Riverside Studios Case Study | Every Call Answered Mid Lesson | VoiceDart
Case study · Music & Creative
Riverside Studios Southampton
Inbound receptionist, live

Ten rooms. One owner. Every call answered.

Riverside Studios runs lessons, rehearsals and recording across ten rooms in Southampton. When you teach all day, the phone cannot go to voicemail. We built them Laura. She picks up, answers, and makes sure no enquiry is lost.

Book a call Hear how a call goes
Every enquiry answered
Lessons, rooms and sessions
Southampton
Lessons, rehearsals, recording
Around the clock
Evenings and weekends covered
01The problem

You cannot answer the phone mid lesson.

Riverside is run by one owner. When he is teaching, recording or setting up a rehearsal room, the phone rings out. The caller wanted a piano lesson for their kid, or a rehearsal slot on Saturday, and they got voicemail.

Most people do not leave a message. They just ring the next studio on the list. Every missed call was a student, a band or a session quietly going somewhere else.

01

One owner, ten rooms, no receptionist.

02

Calls land during lessons, exactly when nobody can pick up.

03

Voicemail loses the caller to the next studio on the list.

02What Laura does

A receptionist that knows the studio.

Lessons, room rates, session times. Laura answers like someone who works there, because she was trained on the place.

Handles every lesson enquiry

Guitar, drums, piano, singing and more. She quotes rough pricing and points people the right way.

Sends bookings the right way

She points people to the website and the Book Now button. If they'd rather talk to the team, she takes their details for a call back.

Knows rooms and rates

Rehearsal rooms, recording sessions, the dance studio. Prices, hours and what suits the booking.

Opens with the recording notice

Said in the first message of every call. And she never pretends to be a person.

Sends the team a summary

Anything needing action lands in the studio inbox within minutes, with the caller copied in.

03A call, start to finish

Mid lesson upstairs. Handled downstairs.

On the call
"Hi, do you do piano lessons for a ten year old?"
"We do, lovely. Half an hour is twenty four pounds for under twelves. The quickest way to book is the Book Now button on the website, takes a minute."
"Could someone give me a ring instead? I've got a few questions."
"Course. Let me take your name and number, and I'll read your email back to make sure I've got it right. The team will call you back."
Moments later
Studio inbox · now
Enquiry captured
Piano lessons for a ten year old
Saturday mornings preferred
Name, number and email attached
Caller copied in. Ready for a call back.
Answered and captured. The owner never left his lesson.

That caller would have hit voicemail and rung the next studio. Instead the studio has her details and a warm lead.

04The first month

The volume one person was missing.

0+
Calls answered
In the first month live
0
Enquiries handled
End to end, no human needed
0
After hours calls
Evenings and weekends
0
Voicemails
Because there are none
Calls answered
Every call to the studio line
100+
Genuine conversations
Excluding hang ups under 15 seconds
72
Enquiries handled end to end
Answered fully with no human input
68
Call backs captured for the team
Name, number and what they needed
8
Calls outside office hours
When the studio would have been shut
31

Figures from the first month live, from the VoiceDart production database.

“

Most of those calls didn't need me. They needed someone who could pick up, give them an answer, and let me get on with the lesson.

Riverside Studios Chris Grayston Owner, Riverside Studios, Southampton
05How it works

From ringing phone to booked diary.

1

A customer calls

Laura picks up in seconds, whatever time it is. The owner stays in his lesson.

2

She has the conversation

Lessons, rooms, sessions, prices. Real answers in a warm, natural voice.

3

She points and captures

Bookings go to the website's Book Now button. Anything needing the team is captured with the caller's details.

4

A summary lands

Whatever needs action arrives in the inbox within minutes, caller copied in.

06Common questions

What studios ask before they sign up.

What does Laura actually do? +
She answers every call to the studio, day and night. Lesson enquiries, rehearsal room rates, recording sessions, directions and parking. She answers what she can on the spot, and anything needing action lands in the studio inbox as a summary.
Can she take bookings on the phone? +
No, and that is deliberate. Bookings happen on the website through the Book Now button. Laura explains prices, points people there, and if someone would rather speak to the team she takes their details with a careful read back for a call back.
Does she say the call may be recorded? +
Yes, in the first message of every call, in line with UK GDPR. And she never pretends to be a person. If asked, she says she is a virtual receptionist.
What about evenings and weekends? +
Same voice, same answers, any hour. In the first month, 31 calls came in outside office hours that would otherwise have gone to voicemail.
How quickly can a studio go live? +
Most VoiceDart agents are live within about a week. You share your services, prices and rules on a short call, and we handle the build, the number and the diary.
How much does it cost? +
Bespoke agents like Laura start from £149 a month, with self serve VoiceDart Go from £49 a month. No long contracts. Every plan includes a UK number and custom training.
Run a studio or a school?

Laura handles the volume. You handle the music.

If your phone rings while you teach, rehearse or record, and nobody can answer it, we should talk.