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“I’ve opened my own LLC. ’m doing the tech part of home sharing — and I’ve seen an influx in that since I had this app.”
About the Business
Darrell is a longtime tech professional who’s spent 11 years at Apple as a Mac technician. Recently, he stepped into a new chapter: launching his own LLC focused on home sharing—an Airbnb-like operation serving guests coming in and out of New York City, especially during high-travel seasons like the holidays.
Darrell’s niche is specific: he works with landlords who have properties not currently occupied—a “gap filler” model that helps turn empty homes into short-term stays.
The Challenge
Home sharing runs on one fragile thing: timing.
When a guest is arriving, a question or issue isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s urgent. Miss the moment, and the guest may end up stranded, frustrated, or booking elsewhere.
Before Beside, Darrell often missed important calls and voicemails, especially when he wasn’t physically holding his phone. Juggling work, commuting, and managing properties meant the phone couldn’t always be the center of his day, even though the business depended on fast, reliable responses. When he couldn’t pick up in time, the consequences were real.
“I was missing a lot of important voicemail calls before Beside. That I did, yes. I’ve lost a lot of business.”
The Moment That Changed Everything
One incident made the issue impossible to ignore. A family traveled from California to New York but couldn’t reach Darrell in time. He didn’t have his phone with him, and the communication flow wasn’t yet properly set up. As a result, the family arrived without a place ready for them.
For Darrell, this wasn’t just a missed call—it became a turning point.
“That pretty much changed my mindset — a better communication. That’s why I got this application; that will never happen again.”
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The Switch
Darrell came across Beside while scrolling on Instagram, and the timing felt almost uncanny. He had just experienced the exact kind of failure Beside is designed to prevent. What caught his attention wasn’t curiosity or novelty, but relevance—the problem was fresh, real, and costly.
That context matters. Darrell didn’t adopt Beside as an experiment. He adopted it to make sure a breakdown like that would never happen again in a business built on trust and timely communication.
“I thought about that story and said, ‘Oh my gosh, this would be super helpful.’ I tried out the free trial, and I fell in love with it.”
The Transformation and Impact
Darrell didn’t simply turn on an AI receptionist. He leaned into a feature that was uniquely important for his business: voice-cloned voicemail. By training the system to sound like him, guests and prospects experience interactions that feel personal and direct—even when he’s unavailable.
At first, hearing a voicemail that sounded exactly like him felt unfamiliar. But after testing it and experiencing how natural it felt for callers, it quickly became an advantage. The voice familiarity added credibility, built trust, and helped set expectations before any follow-up conversation even happened.
“Clients think they’re talking to me because it talks like me. I cloned my voice. I have never seen an application do that with voicemail.”
Daily summaries = operational clarity
The second major impact comes from the end-of-day summary. Instead of piecing together conversations from memory or scattered notes, Darrell receives a clear recap of every interaction—who called, how to reach them, and what they needed. This creates immediate visibility into the day’s activity and removes uncertainty from follow-ups.
Having structured summaries transforms how the business operates, turning inbound calls into actionable information and making it easier to prioritize next steps with confidence.
“It gives me a summary at the end of the day—my entire conversations with my clientele. I now have the phone numbers and the names, a visual on what they want. It changed my business layout tremendously.”
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For a new operator building habits and systems, that “visual” turns scattered communication into something manageable.
How a day feels now
Darrell starts his day like many operators: a morning workout, followed by checking what came in overnight. The difference now is what he sees when he checks in.
Instead of a chaotic mix of missed calls and half-remembered voicemails, he wakes up to structured information—clear voicemail summaries, texts, and emails that show exactly what happened and what needs attention. This clarity sets the tone for the day before it even begins.
If he’s available, Darrell still answers calls himself. But when he’s not, the pressure is gone. He no longer feels the need to rush back to the phone, knowing calls are handled reliably in his absence. That sense of ease is what separates reactive business management from operating with control and confidence.
“I wake up to the Beside app—it helps me out with a lot of voicemails. If I’m not around, I feel more comfortable, more relaxed, with the peace of mind to let my AI pick up.”
What this changed
- Fewer missed opportunities — important calls no longer disappear into unstructured voicemail.
- Higher trust — voice-cloned voicemail makes outreach feel personal and consistent.
- Better follow-up — daily summaries capture names, numbers, and needs in one place.
- Less stress — Darrell feels calmer when he’s away from the phone.
- More time back — estimated 4 hours per week saved vs. manually replaying and writing notes from voicemails.
By removing the need to manually replay and document voicemails, Darrell estimates he saves several hours each week—time that used to be spent sorting through messages and trying to piece together context. He also noticed a clear lift after fully enabling AI voicemail, a change he now wishes he had made sooner.
“ I’ve seen a bigger influx with my calls right now since I transitioned over to the AI voicemail.”
Working on the Business, and Showing Up for Life
Darrell’s story isn’t only about business efficiency. It’s about time—especially during the holidays, when life logistics stack up and communication gaps become costly.
“Time—connecting back with them, especially due to the holidays right now.”
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Beside doesn’t remove the realities of hosting and operations, but it reduces the mental friction that comes from constantly chasing calls
Darrell expects demand to pick back up after the holidays and sees Beside as a core tool for handling the increased volume without sacrificing responsiveness.
At a Glance
- Business: Home-sharing operator (Airbnb-style), NYC
- Clients: Professional travelers and holiday visitors; landlords with unoccupied properties
- Before Beside: missed voicemails and lost business; one major failure moment with an arriving family
- Setup: AI voicemail + voice clone + call summaries + end-of-day recap
- Impact: more peace of mind, better follow-up, improved communication, ~4 hours/week saved