Feature
The kitchen knows how many to cook for before the cut-off time
Wednesday, 15:52. A resident writes "I'll be late today, keep my dinner". Another asks for a packed lunch for tomorrow because she leaves for her placement at seven, and a third says she has a fever and won't come down to dinner. Dinner cuts off at 16:00. Bedel logs each notice with its service and its day, tells each of them what has been noted, and the kitchen gets it on its WhatsApp, one day per line. At 16:20 a "not having dinner today" arrives: Bedel says the cut-off has passed and asks whether to request it anyway.
What a resident writes, and what happens to each notice
| What the resident or the team writes | What Bedel does |
|---|---|
| "Not having dinner today", at 15:40 | Logs the dining-hall cancellation for today's dinner, before the 16:00 cut-off, and the kitchen gets it in its notice. A cancellation takes one diner off the count |
| "Packed lunch for tomorrow, I'm leaving at seven" | Notes the packed lunch for the next day if it arrives before 20:00 today. If there was a cancellation for the same service, the packed lunch replaces it: it is not deducted twice |
| "I'll be late, keep my dinner" | Notes the kept portion, which does not reduce the count: whoever arrives late still eats. If that service has already finished, it notes the next one left that day and says so |
| "I've got a fever, I'm not coming down to eat" | Depending on the centre's rule, the kitchen takes the meal up to the room or it is logged as a cancellation. The kitchen sees it separately, under "Take up to the room" |
| "Keep my dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays" | Creates a standing rule with its start and end date, which skips the holidays in the centre's calendar. The kitchen gets a single notice when it is created, not one every Tuesday; if one Tuesday she says "I'm having dinner today", that notice wins on that day only |
| "Not having dinner today", at 16:20 | The cut-off has passed: Bedel says which time passed, that it cannot guarantee it, and asks "Shall I request it anyway?" with two buttons. If she goes ahead, the kitchen sees it flagged as late |
| The kitchen taps "Summary" on the notice or writes /cena | Gets the service in one block: what to keep, which packed lunches to make, what to take up to rooms and whom not to expect, in room order |
Four kinds of notice, and each one counts differently
What a resident writes about meals always ends up as one of four things: she is not eating, she wants a packed lunch, she is ill and it has to be taken up, or she is late and it has to be kept. Bedel tells them apart because they do not affect the count in the same way: an empty chair is not the same as a plate waiting for someone.
- Cancellation: not eating in the dining hall, and taken off the count.
- Packed lunch: also taken off; if there was a cancellation for the same service, it replaces it and is not counted twice.
- Meal to the room when ill: taken off the dining hall and the kitchen prepares it separately. The centre decides whether it goes up whenever it is asked for, only if the person is ill, or never.
- Kept portion: not taken off, because whoever arrives late still eats.
A cut-off time per service, and what happens after it
Each service has its cut-off time, and the centre changes it from the dashboard. What arrives before is simply noted; what arrives after is not silently rejected, it is asked about. Besides the cut-off, each service can have its closing time, which is how long it is served for.
- By default: breakfast at 22:00 the day before, lunch at 10:00, dinner at 16:00 and packed lunch at 20:00 the day before.
- After the cut-off, Bedel says which time passed and asks "Shall I request it anyway?"; if the resident goes ahead, the kitchen sees it with the "late" flag.
- The closing time, for weekdays and for weekends, avoids keeping a portion from a service that has already been served.
- Standing rules ("every Tuesday and Thursday") are noted in one go; the kitchen hears about them when they are created and a one-off notice beats the rule on that day only.
Weekends and bank holidays, with the house rule
Some centres keep meals on Saturdays and some do not. The rule belongs to the centre and comes switched off: if nobody touches it, Bedel keeps whatever it is asked to on any day. If the centre switches it on, Bedel applies it and recognises the reason in the words a resident uses to give it.
- Three options: always keep, only with a reason (study, work or placement) or never.
- The reason is looked for in the whole request: if Bedel reminds her of the rule and she replies "it's for my placement", that counts.
- Bank holidays can count as weekends: national ones come in automatically and the centre adds those of its region and its town.
- A bank holiday treated as a weekend also takes the weekend times of each service.
What the kitchen sees, without opening the computer
The kitchen works from its WhatsApp. Every time a resident writes, it gets a notice with what has changed, one day per line, and with two buttons attached to the notice. When it needs the full picture of a service, it asks for it with a command. The dashboard is for the forecast and the settings.
- "Packed lunches" and "Summary" buttons on the notice itself.
- Commands /cocina, /desayuno, /comida, /cena and /picnics: the summary per service and per day, in room order.
- Standing rules appear on the day's sheet as one more row, flagged.
- In the dashboard, the headcount forecast: the current count and a prediction by day of the week and by how notices usually come in, with a recommendation at the 90th percentile and the measured error of the predictor itself.
