Callitor · Stella for swim schools — the last place in Saturday's class filled by phone, poolside

The problem

Wet hands, echoing pool, and a phone that rings out.

01The phone rings poolside. Nobody can touch it; the parent enrols at the leisure centre.
02“Is there space in Saturday's Ducklings?” needs the count now — not last term's register.
03A sick child at breakfast leaves a place empty at 10:00. The waitlist never hears about it.

You don't need another swim-school app on top of the one you have. You need someone who picks up, knows every lane's count, and refills the place before the class starts.

A call, while your hands are busy

Wednesday, 4:30. Classes in every lane. A parent calls about Saturday.

Stella knows the live count, places the child in the right level, and enrols on the spot — with a trial if they'd rather.

Incoming call · unknown number

S

Stella · Splash Swim School

ringing

0:00

Illustrative conversation. She adapts to what people actually say.

SaturdayLane 2 · Coach Sam

What she does, all day

Everything a good front desk does — plus she knows every lane's count.

The universal six, and two that matter when the book is classes and the phone is poolside.

01

Answers every call, like a person would

No menus, no “press one”, no hold music, no disclaimer wall. Place, first name, how can I help — in one breath. Then she listens instead of interrogating. And she's there at 7:40 in the morning and 9 at night — when the parent thinks of it, not when you open.

“Good morning, this is Stella — how can I help?”

02

Books into the real book

She searches actual availability — who is where, doing what, for how long, in which chair or room — and never double-books. If she offers 2:20, 2:20 is free.

03

Reminds, and takes the reschedule call

Reminders go out ahead of time. When someone can't make it, she handles the flustered call with warmth and finds the next time without drama.

04

Fills the late cancellation

A cancelled four o'clock is the one slot you can't sell tomorrow. The moment it frees, she offers it — by text — to the people who've said they'd take short notice, who wanted earlier, or who owe a make-up. First yes takes it; nobody else hears about it.

“A 4:00 with Mr. Ellis just opened — want it?”

05

Tightens your day

A four o'clock cancels? She asks the five o'clock if they'd like to come earlier. Nobody is obliged, and it cascades — you finish at five, not six.

“The four's opened up — would you rather come at four?”

06

Learns each client, gently

Someone turns down a 9am; she stops leading with mornings for them. Preferences, never rules — and when she checks, she uses very few words.

“Mornings tough? I'll avoid them.”

07

Fills the last place by phone

Classes are published with a capacity per lane; she enrols by voice or text into the live count and, when a class is full, runs the waitlist — the first family gets the text the moment a place opens.

“The 9:00 is full with a waitlist; the 9:30 has two places.”

08

Levels, trials and one-to-ones on one book

She places a child in the right level from what the parent says — and lets the teacher move them. A one-to-one is open booking into a teacher's hours; a class is a place. One honest answer on the phone.

Last-minute cancellations

A sick child at breakfast is not a no-show. It's a slot she starts filling the moment your day opens.

She takes the 7:38 text the moment it comes — the mother doesn't have to wait until nine and forget. Runway is money: the earlier she knows, the more people she can offer the slot to once your outbound hours open, and the likelier it fills. Your policy — 24 hours' notice, a make-up credit, a fee — is yours; she states it plainly, applies it the same way every time, and never guilt-trips a parent.

S

Stella · Splash Swim School

text messages

7:41

Illustrative. Your policy, her words.

7:41Freed — Leo cancels by text
7:42Policy applied, make-up offered — kindly
8:30Outbound hours open — offered to 3 people who asked for short notice
8:36Filled — Ava's dad said yes; the rest hear “taken”
·Make-up · Sat 10:00 · confirmed 7:58

The freed slot goes to the people most likely to say yes: the short-notice list, the waitlist, make-ups owed, anyone who said “earlier if you can”.
First yes takes it. The others hear “taken” — never who, never why.
The make-up lands in a slot that would otherwise have gone empty; the freed slot earns today.
Your policy is applied the same way every time; the tone stays warm — especially to a parent with a sick child.
Outbound only inside your hours: she'll take a 7:40 text the instant it arrives and start offering the slot when your day opens — never before.
You see it on the panel — freed, offered, filled. Nothing to do.

