Order Alerts for Staff

When a customer places an order, TypeMenu can alert your team in several ways at once: a toast in the admin panel, a sound, a browser notification, a background push notification to a phone or laptop, and an email to the business. This guide explains each alert, who controls it, and how to fix the common problems.

Staff order alerts come with ordering on the Operate plan (and the Operate trial). They need nothing extra to set up beyond the preferences below.

Two Kinds of Setting

• Personal alerts — toasts, sound, browser notifications and push are per user and per device. Each team member turns them on for themselves under Settings → My Account → My Notifications.
• Business email — the New Orders email is business-wide and is managed under Settings → Notifications. See Notification Settings.

When Alerts Fire

Alerts fire when a new order arrives in the admin panel. If a customer’s card payment is still being confirmed, the order is held and alerts wait until the payment completes — at that point it is announced as a new order. Order status changes trigger a quieter “Order Updated” toast and browser notification but no sound.

Toast Notifications

A toast is the small banner that slides in on any admin page. For a new order it reads “New Order: #1234” with the item count and total, and has a View button that opens the order.

• Toggle: Settings → My Account → My Notifications → Panel Notifications → Toast Notifications
• Default: On

Sound Alerts

With Audible Alerts (Kitchen Screen) enabled, TypeMenu plays a short alert sound when a new order arrives in whichever admin panel tab is open — including the kitchen screen. Despite the label, the sound is not limited to the kitchen page.

• Toggle: Settings → My Account → My Notifications → Panel Notifications → Audible Alerts (Kitchen Screen)
• Default: Off

Browser Notifications

Browser notifications are the system pop-ups your operating system shows while the admin panel tab is open. Clicking one focuses the panel and opens the order.

1. Go to Settings → My Account → My Notifications
2. Switch on Browser Notifications
3. Check Permission Status: — it shows Granted, Denied or Not Asked
4. If it says Not Asked, click Request Permission and accept the browser prompt

These only arrive while the panel is open. If Permission Status shows Denied, the button changes to Permission Denied and you must re-allow notifications for the site in your browser’s settings before they will work.

Background Push Notifications

Push notifications reach a device even when the browser is closed. They are sent to every subscribed device belonging to users who have push enabled.

Enabling push on a device

1. On the device you want alerted, log in to the admin panel
2. Go to Settings → My Account → My Notifications → Background Push Notifications
3. Click Enable Push Notifications and accept the browser’s permission prompt
4. The status changes to Subscribed

Repeat on each device. To stop alerts on a device, click Disable Push Notifications there. Push notifications are per device, so disabling on your phone leaves your laptop subscribed.

What a push notification contains

The notification is titled “New Order #1234” with the item count and total, offers View and Dismiss actions, and stays on screen until you act on it. Tapping View opens the order in the panel. Push is sent for new orders only, not for status changes.

If the Background Push Notifications section says “Push notifications are not supported in this browser. Try using Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.”, that browser cannot subscribe; use one of those browsers instead.

New Orders Email

Separate from the personal alerts above, TypeMenu emails the business when an order is placed. It is on by default and controlled under Settings → Notifications → Customer Notifications → Business Emails → New Orders. The Notification Settings article covers it in full, including why emails may land in spam.

Live Order Lists

The admin panel also updates itself as orders arrive:

• Orders opens on the Needs action tab, which lists orders awaiting confirmation or another step. New orders appear in the list as they arrive with a “New order arrived: #1234” toast, and the order counts in the sidebar refresh every 30 seconds.
• Kitchen shows new orders instantly and reloads itself if its live connection drops and reconnects. See Kitchen Display.

Troubleshooting

No sound

• Check Audible Alerts (Kitchen Screen) is on for the logged-in user — it is off by default, and each user has their own setting
• Click anywhere on the page after loading it so the browser allows audio
• Check the device is not muted and the browser tab is not muted
• The sound plays only in an open admin panel tab; for alerts on a closed browser use push notifications

Browser notifications never appear

• Permission Status must show Granted; if it shows Denied, re-allow notifications for the site in your browser settings
• Keep the panel tab open — browser notifications stop when the tab is closed
• Your operating system’s focus or do-not-disturb mode may be hiding them

Push notifications stopped

• Open Settings → My Account → My Notifications on that device and check the status still says Subscribed; if not, click Enable Push Notifications again
• Subscriptions that the browser has expired are switched off automatically — re-enabling on the device fixes this
• If you see “Notification permission was denied. Please enable notifications in your browser settings.”, allow notifications for the site in the browser, then enable push again
• Push relies on a logged-in user and a secure (https) connection to the panel

FAQ

Can I choose a different alert sound or change the volume? No. The sound and volume are fixed.

Can I get order alerts by SMS? No. SMS notifications are for customers only; staff alerts use the methods above.

Can the owner turn on sound or push for the whole team? No. These are personal settings that each user enables on their own devices.

Related Guides

• Notification Settings — business and customer email and SMS
• Managing Orders — the Needs action tab and order workflow
• Kitchen Display — live kitchen screen
• Account Settings — your personal profile and preferences