OrderCounter and Maple Launch Strategic Partnership to Enable AI Phone Ordering Built for Hybrid POS

Every call answered, every order landing in the kitchen through the same on-site system operators already trust

NEW YORK & PENSACOLA, Fla., August 31, 2026--OrderCounter, the hybrid point-of-sale provider that pairs the reliability of an on-site server with the accessibility of the cloud, and Maple, the leading voice AI platform for restaurants, today announced a partnership that brings automated phone ordering to OrderCounter's restaurant customers.

OrderCounter built its reputation on an architecture most of the industry moved away from and its customers refused to give up: a local server on the premises, paired with cloud access from any device anywhere. That design keeps a restaurant taking orders and printing tickets even when its internet connection falters, which is why reliability-focused operators, from fine dining rooms to high-volume bars, run OrderCounter. Maple's voice AI now sits on top of that foundation, answering the phones and sending every order into the same dependable system the kitchen already works from.

"We have always evolved OrderCounter around one question: does this help our merchants make money and run a smoother floor," said Thomas Barrineau IV, CEO of OrderCounter. "Voice AI answers a problem every operator feels on a Friday night. Pairing Maple with the local reliability our customers count on means the calls get answered and the orders land where the kitchen can act on them, every time."

The Order Still Has to Reach the Kitchen

Phone calls arrive in a restaurant exactly when staff are least able to answer them, especially during the lunch and dinner rushes. Answering the call is the first half of the problem. The second half is getting that order onto the line reliably, which is where a phone system tied to a single cloud connection can quietly cost a kitchen tickets. OrderCounter's on-site server handles that last step locally, so an order Maple captures over the phone reaches the kitchen display and the printer the same way a walk-in order does.

"Restaurant owners tell us they cannot afford to hire dedicated phone staff, and they cannot afford to miss calls," said Aidan Chau, CEO and Founder of Maple. "Running our voice AI through OrderCounter's hybrid system means an operator gets both: every call answered around the clock, and every order flowing into the workflow their staff already knows. No extra tablets, no duplicate entry, no order stuck in limbo because a connection dropped."

How the Integration Works

Maple pulls menu data directly from OrderCounter, so there is no manual menu programming step and orders are accurate from the first call.