Voice AI Check-In: Stop Repeating Yourself 600x/Year

Voice AI for Check-In Instructions: Stop Repeating Yourself 600 Times a Year

"How do I get in?"

This is the most common phone call in vacation rental management. Not the most complex. Not the most urgent. Just the most frequent. And you have answered it hundreds of times.

The lockbox is on the left side of the door. The code is 4872. Pull the latch down after entering the code. The gate code is 1234. Park in the second spot on the right. The WiFi password is on the fridge.

You know these instructions by heart. You have said them so many times they come out on autopilot. And yet every guest who calls is hearing them for the first time. They need you to be patient, clear, and specific. At 11 PM. On a Saturday. For the third time tonight. For a different property each time.

At 130+ properties, each with its own access codes, lock types, gate codes, parking rules, and WiFi passwords, check-in instructions are a full-time job. Not a complex job. Not one that requires your expertise or judgment. But a time-consuming job that eats 40+ hours per year of your life.

Voice AI handles every single one of these calls. Instantly. Accurately. For every property. At any hour.

The Scale of the Problem

Let's put numbers on this.

A property that gets 50 bookings per year will generate roughly 5-8 check-in related calls per year. Not every guest calls. Many use the messaging instructions. But the ones who do call tend to call at the worst possible times: right when they arrive, which is usually late afternoon or evening.

Now multiply that across a portfolio.

130 properties x 5 check-in calls per property per year = 650 check-in calls per year.

At an average of 4 minutes per call (find the right property in your notes, look up the code, explain the access process, answer follow-up questions, confirm they are all set), that is:

650 calls x 4 minutes = 2,600 minutes = 43 hours per year.

Forty-three hours. Doing the same thing. Saying the same words. Looking up the same codes. Year after year.

Those 43 hours are not spread evenly across the year, either. They cluster around check-in times (3-6 PM) and high-booking seasons. On a busy summer Friday, you might handle 10 check-in calls in a 3-hour window while also managing turnovers, coordinating cleaners, and handling actual problems.

What Guests Are Actually Asking

Check-in calls are not one question. They are a cluster of related questions that vary by property. Here is what guests actually ask:

The Lockbox Code

"What is the code?" This is the most basic version. But it comes with variations:

"The code is not working." (Are they entering it correctly? Has it been changed?)
"Where is the lockbox?" (Left of the door? Behind the planter? On the gate?)
"I see two lockboxes." (One is for the cleaners. Yours is the blue one.)
"It opened but there is no key inside." (Smart lock properties do not have keys. The code IS the key.)

Each property has its own lock type, its own code, and its own set of quirks. A manager with 130 properties has 130 different answers to "what is the code?"

Smart Lock Instructions

Smart locks add a layer of confusion for guests who have never used one:

"Do I press the code or the button first?"
"The keypad is not lighting up." (Touch it to activate.)
"It beeped but the door did not unlock." (Turn the handle within 5 seconds.)
"What if the battery dies?" (There is a physical key hidden at...)

Gate Codes

Properties in gated communities have a separate access code for the gate. Guests need both the gate code and the unit code. They often confuse one for the other.

Parking

"Where do I park?" varies wildly:

Dedicated driveway spots (property-specific)
Shared parking lots with assigned numbers
Street parking with restrictions
Garage access with a separate code or remote
Properties where the number of parking spots matches the number of bedrooms (policy at Desert Sol: one car per bedroom, free)

WiFi Password

This is technically not a check-in question, but guests ask it on the check-in call 80% of the time. "Oh, one more thing, what is the WiFi password?" If you do not have it ready, you have to look it up, call them back, and the whole interaction doubles in length.

Beyond the Basics

After the code and the WiFi, guests often ask:

"Where is the nearest grocery store?"
"How does the thermostat work?"
"Is the pool heated?"
"Where are the extra towels?"
"How do I use the hot tub?"
"What is the checkout process?"

A single check-in call that starts as "what is the code?" can turn into a 6-minute conversation covering four different topics. Every property has different answers.

How Voice AI Handles It

Voice AI resolves check-in calls in 60 to 90 seconds. Here is why it is faster:

It Already Knows Who Is Calling

When the phone rings, Voice AI matches the caller's phone number to their reservation in under a second. Before the guest finishes saying "Hi, I just arrived," the AI has loaded:

Their name
Their property
The lockbox code, smart lock code, or key location
The WiFi password
The parking instructions
The gate code (if applicable)
The full check-in procedure for that specific listing

No searching through spreadsheets. No scrolling through the property management app. No asking the guest to spell their name or provide a confirmation number. The data is loaded before the conversation starts.

It Delivers Property-Specific Instructions

Not a generic "your lockbox code is..." but the exact instructions for that property's specific lock type, code, and access procedure.

