What's New With the Virtual Concierge Service
Voice Reviews (December 2020)
Introducing the industry’s first voice review - the easiest possible way for your guests to leave a glowing 5 star review by simply speaking. Following the voice check-out process, the Virtual Concierge will ask: “Would you be willing to share a quick voice review of your stay with us?”. Upon agreement, VCS will allow them to leave a voice review on the go as they leave the property. You will receive their review via email, including both the actual recording as well as the transcribed text.
Host Highlights (October 2020)
Host Highlights is a feature that allows you to bring any topics to your guest's attention - without them specifically having to ask. You can proactively point your guests to important things to know, or your top recommendations for their trip.
Multiple Voice Personas (July 2020)
With the virtual concierge on Amazon Echo devices, you can now choose from 11 different voice personas in addition to Alexa.
Ask direct questions of Alexa with VCS Pro (June 2020)
Guests can now ask Alexa questions directly, and she will answer with your custom content. While 'Alexa, use the concierge service' is still available, there is now no need to invoke the skill first with VCS Pro. Just ask 'Alexa, what's the wifi password?' for example, and she will share your custom wifi information.
Content Versioning, with Publish and Rollback (May 2020)
Your custom content can now be saved as a draft and published whenever you like. Better yet, you can also roll back published changes to any of the five prior versions. This provides an additional layer of backup, augmenting your ability to also export content to a file and import it back as needed.
Check-in
Notifications & Test your content straight from the web portal
(Feb 2020)
With check-in notifications, guests can
check-in using just their voice, and notification is sent to the
designated contact. Spearately, now there is no need to have a smart
speaker available to test your custom content. It can all be done in the
VCS Portal via a chat session with the Virtual
Concierge..
Digital
Coupons (Dec 2019)
You now have an easy way to provide
even greater value for your guests during their stay. The Virtual
Concierge will deliver digital coupons for discounts or other special
and memorable experiences at local establishments.
Handling
Questions with No Answers (Nov
2019)
We always hope to be at the
intersection where every guest question has an answer. But what happens
when you haven't yet provided curated content for a question? The
Virtual Concierge now has the patent-pending ability to handle those
situations for more than 400 On-Property and Off-Property topics. To
learn more,
click
here.
Analytics
and insights via utilization reports (Sept
2019)
You now have the ability to understand
how your guests are using the Virtual Concierge during their stay.
Information includes number of conversations and questions asked, the
most popular answers provided, and much more.
New
Property Wizard (Sept 2019)
With our new on-boarding wizard, you
can add a new property in a few quick steps. Now it is quicker and
easier than ever to get
started.
Respond
to Guest Questions with Your Own Voice (August
2019)
We know that one key to
success in the vacation rental business is maintaining a personal
connection with guests. One way to do that is to have them hear your own
voice as part of their experience in your property. With this feature
of the Virtual Concierge, you can record an audio file and attach it to a
content item. When guests ask about that item, the VC will say "I'll
hand it off to your host for that information", and then your own voice
will provide the response to the guest's request.
We're
honored to be part of Skift's Top 100 Short Term Rental Vendors
(Aug 2019)
To access the full Short-Term Rental
Ecosystem and Vendor Deep Dive 2019 report, visit
https://lnkd.in/ggahV4Q.
Host
Welcome Message (July 2019)
Now your guests can get information you
consider important, without depending on them to ask for it. When a
guest uses the Virtual Concierge for the first time after their arrival,
they will hear the custom welcome message that you have defined. This
is a one-time only welcome for each group of guests. When they use the
VC again, they will get the normal greeting.
Host
Notifications When Guests Check-out, and a 3-Question Guest Survey (May
2019)
When guests tell the Virtual Concierge
"We're checking out", you will receive an immediate notification. This
can potentially allow you to send in the cleaning crew early. Further,
you can also receive immediate feedback about your guest's stay. Guests
will be asked if they are willing to provide feedback via 3 quick
questions. You can use this information for continuous improvement and
growing repeat
bookings.
Proactive
Check-out Reminders (May 2019)
Now on the day of departure, your
guests can get proactively reminded about important things to remember
as they leave the property. With check-out reminders, the Virtual
Concierge will send a notification to your Amazon Echo device(s) at 10am
on the morning of the check-out day. When a notification arrives, the
device chimes and the light indicator pulses yellow. Guests can then say
"Alexa, use the concierge service" to hear your custom departure
instructions.
Calendar
Integration (May 2019)
Hosts can now link their reservation
calendars. This release also includes the ability for Alexa or Google
Assistant to provide custom welcome messages using your guest's
name.
Mark
Cuban & Bradley Metrock Discuss Virtual Concierge Service (April
2019)
The value that voice tech brings
vacation rentals is recognized, and growing! Here is Virtual Concierge
Service being discussed by Mark Cuban and podcast host Bradley Metrock.
It is in the context of the top 3 voice-oriented businesses that Mark
would advise a younger self to
pursue.