For Hotel Front Desk Agents ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll understand how Canary Technologies' AI guest messaging platform works, how to help your property set it up, and what the automated pre-arrival and during-stay messages look like for guests. When configured, Canary automatically handles 80%+ of routine guest inquiries via SMS and WhatsApp — reducing your front desk phone volume by 40-60% and handling messages in 100+ languages automatically.
What you'll need
Note: This guide requires management involvement for account setup. As a front desk agent, your role is to understand the system, help configure messages, and monitor the dashboard.
Canary integrates with your PMS (Opera, Cloudbeds, Mews, and 100+ others). Once connected, it:
Think of it as a digital front desk assistant that handles routine questions around the clock, even at 2am when no one is at the desk.
Once your manager sets up the account and PMS integration, Canary will ask you to configure automated message templates. As the person who fields guest questions daily, you're the expert on what to say. Work with your manager to draft:
Pre-arrival message (sent 24 hours before check-in):
Template draft to suggest:
"Hi [Guest First Name]! We're looking forward to welcoming you to [Hotel Name] tomorrow. Check-in is at 3pm at [Address].
- Parking: [your parking details]
- WiFi: Available throughout the property
- Early check-in: Available from 1pm for $25 — text us here to request!
Reply with any questions. See you tomorrow!"
During-stay check-in message (sent 1 hour after check-in):
"Welcome, [Guest Name]! How is your room? If you need anything — extra towels, restaurant recommendations, or anything else — just reply to this message and we'll help right away."
Check-out reminder (sent morning of departure):
"Good morning, [Guest Name]! Just a reminder that checkout is at 11am today. Late checkout until 2pm is available for $30 — text 'LATE' to request it, subject to availability. We hope you had a wonderful stay!"
Canary uses your hotel's information to answer common questions automatically. You'll be asked to fill in:
Take 20 minutes to compile these in a document — this becomes the AI's knowledge base. More complete information = better automatic answers.
Once live, Canary's dashboard shows:
Check the dashboard at the start of your shift. Conversations escalated to "Needs Human Response" require your attention — these are questions Canary couldn't answer automatically.
What you should see: Most conversations are handled automatically. A handful will have a yellow flag indicating they need a human reply. Click to read the conversation and respond directly from the Canary dashboard — your response then continues the SMS conversation with the guest.
When a guest asks something Canary can't handle (unusual special requests, complaints, booking modifications), you respond from the Canary dashboard:
These aren't for the AI — they're response scripts you keep ready for common escalated conversations:
Room quality complaint:
"I'm sorry to hear about [issue] in your room. I'm flagging this for our team immediately. Would you prefer we [move you / address the issue in your current room]? — [Name], [Hotel]"
Special request not in system:
"Thank you for letting us know! I've added [request] as a note to your reservation and will personally follow up with [department] to make sure it's ready when you arrive. — [Name]"
Refund/billing question:
"Happy to look into that for you! Could you share your last name and check-in date so I can pull up your reservation? I'll get back to you within the hour. — [Name]"