VOICE NOTES AND TEXT MESSAGES, TURNED INTO LINES TO CHECK
From a voice note or text message to a draft quote
For many trade customers, the phone is the order form. A plumber types a list with his thumbs between two jobs. A foreman records a voice note from a truck cab with the engine running. A buyer sends a screenshot of a conversation. It lands on someone’s phone at the counter, and someone has to turn it into a priced quote.
Qotora AI reads the text or listens to the voice note, finds every line in your own catalogue, applies your own price rules and prepares a draft quote that a person on your team reviews before it is sent.
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How the message gets into Qotora
- A text message: copy it and paste it into a new request. If the customer sent five short messages in a row, paste them together so they stay one request.
- A voice note: a note recorded on a phone is usually an .m4a or .opus file. Qotora accepts .opus, .m4a, .mp3, .wav, .ogg, .aac, .flac and .webm, so you save or share the note out of the messaging app and attach it.
- A customer at the counter or on the phone: tap “Record a voice note” in your browser and let them say it. If the browser cannot record, attach an audio file instead.
- A screenshot of a conversation: treat it as a photo. The Photo to quote page explains what happens.
What happens to a message, step by step
- The message or the audio file is stored first, so the original is always there to check.
- A text is read as written. A voice note is heard as audio by the reading step rather than passed through a separate transcript, so the whole note is read in context, including a correction the speaker makes halfway through.
- For every product the customer asked for, Qotora keeps their words, the quantity and the unit as written or said. It does not convert units on its own, name a price or invent a quantity.
- What is not a product stays out of the table. “It’s Dan from Riverside Mechanical” suggests a customer, which you confirm with one click and which Qotora never assigns silently. “Need it asap” flags the request as Urgent, and other remarks stay under “Also in the message”.
- Each line is looked up in your catalogue and priced from your rules. When a line fits several products, Qotora asks which one.
- A person reviews. Next to each line from a voice note, the review shows what was heard in the voice note, and the original audio can be played. Nothing goes out until a person sends it.
The message, pasted
- hey it’s Dan, Riverside Mechanical
- need 6 3/4 ball valves FIP
- 2 rolls 1/2 pex-b blue
- 10 1/2 pex crimp rings
- need it asap pls
The quote, ready to check
| Description / part no. | Qty | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/4 in brass ball valve, FIP × FIP, lead-free — BV-34-F | 6 | $11.40 | $68.40 |
| 1/2 in PEX-B tubing, blue, per ft, 300 ft coil — PXB-12-B | 2 rolls = 600 ft | $0.56 | $336.00 |
| 1/2 in PEX crimp ring, copper — CR-12 | 10 | $0.48 | $4.80 |
| Total (sample) | $409.20 | ||
Illustration with sample products and prices. The “2 rolls = 600 ft” conversion comes from the distributor’s own packaging rule. In your own account, part numbers and prices come from your catalogue and your price rules, and a person on your team reviews the quote before it is sent.
What can go wrong with voice notes and text messages
Speech and chat are the least tidy way to order. This is what Qotora does when they get messy.
| What the message is like | What Qotora does |
|---|---|
| Wind, engine, a shop floor behind the voice | What cannot be made out is not guessed into a product. Lines are marked by how sure Qotora is, and the audio stays attached so a person can listen again. |
| A product dropped from a long note | This is the known risk with audio. Every quote that starts from a voice note carries a reminder to listen to it again and check that no item is missing, and the request shows how many lines were read from the note. |
| Spelled-out or mumbled part numbers and sizes | Read in context and matched to your catalogue. When a number could be several products, Qotora asks instead of choosing. |
| English, French, Arabic or Darija | Requests can be written or spoken in any of these, and Qotora keeps the customer’s words on the line. |
| No quantity (“a couple of boxes”) | The line shows “Quantity needed” and stays open. Qotora never invents a quantity. |
| Emojis, thumbs-up, “thanks bro” | Greetings and thanks are not product lines. They do not enter the quote. |
| Several jobs, or two customers, in one note | Qotora lists what it hears; a person decides who the lines belong to, because the customer is confirmed by a person. |
Quantities, units and prices are never guessed. A human reviews every quote before it is sent.
Timing, and what stays in your hands
A typical typed message takes seconds to under a minute to prepare once your data is connected. A voice note depends on its length, and your team’s review time is on top. We do not give a time for long recordings.
- Your catalogue and stock: lines are matched against your own products.
- Your price rules: tiers, discounts and margins are the ones you set. Qotora never invents a price or a margin.
- Read-only on your system: Qotora never writes into the software you use.
- A human decides: every quote is reviewed before it is sent, and there is no automatic sending.
The finished quote leaves Qotora by email, by a link, or as a PDF in your template; Qotora does not send text messages. The Counter plan is US$49 for the first month, then US$149 a month, with setup included and a 7-day money-back guarantee, counted from the first quote you send with Qotora.
Frequently asked questions
Does Qotora connect to my phone or my messaging apps?
No. Qotora does not read your chats or send messages to anyone. A person on your team copies a text into Qotora, or saves a voice note as a file and attaches it, or records it in the browser. There is nothing to connect.
Which audio files can I attach?
A voice note recorded on a phone is usually an .m4a or .opus file. Qotora accepts .opus and .m4a along with .mp3, .wav, .ogg, .aac, .flac and .webm. You can attach up to 20 files per request, up to 20 MB each.
Can it understand a noisy voice note?
It reads what it can hear, and it does not invent what it cannot. Because audio is the input where an item is most likely to be missed, every quote from a voice note carries a reminder to listen again and check that nothing is missing.
Which languages does it understand?
English, French, Arabic and Darija, written or spoken. The customer’s own words are kept on each line.
How does the customer receive the quote?
The finished quote leaves Qotora by email or by a link, or as a PDF you download. Qotora does not send text messages, and your team can pass the PDF or the link to the customer by whatever channel they like.
Can it send the quote by itself?
No. Every quote is reviewed by a person on your team before it is sent. There is no automatic sending.
Does it work with the software I already use?
Qotora works with whatever software you use: we connect it, or import your catalogue, stock and prices. It reads your data and never writes into your software.