DeskCaller

AI Receptionist for UK Martial Arts Clubs
Catch the January and September Rush From the Mat

Enquiries arrive in two concentrated bursts a year, in the evening hours when your instructors are teaching and cannot pick up. DeskCaller answers on the first ring, asks the child's age before it offers a class, explains whether you run Direct Debit, term payments or pay as you go, and books the trial. Anything about a named child, a safeguarding worry or an injury goes straight to a person.

See How It Works
First ring
Evening enquiries answered from the mat
Every call
Child's age band established before a class is offered
24/7
January and September bursts covered

Why Clubs Lose the January and September Rush

Parents ring when your mats are full. If the phone rings out, the club that answered first gets the trial and usually the membership behind it.

The rush arrives in two bursts, both in the evening

January and September are when parents decide, and they ring between the end of the school day and bedtime. That is the exact window your instructors are on the mat with a full junior class. The phone rings hardest when nobody in the building is free to answer it.

First contact is a trial enquiry, not a booking

UK clubs run a free session, a low-cost trial period or a discounted first month, and the caller needs a class time matched to their child before any of that happens. Nobody rings a club to buy a membership. They ring to find out whether Tuesday works for a nervous seven-year-old.

Half the evening goes on money and records questions

Which payment model do you run, is it monthly Direct Debit or a term payment, are grading fees on top, when is the next grading, what belt is my child on now. Those are lookups and policy answers, not sales calls, and they still take an instructor off the mat to deal with.

Built for Clubs Where the Instructor
Is Already On the Mat

Karate, taekwondo, BJJ, judo, kickboxing and mixed junior programmes all run the same phone: age bands, trial offers, payment models and grading dates, with a hard line around anything to do with a specific child.

Trial Enquiry Handling

Explains whichever offer you actually run, a free session, a low-cost trial period or a discounted first month, and books the family in.

Age Band Routing, First

Asks the child's age before it offers a single class time, then matches your own bands, whether that is 3 to 6, 5 to 13, teens or adults.

Timetable and Term Dates

Answers which nights each discipline runs, which hall, when term starts and finishes, and which junior classes need a parent on the mat.

Your Payment Model, Explained

Monthly Direct Debit, a term payment across a 10 to 12 week school term, class packages or pay as you go, plus the fact that grading and certificate fees are charged separately.

Grading Dates and Requirements

Gives the next grading date, what students need to bring and what it costs. It never promises a result or a belt promotion.

Sibling and Family Enquiries

Captures the age of each child separately, so a family is never quoted a class one of them cannot actually join.

Party and Event Enquiries

Takes party and event enquiries, checks the date against your hall diary and hands the booking to a person to confirm.

Holiday Camp Enquiries

Captures school holiday camps, seminars, grading clinics and self-defence courses, including the calls that come in the week before.

Club Software Sync

Writes enquiries and trial bookings into TeamUp, ClubRight, Coacha, Gymcatch, ClassForKids, Gymdesk, GoCardless and Spond.

Call Summaries by Text

Sends a summary you can read between classes: what they wanted, the child's age, the class discussed, and what needs doing next.

Safeguarding Routed, Never Handled

Any concern, disclosure or allegation stops the call and alerts your welfare officer. The agent takes no details and offers no reassurance beyond who will ring back and when.

Parents in Their Own Language

Talks to parents naturally in the language they are comfortable in, then hands your club a summary in English.

An Evening Enquiry, Routed by Age

Example call: a September trial enquiry where the age question comes first and the medical question goes to the instructor.

September Trial Enquiry Routed by Age Band

⏱️ 1 min 55 sec✅ Free trial booked into the correct junior band, Direct Debit explained, asthma question routed to the instructor
AI Receptionist:
"Good evening, Northgate Martial Arts. I am the club’s AI receptionist, the instructors are on the mat until half eight. How can I help?"
Parent:
"Hiya. I want to get my daughter into karate. Is there a class on a Tuesday?"
AI Receptionist:
"There is, though which one depends on her age. How old is she?"
Parent:
"She has just turned six."
AI Receptionist:
"Then she is in our Little Dragons band, that is five to seven, and it runs Tuesday at 5pm and Saturday at 9.30am. The later Tuesday class is our eight to thirteens, so I would not put her in that one."
Parent:
"Tuesday at five is good for us. What does it cost?"
AI Receptionist:
"The first session is free so she can try it properly. After that it is monthly Direct Debit at £38 for one class a week, and gradings are charged separately when Sensei Ward feels she is ready for one. There is no joining fee."
Parent:
"That is fine. She is asthmatic, though. Does that cause a problem?"
AI Receptionist:
"That is one for Sensei Ward rather than me, I am not able to advise on anything medical. I will put a note on now and he will ring you before Tuesday so you can talk it through with him properly."
Parent:
"Perfect, thank you."
AI Receptionist:
"She is booked into the free trial, Tuesday at 5pm. I am texting you the address, what she should wear for a first session, and a note that Sensei Ward will call you about the asthma."

