NCR Aloha POS + AI Phone Answering: What Actually Changes

NCR Aloha (now NCR Voyix) is a long-standing enterprise POS platform trusted by full-service and quick-service restaurants. For restaurants running NCR Aloha, the platform is doing serious operational work.

What NCR Aloha does well

For restaurants running NCR Aloha, the POS is rarely the concern.

The gap is the phone channel. An NCR Aloha terminal cannot pick up a call, take a food order, or confirm a pickup time. During a dinner rush, the staff who manage NCR Aloha at the counter are the same people who should be answering the phone. If the call rings out, that order goes to a delivery app.

What does not change

When DineCall AI is added to a restaurant running NCR Aloha, the NCR Aloha setup stays exactly as it is. The terminal configuration, the kitchen display, the payment processing, the back-office reporting — none of it is touched. NCR Aloha continues to manage the operation; DineCall manages the phone line. The restaurant keeps its existing phone number. The only addition is a call-forwarding rule pointing the line to DineCall's routing endpoint.

What changes

Every phone call is answered on the first ring — 24 hours a day, in English, Cantonese, or Mandarin. The AI takes the complete order, confirms the items and pickup time on the call, and sends the ticket directly to the kitchen board. For a restaurant running NCR Aloha with a large dining room and multiple service periods, having the phone covered independently means the front-of-house team can focus on the dining room without interruption.

King Do Seafood in Surrey, BC has taken over 100 phone orders by AI on their line. Yuan's Garden in Richmond takes both phone orders and table reservations on the same call — every confirmed booking lands on the reservation board immediately.

Enterprise-scale multilingual coverage

On the phone, the language challenge is the same regardless of POS: a caller who speaks Cantonese or Mandarin and reaches a voicemail or an English-only system is unlikely to call back. DineCall's AI detects the caller's language within one or two words and switches voice model accordingly — no button press, no repeat. For enterprise restaurants serving diverse communities, this matters across the full service period.

What is included

Every plan includes AI phone answering, table reservations, online ordering, QR code ordering, and a restaurant website. Pricing is one flat monthly fee with no commission on orders: $199 CAD a month for the first 100 partner restaurants, locked in for as long as they stay, then $399 CAD a month. No setup cost.

How long setup takes

Menu digitization, routing setup, and AI briefing on the restaurant's hours, policies, and dishes — typically completed in 2 to 3 business days. No new hardware. The only change is a call-forwarding rule on the existing phone line. NCR Aloha keeps running exactly as it does today.

FAQ

Q: Does DineCall replace NCR Aloha? A: No. They run side by side. NCR Aloha manages the enterprise operation; DineCall manages the phone. The restaurant keeps everything in NCR Aloha.

Q: How do phone orders reach the kitchen? A: Phone orders appear on DineCall's live kitchen board. Depending on your setup, they can also flow into NCR Aloha via DineCall's ordering API. We confirm the best path for your restaurant during the demo.

Q: Does the restaurant need a new phone number? A: No. The existing number is forwarded to DineCall. Callers dial the same number they have always used.

Q: How long does setup take? A: 2–3 business days. No new hardware. The only change is a call-forwarding rule on the existing line.

Q: Can the AI take table reservations as well as orders? A: Yes — the same line handles both, in the caller's language. It checks real availability and confirms the booking on the call or holds it for staff approval, per the restaurant's settings.

Q: How is a multi-location group priced? A: Groups get custom pricing rather than the per-restaurant rate. Write to hello@dinecall.ai.