Swift AI Front Desk can help your facility respond to customer calls and text messages, answer common questions, and assist with eligible bookings — even when your team is busy or away from the front desk.

Instead of having to answer every call or message yourself, you can let the AI assistant handle routine inquiries while your team focuses on running the facility.

AI Front Desk is designed to help with the everyday questions and booking requests your facility receives.

Depending on your Swift setup, your AI assistant can:

AI Front Desk works within the rules you have configured for your facility in Swift. For example, it won't create a booking for an unavailable time slot or change a service's price simply because a customer requests it.

Before your AI assistant starts handling customer inquiries, you'll need to configure its phone number, availability, greeting, and instructions.

If you don't see the setup option, the feature may not be enabled for your account. Contact Swift Support if you'd like to learn more about availability.

You can connect AI Front Desk to a new phone number or use your facility's existing business number.

Option A: Get a new phone number

Swift can provide a new number for your AI assistant. A new Swift number can support both calls and SMS, subject to texting availability.

This option is useful if you'd like to give your AI assistant a dedicated number for customer inquiries.

Once a number is assigned, you'll be able to configure whether the assistant should answer incoming text messages.

Option B: Use your existing business number

If you'd prefer to keep your current business number, you can configure call forwarding so incoming calls reach your AI assistant.

You'll need to follow your phone provider's instructions to enable forwarding. Swift will provide the number to forward calls to, but forwarding must be configured with your phone provider.

Please note that forwarding calls does not redirect text messages. Texts sent to your existing business number will continue to reach your business as usual.

Which option should you choose?

If you'd like your AI assistant to handle both calls and text messages through a dedicated number, a new Swift number is the more suitable option. If you mainly want help answering incoming calls while keeping your existing number, call forwarding may be a better fit.

You can choose to have AI Front Desk available around the clock or configure it to follow your facility's schedule.

For example, you could have your team answer calls during operating hours and let AI Front Desk handle inquiries in the evenings or on days when your facility is closed.

Your schedule follows your facility's configured time zone, so make sure this is set correctly in Swift.

You can also configure an escalation phone number and email address. These are used to notify your team when a conversation requires staff assistance.

You can customize how your AI assistant introduces itself and communicates with customers.

Name

Choose a name that fits your facility. This helps give your assistant a consistent identity when interacting with customers.

Greeting

Set the greeting customers hear when they call. We recommend keeping it friendly, clear, and welcoming.

For example: "Hi, thanks for calling [Facility Name]! I'm the virtual assistant here to help with bookings and answer questions about our programs. How can I help you today?" Your actual greeting should reflect how you'd like customers to experience your facility.

Voice

You can preview the available voice options and select the one you'd like your assistant to use.

Custom instructions

This is where you can explain how your assistant should communicate and what it should do in different situations. Consider including:

For example, you might instruct your assistant to use inclusive language, keep responses concise, or direct all refund requests to your team.

Tip: Be specific with your instructions. Clear guidance makes it easier for your assistant to provide responses that reflect how your facility operates.

Custom instructions guide the assistant's behaviour, but they don't override your actual Swift configuration. For example, an instruction to offer a lower price won't change the price configured for a service in Swift.

Your assistant needs accurate information to answer customer questions confidently.

Under Knowledge & instructions, you can add information by uploading supported files or providing website URLs.

Consider including information about:

For example, if customers regularly ask whether they need to bring their own equipment, you can include the answer in your knowledge materials.

What information does Swift already provide?

Your assistant can use information available through your Swift setup, including configured services, prices, and booking availability. Additional knowledge helps it answer questions that aren't covered by your service and booking information alone.

For the best results, keep your website and uploaded documents current. If a policy changes, update the relevant information so your assistant isn't relying on outdated details.

Before having your AI assistant interact with real customers, use Test agent to rehearse common conversations.

You can test the assistant even before setting up a phone number.

Try asking questions such as:

Pay attention to whether the answers are accurate, easy to understand, and consistent with your facility's policies.

