Waitlist and papers chase for kindergartens
Quick summary
- You are at the door. The waitlist callback and the missing booklet still have to be chased.
- The list is a named child, a visit reminder, or a papers chase. Not a second opinion on settling.
- Every call starts with the child's name on the file. If they do not recognise them, the call stops.
- It does not say the child may return after a fever. Missing papers are a yes or no. What those papers mean is a callback.
- If they ask whether the child is ready, the assistant writes the question down and says the director will talk to them.
- SMS does the first reminder. The voice call is for the folder that has still not arrived two days before a first day.
TL;DR
You are at the door. Eight waitlist families have not answered the text, and Wednesday's enrolment booklets never arrived. Nobody is going to spend the afternoon ringing. An assistant works the list you give it: child's name on the file, one purpose. It asks whether the papers have been brought. It does not say what those papers mean, whether the child will settle, or what a month costs unless you marked a figure speakable. If they ask, it writes the question down and says the director will talk to them. It can book a drop if that time is free. It will not ring a neighbour's mobile about someone else's child.
Key takeaways
- Build each list from your own files: child's name, the number on the file, and one purpose.
- Do not put a personal mobile on a papers chase unless that number is the number on the file.
- Write the purpose as a reminder or a chase, not as a question about settling or a fever.
- If the parent asks whether the child is ready, the assistant ends the call and flags the director to call back.
- Check the diary before you speak a time. Do not read Thursday off last week's pad.
- Keep treatments and development off the script. The director will talk in person.
The list on the pad while you hold the door
The waitlist moved. A cot opened in the toddler room because a family left for another city. The booklet for Wednesday’s sitting is still not on the desk. Tomorrow the gate closes for a public holiday and half the room will still arrive if nobody says.
You will not spend the afternoon on those calls. You have a child on a hip.
An assistant works a list you built: child’s name, the number on the file, one purpose. It does not wander. It does not “while I have you” into pedagogy.
SMS first. Voice for the folder that did not move.
One purpose, the name on the file
Every outbound call starts with the child’s name as it stands on your paper. If the person who answers does not recognise that name, the call stops. It does not explain who Sofia is to a stranger. It does not ask them to pass a message to a neighbour.
The purpose is one of a short set you wrote:
- the booklet or the AMKA has not arrived
- a waitlist place has opened, please call back or book a drop
- tomorrow the gate is closed, or Friday is a short day
- a visit reminder, with the paper list
It is not: is the child ready, may they return after the fever, may the neighbour collect, what does the month cost, unless you marked a published figure speakable.
If they ask a second question, the assistant writes it down and flags you. The chase does not become a clinic.
Numbers you may not ring
The number on the file. That is the list.
A grandmother’s mobile you overheard at the gate is not a contact until you wrote it down. A neighbour who “sometimes picks up” is not a contact. A parent’s work desk that was never given to you is not a contact.
Outbound about a child is how a kindergarten gets into a conversation it should not have. Keep the file strict.
If they say the other parent should not be called, stop. Flag a person. The assistant does not edit the file from this call.
Waitlist opening is not a first day
A cot opened. You want that family before the station on the hill takes them.
The assistant may say a place has opened, if that is the purpose. It may book a papers drop or a director sitting that the diary actually has. It may not say the child starts Monday. Papers, a counted cot, and a first day are still three different facts.
If the room is no longer free by the time they answer, the assistant does not keep the old sentence. You update the list before it rings.
It does not sweeten the call with “she will settle quickly.” That sentence is pedagogy, and it is how you own a first week you have not seen.
Papers are a yes or no
“Has the booklet been brought?” Yes, it is on the way, or no.
What the booklet proves, whether a missing stamp matters, whether the municipality will accept a copy: those are yours.
If they ask whether the child can start without it, the assistant does not invent a municipal rule. Flag you. Book a drop if a time is free.
Two days before a sitting, this call is worth more than a text they already ignored. That is why it is voice.
Closures, short Fridays, August
A public holiday reminder is a list. Child’s name, number on the file, one sentence you wrote: the gate is closed tomorrow.
