Managing remotely: what you can handle from your phone without opening the dashboard
By GuestChat Team ·
Many hosts don't live near their property, or they have several in different cities. Others simply want to go on vacation without being glued to their laptop. A good part of the daily work can be done from your phone, and some of it without even opening the dashboard.
Answering reports from your email
Every report alert comes with a link that opens the reply page directly, without logging in. There you see what the guest said, translated into your language (the photos they sent come in the alert email itself), and you write what you want to tell them: the AI rewords it and sends it. You also choose whether the AI stays on afterwards or you pause it. Reminders about unanswered reports come with the same kind of link.
Answering pending questions from your email
At night you get an email with the questions the AI couldn't answer. The link opens Guest questions, where you check the right answer or write another one. What you answer is saved to the property profile, and the AI knows it from that moment on.
Hearing about urgent things
- Text messages for very serious reports, in My Profile: a message to your phone only for the first report of the highest severity on each topic.
- Locks offline: an email within minutes when a lock disconnects, and another when it comes back.
- Report alerts by email, to you or to your team's addresses.
Giving access without being there
- Temporary keys, in your profile menu: a link for the repair person or the neighbor who helps out, with an end date and time. You revoke it when they're done.
- Access Codes: if you have a keypad, a 48-hour code for a one-off case.
- Custom access, in Arrivals: you move a guest's virtual key time window if you give them an earlier check-in or a later check-out.
Coordinating the cleaning
With Turno, your cleaning team gets their plan by email at the time you choose, and you see the status of each cleaning (assigned, cleaning, done) without calling anyone. If you turn on smart early check-in, the guest gets in early only when the cleaning is finished.
Working with your team
If you work with a partner or a team, add their emails in the email alert settings in Reports and choose what each one gets. If you turn off your own alerts, they get them; if nobody is left, they come to you anyway.
Checklist before you travel
- Text messages for very serious reports turned on, with the number typed correctly.
- The right Emergency Contact on every property.
- Someone you trust nearby with a physical key, and a temporary key ready to give them access if needed.
- Automated messages checked for the arrivals during those days.
- Pending questions answered, so the AI knows as much as possible.
- Your team knows how to reply from the link in the email.
What you shouldn't hand off
Compensation, refunds and exceptions to your rules. The AI doesn't decide these on its own, and that's how it should be. When one comes in, answer it yourself, even from your phone and in two lines: the guest can tell the difference between an answer and a decision.