How to set up an AI phone assistant
Configure every phone setting, then prove the assistant can answer a real knowledge question before callers reach it.
The Phone channel gives an existing chatbot a spoken interface. It uses the same indexed sources and the tools you have allowed for calls.
You need a paid plan and the Voice add on. The feature is in beta. Keep the channel off until the greeting, answers, call limits and privacy behavior have all been tested.
What you will have at the end
- A clear number or connection plan
- A complete voice and call rule configuration
- A verified simulator answer from the chatbot knowledge
Before you start
- Basic plan or higher with the Voice add on
- A chatbot with indexed and tested knowledge
- A decision to buy a number, forward an existing line or use SIP
- A call and privacy policy
Chat knowledge becomes a phone conversation
Phone settings control the number, language, voice, greeting, persona, limits, transfers and system announcements. The chatbot model, sources and enabled tools still supply the answer.
The automatic AI disclosure and transcript consent cannot be disabled. A transcript is stored only after the caller agrees, but the call can continue without it.
01–09
Set it up step by step
Open Phone and check the account limits
Confirm minutes, lines and number capacity first.
Open the chatbot, go to Integrations and select Phone. The top cards show the activation switch, assigned number, monthly minutes, call count and concurrent lines.
The phone channel is available from Basic upward with an active Voice add on. Until the channel is active, or when minutes are exhausted, callers hear the unavailable announcement.
Choose how calls reach the assistant
Buy a number, forward your business line or connect SIP.
Open Numbers and connections. Buy a new number searches the provider inventory. Use your existing number explains forwarding. Own SIP connection links a PBX or SIP trunk.
For a new number, choose the country and optional digits. Results can require an address or full registration. Documents may be reviewed for one to five business days before the number is approved.
Understand forwarding and SIP details
Keep your established business number when that matters.
With call forwarding, your telephone provider sends calls from the existing business number to the assistant number. Rented assistant numbers cannot be ported to another provider.
For SIP, enter username, a password with at least twelve characters, host, port, transport and caller ID. After saving, point the PBX to the returned SIP URI. Releasing a rented number is permanent; unassign it instead when you may reuse it.
Set language, voice, greeting and persona
Make the first seconds clear and the behavior specific.
Language selects one spoken language or automatic detection. In automatic mode, define allowed languages and a fallback. Voice can stay Automatic or use a previewed voice.
Keep the greeting short because the required AI notice follows it automatically. The phone persona controls tone and focus, while safety and call rules still win. Add up to fifty product names or technical terms as recognition keywords.
Set call limits, transfer and consent behavior
Protect capacity and define the human fallback.
Max call duration defaults to 600 seconds and supports 60 to 1800. Calls per caller per day defaults to five and protects against spam. Interruption sensitivity controls how easily callers can speak over the assistant. Greeting can be interrupted decides whether early speech is accepted.
Forward to an employee uses an optional fallback number and selected contacts with responsibilities. Notification recipients receive useful call summaries. AI disclosure is always on. A transcript is stored only with caller consent.
Open the system announcement settings
Review what callers hear outside the normal conversation.
Customize system announcements opens the fixed messages for unavailable, all lines busy, goodbye, caller inactivity, employee transfer, time limit and used up minutes.
Empty fields use the professional default for the selected language. Only override a message when your wording is clearer and still gives callers a useful next step.
Review every announcement and save
Do not leave an error state with an unreviewed message.
Read every localized message aloud. Include a website, email or callback path where the channel may be unavailable for more than a few minutes.
Save settings before testing. A green Saved state confirms the current greeting, persona, rules and announcements were accepted.
Start with the text simulator
Check knowledge and persona without using phone minutes.
The text simulator uses message quota and is the fastest check for factual answers and tone. The browser call uses real call minutes and is needed for voice, pacing, interruptions and live tools.
Use a known question first. Then test an absent fact, a callback request and the end of a conversation.
Verify a real answer from the knowledge base
The phone persona must not replace factual retrieval.
We asked “What is the internal escalation code?” The simulator returned NORDSTERN-42 from the indexed internal document and continued in the configured concise phone style.
Next, run a browser call with headphones. Check the greeting, AI notice, pronunciation of product terms, interruption, one enabled tool and the goodbye message. Activate the channel only after those checks pass and a number is ready.
Example & result
See the practical test and its result
Every tutorial includes a fixed input, the expected outcome and a transparent record of what was actually verified locally.
Practical example: How to set up an AI phone assistant
This exact scenario was completed with the temporary tutorial account.
Exact test input
Ask in the Phone text simulator: “What is the internal escalation code?”
Expected result
The configured phone persona returns NORDSTERN-42 from the indexed source in a short spoken style.
What was actually verified
The real Phone simulator answered NORDSTERN-42 from the uploaded internal document and offered to continue the conversation.
Tips & tricks
Make the setup reliable
Test with realistic examples, record your baseline and change one setting at a time. That makes real improvements visible.
Improve the source before changing the voice
A polished voice cannot fix vague or conflicting content. Use short sections, explicit dates and one current policy version.
Use the chatbot model for the job
A fast model is usually best for reception and common questions. Use a stronger model only when repeated tests show a real gain for complex routing or language quality.
Write transfer responsibilities like routing rules
“Billing disputes and invoice corrections” is more useful than “Finance”. Specific responsibilities help the assistant choose the right person.
When something does not work
Troubleshooting
Check status, permissions and test data systematically before changing the model or prompt.
The expected option is missing
Confirm the account plan, feature permissions and selected chatbot. Paid or beta features can be hidden when prerequisites are not met.
The test result is inconsistent
Reset the test conversation, keep the input identical and change one setting at a time so the cause remains measurable.
Ready for a production-style test
Run a small pilot. Review call outcomes, summaries and consented transcripts in Dashboard → Calls, then fix repeated knowledge gaps and routing errors before publishing the number widely.