Works With Your Club Software

Trial bookings, enquiry notes and call summaries flow into TeamUp, ClubRight, Coacha, Gymcatch, ClassForKids and Gymdesk, with GoCardless for Direct Debit and Spond for club messaging.

T
TeamUp
C
ClubRight
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Coacha
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Gymcatch
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ClassForKids
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Gymdesk
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GoCardless
S
Spond

What Your AI Receptionist Captures on a Martial Arts Call

Enough for you to know, between classes, whether this family is booked in and what still needs a person.

  • The child's age, before any class time is offered, so the answer matches the band you actually run.
  • Whether this is a first martial art or a move from another club, and which discipline the family asked for.
  • Which trial you are running this month, a free session, a low-cost trial period or a discounted first month, in your own wording.
  • Evening and weekend slots the family can genuinely make, checked against your timetable rather than the hall opening hours.
  • Whether a parent has to be on the mat for that junior class, and what the child should wear for a first session.
  • How many children are involved and the age of each one, so nobody is quoted a class a sibling cannot join.
  • Which money question was actually asked: monthly Direct Debit, a term payment, a package or pay as you go, and that grading and certificate fees sit outside it.

Martial arts is not statutorily regulated in the UK, which is why the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts exists as a Sport England initiative and why over 1,000 clubs hold it. Instructors coaching children on four or more days in any 30-day period are in regulated activity and need an Enhanced DBS check with a children's barred list check, and since 28 June 2022 sports coaches have been in a position of trust under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

So the agent handles enquiries, and nothing else that touches a child. It will not tell any caller whether a named child attends, what class they are in or when they train, however convincing the caller is. It does not take a safeguarding disclosure or an allegation, it alerts your welfare officer so a person does. It never changes a registered contact, a collection arrangement or an emergency contact, never gives medical or injury advice, and never confirms an instructor's DBS status. Those calls go to a human, every time.

What Club Owners Ask Us First

Can it tell a caller whether my child is in tonight’s class?

No. The agent never confirms whether a named child attends, which class they are in or what times they train, to any caller, including someone who says they are the parent. It takes a message and a person from the club rings back on the number you hold on file. That rule does not bend on a busy evening.

What happens if someone raises a safeguarding concern on the phone?

The agent does not take the disclosure and does not ask questions about it. It stops, tells the caller that a named person will speak to them, and alerts your welfare officer immediately so a human handles it that evening. Martial arts is not statutorily regulated in the UK, which is why the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts exists as a Sport England initiative and why over 1,000 clubs hold it.

Can it change who collects my child, or update an emergency contact?

No. Registered contacts, collection arrangements and emergency contacts are never changed over the phone by the agent, and it will not take sides in a dispute about who may collect a child. Those calls go to a named person at the club, every time, with the caller told that is what is happening.

Will it advise on an injury, or say whether a student is fit to come back?

No. The agent gives no medical, injury, SEND or accessibility advice and never clears a returning injured student. It records what the parent said accurately, tells them the instructor will ring, and passes it on. Deciding who steps back on the mat is a coaching decision.

Does it work with TeamUp, ClubRight, Coacha, Gymcatch, ClassForKids and Gymdesk?

Yes. DeskCaller connects to TeamUp, ClubRight, Coacha, Gymcatch, ClassForKids and Gymdesk, plus GoCardless for Direct Debit and Spond for team messaging. Trial bookings and enquiry notes are written into whichever of those you already run.

Can it explain our payment model without getting it wrong?

Yes, because it only says what you gave it. Monthly Direct Debit, a term payment aligned to your 10 to 12 week term, class packages or pay as you go, with grading and certificate fees stated separately. It will not cancel or freeze a Direct Debit, though. That request goes to a person.

Can it cope with the January and September surge?

That is the point of it. Both bursts arrive in the same evening hours across a few weeks, and the agent takes every line at once rather than queueing families behind each other. The club that answers gets the trial, and in those two months you are competing with every other club in town for the same parents.

Will it tell a parent what belt their child is on, or how a grading went?

No on both counts. Grading dates, requirements, fees and what to bring are all fair game, because they are club policy. A named student’s rank, attendance or grading result is a record about a child, so the agent takes a message rather than reading it out, and it never promises a promotion.

Can it confirm that our instructors are DBS checked?

It will not confirm any individual instructor’s DBS or safeguarding status. It can state your club policy in your own words and route the question to a person. For context, instructors coaching children on four or more days in any 30-day period are in regulated activity and need an Enhanced DBS check with a children’s barred list check, and since 28 June 2022 sports coaches have been in a position of trust under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Answer the Evening Rush Without Leaving the Mat

Every trial enquiry answered on the first ring, matched to the right age band, with your payment model explained the way you wrote it. Everything to do with a named child, a safeguarding worry or an injury goes to a person instead.

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