The director is covering a classroom because a teacher called out, the front desk is signing in a family, and the phone rings for the fourth time in ten minutes. One caller is a grandmother checking whether she's on today's pickup list. One is a parent asking if the center is open in this weather. Two are families who want a tour, and they'll call the next center on the list if nobody picks up.
Cannon VoIP keeps those calls moving without pulling anyone out of ratio. The AI receptionist books tours while the parent is on the line, classrooms take messages during nap and circle time, and closures go out to every family as a text from the center's number. Flat $34 per extension, month to month, with texting and transcription included and no regulatory fees.
Tours, pickups and staying in ratio
Childcare calls come in two kinds. Current families want quick answers and reassurance: who's picking up, is the center open, did she nap. Prospective families want a tour, and enrollment depends on how fast that call gets answered. Both arrive while the people who could answer are counted in a classroom ratio.
When a call goes unanswered, the cost shows up later: a tour booked down the street, an open spot that stays open for a month, a parent who drove to a closed center because the ice-day message only went up on Facebook.
What we set up for daycares and preschools
Why centers switch to Cannon VoIP
Flat $34 per extension, month to month, with texting and transcription included and no regulatory fees. A small center might run five extensions, and a growing one adds classrooms without a new contract. The AI receptionist is $65 per month, or free with 10 or more users.
The center's number is on every enrollment packet and the sign out front. It ports for $15 per line, usually next business day, with about two minutes of downtime, and families never notice the switch.
Centers with more than one location share one system: one main number that routes by location, separate hours on each location's number, and transfers between centers like they are down the hall. Within about an hour and a half of DFW Airport, on-site installation is free, and we support centers nationwide.
What a typical setup looks like
A typical center runs extensions for the director, the front desk and each classroom, at $34 each, with the director and owner on the mobile app. The menu offers tours and enrollment, current families, and billing. Tours go to the AI receptionist when the desk is busy, and current families ring the front desk, then the director.
After close, the menu plays your hours and takes messages, tours still get booked, and a missed call gets a text back from the center's number, at most once a day per caller and never overnight. Holidays come off the holiday calendar on their own, and Snow Day changes routing in one click.
Common questions from daycares and preschools
Put the tour option first on your menu. Prospective families are the callers most likely to hang up and try the next center, and booking the tour on the first call keeps them from dialing anyone else.
Keep the phone out of the classroom
Talk to us about tour booking, family texting and classroom intercom for your center.
Talk to us