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Zoom helps connects Tango Cafe, customers

CAROLINE LOBSINGER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 2 months AGO
by CAROLINE LOBSINGER
I grew up in the Tri-Cities, Wash., and have always loved to write. I attended the University of Washington, where I earned a double major in journalism and political science, with an area of emphasis in history. I am the fifth out of six kids — don't believe any of the stories that my siblings tell. To be able to tell others stories and take photos for a living is a dream come true — and I considered myself blessed to be a community journalist. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, hiking and spending time outdoors, genealogy, reading, and watching the UW Huskies and the Seattle Seahawks. I am a servant to my cat, Frankie, who yes, will eat anything and everything in sight … even wedding cookies. | April 26, 2020 1:00 AM

SANDPOINT — Tango Cafe’s staff missed their customers.

Seeing them to say hi, asking how their day was going and being connected to their community. Phone calls helped keep the connections going to a degree as customers would call in a phone order.

Then connections at Zoom got Judy Colegrove, owner and head chef at Tango, and longtime friends Gordon Holmes and Ben Murray thinking. Why not use the technology to connect the restaurant to their customers, bringing that in-person feel back to order and re-connecting everyone.

While there was a bit of an adjustment — figuring out how the system works and getting used to being on screen, among them, Colegrove said overall it’s been amazing to see the technology bring people back into her restaurant in a sense.

“It’s been amazing,” she said. “As always, there’s usually some little glitches that you have to work through but it’s been really awesome to see it working is really cool. We have a couple of people actually Zoom in and order completely online and then come pick it up. So that’s been really cool.”

Friends since their days at the Idaho Club, Holmes and Colegrove contacted Murray, an early advocate of video calls and a technological wizard. The trio had connections at Zoom, which in turn had connections with D10 Televisions, which makes a TV complete with camera, speakers, microphone and is pre-loaded with the cloud-based platform being used to conduct meetings and family get-togethers in the post-COVID-19 world.

It was important to Holmes, who had worked in the service industry for a long time, to somehow reconnect those “watercooler conversations” between restaurant staff and the community. “You get some of that with phone calls, but it’s not the same,” Murray said.

Just as it connects co-workers and families, the trio realized that the Zoom platform could be used to connect restaurants with those hungry to “visit” their favorite restaurants.

“The idea was you could kind of preserve the social distance and the space but also preserve the interaction and the community and have something that would let you connect,” Murray said.

“We were excited but we were all very shy at the beginning,” Colegrove said, then laughed. “We have to be on screen? This is even worse than FaceTime.”

With an open kitchen, Tango Cafe is pretty well set up for something like Zoom — those calling in can see the restaurant’s crew at work, just as before the pandemic led to stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines. The open set-up also makes it easy for Tango owner and head chef Judy Colegrove and the rest of the crew to answer a Zoom call and take the order.

It’s actually the first time that the technology has been used in this way — where customers can call into their favorite restaurant, see the staff and place their order in much the same way they would if they were there in person. Since a post on LinkedIn on Tango’s set-up in mid-April shortly after it was launched, other restaurants are starting to use the technology in the same way to connect to their customers, Murray said.

“It’s kind of fun that a small town like Sandpoint was the first place,” he said

Customers have several options when it comes to “calling in their order.” If they’re in the building, they can use the TV system right outside Tango’s front door in the atrium of the Columbia Bank building or call in from their computer or smartphone. Customers can use Apple Pay or use the bluetooth card reader hooked up to the point-of-sale system inside the restaurant to make payments. At first internet speed was an issue, but a second Wi-Fi line improved the system and has made it easier to connect, Murray said.

While there were a few kinks to work out and there was a bit of a slow start, customers have been figuring out how to use the system and are “Zooming in” to place their orders.

“I’m hoping people will just log in and give it a try and see what it’s like because I do think it’s nice for people to be able to check in and you know anything we can do right now to help the small businesses and the restaurants in Sandpoint,” Murray said. “I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s crazy to think about the impact that this is having on our space.”

The platform has been integrated into the restaurant’s website, giving customers a one-click option that will take them right into the platform and have them in a Zoom call with the restaurant in short order. On its Facebook page, it’s just as easy with customers just needing to click on “contact me” and you get the option to go right into Zoom to order.

As they unpacked the televisions and began setting up the system, they realized they lacked one key item — a rolling stand. A stand recommended by their contacts would have cost almost $1,000 so Murray took matters into his own hands. Grabbing some boards from his home and a rolling cart from the restaurant, he built his own. Soon, the system was set up, volume issues were worked out and everything was ready to go in five to six hours.

Even though a portion of Tango’s customers already ordered their food to go, there has been a bit of an adjustment as everyone has adapted to the way things have changed under social distancing and stay-at-home orders.

“We were already a little bit of a takeout restaurant anyway, per se, but it’s definitely been an adjustment,” Colegrove said. “Nothing is normal any more. Your daily patterns are completely different.”

Having the video aspect adding to the order helps Tango’s crew feel like they are reconnecting with their regulars, she said.

Minor glitches aside, Colegrove said ideas are already discussed on how else they can use the technology — maybe a cooking class or sharing recipes or Murray joked, adding a case cam for their popular cold case items or a soup cam so people could see what’s on the menu that day.

While it’s hard to say when things might return to normal, or what that normal might look like, Colegrove said the technology is giving them a new way to connect.

“Hopefully Sandpoint can all come together soon but in the meantime we’re here and they can peek in and say hi,” she added.

Information or to order: Tango Cafe, online, tangocafesandpoint.com; or by phone or Zoom, 208-263-9514

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.

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