Pricing
£49 a month for takeaways. £79 for private hire.
Dial an Order is one product, sold for two trades — not a takeaway product plus a separate booking service under another name. Takeaways pay £49 a month and 20p for each order the kitchen receives; private-hire firms pay £79 a month and 10p for each booking the controller receives. Each requires your Phone Call Desk assistant to be on Growth or above — not Starter — plus the same 1.5% payments fee (20p floor) that applies to any payment taken on a call, all ex-VAT. It is in early access: we switch it on ourselves, and nothing is charged for it until it goes on general sale.
What it's made of
Three parts, published in full
A monthly fee
£49 for a takeaway, £79 for a private-hire firm — alongside your Phone Call Desk assistant on Growth or above; Starter's single line cannot carry a busy Friday.
A fee per order or booking
20p an order for a takeaway, 10p a booking for private hire. Only for ones you actually receive — one cancelled, or never paid for, costs nothing.
1.5% of each online payment, 20p floor
The same fee that applies to any payment on the call, taken by Stripe on its way to your own account, so a small one is never charged more than a few pence.
What it costs
Prices, in full
Early access is free: nothing is charged for Dial an Order until it goes on general sale.
Dial an Order is not a standalone service. It is an add-on for Phone Call Desk subscribers already on Growth, Practice or Enterprise — never sold on its own, and never available on Starter, whose single line cannot carry a busy rush. Within that, it comes in two trades, not two products: “Dial an Order for private hire” is not a separate company or service either — nor is it Transport for London's own, similarly named door-to-door scheme — it is Dial an Order itself, running your booking line instead of your food line, on the exact same Phone Call Desk workspace: the same number, the same assistant, the same billing relationship, and the same rules as the rest of Phone Call Desk. A workspace runs one trade at a time; a business that takes both phone orders and private-hire bookings needs a Phone Call Desk workspace for each trade, priced below.
Early access
Dial an Order for takeaways
£49 / month, ex-VAT
+ 20p an order
- 20p for each order your kitchen receives — cancelled or never paid for costs nothing
- Works on Growth or above, from £119 a month with 500 minutes included
- 1.5%, at least 20p, on each online payment — taken by Stripe, straight to your own account
- 10p a text — your kitchen's alert and the caller's confirmation, if you want them
Early access
Dial an Order for private hire
£79 / month, ex-VAT
+ 10p an booking
- Not a separate service — Dial an Order, running your booking line instead of your food line, on the same Phone Call Desk workspace
- 10p for each booking your controller receives — cancelled costs nothing
- Works on Growth or above, from £119 a month with 500 minutes included
- 1.5%, at least 20p, on each fare taken online — taken by Stripe, straight to your own account
- 10p a text — your controller's alert and the caller's confirmation, if you want them
What you pay today
The fairer comparison isn't “the software or nothing”
- A person on the phone for the rush — if you have one, their hours; if you do not, the pass without them.
- Commission on every app order or booking from a customer who would happily ring instead.
- The orders and bookings you never knew you missed, which cost nothing on paper and everything in practice.
Pricing questions
Short answers
How much does it cost?
£49 a month and 20p an order for a takeaway; £79 a month and 10p a booking for a private-hire firm — both on Growth or above, plus the same 1.5% payments fee (20p floor) as any other payment on a call — all ex-VAT. It's in early access: ask below and we'll switch it on for you; nothing is charged until it goes on general sale.
Is this for takeaways, private hire, or both?
Both are Dial an Order — not two products, and private hire is not a separate service: it runs on the same Phone Call Desk workspace, at the same price structure, as the takeaway side. A workspace is set up for one trade or the other, never both on the same line: a takeaway's callers order food, a private-hire firm's callers book a car. A business that runs both needs a Phone Call Desk workspace for each.
Is there a contract?
The same terms as the rest of Phone Call Desk. Ask when you write in and we'll send them over.
Do I need a Phone Call Desk assistant plan as well?
Yes, and it is not optional: Dial an Order is not a standalone service, only an add-on for a Phone Call Desk workspace already on Growth or above. It rides alongside the assistant that answers your calls; Starter's single line cannot carry a busy Friday.
Who takes the payment, and where does the money go?
You do. Online payments go straight to your own Stripe account — you are the merchant, as you are at the counter — and we take our fee from that payment, the same way a card machine does.
Is it on sale?
It's in early access: we switch it on for each takeaway ourselves, workspace by workspace, and nothing is charged for it until it goes on general sale. Ask below and tell us roughly how many phone orders you take a week.
Can I try it before I commit?
Talk to us and we will show you exactly how a call goes against your own menu, before anything is switched on.
Never hears a card number
You choose how long we keep transcripts
Money goes straight to your own Stripe account
Sub-processor list published
Ask for early access.
Tell us roughly how many phone orders you take a week and we'll get you set up.