Receptionist setup

Open Voice agents → Manage & test to edit a receptionist.

Business knowledge

Write clear, specific instructions. Include:

  • Business name, location, and contact details.
  • Services, products, prices you want it to quote, and common questions.
  • Opening hours and the correct business time zone.
  • Details to collect from callers and questions to ask.
  • Appointment rules and topics that should go to a person.

Use facts you want customers to hear. If something changes, update the instructions and run a fresh test.

Rules and voice

In Rules & Behavior, set the greeting, tone, required disclosures, allowed information collection, restricted topics, opening hours, and booking policy. Select a voice and speaking speed, then listen to a browser test.

When booking is enabled, connect a calendar and choose the hours in which appointments may be booked. Instructions alone do not replace these settings.

Human fallback

In Fallback Routing, enter a real staff or department number in international format, for example +19375550123. You can configure a backup destination, routing hours, and what happens if nobody answers.

Use a destination outside your NextVoice phone numbers to avoid routing loops. If you choose a voicemail destination, voicemail is handled by that destination's phone system.

Languages and routing

Use Languages & Routing to select supported languages and the default language. If the language routing add-on is available for your account, you can map a caller's language to a primary and backup human destination.

You can prepare and rehearse these routes before subscribing to the add-on. Customer language routing requires an active main plan and an active routing add-on. Test each language with a fluent speaker and confirm that the greeting and disclosures use the intended language.

Editing a live receptionist

Changing knowledge, voice, rules, or fallback invalidates the previous configuration's readiness. A live receptionist is paused after a configuration change. Run a successful browser test of the new configuration, complete the readiness checks, and publish it again.

Use Pause calls when you want to stop a receptionist taking new customer calls. Check its status and number assignment before making another test call.