Openings, tuition and tours
Answers from your program notes and tuition ranges, and books the tour onto a real slot with the confirmation texted.
How the receptionist worksThe week
The calls that go unanswered today
Each one is a client, a claim or a job that went to whoever picked up.
- TUE 18:40A family calling about fall enrollment
Tours are booked by whoever answers after work hours.
- MON 07:50Twenty absence calls in ten minutes
The office manager can't check in students and answer them all.
- WED 05:45Everyone asking if there's school in the snow
Two hundred families, one voicemail box.
- FRI 15:10A parent running late for pickup
Missed, and a teacher waits with a child.
Setups by size
How schools and childcare centers run Ody, at every size
Pick the shape of your business. Every feature below links to its own page; every setup is one you can build in an afternoon.
A business number that isn't your home phone
Families reach the program. The program books tours while you teach.
One business number on your listing and enrollment forms. It rings the app on your phone; during class, the receptionist answers enrollment questions from your notes, books tours and takes absence messages. Voicemails arrive as transcripts.
- Phone numbersA second number for the program
One local number is included with your seat. Listings and families get the program number; your personal phone stays personal.
- Business voicemailVoicemail transcripts you read at nap time
Every number gets voicemail with a custom greeting and a transcript in the inbox on every plan, so "Ava will be out today" is a two-second read. Or route to the receptionist and skip voicemail.
- Business textingDaily updates and closure notices by text
"Closed tomorrow for the ice storm" to every family from the program number, replies in each thread. One-time 10DLC registration at onboarding; collect texting consent at enrollment.
- AI receptionistTours booked after bedtime
Inside your hours the line rings your phone and the receptionist picks up if you don't. Outside them it answers first ring, answers enrollment questions and books tours.
AI receptionist
The calls a school office gets, routed the way you instruct.
You describe programs, ages, hours, tuition ranges, pickup policy and enrollment steps. The receptionist answers from that, books tours and takes messages, and never shares student information with unverified callers.
"Ava will be out today"
Takes the student, classroom and reason as a message for the office, or routes to the absence voicemail that arrives as a transcript.
Business voicemailLate pickups and authorized adults
Takes the message and flags it for the office immediately; never confirms or changes an authorized pickup list itself.
Shared inbox"Is there school today?"
Answers from the closure status you set and texts the notice to the caller.
Business textingForms, calendars, lunch menus
Texts the links you provide and takes a message for anything else.
How the receptionist worksEvenings and summer
Answers first ring, books tours, takes messages, texts back anyone who hung up.
How the receptionist worksThe record
Every family call written down for the office.
Voicemail transcripts are on every plan, which is what turns twenty absence calls into a list. On Growth and above, recorded calls on lines you choose are transcribed and summarized. Many schools record only the enrollment line.
- Voicemail transcripts on every plan
- Recording, transcript and AI summary on the lines you enable
- Search by family name or phrase
- Tour bookings posted to Slack or pushed to your CRM through Make
Call summaryGenerated by Ody
- Caller
- Prospective family · +1 (512) 555-1211
- Reason
- New to the area; preschool for a 3-year-old starting in the fall.
- Told
- Openings in the primary classroom. Tour is about 30 minutes. Address and parking texted.
- Next action
- Tour with Ms. Ortiz Wed 9:30 AM.
Your stack
Works alongside your school software
Native integrations are listed as such. Student information and childcare platforms have no native connection yet, so Ody reaches them through Make, webhooks or the REST API.
- Brightwheel, Procare, Blackbaud, FACTSMake, webhooks or APIAPI docs
Push absence notes and tour bookings via Make or the REST API webhooks
- CSV importNativeIntegration
import families so callers show up by name
- Mailchimp, BrevoNativeIntegration
families who opt in added to your newsletter list
- SlackNativeIntegration
tour bookings and urgent pickup messages posted to the office channel
- StripeNativeIntegration
tuition payment status on the family thread
- MakeNativeIntegration
connect the rest of your stack
Browse all 43 integrations, or connect anything else through Make and the REST API.
Trust
Family information, handled carefully
Calls, transcripts and messages are encrypted in transit and at rest and never used to train third-party models. The receptionist never shares student information with callers it hasn't verified per your instructions, and recording is per line and off by default. Collect texting consent at enrollment.
- SOC 2 Type II
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- Recording per line, off by default
- No student details to unverified callers
Rollout
Live in an afternoon, not a quarter
No hardware, no consultant, no call-flow diagram. Four steps and the line is answered.
- 01
Port the school number
The one families have saved. Porting is free and the old line keeps working until cutover.
- 02
Describe the school
Programs, ages, hours, tuition ranges, pickup policy, enrollment steps, what never to share. Plain sentences.
- 03
Set the menu
Absences to transcribed voicemail, pickup to the office ring order, enrollment to the director or the receptionist.
- 04
Import families and test a closure text
CSV import in minutes; send a test closure text to staff, then read a week of transcripts.
Resources
Guides for schools and childcare centers
The concepts behind this setup, explained without the jargon.
What businesses need to know about IVRLearn how auto-attendants, DTMF digits, and multi-level menus route inbound callers before a person answers.Read guide What businesses need to know about voicemailLearn how greetings, no-answer timers, transcription, and shared boxes work, and why ringless voicemail is regulated as a call.Read guide What businesses need to know about SMS consentHow express written, express, and conversational consent differ, what a compliant opt-in looks like, and how STOP and HELP keywords behave.Read guide
FAQ
Schools & childcare: common questions
More industries
Also in education & community, and nearby
Schools, nonprofits and the people who volunteer for them.
Education & communityNonprofitsVolunteers answer a shared line from their own phones, donors reached, every call in one inbox.Local & hospitalityFitness studios & gymsTrial-class calls booked during the 6am rush, membership questions answered, front desk freed.Health & wellnessTherapy & counselingA second number that isn't your cell, intake calls answered between sessions.
Comparing options? Ody vs Google Voice · Ody vs RingCentral · Ody vs Grasshopper
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