What the agent says, and how to change it

Every call follows the same shape: greet, find out what’s needed, decide urgency, book or take a message, confirm, close. Here is each part and where it comes from.

Greeting

Every call opens with one fixed sentence: “This call is answered by an automated assistant and may be recorded.” With recording turned off it is “This call is answered by an automated assistant.” That sentence is not editable. The automated-assistant part is always said, and the recording part goes away only when you turn recording off entirely in the portal. Your greeting comes straight after it: “Thanks for calling {company}, this is {agent}. How can I help you today?” Edit it under Agent → Identity. There is no need to put either notice in your own greeting: the fixed sentence already covers them, and repeating it would make callers hear it twice. See recording laws for what all-party consent states require.

Triage questions

Triage questions are asked one at a time, in order. Every trade’s default list starts with “May I have your name?” and the service address, then two questions about the problem itself. The phone number is not on the list because a fixed rule covers it: the agent gets a phone number before it books and reads it back with the address. Keep the questions short, and keep the name and address first: the technician needs a name to ask for at the door, and the address is what the service-area check uses. Edit under Agent → Triage questions.

Answering questions

From your business facts only. Anything not there gets: “I don’t want to guess on that. I’ll have the office confirm when they call you back.”

The fee sentence

Set under Agent → Emergencies → After-hours fee. Spoken exactly, once, before booking an after-hours call. The rest of the emergency settings are in emergency rules.

Booking

“I have Thursday between 8 and 10, or Friday between 1 and 3. Which works?” Then it reads back the address and phone number. Window length and hours are under Agent → Booking.

“Am I talking to a robot?”

“I’m {company}’s automated assistant. I can book your appointment and get your details to the team, or I can have someone call you back. Which would you prefer?” This line is not editable; honesty here is a rule of the service.

Close

“You’re booked for Thursday between 8 and 10. Is there anything else?”

Confirmation texts go from one shared DispatchLine messaging number that names your business, not from your own line. If you switch Text customers a confirmation off under Agent → Booking, the agent confirms by voice only and is instructed not to mention a text at all. While it is on, which is the default, it asks first, in these words: “Is it okay if I text the appointment confirmation to this number? You can reply STOP any time to stop the texts.” Only if the caller says yes does it say the confirmation text is on its way. The SMS confirmations page shows what the text contains.

Testing changes

After saving, use Agent → Test call. The agent calls your cell with the new script within a minute.