> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.eat-now.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How notifications work

> Two families of notifications, three channels for your team, two levels of settings. Start here to understand who receives what, and where to change it.

EatNow sends two very different things, and they are not configured in the same place:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Team notifications" icon="bell">
    What **you and your collaborators** receive: a new reservation, a cancellation, a payment, a customer review. By push, in the notification center, and by email to a shared inbox.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Customer notifications" icon="mail">
    What **your customers** receive: confirmation, reminder before they come, cancellation, review request. By email and WhatsApp. See [Notifications sent to your customers](/notifications/guests).
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

This page covers the first family. Both live under **Settings > Notifications > General**, but in two separate tabs: **Restaurant owner** for your team, **Guest** for your customers.

## The team's three channels

| Channel    | Where it lands                                                                                    | Who controls it                                                                   |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Push**   | A banner on a phone or tablet, through the EatNow app                                             | The restaurant sets a default, **each collaborator can change it for themselves** |
| **In-app** | A card in the [notification center](/notifications/center) (the bell icon), on web and in the app | The restaurant sets a default, each collaborator can change it **from the app**   |
| **Email**  | The restaurant's **shared address(es)** (frontdesk@, management@…)                                | The restaurant only                                                               |

<Note>
  The team **Email** channel **never** writes to a collaborator's personal address. It only writes to the addresses you entered under **Additional email addresses**. This is deliberate: a shared inbox is read by whoever is on service, not by one person. A collaborator who wants to be alerted personally uses **push**.
</Note>

## Two levels of settings

Every notification has a restaurant-wide setting that each collaborator can then override for themselves.

<Steps>
  <Step title="The restaurant default">
    Under **Settings > Notifications > General > Restaurant owner tab**, you decide, for each event, whether the team is notified by Email, by Push and in the app. This is what someone who has customized nothing receives. See [Team defaults](/notifications/team-defaults).
  </Step>

  <Step title="The personal preference">
    Each collaborator can then turn a row on or off **for themselves only**, without changing anything for anyone else. As long as they leave it alone, they follow the restaurant default — and if you change that default later, they follow the new one automatically. See [My preferences](/notifications/personal).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  **Example.** The restaurant turns Push on for "Reservation cancelled by a customer". Everyone gets the alert. The head chef turns that row off in their own preferences: they stop receiving it, the floor team keeps receiving it. If you later add the Email channel to that same row, the shared inbox starts receiving it without anyone touching their own settings.
</Tip>

## Who receives what

Before preferences even come into play, two filters always apply:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="You need the matching permission">
    A collaborator only receives a notification if they are allowed to see what it is about. No access to payments, no refund alert. Required permissions are listed row by row in the [notification catalogue](/notifications/team-defaults#notification-catalogue). See also [Permissions](/collaborators/permissions).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="You need access to the restaurant">
    In a multi-venue group, each person is only notified for the restaurants they have access to. Owners have access to all of them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Nobody is notified of their own action">
    Rows in the **Internal reservations** group (reservation created or cancelled by the team, manual refund, card imprint captured or released) go to everyone **except** the person who just performed the action. Nobody gets alerted about what they just typed themselves.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Where to change what

| I want to…                                         | Go to                                                                                  |
| -------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Change what **the whole team** receives by default | **Settings > Notifications > General > Restaurant owner**                              |
| Change what **I** receive                          | Web: **My profile > Notifications** — App: **avatar > Preferences > Notifications**    |
| **Receive push** on my phone                       | Install the EatNow app and allow notifications ([guide](/notifications/push))          |
| Add a **shared email address**                     | **Settings > Notifications > General > Restaurant owner > Additional email addresses** |
| Set **a collaborator's** preferences               | **Settings > Collaborators >** the person **> Notification preferences** (owners)      |
| Change the messages sent **to customers**          | **Settings > Notifications > General > Guest tab** ([guide](/notifications/guests))    |
| Receive a **scheduled summary** by email           | **Settings > Notifications > Scheduled reports**                                       |

<Warning>
  Opening **Settings > Notifications** requires the `notification:read` permission, and saving requires `notification:update`. Without them the page is read-only or hidden. Your own personal preferences always stay available.
</Warning>