WorkDesign, not builtMarch 2026
A phone booking agent for a theatre
A written plan for a phone line that answers in Hindi or English, takes a ticket booking and sends the payment link on WhatsApp.
The problem
A planned theatre expects about 250 calls a day. Callers want to book, cancel or ask about showtimes. The plan sets out how a phone agent would handle those calls and what it would cost to run.
What we did
- Wrote out the full call for three cases: a new booking, a cancellation, and a question about showtimes.
- Set the rules the system would follow: at most 4 tickets per booking, 10 minutes to pay, booking closes 30 minutes before the show, cancellation closes 2 hours before the show, calls answered 8 AM to 10 PM.
- Listed what could go wrong and the planned response: 15 call situations and 8 payment situations.
- Costed the running system at about Rs 1.18 to 1.21 lakh a month before payment-gateway fees, based on 250 calls a day at about 2.5 minutes each.
- Laid out a 5 to 6 week rollout in five phases, starting live use with 20% of calls.
What came of it
- A design blueprint, version 2.0, dated 17 March 2026.
- It has not been built. No calls were taken and nothing was tested.
Planned flow. Not built.
The planned call, step by step
The caller rings the theatre number
Calls are answered 8 AM to 10 PM. The plan allows up to 50 calls at once.
The agent greets the caller and says it is an AI
It also says the call may be recorded. It starts in Hindi and switches to English if the caller answers in English. Mixed Hindi and English is accepted.
The agent asks four things
Name, movie, showtime, number of tickets. At most 4 tickets per booking. Booking is open up to 3 days ahead and closes 30 minutes before the show.
The agent reads the order back
Name, movie, showtime, ticket count and total. The caller says yes or corrects it.
The seats are held
The hold is designed so two callers cannot both get the last seats. One phone number can have at most 2 open bookings.
A payment link goes to the caller's WhatsApp
The agent asks whether to use the calling number or a different WhatsApp number. A caller without WhatsApp is sent to the counter.
Paid within 10 minutes: booking confirmed
A WhatsApp message carries the movie, time, ticket count and a reference number to show at the counter.
Not paid within 10 minutes: booking cancelled
The link stops working, the seats go back on sale, and a WhatsApp message tells the caller.
A person takes over when needed
If the agent fails to understand the caller twice, or the caller asks for a person, the call is transferred.
More work
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