It’s been an interesting past month or so. Earlier this year, I had realized that the software vendor I previously used to manage client database info, check-ins, checkouts, etc. was taking part of every credit card charge, basically skimming off the top.
They claimed that they had notified me of this with a posting on their website, and then they sent me a link to a helpdesk website that they use to manage their customer service. That wasn’t even their website. The link went to an online manual for the company they hired to handle customer service. It explained how to answer customers who asked about the fees.
And if you look at their website, they say no other fees besides the monthly fee of $145 Australian. Yes, that’s how much I was paying prior to basically doing it myself, which I never really imagined would be possible. I always thought I’d have to hire somebody or a team of somebodies to do something like this.
It’s not that I haven’t actually thought of something like that, because I’ve been using software as a service to manage my pet care companies since probably 2005, and I don’t think there’s a single one that I was really happy with. They were all acceptable for the time being.
Now, though, with AI, of course, I’ve been able to design my own software that is exactly how I want it, without any extra bloat …or dog stuff.
And honestly, that wasn’t the first choice. A couple months ago, when I started looking, I did spend quite a bit of time checking out different software vendors, signing up for their services, comparing their credit card processing systems and what fees would be involved. And then I just decided to make the attempt using ChatGPT’s Astra model, and I have to say it’s pretty amazing.
I’ve been able to streamline many of my day-to-day tasks while increasing oversight. The time saved has allowed me to focus on the cats more and be more present with them. Staff can easily see info about the cats here, like with tags for medications right on the picture of the cats now. We can make updates as needed too. So if you have a feature request, let us know at micathotel@gmail.com.
My human receptionist quit, so I trained an AI receptionist to answer common questions from the toll-free number. When requested or needed, it can transfer the call directly to me. It transcribes every call so I can review what was said, allowing me to know to call clients back if the AI receptionist wasn’t able to help.
I’ve made my own websites for over 20 years and spent countless hours…so many hours on website work… I’ve even been paid to make websites for others, though now having an almost perfect website is super easy.
So I just wanted to post this to help explain how things work behind the scenes and again encourage you to submit new feature requests to micathotel@gmail.com, and to encourage you to make a website of your dreams. Having a website with features you would normally only imagine as “That would be cool if I could…” is now easily possible… I’m currently working on catio designer software for MichiganCatioBuilders.com.