Everyone on the short-notice list asked to be on it. Nobody is nagged; nobody hears another client's business.

And when it's your side

One sentence into the mic. She does the phoning.

Rain, a burst pipe, a birth, the autoclave, the hall double-booked — the whole block moves, and it's your call, not the client's. You say it once; she works out who's affected, offers each person the right alternative in their own words, waives the fee, logs the reason, and reports back. When it's an overrun rather than a closure she works by who can still act: the people who haven't left home yet get the call and the choice; the people already in the room get the honest ETA and a coffee; nobody further out is touched until the delay is still growing. Nobody hears why; nobody rings the desk.

The pool's failed its chemistry test — closed till tomorrow. Move today's classes to Sunday or credit them.

Stella, twenty minutes later48 families touched · 31 to Sunday · 17 credited · nobody rang the pool

Classes are capacity

Six per lane. She knows which are taken.

A class is a published shell with N places; a one-to-one is search-then-create into a teacher's hours. Same ledger, two supply paths — one honest answer for a class, a trial or a private.

Live place counts per lane; she never enrols a seventh.
Full → waitlist; a freed place goes to the first in line by text.
Weekly enrolment is a standing arrangement — half-terms and pool closures flagged when it's made.
Your online booking stays; Stella is the phone front door.

For your team

Teachers stay in the water.

A panel at reception: which class is next in which lane, who's new, who's on the list. One button to say “swap lane 3 to Priya.” Chemical suppliers and scam calls never reach the pool.

Now9:12Poolside

Ducklings 9:30 · lane 2 · 5/6 · Leo is newthen Turtles at 10:00 · 5/6

9:00 Ducklings: sick-child cancellation at 7:40 — place offered to the waitlist at 8:30, taken
Two trials booked for next Saturday
A chemical supplier and a robocall handled. Nothing for you.

“Cancel Sunday's 12:00 — the pool's closed for cleaning — and tell the parents.”

A panel, not an appan always-on screen at the desk that answers one question in five seconds: who's next, for whom, and has anything changed? Everyone sees their own day; the owner sees the floor. Something to read, not operate.
One button, your voicepress it and say “move Ana to four, and call Peter back for me.” That's the whole interface. She does the machinery behind the glass.
The shieldsales calls, scam calls, realtors — they never reach you and never appear anywhere. Real callers can ask to be put through; you still choose whether to pick up.
Only what can't waitat the desk, things land quietly on the panel. Out of the building, your phone only buzzes for the next hour or two.
Your whole inbound“tell Peter I'll be home at seven” in the same breath as the schedule. The cost of a personal call is the context switch, not the two minutes.
You are the bossyour team's hours guide what she offers on her own. A direct instruction — from you or from the stylist whose chair it is — is simply carried out, silently, and teaches her nothing about “normal”.

Between classes, a glance and you know. Nothing to tap with wet fingers.

What she will never do

Warm is not the same as loose.

No menus

Not a phone tree

No “press one”. No “your call is important to us”. No recorded disclaimers before a human word. Warm, short, present — and honest if you ask what she is.

No inventing

Never makes things up

She offers what's in your catalogue and staff profiles. She won't crown a “best” anyone or promise an outcome. A time she offers is a time that's free.

No gossip

One client never hears about another

A moved client hears “we need to move your Tuesday — let me find you another time.” Never who, never why. And once moved kindly, they're not yo-yo'd back.

No pretending

Honest about what she is

She doesn't lead with it and doesn't apologise for it. Ask, and she'll tell you plainly: she's the assistant. She helps; that's what people remember.

Early access

Give Stella your school.

Your levels and classes with capacities per lane, your teachers and hours, your term dates and closures. She's configured by hand for the first schools — a few at a time.

Stella is in early access with a small number of practices and salons. Tell us about your phone and we'll tell you plainly whether she fits — and when.