You can't pick up the phone with color on your gloves or clippers in your hand. VVOXA answers your salon's number, books clients into open times for the right length of service, answers the price and hours questions, and writes up everything else.
$1,000 setup, then $500 a month. First month free. No per-minute charges. See pricing
By VVOXA in Cape Coral, Florida. Updated . Questions? Email Matt, our founder, at info@vvoxa.com.
A Saturday at 10:40, with every chair full
Everyone is with a client and nobody is free for the front desk. VVOXA answers the salon's number.
A sample call, written out
Studio Nine Salon (sample)
Lauren B. · (239) ••• ••83
Sat 10:40 AM
Booked
Why they called
Partial highlights with Tessa: wanted the price, the time it takes and a Saturday morning
What VVOXA did
Gave the price and length from your menu, found Tessa's open times, explained your cancellation policy and booked her for next Saturday at 9:00 AM
Ringing
JordanStudio Nine, this is Jordan. How can I help?
CallerHi, how much are partial highlights, and how long does that take?
JordanPartial highlights start at $95 and take about two hours.
CallerOkay. Could I get in with Tessa next Saturday morning?
JordanTessa has 9 or 11:30 next Saturday.
CallerNine, please. Is there a fee if I have to cancel?
JordanWe just ask for 24 hours' notice to cancel or move. Can I get your name?
CallerLauren Brooks.
JordanThanks, Lauren. You're booked with Tessa for partial highlights next Saturday at 9. Anything else?
CallerNo, that's perfect.
JordanSee you then.
A sample call, written out to show how VVOXA handles it. The business and the caller are made up for this page.
Everything Jordan said came from the salon's own facts: the price as the menu words it ("start at $95"), the two hours the service takes, Tessa's open times, and the cancellation policy. Jordan only offered times when Tessa had a free two-hour gap, and booked the appointment with her.
The call you can't take with color on your hands
When a client calls to book and nobody picks up, some leave a voicemail and some try the next salon. VVOXA picks up on the first ring with your salon's name and does what a front desk would.
Books with the stylist they ask for. Give us your stylists' names and a client can ask for one by name. It offers only that stylist's open times and books the appointment with them, or with whoever is free first if they have no preference.
Books by service, for the right length. A men's cut might take 30 minutes and a full color three hours. You set each length, and it only offers times that fit.
Leaves your cleanup time. If you want 10 or 15 minutes between clients, it keeps that gap.
Stays off the times you've blocked. Lunch, a day off, a busy time in your Google Calendar: it won't offer those. Block one stylist's lunch or day off in your VVOXA calendar and the others stay bookable. A busy time in Google Calendar holds the whole salon.
Knows your regulars by number. It recognizes someone who has called before, so it doesn't ask everything twice.
Takes a proper message. Name, number, what they want and how soon, written up moments after the call, instead of "call me back" on a voicemail.
Prices, lengths and the services you don't do
It gives the prices on your service menu, worded the way you wrote them: "$45", "from $95", "priced at consultation". If a service or a price isn't on your menu, it doesn't know it, so it won't make one up: it says it will check and takes a message.
When someone asks for something you don't do, like lash extensions or kids' cuts at an adults-only barbershop, it says so politely and tells them what you do offer. If you send people somewhere for it, tell us and it can pass that on.
Some services need a conversation before they're booked: a color correction, extensions, a big change. Tell us which, and it takes a request for those, marked for you to call back, instead of putting them in the book.
Cancellations and moves
On the phone, VVOXA doesn't cancel or move a booking itself. A client who calls to change an appointment gets a proper message taken: who they are, which booking, and the times that suit them instead, marked for you. You move it in your calendar.
If you charge for late cancellations or take deposits, it explains your policy in your words. It can't take a payment, a deposit or a card number.
Confirmation and reminder texts
Once your salon has its own texting number registered with the phone carriers, VVOXA can text clients who say yes on the call:
A confirmation as soon as they're booked.
One reminder about an hour before, or the evening before for an early appointment. They can reply YES or NO.
A note if a booking is moved or cancelled. When you move one, they can reply YES or NO to the new time.
Until your texting number is registered, it sends no texts. STOP opts a client out, and no text conversation starts before 8 am or after 9 pm your time. See the texts our demo line sends for what they look like.
A Saturday in your account
Here's how a busy Saturday might look in the Calls list of a sample salon. Each call opens to a summary, the transcript and the recording.
9:05 AM(239) ••• ••12 asked if you're open Sunday. Answered from your hours.
