Phil on the phone

Phil on the phone is an add-on to the Revenue plan. On Core or Dynamic, upgrade to Revenue to add it. Guests talk to Phil, an AI assistant, by voice: in the guest app or by a callback to the phone number on their reservation when Phil or the hotel's team offers a call in the chat, and by wake-up calls they book for a time they choose. On the hotel's Phil line, a caller whose number is on a stay in house is helped with that stay straight away, and any other caller can make a new room reservation request. Every booking goes to the same Confirm or Reject queue as everything else, and Phil only ever calls numbers on a reservation.

How a call starts#

1. In-app calls and ordinary callbacks start from a call option (a ticket) offered by Phil or your team in the guest's chat. Wake-up calls are booked when an eligible guest asks for one. Guests and other callers can also ring your Phil line.
2. Phil offers one when talking is clearly easier: a new room reservation, a booking with many details, a long message, or the guest asks to talk. Your team can send one from the conversation (Offer a call with Phil).
3. Talk to Phil appears when in-app calls are on and the guest is eligible: a voice call in the browser, in any country. A minute uses one call unit, as on the phone.
4. Call me now appears for an eligible in-house guest with a US or Canadian number on the reservation, when phone callbacks are on. Phil rings that number from your Foyer number, at any hour once the guest taps it. Your callback hours (inside 08:00 to 21:00 hotel time) limit only when Phil offers a callback on its own.
5. Each option is good for one call and for 15 minutes. Once used, the card shows Call in progress, then Call ended with a short summary and links to anything booked.

Limits on call options#

• Guests cannot start a call on their own. The microphone next to the message box is voice typing, not a call.
• A call option needs a verified stay (in house for Call me now; in house or before arrival for Talk to Phil), a call channel that is on, and call units left.
• A stay can use up to the line's call options per day (one to three). An option that expires unused does not count, an option your team sends is not held to the daily limit, and one is open at a time.
• Phil's first sentence on every call says it is your hotel's AI assistant.
• Calls are transcribed for the hotel. On a phone call Phil says so; in the app it is shown under Talk to Phil.

Your Phil line#

Your hotel's number can forward to its Foyer number. Phil picks how to answer from the caller's number.

• When the carrier has not verified the caller's number, Phil asks for the room number once before the first room charge on that call.
• Phil never reads out a guest's bill or existing charges; before placing an order or booking it reads back the price and waits for a yes. An unknown caller learns nothing about any stay, room or guest.
• A call is put through to a person in an emergency, when the caller clearly asks for one, or when a fault stops Phil from handling it: to your front desk for a guest, to your reservations number for a booking.
• Calls to your Phil line stop after 10 minutes, or sooner if you set a shorter longest call on the Voice calls page.
• A caller who is not a guest in house reaches Phil three times a hotel day, and a guest in house up to ten times. Calls over the limit go to your front desk.
• When a caller goes silent, Phil asks if they are still there after 15 seconds and ends the call about 10 seconds later.
• Each call is a ticket on the Voice calls page. Calls from unknown numbers show only the last four digits.
• A line can answer both ways (the default), reservations only, or guests only. Tell us which you want.

Who can be called#

Only the phone number on the guest's reservation: an ordinary callback after the guest taps Call me now on a call option, and a wake-up call at the time the guest booked.

• Phil never calls a number typed into the chat.
• Phil never places a call you or a guest did not ask for.

Wake-up calls#

• Eligible in-house guests can ask Phil in chat to book, change or cancel a wake-up call.
• Wake-ups ring at the hour the guest asks for, hotel time, before checkout: one morning wake-up and one nap call a day.
• They need phone callbacks, wake-ups and call units on, and a supported number on the booking: US and Canadian numbers by default, other countries only with a separate hotel setting.
• An unanswered call gets one retry after five minutes. Staff see the result on the guest record.
• If Phil cannot book a wake-up call for the guest's number, it directs the guest to the front desk. If a booked call cannot be placed or is not answered, Phil tells the guest in the chat.

What Phil does on a call#

• Takes a new room reservation request for a future stay, or a restaurant table, spa or activity, late checkout, upgrade or room service order.
• Reads every price and booking back and acts only after a clear yes. Prices come from your own menus and the floor and ceiling you set.
• Sends each booking made during a stay call to your team as Confirm or Reject, exactly like a chat order. A room reservation request lands there too: where your PMS supports it Phil places a tentative booking, otherwise it is a request your team creates in the PMS. On a reservation call, Phil holds a room only where your PMS supports it; otherwise it offers to connect the caller to reservations.
• Answers hotel questions for guests in house from your knowledge. For other callers, a quick fact only when it helps the booking, such as hours or a price.
• Tells the guest the status of their own orders, bookings and requests on this stay, and can add the guest's short note to one that is still open ("we'll be ten minutes late", "no onions"), then reads it back. The note shows on that order or request for your team. No health details.
• Connects the guest to your front desk by phone whenever they ask for the desk or a person, and in an emergency. A phone call is put through (the desk presses 1). In the app, Foyer rings your desk and then the guest's phone and connects them where it can; otherwise the guest taps Call the front desk to call from their own phone. In an emergency your desk also gets an urgent request.
• Never takes card numbers by voice. If a reservation needs a guarantee, your hotel handles that.

Call units and packs#

• 1 call unit a minute, on the phone or in the guest app.
• Each call counts in started minutes.
• Included units reset on the 1st of each month, hotel time; unused ones do not carry over.
• Pack units carry over until used. Call units are not refunded.
• Need more? Buy a one-time pack of 1,000 call units for $399 from your dashboard, up to 20 packs at a time; for more, ask about Custom. Packs never expire and are used only after the month's included units.
• Packs and blocks are one-time purchases. They never expire, carry over from month to month, and are used only after the month's included allowance. The included allowance resets on the first day of each month and does not carry over.
• Buy packs on the Usage page of your dashboard.

At zero call units#

When a property has no call units left, no call options are offered and Phil asks the guest to message instead. Messaging is never affected. Add a pack, or wait for the new month, and call options return.

What is kept#

• Phil says it is an AI assistant in the first sentence of every call, and calls are transcribed for the hotel. Foyer never stores call audio. The transcript is redacted before it is stored (phone numbers, card numbers, email and street addresses, names other than the guest's first name, and health or allergy details are removed), kept for 12 months and then deleted; anonymised copies may be kept after that, as described in the Privacy Policy.
• A phone number is used only for that call, and, where booking texts are on, to text the caller the details of a room held on the call. For each call Foyer keeps its time, length, outcome, summary, links, the last four digits of a phone number and the redacted transcript for 12 months. Staff who have the Voice calls page and can see guest requests can read the transcript there.
• Bookings made on a call are kept like any other order or request. Audio is processed live by our language-model provider under the terms described in Data and privacy.

Phil on the phone is a software feature of Phil, an AI assistant. Foyer does not provide or resell telephone service.