The front desk has a guest in front of it.The phone still gets an answer.
Voko answers while the front desk is dealing with a guest, at night, or in high season. It takes direct booking enquiries and sends a written summary after every call.
Voko, 10:40pm
“Hotel du Lac, good evening. I'm the hotel's assistant. How can I help?”
Caller, 10:40pm
“Good evening, do you have a double room free this weekend?”
Voko, 10:41pm
“I'll note your enquiry for a double room this weekend and pass it to the front desk, who will confirm availability and rate. Could I take your name and a number?”
Caller, 10:41pm
“Yes, Sophie Kramer, 076 000 00 00.”
Voko, 10:42pm
Enquiry noted: double room, this weekend. Contact details recorded, summary sent to the front desk.
The four calls that come in every day
Your team knows them by heart. Voko handles them at night or when the desk is busy.
Take a direct booking enquiry
Voko notes dates and room type, without ever confirming a price or availability itself, and passes it to the front desk.
Answer practical questions
Check-in times, parking, pets, breakfast. Only what you have written down.
Take a message for a guest already staying
A call for a guest in a room is noted and passed on, without the front desk having to interrupt check-in.
Send a written summary
Who called, what they needed, what was agreed. Nothing to listen back to the next day.
Swiss hospitality is made of small properties
Switzerland counts several thousand hotels, most of them small, where the person at the front desk also covers the phone, arrivals, and night-time emergencies.
- ~4,600
classified hotels in Switzerland
- ~27,000
Swiss businesses in hospitality overall
- 9/10
Swiss businesses have fewer than ten employees
Sources: GastroSuisse, Branchenspiegel; HotellerieSuisse. 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 hotel's own instructions cannot erase them.
The assistant never confirms a room or a rate itself. It notes the enquiry and passes it to the front desk, which confirms.
The assistant never confirms that a specific guest is staying at the hotel. That question goes to the front desk.
If a caller asks whether they are speaking to a person, the answer is clear and immediate.
If the situation described puts a life at risk, the assistant stops and points to emergency services.
The hotel's voicemail, and Voko
A guest who reaches voicemail at 11pm books elsewhere, often on a platform that takes a commission.
Voicemail
- The caller hears a message and hangs up
- The direct enquiry goes to a booking platform instead
- Nobody knows who called or why
- Messages get replayed one by one the next day
Voko
- The caller has someone on the line, even at night
- The direct enquiry stays direct, no commission
- Every call arrives written up
- The front desk confirms the rate without having missed the call
What hotels ask before signing up
The questions that come up most often before signing up.
Can the assistant confirm a booking itself?
No. It notes the enquiry with dates and room type and passes it to the front desk, which confirms availability and rate.
Can it say whether a specific guest is at the hotel?
No, never. That is a rule in the base, for your guests' safety. The question goes to the front desk.
Does this replace my night desk?
Voko takes calls when nobody answers: at night, in high season, or during check-in. The front desk keeps control of every confirmation.
What happens to guest data?
You choose how long calls are kept and can delete everything from your account at any time.
Can it transfer a call to the front desk?
Yes, to a number you choose, with the condition that triggers it. Without a condition it does not transfer.
Call it the way a guest would.
Two minutes is enough to know whether the tone fits your hotel.