Booking assistant
Hypothetical. Not a client, not a result.
// The problem
A busy salon misses calls while every stylist is with a client, and the questions are always the same: is there time today, how much is a colour, can I move my appointment.
// What we would build
An assistant on the website, chat and text that answers from the salon's own service menu and prices, books and moves appointments through the booking system, and hands anything unusual to the front desk. It uses a frontier model through its API: the service menu is public and the volume is moderate.
// What is in it
- Answers from your service menu and prices
- Bookings and changes through your booking system
- Deposits taken by your payment page, never in chat
- Replies in the client's language
- Handoff to the front desk with the conversation
// Stack
- Frontier model API
- Next.js
- PostgreSQL with pgvector
- Booking system interface
- DigitalOcean
// estimate
- Build
- ≈ US$96,300 to US$147,000, delivered within 21 weeksCAD 137,100 to 209,600
- Hosting
- ≈ US$558 a monthCAD 795 a month
- Support
- ≈ US$2,500 a monthCAD 3,565 a month
Prices in your currency are estimates from today's Bank of Canada rate. All invoicing is in CAD or USD.
- AI route
- Frontier model
- Model running cost
- ≈ US$383 a monthCAD 545 a month
Timeline by milestone
- Discovery
- 2.9 to 3.4 weeks
- Specification and evaluation plan
- 0.4 weeks
- Design approved
- 2.4 to 3.4 weeks
- Core features
- 1.4 to 1.9 weeks
- Full build
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
- Working pilot
- 3.9 to 6.4 weeks
- Testing and fixes
- 0.9 to 1.9 weeks
- Launch
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
- Production
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
Outside our hands, and added to the calendar
- Interface access from your point of sale or booking vendor
- 1 to 4 weeks
How it is paid
- Deposit 20%
- CAD 27,420 to 41,920
- Discovery 2%
- CAD 2,742 to 4,192
- Specification and evaluation plan 10.2%
- CAD 13,984.20 to 21,379.20
- Design approved 2%
- CAD 2,742 to 4,192
- Core features 6.2%
- CAD 8,500.20 to 12,995.20
- Full build 4.1%
- CAD 5,621.10 to 8,593.60
- Working pilot 30.7%
- CAD 42,089.70 to 64,347.20
- Testing and fixes 2%
- CAD 2,742 to 4,192
- Launch 2%
- CAD 2,742 to 4,192
- Production 10.8%
- CAD 14,806.80 to 22,636.80
- Holdback, 30 days after launch (10%)
- CAD 13,710 to 20,960