A number of basic procedures can help protect your delivery drivers from robbery.

Use Caller-ID. If a number is displayed as "anonymous," "private," or "P," this indicates the caller has blocked the display of their phone number. In this situation, you have a choice, depending on the area where the delivery is to be made, the time of day or night, and your "gut feelings" about the caller. You can refuse to make the delivery. You lose the sale, but your delivery person is not placed at risk. tell the person to remove the Caller-ID blocking from their phone (by dialing *87 before the rest of the number) and call back. This will annoy some people, who will just call another restaurant. Other people will want to comply, but won't know how to turn the blocking feature off. ask for the person's number and call them back to verify the order. just take the address and make the delivery as usual.

Call back numbers to confirm an order was actually placed.

Cross-reference phone numbers with delivery addresses to make sure they match. There is computer software that does this, you can get a reverse telephone directory for your local area, or you can use the Internet. AnyWho, Reverse Phone Directory, and Langenberg.com are on-line reverse directories.