New Zealand and Australia: Your Phone Is About To Get a Lot Smarter

If you've ever missed a booking because a call came in after hours, or watched your team field the same questions on repeat while a queue built up — this one's for you.

Yonder's AI Voice Agent is landing soon in Australia and New Zealand (hooray!) and it means your phone line will work for you around the clock, in your brand voice, without adding to your team's workload.

Here's everything you need to know to get ready (all the information in this blog, and more, are in the support portal here).

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What Is the AI Voice Agent?

The Voice Agent is an AI that answers your business calls in real time, in a natural conversational tone; and can check availability, send SMS booking links, handle common questions, and transfer to your team when it needs to.

Think of it as a tireless, on-brand team member who picks up every call, knows your products inside and out, and only loops in a human when it genuinely makes sense.

It's not your average voice bot.

Most AI voice systems convert speech to text, generate a reply, then convert text back to speech. Yonder is built differently. We use a speech-to-speech model (audio in, audio out) which means:

• Conversations feel more natural, with no robotic pauses
• Tone and expression are preserved (not flattened by transcription)
• Responses are faster
• It adapts dynamically to the flow of a real conversation

We built this architecture in-house specifically for tourism operators so we can keep improving it based on your real-world needs, not someone else's product roadmap.

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What Can It Actually Do?

The Voice Agent connects directly to your Yonder account, which means it's not just talking – it's taking action. Here's what it can handle:

• Answer common questions from your Chatbot knowledge base
• Check real-time tour availability (if you have a supported booking system connected)
• Send SMS links for bookings, directions, waivers, and more
• Transfer callers to your team when they request a human or the question needs it
• Follow your custom rules (handling emergencies, seasonal updates, priority topics)

Already using the Yonder Chatbot?

Great news! The Voice Agent draws on the same knowledge base. Keep your Chatbot content accurate and your Voice Agent will be sharp from day one.

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How Does It Fit Into Your Existing Setup?

Here's the good news: you don't need to change phone providers or overhaul your system. Voice works alongside your existing VoIP setup using call forwarding.

Most operators choose one of three approaches:

1. Forward calls after-hours only: AI covers the gaps when your team isn't available
2. Route all calls to AI first: human team steps in when needed
3. Use your existing phone tree: add the AI as one option callers can reach

Our team will work with you to find the right routing approach for your operation, and guide you through the setup with your specific phone provider.

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Before You Go Live: What to Check

Getting the Voice Agent set up is straightforward, but there are a few things to confirm before we kick things off.

1. Your Phone System (VoIP)

Your phone provider needs to support three things:

• External call forwarding: the ability to forward calls to Yonder's number
• Multiple phone numbers on one account: one for your main line, one for staff transfers
• Schedule-based routing (optional): if you want after-hours-only coverage

Not sure if your provider supports these? Ask them:

• Can we forward calls to an external number automatically?
• Can we own multiple phone numbers on the same account?
• Can we route calls based on office hours or a custom schedule?

Important: You don't necessarily need to switch phone providers! We just need your current system to support forwarding. If you're unsure, reach out to us and we'll help you figure it out.

2. Your Booking System Integration

For the Voice Agent to check live availability and send dynamic booking links, your reservation system needs to be connected to Yonder. Supported integrations include FareHarbor, Xola, ROLLER, Cobber, Ventrata, Waverez, and more.

If your booking system isn't connected yet, get in touch with our team and we'll point you to the right integration guide.

3. Your Chatbot Knowledge Base

The Voice Agent pulls answers directly from your Chatbot content. Before going live, it's worth reviewing your knowledge base to make sure it's up to date with accurate product info, correct pricing, current seasonal details.

The better your knowledge base, the better your Voice Agent will perform.

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Decisions to Make: Your Voice Agent's Identity

This is the part a lot of operators find unexpectedly fun. The Voice Agent is configurable; one of the most important things you'll do before going live is decide how it sounds and behaves.

Voice Profile & Personality

You'll choose a Voice Profile from a set of options, and then define:

• Tone — warm and relaxed? Professional and efficient? Energetic and adventure-ready?
• Persona — does your agent have a name? A distinct personality?
• Phrasing preferences — are there phrases that feel very "you", or terms you'd never use?
• Brand style — how formal is your communication? Do you use humour?

Think about how your best team member greets a caller on a great day. That's the benchmark.

Special Instructions

Beyond personality, you can give the agent operational rules. These are your guardrails, or the things that make it work for your specific business. For example:

• Custom greetings or priority announcements (e.g. seasonal closures, special events)
• When to send an SMS link vs. just answer verbally
• Topics that must always go to a human — like booking changes, complaints, or emergencies
• Topics the AI should avoid entirely
• Seasonal messaging to keep responses current

Take some time to think through your most common call scenarios, and where you'd want the AI to step back and hand over to a person.

Forward to Staff Number

You'll nominate one number for the agent to transfer calls to when escalation is needed. Your VoIP system can then manage internal routing from there; ring groups, round-robin, specific team members. For businesses with multiple locations, the best practice is one Yonder account per location.

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After You Go Live: Measure What Matters

Want to see how many bookings and how much revenue your Voice Agent is driving? Connect Google Analytics (GA4) to get full visibility into:

• Bookings assisted by the Voice Agent
• Revenue influenced by call interactions
• Conversion activity tied to Voice conversations

GA4 isn't required to use the Voice Agent, but if you care about ROI (and you should), it's highly recommended.

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Ready to get started?

Reach out to our team at support@yonderhq.com to join the AU/NZ waitlist or to kick off your onboarding. We'll walk you through everything — from phone provider setup to go-live testing.

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Quick Checklist: Getting Voice Agent Ready

1. Confirm your VoIP supports external call forwarding, multiple numbers, and (optionally) schedule-based routing
2. Verify your booking system is connected to Yonder (or start that integration now)
3. Review and update your Chatbot knowledge base
4. Think about your brand voice: tone, persona, phrasing preferences
5. Draft your Special Instructions — escalation rules, custom greetings, seasonal updates
6. Nominate your Forward to Staff number
7. Set up GA4 tracking to measure Voice Agent performance
8. Work with our team to test before going live

Questions? Contact the Yonder team at support@yonderhq.com — we're here to make this as smooth as possible.

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