The Challenge
As a newly renovated property, The Timberline had the opportunity to rethink guest communication from the ground up.
With no phones in rooms, a very small team, and staff frequently on the move around the property, it was not viable to staff a front desk just to answer phones. Sitting someone at a desk all day would have been a poor use of time and a worse experience for the team.
The property needed a solution that:
- worked for staff on the go
- supported guests before, during, and after their stay
- and didn’t rely on outdated hardware or rigid workflows
- Didn't complicate the work with additional, unnecessary applications
The Jerry Rigged Solution
Before Hello Hotel existed, The Timberline used a custom, home-grown setup built on a combination of tools: Avachato for VoIP calling and texting, with Zapier used to connect phone activity to the PMS.
While this worked functionally, it came with real drawbacks:
- The system was expensive to run
- It required ongoing maintenance and manual work
- Changes and edge cases were brittle
- It was limited in its scope
It was clear that while VoIP unlocked new possibilities, the underlying tools weren’t designed for hospitality — or for a small, mobile team.
At my last property, calls and texts were in completely different systems. You had to remember where to look, and things would slip through the cracks. Having everything in one place just makes my day easier. I can see the full conversation, respond quickly, and move on without wondering if I missed something.
Dori Makepeace
Guest Experience Manager
Making Hello Hotel
Hello Hotel was originally built as a custom, home-grown solution for The Timberline, designed specifically around how the property operates day to day.
From the start, the goals were straightforward:
- Give guests one easy way to reach the team by call or text
- Support contactless check-in without sacrificing responsiveness
- Improve quality of life for staff by:
- routing non-urgent calls appropriately
- handling late-night calls thoughtfully
- making sure urgent issues reach the right person quickly
- Enable a small, mobile team to work without being tied to a front desk
Rather than patching together generic VoIP tools and automations, Hello Hotel was built as a single system: one shared number for calls and texts, a shared inbox for the whole team, and guest and reservation context built directly into every conversation.
What started as a solution for one property eventually became Hello Hotel — a communication platform designed to support lean teams, reduce operational friction, and deliver high-touch guest service without outdated hardware or constant manual upkeep.
How The Timberline Uses Hello Hotel
With Hello Hotel, the Timberline team is able to:
- Start conversations before guests arrive, ensuring rooms are ready and expectations are clear
- Support guests during their stay with fast, shared responses — if a guest needs anything, the whole team can see and respond
- Share coverage easily across a small team without confusion
- Route urgent issues to the right person while deferring non-urgent calls appropriately
- Manage changes, questions, and rebookings directly over calls and texts
All communication flows through one shared system, giving the team clarity, flexibility, and continuity without added stress.
