AI Customer Service & Booking Assistant for Rental Venues

Overview

We developed an AI-powered customer service and booking platform for Salonty.com, a network of rental venues for events, workshops, and business meetings. The solution uses natural language processing (NLP), speech-to-text, and calendar integrations to automate customer interactions: answering phone calls, handling reservations, managing availability, and responding to equipment-related questions.

Client

• Company: Salonty.com

• Industry: Hospitality /Short-term rental

• Scale: 20+ locations with daily inquiries, hundreds of bookings per month

• Client type: B2C marketplace platform

Challenge

Salonty.com operated a growing network of rental venues but faced significant inefficiencies in handling customer service:

• Staff spent hours daily answering repetitive phone calls and emails about availability, pricing, and equipment.

• Manual booking processes caused delays, double-bookings, and errors.

• Customer expectations for 24/7 support could not be met with human staff only.

• Scaling to new cities would have required a large and costly support team.

Solution

We designed and deployed an AI-driven virtual assistant that automates end-to-end customer interactions, seamlessly integrated into Salonty.com’s platform.

1. Conversational AI & Voice Integration

• Cloud-based speech-to-text and text-to-speech APIs to handle natural phone conversations.

• Multilingual support for Polish and English customers.

• NLP models trained to recognize rental-specific queries (availability, equipment, pricing).

2. Booking & Calendar Management

• Integration with Google Calendar & internal booking system APIs.

• Automatic reservation creation, modifications, and cancellations.

• Real-time availability checks across multiple venues.

3. Customer Service Automation

• AI answers FAQs about equipment (projectors, chairs, catering), location details, and access instructions.

• Escalation to human staff only for complex cases.

• SMS/email confirmation workflows with Twilio + SendGrid.

4. Architecture & Technology Stack

• AI & NLP: OpenAI GPT-4, Dialogflow CX

• Voice & Telephony: Twilio Voice, Google Speech-to-Text, Amazon Polly

• Backend: Node.js (Express), GraphQL API

• Database: PostgreSQL, Redis for session context

• Integrations: Google Calendar API, Salonty booking system, Twilio SMS, SendGrid

• Infrastructure: Dockerized microservices on AWS (ECS, RDS, S3), Terraform for IaC

• Security: OAuth2 authentication, HTTPS, encrypted data at rest & in transit

Results

• 70% of inquiries automated without human involvement.

• 50% reduction in booking errors, thanks to real-time calendar sync.

• 24/7 availability of customer service in two languages.

• 40% cost savings on customer support operations.

• Scalability: ready to support expansion to new cities without additional staff.

Supporting Information

• Key Technologies: OpenAI GPT-4, Dialogflow CX, Twilio, Google Speech-to-Text, Node.js, PostgreSQL.

• Security & Compliance: GDPR-ready data handling, voice call encryption, audit logging.

• Team: AI engineers, backend developers, DevOps, UX for conversational design.

Process

1. Discovery — mapped customer journeys, most frequent questions, and bottlenecks.

2. Prototype — built a proof-of-concept with Dialogflow and Twilio for one location.

3. Integration — connected AI assistant with calendars, booking APIs, and CRM.

4. Deployment — rolled out to all venues, trained AI on historical FAQs.

5. Optimization — fine-tuned NLP intents, improved fallback handling, added multilingual support.

6. Monitoring — dashboards for call volume, automation success rate, and escalation triggers.

Client Testimonial

“AI automation changed the way we run Salonty. Our customers get instant answers and can book anytime, while our staff focuses on higher-value tasks. Expanding to new locations is now faster and more efficient.”
— Kinga Obarska, Project Manager, Salonty.com