For a Schlage smart lock: "Press the Schlage logo button, enter the code 7294, then turn the handle within 5 seconds."

For a lockbox: "The lockbox is attached to the railing on the left side of the front porch. The combination is 4872. Turn the dials to match, then pull the latch down to open."

For a property in a gated community: "The gate code is 1234. Enter through the main gate on Desert Rose Drive, turn right, and your unit is the third on the left. Your door code is 5678."

Each property's instructions are pulled from the PMS in real time. When you update a code, the AI has the new code immediately.

It Handles Follow-Up Questions

The guest gets their code and then asks about WiFi. The AI already has it loaded. They ask about parking. Already loaded. They ask if the pool is heated. The AI checks the amenity data for that listing.

One call. All questions answered. No callback needed.

It Works at 2 AM

The guest arriving on a red-eye at 1 AM gets the same quality of service as the guest arriving at 3 PM. Same accuracy. Same patience. Same property-specific detail. No PM woken up.

For a deeper look at what Voice AI is like at 2 AM, read How to Handle After-Hours Calls Without Burning Out.

The Time You Get Back

Let's revisit the math with Voice AI handling check-in calls:

Before Voice AI:

650 check-in calls per year
4 minutes average per call (including lookup time)
43 hours per year spent on check-in calls
Additional time lost to context switching (you were doing something else when the call came in)

With Voice AI:

650 check-in calls per year
0 minutes of PM time per call
0 hours per year spent on check-in calls
Some calls escalate (code genuinely not working, lock malfunction), but this is a small percentage

Time saved: 43 hours per year.

What do 43 hours look like?

That is a full work week you did not spend saying lockbox codes.
At $75/hour (conservative PM value), that is $3,225 in recovered time.
It is also 43 hours you can spend on owner relations, acquiring new properties, improving listing quality, or just being present with your family during the evenings instead of answering calls.

But the time calculation understates the real impact. Check-in calls are interruptions. They pull you out of whatever you were doing. Each interruption costs an estimated 23 minutes of refocused productivity (research from the University of California, Irvine). Even if the call is only 4 minutes, the disruption to your workflow is much longer.

650 interruptions per year. That is the real cost.

Making It Work: What the AI Needs from You

Voice AI is not magic. It is software that resolves calls using data. The quality of the resolution depends on the quality of the data.

Here is what you need to provide:

Complete Property Information in Your PMS

For every property, make sure your PMS has:

Lockbox or smart lock code (and the type of lock)
WiFi network name and password
Parking instructions
Gate code (if applicable)
Physical address (the one guests should use for navigation, which might be different from the mailing address)
Check-in and checkout procedures
Any property-specific quirks ("the front door sticks, push hard" or "use the side entrance, not the front")

Updated Codes

When you change a lockbox code or WiFi password, update it in your PMS. The AI pulls data in real time, so the update takes effect immediately. Outdated codes are the fastest way to create a bad guest experience.

Saved Replies for Common Questions

If guests at a specific property always ask about the pool heating, create a saved reply for that question mapped to that listing. The more answers the AI has, the fewer calls it needs to escalate.

Accurate Planned Arrival Times

When guests provide an expected arrival time, make sure it is recorded in the reservation. This data helps the AI tailor its instructions ("I see you are arriving at 10 PM, so I want to mention that the porch light is on a sensor and will turn on when you walk up to the door").

Beyond "How Do I Get In?"

Check-in is the entry point, but Voice AI handles the full spectrum of guest calls. Once you have check-in calls automated, you start noticing the other repetitive calls: WiFi issues, thermostat questions, amenity inquiries, checkout procedures, early checkout and late checkout requests.

In production, Dimora AI handles 600+ calls across 130+ properties. Check-in instructions are the largest single category, but they are not the only one. The same data connection that lets the AI give a lockbox code also lets it explain how the hot tub works, provide directions to the nearest grocery store, and offer a late checkout at $35 or $50 depending on the property.

148 early/late checkout offers have been sent automatically. 28 gap night offers. 2,900+ message drafts generated across the Inbox AI module. The check-in call automation is one piece of a system that handles the entire operational workload.

For the full picture of what Voice AI covers, read Voice AI for Vacation Rentals: Everything Property Managers Need to Know.

The Last Time You Say the Lockbox Code

There is a specific moment every property manager who deploys Voice AI remembers: the last time they personally gave a guest a lockbox code over the phone.

You do not know it is the last time when it happens. You just notice, a week or two later, that you have not received a check-in call. The calls are still happening. Guests are still arriving. But the AI is answering, identifying each guest, and delivering the instructions for each specific property. The calls resolve in under 90 seconds. You never see them unless you look at the logs.

43 hours of lockbox codes, WiFi passwords, and parking instructions. Gone.

And in their place: time you actually want to spend.

Stop repeating yourself. Explore Voice AI | What Happens at 2 AM? |