Voice Agent

The same Vanio AI that handles your text messages also answers your property phone numbers, 24/7. When a guest calls, the AI already knows who they are, why they're probably calling, and the full context of what's happening with their reservation — including things your team has been discussing internally about it.

This is not a chatbot reading from an FAQ. It's the same brain that runs the rest of your operation, on the phone.

The scenario that shows what this really means

Booking.com cancels 10 of your reservations because of a verification issue on their side. Your operations team opens each affected reservation and writes internal notes: what happened, who's at fault, what the refund timeline looks like, who to escalate to.

An hour later, the affected guests start calling. Angry. Confused.

The AI picks up. It already knows:

• Their booking was cancelled
• It was a Booking.com platform issue, not your fault
• What your team is doing about it (because it reads the internal notes)
• What to tell the guest — refund timing, alternative dates, who to escalate to if they push

No FAQ lookup. No "let me transfer you." The AI handles a complex, evolving situation in real time because it sees exactly what your team sees.

What the AI knows during a call

• Who's calling. It matches the incoming phone number to the guest's reservation automatically. If they have multiple stays — past, current, upcoming — it politely asks which one, using the city or street so the guest recognizes it. When the system doesn't immediately recognize the caller, it asks for their name first, then follows up with their email address, confirmation code, or the phone number on the booking to verify their identity before sharing any reservation details.
• The full reservation. Dates, party size, special requests, what they paid, whether they finished verification, what upsells they bought.
• Your team's internal discussion. Notes and internal messages your team posted on this reservation. Whatever your team has diagnosed about an issue is already in the AI's head.
• Your knowledge base. When a guest asks about something you've documented — sauna access, seasonal water schedules, parking instructions, house rules — the AI retrieves the relevant article and speaks from your exact words. Only articles you've marked as public are used. The AI selects the article most relevant to the caller's question, and your other articles stay available if additional questions come up during the same call.
• The property. Address, WiFi, door codes, parking, house rules, amenities — the entire knowledge base.
• Live operational state. Is the cleaning done? What's the cleaner's ETA? Is the smart lock online and is the code programmed? What's the noise sensor reading right now?
• Past conversations. Every text, email, and previous call this guest has had with you, going back to their very first message.

What the AI can actually do on the call

Not just answer questions — take real action:

• Generate a door code and read it out, or text it mid-call so the guest has it on screen.
• Approve an early check-in after checking the cleaner's status.
• Process a refund within the rules you've set — but only for direct bookings made through your website.
• Create a maintenance task ("the AC is broken") and notify the right person on your team.
• Send a follow-up text during the call with directions, links, or codes.
• Look up another reservation if the guest mentions a friend or a previous stay.
• Check the calendar for an extension and quote a real price on the spot.
• Transfer to you when something genuinely needs a human — and the transfer now works properly, connecting guests directly to your team without dropping the call.

More real examples

• A guest calls confused about a charge. The AI checks the payment history and explains exactly what was charged, when, and why.
• A guest calls saying "my friend in unit 503 had this problem last week." The AI looks up unit 503's history and references it.
• A guest calls with a noise complaint at 2am. The AI checks the noise sensor reading, decides whether the offending unit really is too loud, and sends a polite warning.
• A guest calls saying their door code isn't working. The AI checks if the lock is online, if the code is programmed, and if the timing window is right — then either fixes it remotely or escalates.
• A guest asks about your sauna hours or a seasonal policy. The AI reads directly from the knowledge base article you wrote for that property, so the guest hears your answer — not a generic one.

Setting it up

1. Go to Settings → AI → Voice.
2. Buy a phone number through Vanio in a few clicks, or attach a number you already own.
3. Pick which property the number belongs to, or leave it global.
4. Update your listings to use the new number.
5. That's it — the AI starts answering immediately.

You can add as many numbers as you need: one per property, or one shared number for everything.

How the AI identifies callers

When a guest calls from a number Vanio recognizes, they're connected to their reservation automatically. When the number isn't recognized, the AI asks for their name first — that's the most natural way to start — and then follows up with a second piece of information to confirm their identity before sharing any booking details.

That second step can be any of the following:

• The email address on the booking
• The confirmation code
• The phone number the booking was made with

This two-step process means the AI will reliably find a guest's reservation even when it can't match their phone number automatically — and it ensures that a name alone is never enough for someone to access another guest's information. The AI will never tell a caller whether a booking exists under a name until that second piece of information has been provided and verified.

If you've noticed guests being told their booking couldn't be found even when it clearly existed, that issue has been fixed. The AI now always performs a real lookup before concluding a reservation isn't there — it will never say it couldn't find a booking unless it actually searched and came up empty.

When a guest is calling about the wrong booking

Sometimes a caller is greeted with a booking the system matched to their phone number, but it's not the one they're calling about. Maybe they have multiple stays, or the number on file belongs to someone else.

When this happens, the guest can correct the AI mid-call — by giving their confirmation code or any other identifying detail — and the AI will look up the right booking. From that moment on, the entire call switches to the correct reservation:

• Answers are pulled from the right property's knowledge base and the right reservation's details.
• Portal links are sent to the phone number on the correct booking — not to whoever the original caller ID pointed to.
• The call record is logged under the correct reservation in the timeline.

