The committee is volunteer-run.The phone always answers anyway.
Voko answers in the evening and at weekends, when the committee isn't available. It informs members and newcomers, and sends a written summary after every call.
Voko, 7:20pm
“FC Riverside, good evening. I'm the club's assistant. How can I help?”
Caller, 7:20pm
“Good evening, my 8-year-old would like to join, how does that work?”
Voko, 7:21pm
“I'll note your sign-up request for an 8-year-old and pass it to the committee, who will get back to you. Could I take your name and a number?”
Caller, 7:21pm
“Yes, Antoine Weber, 078 000 00 00.”
Voko, 7:22pm
Sign-up request noted, contact details recorded, summary sent to the committee.
The four calls that come in every day
The committee knows them by heart. Voko handles them in the evening, when nobody is available on a volunteer basis.
Inform a prospective member
Voko notes the sign-up request and contact details, and passes it to the committee, without ever confirming a place itself.
Answer practical questions
Training times, membership fees, location. Only what you have written down.
Take a message for the committee
An administrative question, a request about a venue, a change of address: Voko notes it and passes it on.
Send a written summary
Who called, what they needed, what was agreed. Nothing to listen back to at the next committee meeting.
A club runs on volunteers, not a secretariat
Volunteer work is declining in Switzerland while associations' administrative load stays the same: fewer people to answer the phone.
- 1.5M
people or so do club or institutional volunteer work in Switzerland
- 15.9%
of the population is active in a club or association, down from 19.5% in 2016
- 9.2bn hrs
of unpaid work are done every year in Switzerland, households and associations included
Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, volunteer work. See the figures
These rules cannot be switched off
They are part of the base every Voko assistant is built on and are regenerated on every save, so editing the club's own instructions cannot erase them.
The assistant notes a sign-up request and passes it on. The decision stays with the committee, which knows the places actually available.
Fees, refunds, exceptions: the assistant notes the question and passes it on, without ever committing to anything.
The assistant never speaks for the committee on a matter that needs a collective decision.
If a caller asks whether they are speaking to a person, the answer is clear and immediate.
The club's voicemail, and Voko
A parent who calls one evening to sign up their child and reaches voicemail rarely calls back. The child joins somewhere else.
Voicemail
- The caller hears a message and hangs up
- Nobody knows a family called until the next meeting
- A potential sign-up goes to another club
- Messages pile up until the next meeting
Voko
- The caller has someone on the line, even on a weeknight
- The sign-up request is noted right away
- Every call arrives written up
- The committee finds everything ready at its next meeting
What clubs ask before signing up
The questions that come up most often before signing up.
Can the assistant confirm a place itself?
No. It notes the request and passes it to the committee, which confirms based on places actually available.
Can it answer a question about membership fees?
For an amount you have put in its knowledge base, yes. For an exception or a special case, it notes the question and passes it on.
Does this replace the committee?
No. Voko takes calls nobody can answer on a volunteer basis in the evening or at weekends. Decisions stay with the committee.
What happens to callers' data?
You choose how long calls are kept and can delete everything from your account at any time.
Can it transfer a call to a committee member?
Yes, to a number you choose, with the condition that triggers it. Without a condition it does not transfer.
Call it the way a prospective member would.
Two minutes is enough to know whether the tone fits your club.