By Bell Business Markets team
Serving up a new network for Lone Star Texas Grill
"It’s not enough to provide an exceptional experience for the guests in front of you. You also have to be able to accommodate the ones ordering from home."
Behind every sizzling fajita platter is a passionate team that wants every diner to have a great experience. Like most restaurants, Lone Star depends on connected software and equipment to manage orders, coordinate deliveries, accept payments and more.
That system was pushed to its limits over the past two years when Lone Star’s delivery and takeout business jumped dramatically from roughly 15% of its total business to 30%, almost overnight. When their Internet service struggled to keep up with the demand, Lone Star called on Bell to deliver a reliable solution that could meet the demand.
Inconsistent connectivity diminishes the guest experience
Lone Star’s Internet service was experiencing frequent outages, which left customers unable to place orders through third-party delivery apps or even through the company’s Internet-based phone system. With different providers for phone and Internet service, it was also difficult to pinpoint the cause of an outage.
After numerous incidents, including a multi-day, system-wide outage that left guests disappointed and staff frustrated, the final straw was an outage on one of the busiest days of the year – Mother’s Day. "We eventually got back up, but it was terrifying," says Findlay. "That was the tipping point for me. I told my IT team we needed to find a better solution."
"My team used to spend almost half our time dealing with connectivity issues."
Always-on service keeps the orders flowing
After extensive research, Bob Macey, Lone Star’s Director of Systems and Technology, recommended partnering with Bell for Internet and phone service. The results were striking.
"My team used to spend almost half our time dealing with connectivity issues," says Macey. "Since we switched to Bell, I haven’t had an Internet-related call in three months."
The new system is not only more reliable, but also includes a seamless backup solution. Even when issues do arise, they are typically resolved before Macey finds out about them.
"Since we switched to Bell, I haven’t had an Internet-related call in three months."
Lone Star’s phones also received an upgrade by switching to Bell. Instead of multiple phone lines, the company now has Bell Total Connect, a unified system with advanced features that help streamline operations. By bringing the phone and Internet service under one provider, the two systems work better together, are more cost effective and are easier to manage.
A tailored plan with minimal business disruption
Having a dependable single point of contact was just one of the many reasons why Lone Star chose Bell for their upgrade. Bell’s local team gave Macey and Findlay the peace of mind that someone could be easily reached if they encountered any issues. In addition, they were equally impressed with Bell’s extensive fibre infrastructure and proven reliability.
"Bell made sure the rollout was smooth… [so] we could keep serving our customers without interruption."
This newly bolstered support was evident right from the start. Bell worked closely with Macey and his team to build a solution to meet Lone Star’s specific needs, then developed a plan to implement the solution with minimal disruption to the business.
"Bell made sure the rollout was smooth," says Macey. "They knew we needed minimal disruption at the restaurants, so they created an early-morning implementation schedule to make sure we could keep serving our customers without interruption." Despite these limitations, Bell transitioned all 24 Lone Star locations across Ontario to the new communications system.
This implementation included installing high-speed, fibre-based Internet in all Lone Star restaurants – and even extending fibre infrastructure to the few locations not already served. The solution also included the Bell Total Connect unified communication system, as well as comprehensive training to set the Lone Star team up for success. And Bell’s support didn’t end with the deployment. The Bell team is also providing ongoing managed services to ensure everything continues to work as it should.
"We’re great at making fajitas, not managing networks. We needed an expert partner for that."
