The problem
Cleaning rotas change daily: a cleaner's child is ill, a client moves their slot, someone wants Friday off. If the owner spends 3 hours a week texting cleaners, rewriting the week and finding cover, that's about 13 hours a month (3 × 4.3). At $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour, that's about $426£320€381A$614C$602 of the owner's time.
What the AI does
RotaCloud is rota software with free mobile apps. The owner plans the week by drag and drop, using each cleaner's availability pattern so nobody is booked when they can't work. Cleaners get shift notifications by email and push, request holiday and swap shifts in the app. Sickness and absence are tracked in the same place, so the owner can see who is free to cover without ringing round.
A worked example
A cleaning company in Leicester has 8 part-time cleaners, a supervisor and the owner: 10 employees in RotaCloud's terms, since the count includes the owner. On the Standard plan ($27£20€24A$38C$38 a month for 6 to 10 employees), cleaners set their availability once and swap shifts in the app.
Before
About 3 hours a week of texts and calls to fill the rota
After
About 1 hour a week, mostly approving swaps and checking cover
What it's worth
About $286£215€256A$413C$404 a month of the owner's time saved, from 2 fewer hours a week on the rota (2 × 4.3 = 8.6 hours at $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour). That is against $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month for RotaCloud Standard.
How to set it up
- Start the 30-day free trial and add every employee, including yourself and the supervisor, since the price is set by headcount.
- Ask each cleaner to set their availability pattern in the app, such as school hours only or no Fridays.
- Build a template week from your regular clients, so most weeks need only small changes.
- Turn on shift swapping and decide whether swaps need your approval.
- Record sickness and holidays in RotaCloud rather than in texts, so the cover picture is always in one place.
What goes wrong
- The price moves with headcount. Taking on an 11th person moves you out of the 6 to 10 band, so check the new price on the page's team-size selector.
- Text message notifications are an extra $5£4€5A$8C$8 a month for this band; email and push are included. Cleaners without the app or mobile data may need texts.
- Don't put key safe or alarm codes in shift notes that every cleaner can see. Give them only to the cleaner going to that home.
- RotaCloud plans staff, not client bookings. The client diary still lives in your booking or job software, so the two need checking against each other.