Build a Custom Voice AI for Your Apartment Buildings
Syntora is an AI automation consultancy that builds custom voice AI for apartment portfolios. We build systems that answer tenant calls and qualify prospective renter leads 24/7.
The scope depends on the number of properties and the API access of your Property Management System (PMS). A portfolio using a modern PMS like AppFolio with a documented API is a standard 2-week build. A portfolio with a legacy system requiring data exports needs a more involved integration plan.
We built a voice agent for a property manager with 12 buildings and 350 units. Their 2-person leasing team was overwhelmed with calls about availability and tour scheduling. The system went live in 3 weeks, handling 80% of inbound call volume and booking 15 qualified tours in the first month.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Most property managers start with a standard phone tree (IVR). These systems frustrate callers because they cannot answer natural language questions like, "Is the two-bedroom on Elm Street still available?" They just route calls to a voicemail, which adds a 4-hour delay to lead response times and loses prospects to competitors.
Next, they look at call center AI platforms like Five9 or Talkdesk. These are built for 100-person support teams, not a 3-person leasing office. They require 12-month contracts, charge per-agent seats you do not need, and their AI often relies on simple keyword matching that fails on complex queries like, "Do you allow pets, and what is the fee for a German Shepherd?"
Voicemail-to-text services only solve half the problem. They transcribe messages, but the leasing agent still has to manually call back every single lead and answer the same questions repeatedly. For a portfolio getting 30 leasing calls per day, this results in 2-3 hours of phone tag instead of time spent closing leases.
How Does It Work?
We start by connecting to your Property Management System (PMS) API, whether it is AppFolio, Yardi, or another platform. We pull real-time data on unit availability, pricing, and amenities for all your properties. This data is cached in a Supabase Postgres database and refreshed every 5 minutes to ensure the AI always has current and accurate information.
The core logic is a Python service built with FastAPI. This service receives transcribed text from a voice API. We use the Claude API to understand the caller's intent: are they a current tenant reporting an issue, or a new lead asking about a 2-bedroom? For new leads, it extracts entities like "2-bedroom", "pet-friendly", and "move-in date". The system then queries the Supabase cache to answer availability questions in under 400ms.
The FastAPI application is deployed as a serverless function on AWS Lambda. This architecture costs less than $50/month to run for up to 10,000 calls and scales instantly during peak rental season without any manual intervention. We connect this endpoint to a Twilio phone number. When a call comes in, Twilio handles the voice recognition and text-to-speech, passing the conversation back and forth with our Lambda function.
For qualified leads, the system creates a new prospect in your PMS via its API and sends a Slack notification to the leasing team with the call transcript. For maintenance requests, it creates a work order ticket and pages the on-call technician if it is an emergency like a water leak. All interactions are logged using structlog for easy debugging and future analysis.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Answer Renter Calls in 400 Milliseconds
Our system responds to availability and pricing questions instantly, 24/7. No more missed leads because your team was on another call or out of the office.
Pay for Usage, Not for Seats
A one-time build fee, then hosting costs under $50/month on AWS Lambda. You are not paying for unused agent licenses in a large call center platform.
You Receive the Full Source Code
The entire Python codebase is delivered to your company's GitHub repository. You have full ownership and can modify it without vendor lock-in.
Monitors Itself, Alerts You to Issues
We configure structured logging with structlog and alerts for API failures. If the PMS connection breaks, you get an immediate Slack notification.
Connects Directly to Your PMS
We build direct API integrations with systems like AppFolio and Yardi. Leads and maintenance tickets are created automatically, no manual data entry required.
What Does the Process Look Like?
System Scoping (Week 1)
You provide read-only API credentials for your Property Management System. We analyze the call flows for your 3 most common inquiry types and deliver a technical spec document.
Core AI and PMS Integration (Weeks 2-3)
We build the FastAPI service and connect it to your PMS data. You receive a private phone number to test the AI's responses against your current inventory.
Deployment and Live Traffic (Week 4)
We deploy the system on AWS Lambda and port your main leasing number. You receive the full source code in your GitHub and a runbook for the system.
Monitoring and Handoff (Weeks 5-8)
We monitor call logs and intent accuracy for one month post-launch, tuning the Claude prompts as needed. After 30 days of stable performance, the system is fully handed over.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does a custom voice AI for apartments cost?
- The cost is based on the complexity of your call flows and the quality of your PMS API. A system for a single property with 3-4 common question types is a simpler build than one for a portfolio with varied policies and a legacy PMS. We provide a fixed-price quote after a 30-minute discovery call to understand your exact needs. Book a discovery call at cal.com/syntora/discover.
- What happens if a caller has a question the AI can't answer?
- If the AI fails to understand a query after two attempts, or if the caller explicitly asks to speak with a human, the system automatically transfers the call to your leasing office's main line. A transcript of the conversation up to that point is sent to your team in Slack, so they have full context when they pick up the phone.
- How is this different from a service like RingCentral or Dialpad?
- RingCentral and Dialpad are business phone systems (VoIP) with basic call routing. They cannot check real-time apartment availability in your PMS or answer dynamic questions. They route calls, but they do not resolve them. Syntora builds an agent that has a real-time connection to your business data and can complete tasks autonomously.
- Can the voice AI handle different languages or accents?
- The underlying voice recognition models handle a wide range of common accents very well. For different languages, we can build separate logic paths. Supporting Spanish, for example, would involve adding a separate set of Claude API prompts and translated responses. This is a common add-on scoped during our initial discovery call.
- Do we need an engineer on our team to run this?
- No. The system is deployed on serverless infrastructure (AWS Lambda) that requires no server management. We provide a runbook that covers common operational tasks. For ongoing changes, we offer an optional flat monthly maintenance plan. The founder who built the system is the one who maintains it.
- What data do you need from us to get started?
- We need read-only API access to your property management system to pull unit data. We also need about 10-15 examples of your most frequent caller questions. We do not need access to any sensitive tenant PII like social security numbers or payment information. The entire system is designed to work with public property data.
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