Property

A developer runs two customer conversations, owned by two different teams. Before the sale, it is enquiries, where the first useful reply usually wins the viewing. After the sale, it is a relationship that can run for years on an off-plan unit: payment milestones, construction updates, registration, handover, snagging and service charges.

Telonic agents are built for both. They know what a unit, a payment milestone and a snagging item are, and the rules attached to each. This page sets out the conversations the agent takes, the systems it works in, where the line sits between the agent and your team, and how a first deployment starts.

Two conversations, owned by two teams

Before the sale. A buyer browsing a portal often sends the same enquiry to several developers at once, usually in the evening or at a weekend. The agent replies in the language the buyer used, and answers from your inventory: availability, price, payment plan, handover timing and the difference between two layouts. It asks about budget, timing and whether they are buying to live in or to invest, as part of the conversation rather than as a form. It scores the enquiry against your criteria and books the viewing into your sales team's calendar.

After the sale. Someone who has paid a deposit is a customer. The agent answers "what do I owe next, and when?", gives construction progress from the updates you approve, books handover appointments, logs snagging items against the right unit and answers service charge questions for the buyer's own project. Because both teams work from one record, your handover team can see what your sales team told the buyer.

Most developers start with one of the two. The same connection to your systems then serves the other.

The workflows the agent knows

Each workflow below is configured during implementation for your projects, using your own payment structures, approved material and processes.

Construction-linked payment plans

On a construction-linked plan (one where instalments fall due as building work reaches agreed stages), the next payment depends on which milestone the project has reached, not on a date in the calendar. The agent looks up the buyer's schedule and the project's latest approved milestone in your systems, then tells the buyer what is due, what triggers it and how to pay. Amounts and dates are inserted directly from your system record, not retyped by the model.

The agent cannot create or change a payment plan, because no action to do so is connected to it. A request to restructure a plan goes to your team with the facts already gathered. Where you choose, the agent sends a payment link from your payment provider, so card details stay with that provider and the agent never handles them.

Registration and escrow questions

First-time and overseas buyers ask how their purchase is registered and where their money is held. In Dubai, sales are registered with the Dubai Land Department (DLD, the government body that registers property transactions), and payments for off-plan units go into a regulated escrow account (a separate account that holds buyers' payments for a project). A wrong answer here costs trust quickly.

The agent answers these questions only from material your team has approved, and looks up the buyer's own registration status where your systems hold it. Anything outside the approved material goes to a person.

Handover

Handover generates more contact and more complaints than any other stage of the relationship. The agent tells buyers where their unit is in the handover process and what must happen before handover can proceed, from your own checklist. It books handover appointments and sends confirmations and reminders. Questions about a delayed handover are prepared and passed to your team.

Snagging

Snagging (listing defects found at or after handover so the developer can fix them) has a process and a window, and the buyer wants to know what happens next, not only that the item was logged. The agent takes each report, asks for a photo where one helps, and logs the item against the right unit in your maintenance system. It tells the buyer what happens next and how long remains in the window your policy sets. When an item's status changes, the buyer is updated.

Service charges and facilities

Owners ask about service charges (the annual fees for a building's upkeep) for years after handover. The agent answers for the owner's own project from your data, and takes maintenance and facilities requests into the system your facilities team uses.

What the agent takes, what it prepares, and what stays with your team

Your team decides where each line sits, and can move it. See Decision boundaries.

The systems the agent works in

The agent reads from and writes to the systems you already run, so a buyer hears about their own unit and schedule, and your team finds the outcome where it already works.

Each connection has its own permissions, set with your IT team, and read and write access are granted separately. A system that is not listed can usually be connected through a custom action. See Permissions and Custom actions.

How a first deployment starts

Start with one queue: out-of-hours enquiries for one launch, or payment and handover questions for one completed project. The agent runs alongside your team, and your routing can send conversations back to your team at any time.

Before go-live, you and Telonic agree what will be measured, so your first review looks at your own conversations. For property, that is usually time to first useful answer, repeat contact (how often a buyer gets in touch again about the same thing), and how often the conversation goes to a person.

Bring two groups in early. Whoever runs your CRM and unit inventory, because the agent works inside those systems. And your legal team, for call recording consent. Once the first queue is live, extending to handover, collections or facilities uses the connection already in place.

In practice

Sahel Crest Properties starts with handover and snagging for one completed tower.

1. Its maintenance system, CRM and handover calendar are connected. Its snagging policy, handover checklist and approved service charge answers are loaded.
2. Yousef collects the keys to unit D-1507 on Sunday. On Monday evening, he messages on WhatsApp in Arabic: the balcony door does not close properly.
3. The agent asks for a photo, logs the item against D-1507 in the maintenance system, gives him the reference and offers inspection slots from the maintenance team's calendar. He chooses Wednesday morning.
4. Six weeks later, he reports a scratch on the kitchen worktop. The agent checks the snagging window in the developer's policy, confirms it is still open, and logs the item.
5. The inspector marks the scratch "not a defect". Yousef disagrees. The agent records his reasons and hands the conversation to the handover team with a brief that includes both items and the photos.
6. When the balcony door is fixed, the maintenance system updates the item and Yousef receives a WhatsApp message saying it is closed.

What your team controls

• Which projects, units and stages the agent covers, and which conversations it takes first.
• The approved material it uses for registration, escrow and service charge questions.
• Which actions it can take in your systems, and which wait for a person's approval.
• The escalation triggers, and who receives each handover.
• The wording of instalment reminders, handover updates and other templates.

See The controls your team holds.

Related

• Industry modelsAgents
• Decision boundariesGovernance and control
• Property integrationsIntegrations
• Commitments and promise trackingCustomer record
• Workflows and customer journeysAgents

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