering-specific missed-call rate published) — directional

your estimate — set it to what you close

Missed calls / month
48
Jobs lost / month
12
$ lost per month
$41,676
$500,115 / year
Stop the leak — put Vona on my line
For reference

Independently cited industry figures — not our arithmetic above, but the pattern behind it.

25–40%
of catering inquiries convert to a booking
Some operators report a range as high as 40–60% for well-qualified leads.
CaterCamp / LaunchAdvisor catering KPI compilations · 2025–2026
vendor-published, directional
$420
average corporate catering order value
Drawn from workplace-ordering platform data.
ezCater platform data · 2025–2026
vendor-published, directional
$65–$180
per-guest cost for wedding catering
Wide range depending on service style and menu.
industry pricing compilation · 2025–2026
vendor-published, directional
21×
more likely to qualify a lead when reached in 5 minutes vs 30
Applies to any inquiry-driven business, including catering's quote-then-follow-up cycle.
Oldroyd, MIT/InsideSales Lead Response Management study, ~2007 (secondary citation) · ~2007
published academic/industry study (secondary summary)
1. CaterCamp / LaunchAdvisor catering KPI compilations (2025–2026) — https://catercamp.com/blog/catering-kpi-metrics
2. ezCater platform data (2025–2026) — https://searchpod.com/blog/catering-marketing-system-2026
3. industry pricing compilation (2025–2026) — https://catercamp.com/blog/catering-kpi-metrics
4. Oldroyd, MIT/InsideSales Lead Response Management study, ~2007 (secondary citation) (~2007) — https://ainora.lt/blog/lead-response-time-statistics-every-study-2026
En español, de nacimiento

Your callers switch languages. Vona keeps up.

The rails above hold in both languages — this isn't a thinner Spanish version.

CALLER

Hi, I need a quote for a quinceañera in August.

VONA

I'd be happy to help — about how many guests are you expecting?

CALLER

Como cien personas, y queremos algo tipo buffet.

VONA

Cien invitados, estilo buffet, en agosto — le voy a programar una consulta para probar el menú.

The deposit-terms rail and the no-guaranteed-lead-time rail hold just as firmly once the conversation moves into Spanish.

Asked and answered

The questions catering owners ask first.

Every answer, no clicking required.

Will it quote a price on the phone?
No. It gathers what a real quote needs — date, headcount, event type, venue, budget range — and books a consultation where your team gives the actual number.
What if we don't have a locked date yet?
That's most calls. It treats 'still exploring' with the same thorough intake as a locked date, so the follow-up call isn't starting from zero.
Does it handle deposit or lead-time questions?
It states exactly what your sheet says — the deposit percentage and minimum lead time — and hands anything beyond that, like a cancellation exception, to your events coordinator.
Can it take an inquiry in Spanish?
Yes, the full intake — date, headcount, event type — in Spanish, without a transfer or a hold.
What happens to a big inquiry, like a 300-person event?
Large or unusually short-lead-time inquiries get flagged directly to the owner for a same-day callback instead of sitting in a general queue.
Can I hear it before it takes a real inquiry?
Yes — call the live demo line and run through an event inquiry yourself. You'll hear exactly what a prospective client would hear.

Request a walkthrough

A human replies — usually the same day.

Get started

Every missed inquiry is an event someone else is catering.

Tell us your inquiry volume and busiest season - a human replies the same day and shows you what your line is leaking. Then Vona answers it.

Her knowledge and capabilities are built to your requirements.

Ask her anything a caller would.

Or hear her first: +1 (561) 566-1668

Prefer email? [email protected]