If the assistant gives an incomplete or incorrect answer, review your instructions and knowledge materials, make any necessary changes, and test again.

Important: Test agent is a rehearsal environment, not a live customer call or text. Before enabling the assistant for real inquiries, make sure you've reviewed its responses and confirmed that your service settings are correct.

Once you've completed your setup and testing, use the toggle at the top of the AI Front Desk page to turn on your assistant.

Review the status displayed on the page to confirm whether calls and, where enabled, SMS are active.

You can return to AI Front Desk at any time to adjust its settings, update its instructions, review conversations, or turn the assistant off.

AI Front Desk can assist with eligible rentals, lessons, classes, and camps. However, it follows the booking options and restrictions configured in your Swift account.

Here's what that means in practice:

The assistant won't be able to complete a booking if it isn't permitted under your existing Swift setup. For example, it cannot book a full class or an unavailable rental time.

If a booking requires online payment, the customer will be directed to a payment link to complete the transaction.

The assistant does not collect card numbers over the phone. Customers complete their payment through the provided payment page.

If your facility allows payment in person, the booking follows your existing payment settings.

Keep in mind that an unpaid booking is not the same as a completed payment. Customers must complete the required payment steps for an online booking to be paid.

AI Front Desk can help with eligible cancellation requests, but cancellations remain subject to your facility's configured cancellation window and other booking rules.

Some requests require your team to make a decision. For example:

In these situations, the assistant can escalate the conversation rather than completing an action it isn't permitted to perform.

You can review your assistant's activity through the Conversations and Overview sections of AI Front Desk.

The Conversations section lets you review interactions handled by your assistant.

You can view information such as:

You can also search for conversations and filter them by channel.

Reviewing transcripts is a useful way to understand what customers are asking, identify gaps in your assistant's knowledge, and improve its instructions over time.

The Overview section provides a snapshot of your assistant's activity for the current month.

Depending on the information available in your account, you can review metrics such as:

These metrics can help you understand how your assistant is being used and where it may be providing the most value.

Not every customer inquiry can or should be handled automatically. If a customer asks for something the assistant cannot complete, it may escalate the conversation to your team. Examples include refund requests or situations requiring staff intervention.

Make sure your escalation phone number and email address are configured correctly so your team can receive the appropriate notifications.

We also recommend checking the Conversations section regularly, particularly while you're getting familiar with the feature. This gives you an opportunity to follow up on escalated requests and spot areas where your assistant could be improved.

Yes. You can use the toggle at the top of the AI Front Desk page to turn the assistant off. When it's off, it stops answering calls and text messages through AI Front Desk. Calls will follow your phone number's normal voicemail or overflow behavior, while incoming texts won't be answered by the assistant.

Yes. You can configure it to follow your facility's schedule so it handles inquiries outside your regular operating hours instead of answering during open hours.

Yes, provided the relevant information is available to the assistant through your Swift setup, website, uploaded knowledge, or custom instructions. We recommend testing important questions before enabling the assistant for customers.

Not necessarily. It checks availability and follows your existing service settings and booking rules. If a time is unavailable or a booking doesn't meet your configured requirements, the assistant shouldn't complete that booking.

No. Refund requests require staff assistance and can be escalated for your team to review.

AI Front Desk currently supports voice calls and SMS. Email support is not included in the current version.

Yes. You can review conversations and their available transcripts in the Conversations section of AI Front Desk.

Your account's Overview page displays usage against the applicable monthly allowances. When an allowance is exhausted, the corresponding AI Front Desk channel is paused until the allowance resets. If you reach the text allowance, calls may continue while voice usage remains available, and vice versa.

Check your Overview page for the allowance and reset information shown for your account.

AI Front Desk is currently in beta, and availability may be limited. If you don't see the feature in your Swift Admin account, please contact Swift Support to learn more.

AI Front Desk is designed to take routine inquiries off your team's plate while keeping your facility's existing booking rules in place. With thoughtful setup and regular review, you can use it to provide customers with a more responsive experience without having to personally handle every call or text.