10:40 AMLauren B. Partial highlights with Tessa, booked next Saturday 9:00 AM. Booked
11:55 AMGina R. wants to move Tuesday's cut to Wednesday afternoon. Message
1:20 PMSofia M. wants a color correction; asked for a call back before booking. Needs callback
3:10 PMDerek P. Men's cut, booked Monday 5:30 PM. Booked
Made-up calls at a sample salon. Turn on alerts in the VVOXA app and you get a notification for new bookings, cancellations, messages and voicemails. VVOXA doesn't text or email you about each call.
Your booking system, honestly
VVOXA has no connection to Vagaro, Square, Fresha, Boulevard or GlossGenius. It can't see your appointments in them or put bookings into them. What it can book into:
Its own calendar. Built in, and you see every booking in your account.
Google Calendar. Built in. Every booking shows up there, and busy times there are never offered.
Cal.com. Reads busy times and puts bookings in.
Calendly (pilot). Reads busy times; putting bookings in needs a paid Calendly plan.
Don't let two books sell the same chair. If online booking stays on in your salon software while VVOXA books into its own calendar, neither can see the other, and the same time could be booked twice. If your book has to stay where it is, switch VVOXA's booking off. It then takes the request and the times that suit, and flags it for you to confirm.
What to have ready for your setup call
Setup is a phone call with Matt, our founder. These answers are what make the line sound like your salon. Print this list or copy it into a note.
Your service menu.Every service with its price as you'd say it ("from $95" is fine) and how long it takes.
Your stylists.Each name the way clients say it, so a caller can ask for one. Their days off and breaks go in your VVOXA calendar.
Time between clients.Cleanup or turnaround minutes, if you want any.
Your hours and days off.Holidays and the days the salon is closed.
Services that need a conversation first.Color corrections, extensions, big changes. It takes a request for these instead of booking them.
Your cancellation and deposit policy.In your words. It explains the policy; it can't take a payment.
Walk-ins.Whether you take them, and when. It can't see who's in the chairs, so it won't promise a wait time.
What to ask new clients.Name and number always. Then anything else you want, like when they last had color.
Gift cards and retail.Whether you sell them, so it can answer. It can't sell them on the phone.
Forwarding your number, and the rest of the setup, are on how it works.
Questions salon and barbershop owners ask
Can it book straight into my salon software?
Not into Vagaro, Square, Fresha, Boulevard or GlossGenius. VVOXA has no connection to those. It books into its own calendar with Google Calendar kept in sync, or into Cal.com, or into Calendly (a pilot) if you have a paid Calendly plan. If your book has to stay where it is, switch booking off and it takes requests for you to confirm.
Can clients ask for a particular stylist?
Yes. Give us your stylists' names and a client can ask for one on the phone. It looks up that stylist's open times, offers only those, and books the appointment with them. If someone asks for a name that isn't on your list, it tells them who is. A client with no preference gets whoever is free first. Block a stylist's day off or lunch in your VVOXA calendar and it won't offer those times with them.
Will my regulars know it's AI?
Some will. It talks like someone who works there, with your salon's name and your prices, and it recognizes people who have called before by their number. It won't pretend to be a person: you choose whether it says it's automated as each call starts, or only if a client asks. Have it call you and judge for yourself.
Can it answer price and service-length questions?
Yes, from your menu, worded the way you wrote it, like "women's cut, $55, 45 minutes". If a service or a price isn't on the menu, it says it will check and takes a message.
Can it text a confirmation?
Yes, once your salon has its own texting number registered with the phone carriers, and only to clients who say yes on the call. Until then it sends no texts. Here's what the texts look like.
Does it help with no-shows?
It can send a reminder about an hour before each appointment, once your texting number is registered, and the client can reply YES or NO. We don't have figures on how much that cuts no-shows, so we won't promise any. It can explain your no-show policy, but it can't take a deposit or charge a fee.
What if someone asks for a service we don't offer?
It tells them politely that you don't offer it, and says what you do. If you send people somewhere for it, it can pass that on. It never makes up a service or a price.
Is it worth it for a walk-in barbershop?
Maybe not, if hardly anyone calls. It's most use to a shop whose phone rings while every barber is cutting, with calls like "are you open Sunday?" and "do you do beard trims?". It answers hours and prices, but it can't see who's in the chairs, so it won't promise a wait time. If your phone hardly rings, voicemail may be enough.
What does it cost?
$1,000 to set up, then $500 a month, with the first month free. There's no per-minute or per-call charge, so your busiest week before the holidays costs the same as a slow week in August (full pricing).
Hear VVOXA answer it before it answers for your salon. Put your number in on our home page and it calls you in about twenty seconds, or ring our demo line on (650) 754-4948 and book a practice appointment.