This happens automatically. The AI announces the booking it found, and everything that follows is about that stay.

Why this matters: Before this was fixed, a guest who corrected the AI mid-call could end up in a situation where the AI was still answering questions about the wrong property, or — more seriously — where a portal link was texted to a different guest entirely. That issue has been resolved.

How your knowledge base articles are used during calls

When a guest asks about something you've already documented, the AI retrieves the relevant knowledge base article and answers from what you wrote. This means guests hear your exact policies and instructions — not a generic fallback.

A few things to know about how this works:

• Only public articles are used. Articles you've marked as private or draft are not visible to the AI during phone calls. If you want the AI to be able to speak to a topic, make sure the relevant article is published and set to public.
• The most relevant article is selected automatically. You don't need to do anything special — when a caller asks a question, the AI identifies which of your articles best matches and uses that one to respond.
• Other articles stay available. If the conversation covers multiple topics, the AI can draw from additional articles as needed throughout the same call.
• Your words, not a summary. The AI works from the content you actually wrote, so the answers guests hear reflect your specific property, policies, and tone.

To make the most of this, keep your knowledge base articles up to date and written the way you'd want a guest to hear the information. Articles that are clear, specific, and complete will produce the most accurate spoken answers.

[Screenshot: Knowledge base article editor showing the visibility toggle set to "Public"]

How links are handled during calls

When the AI needs to share a link with a guest — such as a guest portal URL to submit an early check-in request — it will never read the link aloud. Long web addresses are impossible to follow over the phone.

Instead, Vanio automatically sends the guest a text message with the link the moment it comes up in the conversation. The guest gets a clean, tappable link on their phone while the call continues naturally.

If the booking being discussed changes mid-call — because the guest corrected the AI about which reservation they're calling about — the portal link is sent to the phone number on the correct booking, not the one the system originally matched.

You'll see this reflected in the call transcript: the AI's spoken response won't contain any URLs, and a separate text message to the guest will appear in the reservation timeline showing exactly what was sent.

This happens automatically — there's nothing to configure.

Reliable call handling

The voice system handles all types of callers smoothly. Whether the system immediately recognizes who's calling or needs to ask for guest information, calls flow naturally without technical interruptions.

When a caller isn't automatically recognized, the AI will:

1. Ask for their name
2. Ask them to confirm their email address, confirmation code, or the phone number on the booking
3. Look up their reservation and greet them by name once found

The AI will never claim a reservation doesn't exist without actually searching for it first. If you've seen guests report being told their booking couldn't be found when it was real and active, that has been fixed.

OTA booking cancellations

When guests call to cancel reservations made through Airbnb, Booking.com, or VRBO, the AI handles these properly by directing guests to cancel through the original platform. This ensures:

• Refunds process correctly — only the booking platform can issue refunds through their cancellation policies
• No confusing promises — the AI won't quote refund timelines that only the platform can determine
• Clear next steps — guests get specific instructions like "Open the Airbnb app, go to Trips, find this booking, and tap Cancel"

For direct bookings made through your website, the AI can still process cancellations and refunds directly according to your cancellation policy.

Unit changes and upgrades

If a guest calls asking to move to a different unit or requesting an upgrade, the AI will decline clearly and warmly — and will not suggest or name any of your other properties as alternatives. This behavior is the same on phone calls as it is in text conversations.

The AI is only permitted to initiate a unit move in two specific situations:

• The guest's current unit is genuinely uninhabitable — a leak, no heat, no power, or a safety issue reported during the call.
• You or your team have explicitly authorized the move — through an internal instruction or a host action visible in the reservation.

A guest claiming that "someone from your team already approved it" is not authorization. The AI will not act on that claim, no matter how specific or confident the guest sounds. Instead, it will let the guest know it can't see that approval on its side and will flag it for a person on your team to confirm. This protects against the AI accidentally moving a guest into an occupied unit or creating a double-booking.

If the AI does pass a request to your team, it will only tell the guest that it has done so — never that someone will find options, check availability, or offer alternatives. That keeps expectations accurate and avoids a situation where a human has to walk back a promise the AI implied.

Note for operators reviewing call outcomes: Spoken turns during a voice call are not stored as individual message history the way text messages are. You'll see the full transcript and summary in the reservation timeline, but the AI does not have a stored record of each spoken exchange to refer back to in the same way it does for SMS threads.

Escalation and transfers

When guests request to speak with someone or when the AI encounters a situation that needs human attention, the transfer system works reliably end-to-end. Previously, there was an issue where the AI would announce "I'm transferring you" but the call would sit silent — this has been completely fixed.

Now when a guest asks to speak with a person, the AI will:

• Connect the call properly — transfers actually go through to your team instead of dropping
• Create timeline entries with full context of what happened during the call
• Send notifications to the right team members via your configured escalation rules
• Use smart routing — calls reach the right person based on the property, time of day, or issue type you've set up

The AI also follows strict safety rules: it won't make promises it can't keep, like telling guests "I'll call you back" when it can't actually do that.