It does not add how to spend the day. It does not add a fever rule for the long weekend. It does not call a number that is not on the file to “make sure someone knows.”
August short days belong on the same kind of list, sent before the week begins. Do not let the assistant book a papers drop into the weeks you are dark. Check the diary first.
When the parent turns the call around
They will. You rang about the booklet. They ask about the dummy, the cough, the neighbour, the other parent.
The assistant names the original purpose, refuses the extra, flags you. It does not answer the extra to keep them friendly. A friendly syrup on an outbound papers chase is still a treatment on the recorded line.
If they are angry that a place opened and then closed, it does not argue. It takes a number and a time for the director.
If they say they are at the gate now with a person who is not on the collect list, that is no longer outbound. Transfer.
What you put on the script, and what you keep off it
On: child’s name, your kindergarten name, one purpose, a diary check before any time, the sentence that the director will talk to them, the sentence that only the number on the file is in use.
Off: settling, toilet training, language, dummies, medicines, doses, who may collect, the other parent, a monthly figure you did not mark speakable, a first day that the papers cannot support.
Rehearse the first twenty calls. That is where a “she’ll be fine” appears because the list felt cold.
Rates live on the pricing section of the home page.
AI receptionist, in-house staff, or a call centre
| CITT | In-house | Call centre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Papers chase before a first day | Yes, from your list | When someone has time | If you write a script |
| Waitlist and visit reminders | Yes | Yes | Sometimes |
| Starts with the child's name | Yes | Yes | If you insist |
| Names a pedagogy to hurry the papers | Never — the director will talk in person | The director does, in the yard | A risk if the script drifts |
| Answers whether they may return after a fever | No — flags the director | The director does | Must not; sometimes does |
| Offers a drop the diary does not have | No — checks the diary, or takes a callback | If they check | Often from last week's pad |
| Rings a neighbour about someone else's child | No — only the number on the file | Only if you said so | A risk if the list was not read |
What unchased enrolment papers cost one week
Worked from these assumptions — change any of them and the answer changes:
- Two people, 12 open enrolment files before term, each waiting on a booklet or an AMKA.
- This example treats 4 of those 12 as still missing two days before the sitting.
- A place that does not start because papers never arrived is worth about €280 a month — put your own figure in.
- Of those 4, 1 family takes a place somewhere else after nobody rang. The other 3 still start if chased.
- Ten months. Put your own stay in.
- 4 folders still missing two days before the sitting.
- 1 family is lost if nobody chases. 1 × €280 × 10 months = €2,800 of that year's fees.
- The chase is a named child and a yes-or-no on the booklet, not a conversation about settling.
About €2,800 from one unchased enrolment — only if you accept that the family left. Change it.
What it costs
CITT is pay as you go: no packages, no minimum, no contract. The current rates — the monthly fee per number and the per-minute rate — are on the pricing section of the home page, which is the only place they are published.
Frequently asked questions
Can it ring a grandmother who is not on the file?
No. Outbound uses the number on the file. A grandmother's mobile you heard at the gate is not a number you may chase for papers, unless you wrote it on that child's file as a contact. The assistant will not ring a neighbour about someone else's child.
Can it tell them the waitlist has a place and the child should start Monday?
It can say a place has opened, if that is the purpose you wrote, and it can book a papers drop or a sitting that is actually free. It must not say the child should start Monday if the papers are not in, and it must not say they are ready.
What if they ask what to give for the cough while you are chasing papers?
The chase stops being a chase. The assistant writes the question down, says it cannot name a treatment, and flags you. It does not answer “while it has them on the line.”
Can it remind the whole room that tomorrow is a public holiday?
Yes, from a list you built: child's name, the number on the file, one purpose. It does not invent who is off. It does not add a pedagogy sentence about how to spend the day.
What if they say the other parent should not be called?
Stop. Flag a person. The assistant does not choose which parent to ring next. It does not remove a number from the file because someone asked on this call.
Do we still send the SMS first?
Yes. SMS does the first reminder. The voice call is for the folder that has still not arrived, or the waitlist family who did not answer the text. See [pricing](/en/#pricing) for how calls are charged.
