What to prepare before setting up an AI receptionist
A practical checklist of the information that makes an AI receptionist sound like it has worked at your business for years.
· 5 min read
An AI receptionist is only as good as what it knows about your business. Most of that knowledge is already in your head. Writing it down before setup makes the process faster and the result noticeably better.
1. Your services — and what you don't do
List the services you offer in the words your customers actually use. Just as important: the jobs you don't take. A receptionist that can say "we don't handle that" politely and quickly saves everyone time.
2. Hours, service area, and availability
When you're open, where you travel or which locations you serve, and roughly how far out you're booked. If emergency hours differ from regular hours, note that too.
3. The questions callers ask most
Think about the last twenty calls you took. What did people ask? Pricing ranges, how soon you can come out, whether you're licensed and insured, payment options, warranties. Write down the answers you'd want given — word for word if the wording matters.
4. What to collect from every caller
Decide what your team needs to act on a call without calling back to ask. For most businesses that's a name, callback number, address or location, what they need, and timing. Some add qualifying questions: budget range, insurance, homeowner or renter.
5. What counts as urgent
Define your emergencies in plain language — "no heat when it's below freezing," "active water leak," "court date this week." Then decide who should be alerted and how: a live transfer, an urgent text, or both.
6. Where calls and summaries should go
- Who gets a text alert for new leads.
- Who gets the email summary and transcript.
- Who takes live transfers, and what should happen if they don't pick up.
- Whether calls should book into a calendar, or just collect preferred times for you to confirm.
7. Your voice
How should your business sound on the phone? Warm and conversational, polished and efficient, or somewhere in between. Pick the greeting you'd want a great new hire to use.