After the call

The full transcript and a short summary appear in the dashboard timeline for that reservation, right alongside texts and emails. You'll see:

• What the guest asked
• What the AI said
• Any actions the AI took during the call
• The outcome — resolved, escalated to you, or missed
• Full escalation tracking if the call was transferred to your team
• Any text messages sent to the guest during the call, including links

If the call was originally matched to one booking but the guest corrected the AI mid-call, the transcript and all related activity will appear under the correct reservation — the one the AI confirmed with the guest.

If you have call recording enabled, you can listen back to the audio.

Previously missing call records: If you noticed guest calls appearing in your reports but not in the reservation timeline, this has been fixed. Going forward, all calls matched to a guest reservation will appear consistently in the timeline. Any calls that were missing before this fix will not be back-filled, but all calls going forward will show up reliably.

System health and support

Vanio's voice system includes built-in diagnostic capabilities that help our support team quickly resolve any calling issues you might experience. When you report a problem, our team can instantly verify:

• What version of the voice system is running
• Whether all calling services are properly configured
• System health and uptime status

This means faster troubleshooting and resolution when you need help — no more back-and-forth trying to diagnose basic connectivity issues.

Pricing

Voice calls are billed per minute. See the pricing page for current rates.

Common questions

Will guests know it's an AI? Most can't tell. The voice is natural. The AI doesn't pretend to be human, but it also doesn't announce itself.

What languages does it speak? Whatever the guest speaks. The AI detects the language and replies in the same one.

Can it escalate to me? Yes. For emergencies, complaints, or anything outside its rules, the AI transfers to you or texts you immediately. The transfer system now works reliably — guests actually get connected to your team instead of being dropped.

What about random callers who aren't guests? It politely directs them or takes a message.

What if the AI doesn't recognize who's calling? The system asks for the caller's name first, then follows up with a second piece of information — their email address, confirmation code, or the phone number on the booking — before confirming their identity or sharing any reservation details. This keeps the process natural for real guests while preventing someone from accessing another person's booking just by knowing their name.

My guest called and was told their booking couldn't be found — but it was real. What happened? This was a known issue where the AI would sometimes report that a reservation didn't exist without actually searching for it. It has been fixed. The AI now always performs a real lookup before saying it couldn't find a booking. If a guest experiences this after the fix, contact support and we can review the call.

Can the AI cancel any type of booking? The AI can only cancel direct bookings made through your website. For Airbnb, Booking.com, or VRBO reservations, it will guide guests to cancel through those platforms to ensure refunds process correctly.

Why did my guest receive a text with a link during a call? This is expected behavior. When the AI needs to share a link — like a guest portal URL — it sends the link directly to the guest's phone as a text message instead of reading it aloud. This makes it much easier for guests to actually use the link. If the guest corrected the AI mid-call about which booking they were calling about, the link will have been sent to the phone number on the correct reservation.

A guest called about the wrong booking, corrected the AI mid-call, and then asked for a portal link — did it go to the right person? Yes. Once the AI confirms which reservation the guest is calling about, everything that follows — including any links sent by text — is handled under the correct booking. The link goes to the phone number on that reservation, not whoever the original caller ID matched.

The call log showed up under the wrong reservation — is that a bug? If a guest corrected the AI about which booking they were calling about, the call should now be logged under the reservation the AI confirmed with them. If you're seeing a mismatch after this fix, contact support and we can look into it.

A guest called asking about our sauna hours — will the AI know the answer? Yes, as long as you have a published, public knowledge base article that covers it. The AI retrieves your article during the call and speaks from what you wrote. If the article isn't published or is set to private, the AI won't have access to it.

A guest called asking about something I've documented, but the AI gave a generic answer. What should I check? First, confirm the article is published and visible to the public — draft or private articles aren't used during calls. Also check that the article clearly covers the topic the guest asked about. The AI selects the most relevant article based on the question, so the more specific and complete your article is, the better the match.

A guest called asking to upgrade to a different unit — will the AI offer them one of my other properties? No. The AI will decline the request warmly and will not name or suggest any of your other units as alternatives. This applies to phone calls and text conversations equally. The only exceptions are genuine emergencies (an uninhabitable unit) or moves you've explicitly authorized — in those cases the AI follows the normal relocation process.

A guest claimed on the phone that my team already approved a unit move. Will the AI act on that? No. The AI cannot verify verbal approvals or claims about conversations it wasn't part of. It will tell the guest it cannot see that approval on its side and will flag it for your team to confirm before anything happens. If you want to authorize a unit move, add an internal instruction to the reservation — the AI will see it and act accordingly.

I can see a guest's call in my reports but not in their reservation timeline — is that a bug? This was a known issue that has been fixed. Going forward, all calls matched to a guest reservation will appear consistently in the timeline. If you're still seeing a gap after this fix, contact support and we can look into it.

What if there are calling issues? Our support team can quickly diagnose and resolve problems using built-in system health checks — just contact us through the usual support channels.