What to tell your AI receptionist about your business

The basics

Start with what a new employee would need on day one:

• Your services, and the ones you do not offer.
• Hours, holidays and after-hours rules.
• Service area: cities, zip codes or radius.
• How you want the phone answered: name, tone, greeting.

Booking rules

Decide what the agent may do on its own:

• Which job types it can book, and how far ahead.
• How long each appointment type takes.
• What information you need from the caller before a visit.
• What it should never promise.

Quotes and pricing

Choose whether the agent shares ranges, explains that every job is different, or only books an estimate. Many businesses prefer the last two so the quote comes from a person who has seen the job.

Emergencies and handoffs

Write down your triggers and your contacts:

• What counts as an emergency in your trade.
• Who gets alerted, by text or call, and in what order.
• Which callers go straight to you: existing customers, vendors, certain job types.

Keep improving it

Review the first week of calls. The questions the agent could not answer tell you exactly what to add. A managed service does this tuning with you.