What the agent handles
- Takes waitlist applications
- Books centre tours
- Logs morning absence calls
- Answers fee and subsidy questions
- Relays messages to classrooms
Education and child care
AI receptionist for daycares and child care
Answers parents' questions on spaces, ages and fees, takes waitlist applications, books tours, and logs the morning absence calls.
CallerDo you have any infant spots opening up next year? I'm due in March.
CallerHi, Noah won't be in today, he's got a fever.
CallerAre you part of the reduced-fee program, or how do the fees work here?
Where calls go
DirectorEnrolmentInfant and toddler roomsPreschool roomsBilling
Warm transfer: When a parent calls with a custody or pickup authorization concern, the agent warm-transfers to the centre director.
What it books
Centre tours
Why daycares and child care centres miss calls, and what an AI receptionist changes
A child care centre's phone rings hardest between 7 and 9 in the morning, when the director is at the door greeting families and every educator has a toddler on one hip and a bottle in the other hand. That is exactly when parents call to say a child has a fever and won't be in. The second wave comes at nap time, when expecting parents on their lunch break call three or four centres about infant spaces, and the director is covering a ratio break in the toddler room.
A RealVoice AI receptionist works as the daycare's phone answering service for both waves. It logs each absence with the child's name, room and symptoms and sends it to the room and the director. It takes waitlist applications with the child's birth date or due date, the start date and days per week the family needs, and whether a sibling is already enrolled. It books centre tours outside nap time, and it explains your daily fees, whether you take part in the reduced-fee program and where families apply for a fee subsidy, all from the information you give it.
Anything about who may pick up a child goes straight to the director as a warm transfer, and the agent never confirms or changes an authorized pickup list itself. Once the team connects it to your child care software during setup, it can tell a family where their application sits on the waitlist, though it never promises a space, and when a parent asks if a child can come back after being sick, it reads your written illness policy and leaves the decision with your staff.
Example call, start to finish
- CallerHi, it's Amira Haddad. Yusuf won't be in today, he was throwing up most of the night.
- AI receptionistI'm sorry he's unwell. Which room is Yusuf in, and has he had a fever as well, or only the vomiting?
- CallerHe's in the Turtles preschool room. No fever, just his stomach.
- AI receptionistThanks. I've marked Yusuf absent today with a stomach bug and let the Turtles room know. The centre's illness policy asks for 48 hours without vomiting before he comes back, so the director may check in with you before Thursday.
- CallerOkay. One more thing. His sister Leila is still coming in, but my ex-husband might try to pick her up today, and he's not on her pickup list anymore.
- AI receptionistThat needs Ms. Gagnon, the director, and she's in the building. Please stay on while I put you through.
- AI receptionist(privately, to Ms. Gagnon) Amira Haddad, mother of Leila in the toddler room, says Leila's father may try to pick her up today and is no longer authorized. Her son Yusuf is home sick. Connecting now.
After the call: The Turtles room lead has Yusuf's absence by text and email before circle time, and Ms. Gagnon heard the pickup concern from Amira directly. The call summary and recording are saved in the RealVoice portal, so the director has the details in writing when she updates Leila's file.
How it fits your day
- Drop-off, 7 to 9 a.m.
- Absence and late-arrival calls are answered while educators greet families, and each one reaches the right room as a short written note instead of a voicemail someone checks at 10.
- Nap time
- Parents shopping for infant and toddler spaces call on their lunch break. The agent takes the waitlist application and books a tour for a time when the director can give it.
- Spring enrolment for September
- When families learn which spaces open up for the fall, the calls pile up. Fee, subsidy and start-date questions are answered from your information, and every application lands in the portal.
- Evenings and weekends
- A parent who knows at 9 p.m. that their child is staying home tomorrow can call then. The absence is waiting for the room when the doors open.
Your software
Today it books centre tours into the RealVoice schedule in the portal, keeps every absence, waitlist application and message there with a summary and recording, and texts parents a confirmation of their tour. If your centre runs Lillio, Brightwheel, Kindertales or Procare, the team can set up a connection to it; custom integrations are quoted separately.
What a missed call costs
An empty space costs a centre every day it stays empty. If a full-time preschool space brings in about $1,500 a month between parent fees and operating funding, and a director who couldn't get to the phone loses the family at the top of the list, the two months it takes to work down a stale waitlist cost about $3,000 for that one space. Infant spaces, and families who later bring younger siblings, raise the stakes. Try your own enrolment numbers in the missed-call calculator on our homepage.
Questions daycares and child care centres ask
Can an AI take the morning absence calls at my daycare?
Yes. It asks for the child's name, room and reason, notes symptoms like fever or vomiting, and sends the absence to the room and the director by text and email before drop-off ends.
Will it tell parents where they are on our waitlist?
Yes. As part of setup, the team links it to your enrolment software, so it can confirm an application is on file and tell the family where it sits on the list. Offers of a space and start dates still come from the director.
Can it explain our fees and the reduced-fee program?
It explains your daily or monthly fees, whether your centre takes part in the reduced-fee program and where parents apply for a subsidy, using only what you give it. It doesn't work out what a particular family will pay.
What happens if a parent calls about custody or who can pick up their child?
It warm-transfers the call to the director with a private summary first. If the director can't answer, the message goes out by text and email right away. The agent never confirms who is allowed to pick up a child.
Can parents leave a message for their child's educator?
Yes. Early pickups, a forgotten hat or a rough night's sleep become a short note sent to that room's staff, so the director isn't carrying messages down the hall.
Can it take calls from French-speaking families?
Yes. It speaks French and English, along with many other languages, and asks the parent before changing language mid-call.
Hear it as your own child care centre's front desk
Request a free demo call and the agent will phone you, set up as a business like yours.