An AI voice agent for hotels: answer every call

These problems usually start with a call nobody took:

• OTA commissions eat 15-25% of every booking.
• Guests rebook through an OTA, not with you. The guest loved the stay. Next trip they book the same room through an OTA because you never gave them a direct way back.
• Return guests book via OTA again.

Direct calls are often the most valuable — guests who call to book skip the OTA commission — and they arrive at every hour and across time zones.

Direct-booking enquiries, guests confirming arrival times, callers asking directions or airport transfers, in-house guests with requests, and event organisers. Calls arrive at night from guests in other countries and in the morning checkout rush, when the front desk is busiest. A call that rings out is often a booking that goes to an OTA instead.

Vajra, Reputoo's voice agent, runs the same workflows over the phone that the WhatsApp agent runs in chat:

1. Inquiry → direct booking offer (saves guest money) — Bot shows direct rate (lower than OTA) and books with payment on arrival option.
2. Pre-arrival personalisation on WhatsApp — Day before arrival: special requests, room preference, local tips, and check-in time confirmation.
3. Post-checkout rebooking offer — Two hours after checkout, a personalised thank-you with a direct-booking offer for the next stay.
4. 6-month return offer for past guests — 6 months after stay, personalised WhatsApp with "We miss you" direct booking offer.

After each call the caller can get a WhatsApp message with the details, and staff see the call in the call log.

(Rates are placeholders.)

• 36 languages, switching to the caller's — useful where customers mix languages in one sentence.
• After hours it takes the booking or the message instead of letting the call ring out.
• Live transfer to a staff member when the caller asks for one or the call needs a person.
• Outbound calls for reminders and follow-ups, within the calling hours you set. Pre-arrival messages a day or two before check-in, in-stay messages on request, and post-stay messages after checkout — not while the guest is travelling.

What stays with your staff: Rate negotiation for groups, complaints during the stay, and anything medical or security-related go to the front desk manager.

Guests calling from their room or mobile with a request — towels, a wake-up call, a taxi — are routed like chat requests: the agent takes the room number, creates the request for the right department, and confirms a time. Maintenance and safety issues go to the duty manager immediately.

• Rate negotiation and long-stay or corporate rates.
• Group and wedding enquiries — the agent collects the essentials and books a callback.
• Complaints and billing disputes.
• Anything involving guest safety.

A monthly voice add-on of ₹1,999 (or $29) on top of your Reputoo plan, plus call minutes billed from a prepaid wallet at ₹4–12 a minute depending on the number and route.

Compare that with the cost of the calls going unanswered, or with the hours staff spend on routine calls, and decide from your own call volume.

The agent answers every call in the caller's language, at any hour, and quotes in the currency your rates are set in. It confirms the booking on WhatsApp — the channel most international guests already use — so they have it in writing.

Guests call from the airport or station asking how to reach the hotel or whether their pickup has arrived. The agent gives directions, confirms the transfer from the booking, and alerts the driver or desk if the guest is waiting. Late-arriving guests who call ahead have their rooms held.

The agent never confirms whether a person is staying at the hotel or gives out room numbers. Callers asking for a guest are offered to leave a message, which the guest receives.

A hotel taking 60 calls a day at about two minutes each uses around 120 minutes a day, roughly 3,600 a month. At ₹4–12 a minute from the prepaid wallet that is ₹14,400–₹43,200 a month in minutes, plus the ₹1,999 monthly add-on. A few direct bookings that would otherwise have gone through an OTA usually cover it.

1. Connect availability and rates from the PMS; add facilities, policies, transfers and the local guide.
2. Set department routing for in-house requests.
3. Choose forwarding: unanswered, night hours or all reservation calls.
4. Test a booking, a sold-out date, an in-house request, a transfer call and a group enquiry.

The agent finds the reservation by the caller's number or booking reference, changes dates within the rate rules, explains any charge, and confirms on WhatsApp. Requests outside the rules go to reservations with the guest's reason. It never waives charges.

Callers — in-house or local — book tables and treatments by phone. The agent checks availability, books, and confirms on WhatsApp, charging in-house guests to the room. Large parties and events go to the sales team.

An organiser calling about a wedding or a conference is a valuable lead. The agent collects the dates, the number of guests and rooms, the kind of event and a budget if offered, sends a summary and the hotel's brochure to WhatsApp, and books a callback with the sales team at a time that suits the caller.

Answer with the hotel's name and say the caller is speaking to the hotel's assistant, with the front desk available at any time. End every booking by repeating the dates, room type and rate, and saying the confirmation and deposit link are on their way to WhatsApp.

Hotels receive calls from guests who speak many languages. The agent answers in the caller's language and switches if they do, which reassures international guests before they arrive. Room and facility names stay consistent so requests reach the right team.

Compare a month before and after: calls that rang out, direct bookings made by phone, and front-desk time on the phone. Read call summaries weekly for questions the agent could not answer and add them to the knowledge base.

At night the front desk is often one person, handling arrivals, calls and in-house requests at once. The agent takes reservation calls and routine requests so the night auditor can focus on guests at the desk, and routes anything urgent — safety, medical, a guest locked out — to the night manager immediately.

The agent quotes only what the PMS shows for those dates and rate plans, including taxes if you publish rates with them, and explains cancellation terms before the guest commits. It never promises an upgrade or a view that is not guaranteed; "subject to availability" is said out loud. Guests who get exactly what they were told on the phone come back.

Returning guests, corporate bookers and anyone with a complaint may ask for the front office manager. The agent transfers them when someone is free, or takes a message with a callback time. It never makes a caller argue with the assistant to reach a person.

Callers ask about step-free access, accessible rooms, cots and dietary needs. The agent answers from accurate facility information, records requests on the reservation, and marks anything it cannot confirm as "on request" for reservations to follow up, rather than promising it.

Guests call on the day to say they will be late, to ask about early check-in, or because they cannot find the entrance. The agent updates the reservation so the room is held, explains the early check-in rule, and sends directions and a map link to WhatsApp. The desk sees every change before the guest arrives.

Guests call the desk from their room to ask about the bill, extend checkout or book a taxi. The agent sends the bill to WhatsApp for review, applies the late-checkout rule, and books transport. Disputed charges go to the front office manager with the folio.

Guests planning a trip from another country call at their own daytime, which is often the hotel's night. The agent answers in their language, quotes availability and rates, and sends the booking and deposit link to WhatsApp — the app most international travellers already use — so the booking is not lost to a missed call.