Bookings via WhatsApp and Telegram

Booking through a messenger works like this: the guest writes in Telegram or WhatsApp, the bot checks places and books them in, and the booking goes straight into the shared staff dashboard. The channels are similar in principle but differ in details that matter in practice: how the phone number is confirmed, what happens when a member of staff writes first, and which language the bot answers in. Let's go through these differences so that you know in advance what to expect from each channel.

Two channels, one database

The main idea: the guest chooses the messenger, and that shouldn't make things harder for the venue. If bookings from Telegram sit in one place and those from WhatsApp in another, you get the same chaos as before, just with new buttons. We wrote about this problem in the article WhatsApp chaos at the front desk.

In GuestKeepr both channels connect to one venue and lead into one dashboard:

• bookings from both channels land in the same list;
• the same table can't be taken twice for overlapping times, even if two guests write at once: one in Telegram, the other in WhatsApp;
• all conversations are gathered in the Conversations section, with search and filters;
• a member of staff can take over any conversation and answer from the dashboard, and the bot goes quiet in that conversation;
• the menu, the venue profile and the terms are shared by both channels, so they don't have to be entered twice.

The bot's script is the same in both messengers. It checks free times and places, shows the list of tables or specialists, finds the guest's bookings, creates, moves and cancels them, and when something goes beyond its limits, calls a person.

How the channels differ

Briefly, as a table.

Now one by one.

WhatsApp: the 24-hour window

WhatsApp is connected through the official Cloud API interface. For a venue it has an important feature that's worth knowing in advance: the 24-hour message window.

What this means in practice. When a guest writes to you, a window opens, and for a day messages flow freely. Once the window has closed, you can no longer write to the guest first in free form. That's why in GuestKeepr the message that the staff cancelled or moved a booking reaches the guest if they have written to the bot, and in WhatsApp this works within 24 hours.

This leads to simple rules for staff:

1. If the booking is for today and the guest wrote long ago, bear in mind that a WhatsApp message may not get through. For urgent changes it's better to have another way to reach them, for example the phone number from the guest card.
2. If details need clarifying, do it while the conversation is fresh: the sooner you answer, the better the chance of staying within the window.
3. Don't promise the guest what the system can't do. The bot answers the guest's messages and reports a cancellation or a change, but it doesn't replace live contact with the guest on the day of the visit.

The conclusion for the owner: WhatsApp is convenient for taking requests, because that's where guests already are. But the habit of writing to a guest “whenever you feel like it” won't work in this channel.

Telegram: confirming the number

In Telegram the guest's phone number isn't visible as such, and the bot shouldn't rely on the person typing it in by hand. So the bot asks the guest to press the “share phone number” button. The confirmed number isn't needed for the sake of formality: it's how the system checks that the guest is working with their own bookings. The bot sees and changes only the guest's own bookings.

What this gives the venue:

• the number on the guest card is real, not a typo;
• someone else's booking can't be moved or cancelled through the bot;
• when the guest writes again, the bot can find their earlier bookings.

A practical point: the bot always finds out the name, the phone number, and the place and time. If the guest doesn't want to share their number, or something goes wrong, there's one sensible way out: call a person, and the member of staff will settle the question.

One more thing: the staff get notifications about conversations that need a person in Telegram. So even if you take guests only in WhatsApp, the manager on duty should have Telegram to hand.

The language of replies

The guest writes in their own language, and the bot answers in the same one. Russian, English, Romanian and Armenian are supported. That's convenient if you have a mixed crowd: locals, visitors, tourists. The manager doesn't need to switch or call a colleague who speaks another language.

The bot turns a guest's voice messages into text and then works with them like an ordinary message. For this, a speech recognition service is connected on the platform side.

If you have a mixed crowd, check the venue profile and the key terms: they should be written clearly and unambiguously, so that the bot can convey them accurately in any of the languages. Details on preparing the materials: how to set up a booking bot.

Connecting

What to prepare before you start, in order of importance.

1. Decide which channels you need. If guests mostly write in one messenger, start with it. The second can be connected later.
2. Decide who is responsible for conversations. The bot calls a person, and someone has to respond. Assign it to a role, for example the manager on duty.
3. Set up tables or specialists, zones and the venue profile. Without them the bot won't understand what to book.
4. Upload the menu (PDF, photos, Excel, Word or text).
5. Invite your staff by email and hand out roles.
6. Connect the channels in the dashboard's Channels section.
7. Test it on yourself: write to the bot as a guest in each channel, create a booking, move it, cancel it. See what shows up in the dashboard.

WhatsApp is connected via the Cloud API, that is, through the official interface. See the Channels section for the specific steps when you connect: we don't repeat them here, so that the article doesn't go out of date.

Which channel to choose first

There's no universal answer, but there's a simple way to decide. Open your personal chats from the last few weeks and see where guests write most often. That's the messenger to start with: the staff already know what requests look like there, and guests won't have to change anything. Connect the second channel once the first works without hiccups.

It's also worth asking yourself: who takes requests at your venue now? If the manager answers from a personal phone, then after launch all those conversations must move to the shared inbox. Otherwise half the requests will stay in personal chats, and the bot will see only the rest. First agree within the team where guests should write now, and only then tell the guests.

What the channels don't give you

So as not to create false expectations:

• the bot works only in Telegram and WhatsApp; there are no other channels;
• the guest always writes in a messenger, not in a form on the website. How these approaches differ is covered in the article a bot or an online widget;
• the bot doesn't take payment: it only states the deposit terms as text.

If you want to learn more about the product as a whole, start with the page the GuestKeepr virtual front desk.

Frequently asked questions