"Arriving today?": the dining hall and the absence log, together
Whoever said they were coming back today does not always come back. In the morning, Bedel asks with two buttons anyone who, according to the absence log, is due back today. If they answer no, another night away is logged and the kitchen stops counting their meals.
- It goes out at 9:00; the centre can choose another time between 8 and 11.
- "No" removes today's lunch and dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, and tells the front desk.
- "Yes" leaves everything as it was. If they are already recorded as having come in, they are not asked.
- If they still have not come back, they are asked again the next day.
What it does not do
- It does not send the kitchen an automatic summary when the cut-off time arrives: the kitchen gets notices one by one and asks for the summary with a button or a command.
- It does not count those who do not give notice. There is no turnstile at the dining-hall door: the forecast gets the count of notices right, not how many people sit down.
- "Arriving today?" needs its template approved in WhatsApp to reach someone whose 24-hour window is closed; without it, that person is not asked.
- A cancellation does not touch the fee: it is there so the kitchen does not overcook, not to deduct anything.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if someone gives notice after the cut-off time?
Bedel neither simply notes it nor silently rejects it. It says which cut-off time passed and that it cannot guarantee it, and asks whether to request it anyway, with two buttons. If the resident goes ahead, the notice is logged and the kitchen sees it flagged as late, so it can decide. The centre sets the cut-off times for each service.
Can the cut-off times be changed?
Yes, from the dashboard and per service. The standard ones are breakfast at 22:00 the day before, lunch at 10:00, dinner at 16:00 and packed lunch at 20:00 the day before. You can also set until what time each service is served, for weekdays and weekends, so that no portions are kept from a service that has already finished.
What if a resident wants her dinner kept every week?
She says it once, for example "keep my dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays", and a standing rule is created that notes those days between the dates that are set, skipping the holidays and closures in the centre's calendar. The kitchen gets a single notice when it is created, not one every week, and then sees it on each day's sheet as a flagged row. If one Tuesday she says something else, that notice wins on that day only.
How does the kitchen know how many to cook for?
In the dashboard it has the current count and a forecast of how the day will end, built from what usually happens on that day of the week and from the time notices usually come in. It recommends preparing for the 90th percentile, so that normally there is something left over, and it shows its own measured error. What it cannot know is who does not give notice.
Does it work with our region's bank holidays?
Yes. The centre can decide that a weekday bank holiday is treated as a weekend, with its timetable and its rule on keeping meals. National bank holidays come in automatically when the rule is switched on, and the centre adds those of its autonomous community and its town with their dates. If the rule is not switched on, bank holidays are treated like any other day.
Does the kitchen need a computer?
Not for day-to-day work. The kitchen gets notices on its WhatsApp with the packed-lunch and summary buttons, and asks for the count for each service and each day with /cocina, /desayuno, /comida, /cena or /picnics. The dashboard adds the headcount forecast, the cut-off times, the centre's rules and the allergen labelling of dishes.
Related features
- AllergensThe kitchen labels dishes with the 14 allergens and every record carries its severity; when the menu is published, Bedel warns each affected resident on WhatsApp.
- Arrivals and room rackThe room rack the centre already keeps, imported and returned up to date, with who is inside right now, the evacuation plan and the "Arriving today?" question.
- Absence logWhoever sleeps away says so on WhatsApp; the front desk gets the notice, the kitchen stops counting them and the dashboard keeps the stretches and the Excel.
For each type of centre
- Colegios mayoresFor colegios mayores: the dining hall with its cancellations, packed lunches and allergens; activities with their call and their survey; families and applicants; and what belongs to management, to management.
- University residencesFor residences owned by or affiliated with a university: support in each resident's language, repairs and cleaning with outside contractors, the arrivals of each semester and enquiries about places.
- Student residencesFor student residences and PBSA operators: WhatsApp support in the resident's language, repairs with an owner and a deadline, arrivals, presence and parcels.
- ColivingFor coliving and flex living: support in each resident's language, repairs with an owner and a deadline, common-room bookings, parcels and announcements without groups.
- Researcher residencesFor researcher, graduate and visiting-faculty residences: arrivals any week of the year, replies in each person's language, contracted maintenance and cleaning, and the end of every stay.
- Hostels and alberguesFor hostels, albergues and pilgrim hostels: house questions answered in each guest's language, repairs with an owner and a deadline, and the night covered with nobody at the desk.
- Holiday apartmentsFor holiday apartments, aparthotels and mid-stay lets: replies in the guest's language, repairs with a technician and a deadline, housekeeping requests between stays and house rules.
- Build to rentFor build-to-rent and flex living buildings: repairs with an owner and a deadline even when maintenance is outsourced, parcels with a notice, shared-space bookings, building notices and house rules answered.