WiFi down mid-service? Your bookings stay on screen.

Keep Covered open on the device you use in service. If the connection drops, the schedule and the table plan keep showing the bookings and tables they last loaded.

Covered says plainly that what you see is not live: the schedule shows the time its data is from, for example “Data from 19:42 — not live”, and the table plan warns you when it has not been able to refresh for a couple of minutes.

A page opened from scratch while there is no connection shows a “You’re offline” screen instead, so open Covered before service starts.

These changes are saved on the device while you are offline, and Covered says “Saved locally — will sync when online”:

• Moving a booking to another table or time by dragging it on the schedule
• Changes made on a booking’s own page, such as marking it arrived or a no-show, assigning a table or editing the party size

These need a connection. If one does not go through, Covered tells you and puts the booking back as it was, so nothing changes without you knowing:

• Seating and course updates on the schedule
• Card payments, such as a no-show fee or the bill
• Messages to guests, by WhatsApp or email
• Moving a party onto a table too small for it

When the connection returns, or the next time Covered opens on that device, the saved changes are sent in the order you made them, and Covered tells you how many went through.

A change is kept for up to 8 hours. One that is still unsent after that is not sent, because the service it belonged to has moved on, and Covered tells you so you can check the booking.

If you are signed out by then, the changes wait on the device until you sign in again, within the same 8 hours.

If someone else changed the same booking while you were offline, their change stands. Yours is not applied, and Covered tells you: “Offline change conflicted — not applied”, so you can refresh and look again.

A change the system refuses when it arrives, or one that still fails after 5 tries, is dropped the same way, and you are told each time.

On a shared tablet, each person’s changes are sent under their own sign-in, never under whoever signs in next.

Covered runs in the cloud, so your venue’s WiFi going down does not stop guests booking on your website.

Mobile data on the host stand’s device is a good backup, and you can print the day’s run sheet from the schedule before service.

Covered runs in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox, on a tablet, phone or laptop, and can be added to the home screen like an app.