Aeion Hospitality + WhatsApp
WhatsApp is the dominant guest communication channel globally — especially LATAM, Southern Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia. For US + EU business travelers, increasingly preferred over email. Aeion ships native WhatsApp Business API — bidirectional messaging, transactional template messages, AI Concierge auto-responses, NLU intent classification, sentiment-scored escalation to human staff, multi-property routing. Replaces HiJiffy / Akia / Whistle ($200-500/mo).
Guest Lifecycle Coverage
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Setup
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The AI Concierge Layer
When a WhatsApp message arrives, Aeion looks up the guest's profile by phone number, checks for an active reservation, and hands the message to the AI concierge.
Template Messages
WhatsApp requires templates for outbound transactional messages.
FAQ
Meta charges per conversation (varies by country: ~$0.005-0.10 per template; free for guest-initiated 24h windows). Passthrough — Aeion doesn't add markup.
The AI concierge has multilingual capability built in. Guest writes in any language; AI responds in same. Templates approved per-language separately by Meta.
Yes. One number per property typical. Aeion routes inbound by number → property context. Outbound from property-specific number.
Aeion's shared inbox model: front desk team sees all conversations; AI handles routine; staff handles escalations. Configurable per-property.
Yes — Meta requires opt-in. Captured at booking: "We may message you on WhatsApp at this number." Aeion tracks consent + honors opt-out.
Business app is mobile-only, manual; Business API is programmatic. Aeion connects directly to Meta's WhatsApp Business Cloud API.
WhatsApp expects 24h window for guest-initiated; after 24h, only template messages allowed. AI responds in seconds; escalated conversations: target 5-15 min human response.
Complementary. WhatsApp for guest-preferred where available; SMS for US (where WhatsApp adoption lower); email for non-real-time transactional. Aeion supports all three; routes based on guest preference + opt-in.
Yes for the chatbot + concierge functions. Specialized features (Whistle's review-monitoring; HiJiffy's marketing flows) may need supplementation. Most properties find Aeion sufficient.
WhatsApp's voice/video calling features available; Aeion doesn't process audio (yet); calls handled by your standard phone system.