The AI phone agent for car rental that answers and books by voice
Bota picks up instantly, understands what the caller wants with no menus or “press 1”, quotes with your real availability and rates and confirms the booking by voice. And if it suits the customer better, the call continues on WhatsApp.
Car rental companies already using Bota
You're speaking with the virtual assistant. How can I help you?
I need a car at the airport from the 12th to the 15th.
I have three options from €28 a day. Shall we continue on WhatsApp? I'll message you right now.
Yes, perfect.
When the phone stops being a channel of its own
A call that comes into Bota is not a loose record: it is one more conversation with that customer, in the same profile as their WhatsApps and their bookings.
You know who is calling
The number identifies the person and the call lands in their profile along with what they asked for, not in a list with a timestamp and little else.
One single history
Whoever writes to you on WhatsApp afterwards arrives with the transcript of their call in the same thread. One conversation with a customer, not four systems that never talk to each other.
And at last, data
How many calls come in and at what time, which ones the AI resolves and which ones are missed — and whose the missed ones are, so you can call them back.
Amerirent's calls are answered by a real-time AI voice agent: it offers to continue on WhatsApp and, if the customer prefers to talk, handles it by voice. It is integrated with Wheelsys, and on its corporate channel two out of three sales are handled by the AI with no team involved.
Two ways to set up your AI receptionist
Almost every car rental company starts with Bota behind the switchboard they already have, because nothing needs touching. The question that comes next is always the same: what do you gain by putting Bota in front.
Your menu stays as it is and only one of its rows — bookings — is answered by Bota.
Caller
dials your number
Your switchboard
exactly as it is today
Bota answers
and talks, no menus
Continues on WhatsApp
with the quote from the call already done
Booking confirmed
in your management system, by voice
asks for a person
Your team
with the transcript and the profile in front
The rest of your menu
exactly as today, forwards included
Admin, branches, the operator and the forwards all stay put. Rolling back is pointing that option where it was.
No switchboard in front: the call and the WhatsApp from the same customer come through the same door.
Call
your number, already in Bota
same customer, another channel
Bota answers
one agent for both
Continues on WhatsApp
with the quote from the call already done
Booking confirmed
in your management system, by voice
asks for a person
Your team
with the transcript and the profile in front
Customer profile
the call, their WhatsApps and their bookings, in one place
This is what makes the three things below possible: with no switchboard in front, the call arrives with the caller's number and is filed where their WhatsApps and bookings already are.
A new number, your existing number by forwarding or porting, your PBX over SIP (3CX, Asterisk, your carrier's) or the office desk phones? Every route, step by step and with what each one costs, in the guide How to automate your car rental phone system with AI.
Everything your AI phone agent does
What happens on every call, from the moment the phone rings to the booking being done. Open whatever interests you.
Why the phone is the most expensive channel to handle
Calls come in when the counter is busy, at night or in high season, and each one is minutes of trained staff time chopped up by interruptions. The one nobody picks up leaves no trace: the customer hangs up, books somewhere else, and that lost booking never shows up in any report.
- Arrives at the worst time: busy counter, out of hours, high season
- Every call is minutes of a trained person, plus the tasks it leaves behind
- The one that goes unanswered is lost without a trace
What the AI phone agent does when the phone rings
It picks up instantly and talks; it does not read a menu. It understands dates, office, vehicle type and extras the way the customer says them, checks your availability and rates in real time and confirms the booking in your system, with latency low enough for the conversation to sound natural. If the number is already in your system, it recognises the customer and does not ask for their details again.
- No menus, no “press 1”: natural language from the first second
- Availability, prices and confirmation in your reservation system
- Recognises a returning customer by their phone number
- Answers questions about deposit, insurance, mileage and requirements
The call can continue on WhatsApp
When the customer wants to see the cars or would rather write, Bota offers to continue on WhatsApp: a cheaper channel where the process is in writing, with the vehicle carousel, the details form and the confirmation. The quote from the call travels along: nobody starts from scratch.
- Offers WhatsApp when it helps, never forces it
- The quote from the call arrives ready in the chat
- Carousel, form and confirmation inside WhatsApp
When a person is needed
If the customer asks for someone, or the conversation goes beyond what Bota resolves, it transfers the call to your team, who take it from the browser with the customer card and the summary in front of them. Every call is transcribed and recorded in the customer card, next to their WhatsApps and bookings.
