Makes outbound calls to delinquent tenants. Proactively contacts tenants who owe money and guides them through payment options.

What It Does

Unlike the Sales and Support agents (which handle inbound calls), the Collections Agent is part of the Past Due Sequence system. It proactively calls tenants who owe money.

💰

Balance Notification

Informs the tenant of their past due balance clearly and accurately.

Outbound Call
💳

Payment Walkthrough

Walks the tenant through making a payment online using the step-by-step instructions you configure.

🔁

Autopay Enrollment

Guides the tenant through enrolling in autopay to prevent future late payments.

☎️

Additional Payment Options

Transfers to your IVR for phone payments or sends a payment link via SMS/email.

📬

Voicemail

Leaves a configured voicemail message if no one answers or a machine picks up.

👤

Human Escalation

Escalates to a human agent when the tenant needs to speak with a person.

The Outbound Call Flow

Collections calls are triggered automatically based on how many days past due a tenant is.

1

swivl Dials the Tenant

Uses the location's outbound phone number to place the call at the scheduled time.

2

Answering Machine Detection (AMD)

Determines who picked up the phone and routes accordingly:

  • Human answered - The Collections Agent starts a live conversation
  • Machine/voicemail - The system delivers the voicemail message configured for that day
3

Call Record

After the call, swivl saves the call record and updates the FMS with notes (if enabled).

🧑 If a Human Answers

The Collections Agent follows a structured conversation flow:

  1. Verify & open - Introduces itself on behalf of the facility and confirms they're speaking with the right person
  2. Inform - States the past due amount, original due date, and any current fees
  3. Understand - Asks if they can make a payment today. If they're struggling, the agent listens with empathy
  4. Resolve - Works to help the tenant take care of their balance:
  • Primary path - Sends a payment link via text or email, then stays on the line to walk them through completing the payment
  • If they can't pay the full amount - Asks what they can manage today and helps them set up a plan, which is emailed to the store and DM
  • If they prefer to pay by phone - Transfers them to your secure IVR payment line
  • Autopay offer - After a payment is made (or a plan is set), the agent offers to help them enroll in autopay to avoid future late fees
  1. Confirm & close - Recaps what was agreed to and wraps up

📬 If a Machine Picks Up

The system delivers the voicemail message configured for that specific day. The message is read aloud using text-to-speech and follows these rules:

  • Always mentions the facility name ("calling from [Location Name]")
  • Keeps it short (2 sentences max)
  • States the balance clearly
  • Spells out numbers and prices clearly for phone delivery

Configuration

Configure the Collections Agent in Sequences > Past Due Payments in swivlStudio.

Global Settings

SettingWhat It Controls
Send Email Receipts Send receipt emails to the store for each tenant that's contacted
Add FMS Notes Write notes back to the FMS when a sequence runs (SiteLink, StorEdge, SSMCloud, QuikStor only)
Use Shortlinks Shorten payment URLs (https://my.spot.is) in SMS messages
Use spot Payment Pages Use spot payment pages to bypass logging into the account portal (StorEdge only)

Payment & Autopay Instructions

At the top of the Past Due Payments page, you'll find two important fields:

📝

How to Make a Payment - Step-by-step instructions the agent follows when helping a tenant pay online. Write these as if you're walking someone through the process on the phone.

How to Enroll in Autopay - Step-by-step instructions for autopay enrollment. Same idea.

⚠️

These instructions are what the live agent actually says to guide the tenant. If they're blank or unclear, the agent won't be able to walk tenants through the process effectively.

Per-Day Settings

Each day in the sequence is independently configurable:

Enabled - Enabled, Disabled, or Simulated (test without actually sending)
Time - What time of day in the location's timezone to trigger the sequence
Voice toggle - Enable/disable the outbound call
Voice Message - The voicemail message to leave if a machine picks up
SMS toggle - Enable/disable text messages
SMS Message(s) - Up to 3 text messages per day
Email toggle - Enable/disable email

Common Issues

⚠️ Tenants are getting called too often

Check which days are enabled in Past Due Payments. Each day is independent, so if days 0, 1, 2, and 3 are all enabled, a tenant could get 4 calls in 3 days. Consider which days make sense for your collection strategy.

⚠️ Voicemails aren't being left

Check that the Voice Message field is filled in for the relevant day in Past Due Payments.

⚠️ The agent can't walk tenants through payment

Check the "How to Make a Payment" and "How to Enroll in Autopay" fields at the top of the Past Due Payments page. These need to have clear step-by-step instructions for the agent to follow. If they're empty, the agent has nothing to guide the tenant with.

⚠️ Calls are going out but no one is picking up

This is normal for outbound collections. Many tenants won't answer unknown numbers. Make sure SMS and email are also enabled as backup channels for the same days.

⚠️ The voicemail sounds robotic or weird

The voicemail message is delivered via text-to-speech. Make sure the Voice Message text reads naturally when spoken aloud. Avoid abbreviations, special characters, or formatting that doesn't translate well to speech. Write numbers as words when possible (e.g., "fifty dollars" instead of "$50").