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Early access · Shift coverage for hourly teams

Last-minute call-outs, covered.

Sous is shift-coverage software for restaurants, bars, quick-service and retail teams. When someone can't make a shift, Sous finds teammates who can cover, texts them the offer from your business's own number, and confirms the first qualified yes. Your managers get back the time they spent finding cover.

Ask about early accessHow it works

The Sous manager app, showing a call-out being covered: who was offered the shift, their replies, and who took it. Demo data.
The manager app: a call-out and the offers sent to cover it. Demo data.

Maple Street DinerText message

Sat 1:05 PM

Maple Street Diner: Can you work Sat, Oct 17, 5:00 – 11:00 PM as Server at Main St? It's yours if you want it. Reply YES K7Q2 to take it or NO K7Q2 to pass, by 3:00 PM. Details: https://…

YES K7Q2

Maple Street Diner: You're confirmed for Sat, Oct 17, 5:00 – 11:00 PM as Server at Main St. Thank you! If something changes, reply NO K7Q2.

Example: an offer an employee receives from their employer, sent through Sous.

01 / The problem

A last-minute call-out leaves a manager working out who could cover, contacting people one at a time and updating the schedule, often in the middle of service.

Built for

  • Restaurants
  • Bars
  • Quick-service
  • Retail

Restaurants, bars, quick-service and retail businesses with hourly teams, and the managers who run their schedules.

02 / How it works

From call-out to covered

  1. A call-out comes in

    An employee texts that they can't make it, or a manager logs the absence. The search starts right away.

  2. Sous finds who can cover

    It checks who has the right role, is free, isn't already scheduled, and fits the limits your business sets, then ranks them the way you choose.

  3. Offers go out by text

    Eligible employees get the offer from your business's own number and answer YES or NO. If nobody takes it, Sous widens the search as the shift gets closer.

  4. The shift is confirmed

    The first qualified yes gets the shift, or goes to a manager for approval if you prefer. Everyone else hears that it's covered, and the schedule is updated.

Fig. 1 — Example. A server calls out at 2 pm from a 6 pm shift. Sous texts the best-fit teammates first and, while nobody has accepted, texts further down the list in each round. The first YES gets the shift.

03 / Managers & staff

Hands-off for managers. Effortless for staff.

Less manager time, full oversight

Shifts are confirmed automatically, so covering a call-out takes none of a manager's time. Businesses that prefer can require a manager's approval, and every offer and every answer is kept in a full history.

Nothing new for staff to learn

Employees receive offers by text from your business's own number and reply YES or NO, in English or Spanish. There is no app to download and no training required.

04 / Modules

One assistant for hourly operations

Shift coverage is available now in early access. The other modules are still being built.

  • Early access

    Shift coverage

    Automated replacement for call-outs and open shifts, by text, with manager approval when you want it and a full history of every offer and answer.

  • In development

    Tip distribution

    Configurable tip pools calculated from sales and hours, with a worked breakdown behind every payout.

  • In development

    Food-quality checks

    Photo checks at the pass, compared against each kitchen's own plating standards.

Sous is built to work with the scheduling, POS and HR tools a business already uses, and to work without them too.

05 / For employees

Got a text about a shift?

Businesses use Sous to text their own employees about open shifts. The texts come from a number dedicated to your employer and start with your employer's name. You only get them if you agreed to receive them.

Try Sous with your team

Sous is in early access. Tell us about your business and how you cover shifts today.

Ask about early accessOther ways to reach us