- Transfers to your team, who take it from the browser
- Transcription and recording in the customer card
- The alert arrives only when needed, not on every call
AI receptionist, virtual switchboard or answering service: what this is
The same product goes by different names depending on where you come from. From telecom you will call it a virtual switchboard or an AI phone system; from the front desk, an AI receptionist; and if all you had until now was voicemail, an answering service. Bota is not quite any of them: it does not route calls to extensions, it does not read out a menu and it does not take messages. It answers, works out what the caller wants, checks your live availability and closes the booking — and only then hands the call to a person if one is needed.
- Virtual switchboard: it distributes calls to extensions; Bota resolves them
- Answering service or voicemail: it takes a message; Bota quotes and books on the call
- AI receptionist: yes — with one difference, this one books into your system
Behind your PBX or as the whole phone line
Bota can handle everything that comes in on your number, or only what your PBX passes on: overflow, out of hours, one extension. The number is yours and sits in your own telephony account, in your name.
- Your number, in your telephony account, in your name
- All traffic, or only overflow and out of hours
- Same agent, same rules and same inbox as WhatsApp
Try it live
See how Bota replies in a real chat, using the same booking flow.
What is an AI phone agent for car rental
An AI phone agent for car rental is an assistant that answers a rental company's calls, talks with the customer in natural language and completes the task: it checks availability and rates in the rental management system, confirms the booking by voice, offers to continue on WhatsApp or hands the call to a person with the full context.
- Languages
- Six: Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian and German. It picks them from the caller's number prefix, with no menu.
- Two modes
- A real-time voice conversation that books by speaking, or picking up, understanding the reason and resolving it through WhatsApp, the right extension or a transcribed message.
- AI notice
- It always introduces itself as an automated assistant when it picks up.
- If something fails
- The call is not dropped: it falls back to the options tree and the customer is still looked after.
- Reservation systems
- Karve, Wheelsys, Rently, RentHub, Rentsyst, HQ Rental Software, any standard API, or no management system at all.
- Your number
- Stays yours, in your own telephony account and in your name.
It quotes with the real rates from your system thanks to the integrations with car rental management software, and what starts on the phone can continue on WhatsApp for car rental.
Do I have to change my phone number?
No. Bota answers on your number, which stays in your own telephony account and in your name. We guide you through connecting it during onboarding.
Is this a virtual switchboard (PBX) with AI?
Not quite. A virtual switchboard distributes calls across extensions and schedules; Bota answers the call and resolves it — quoting from your live availability and confirming the booking. It can sit behind your existing switchboard or answer your number directly.
Is it an AI receptionist or an answering service?
An AI receptionist, not an answering service. An answering service takes a message for someone to call back; Bota handles the reason for the call there and then, and only routes to a person when the caller asks or the case needs one.
What if the customer wants to talk to a person?
Bota transfers the call to your team, who take it from the browser with the card and the summary in front of them. Out of hours it applies whatever you have configured for those cases.
How fast does it answer?
Instantly, and it replies with latency low enough for the conversation to sound natural, with no long pauses between sentences.
Which languages does it answer calls in?
Six: Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian and German. It picks the language from the caller's number prefix, with no menu. In writing, on WhatsApp or on the web, it replies in whatever language the customer uses.
Does it work with my rental management system?
Yes, if you use Karve, Wheelsys, Rently, RentHub, Rentsyst, HQ Rental Software, or any system with a standard API. If you have no management system, you load your fleet and rates into Bota. It never invents availability or prices: it quotes what your system returns.
Does it say it is an AI? Does it record calls?
Yes: when it picks up it introduces itself as an automated assistant, and that notice cannot be removed. Recording is your choice; if you turn it on, its notice goes in the same greeting. The transcript is filed in the customer's profile.
What does it do out of hours?
It answers the same, at any time. What changes is the handover to a person: instead of transferring the call, it offers to continue on WhatsApp or takes a transcribed message so your team has it when they open.
What if something fails during the call?
The call is not dropped. If the voice conversation degrades, it falls back to the options tree — continue on WhatsApp, the right extension or a transcribed message — and the customer is still looked after.
Can it change or cancel a booking?
It looks up the booking and answers questions about it, but changes are handed to a person on your team by design, with the booking and the conversation in front of them.
How much does it cost?
The same as the rest of Bota: free up to 6 bookings a month, then 1.9% per confirmed booking. Telephony stays in your telephony account, as today.
Can it act as an AI receptionist beyond the phone?
Yes: the same agent answers WhatsApp and your website chat with the same rules, the same rates and the same handover to your team. The channel changes, not what it knows.
No card. Free up to 6 bookings a month.
Put Bota to work selling for you
Start free for up to 6 bookings a month. You only pay 1.9% per booking when Bota sells. No lock-in, no setup fees.