Creating and configuring an agent

An agent is a configured AI receptionist. You can run several — for example one for sales and one for support — each with its own number, voice, and behavior. This guide explains every setting.

Create a new agent

Open Agents → New agent, fill in the form, and click Save. You can change any setting later, so don't worry about getting everything perfect the first time.

Core settings

Name

An internal label so you can tell agents apart (e.g. "Clinic front desk"). Callers never hear it.

Voice

Pick from a range of natural-sounding voices. Preview each one before you choose. Every plan includes all voices at no extra cost.

Language

The language your agent speaks. It can also adapt to a caller's language mid-conversation when needed.

Greeting

The first thing callers hear, e.g. "Thanks for calling Bright Smile Dental — how can I help?" Keep it short, warm, and on-brand.

Instructions (system prompt)

The heart of your agent — plain-language guidance on how it should behave: its role, tone, what to do, what not to do, and when to hand off. You can:

• Write it yourself, or
• Use the AI prompt builder to generate one from a few details, or
• Start from a template and tweak it.

Call-handling settings

Transfer to a human

Set a transfer number. When a caller asks for a person — or your instructions call for it — the agent warm-transfers the call there. For safety, transfers follow same-country rules and block obviously high-risk destinations.

End call

Lets the agent politely wrap up and hang up when a conversation is finished, so lines don't stay open.

Maximum duration

A safety cap on how long a single call can run. The agent ends the call gracefully if it's reached.

Tools (what the agent can do)

Beyond talking, agents can take actions when you enable them:

• Search knowledge — answer from your knowledge base.
• Book appointments — schedule on a connected calendar. This toggle stays disabled until you connect a calendar, so the agent never offers booking it can't deliver. When it's off, the agent is told it can't schedule and won't claim to.
• Transfer to a human — hand off to your team.
• Send SMS — text the caller a link, address, or confirmation when they ask (only the caller's own number is texted). You can also auto-send a confirmation or recap after the call with a message template that supports a {summary} placeholder.
• Custom API tools — let the agent call your own HTTPS endpoint mid-call (look up an order, check availability) and use the response.
• Navigate phone menus (keypad tones) — let the agent press keypad buttons (DTMF) to get through an automated "press 1 for sales" menu on an outbound call. Any keys the caller presses are recorded on the call timeline.
• End call — close out finished conversations.

Enable only what each agent needs.

SMS options

In the Call actions section you'll find two SMS toggles, both marked with a "Non-US numbers only" badge:

• Send text messages (SMS) — lets the agent text the caller during the call (a link, address, or confirmation) when they ask. Only the caller's own number is ever texted.
• Send an SMS after the call — automatically texts the caller a confirmation or recap once the call ends, using a message template. The template supports {summary} (an AI recap) and dynamic variables like {{customer_name}}.

Why "Non-US numbers only"? US and Canadian local numbers must complete A2P 10DLC registration before they can send texts, so until that's set up, only enable SMS on agents that use a non-US number (e.g. UK). Texts to recipients in some regions (such as the GCC) can also be filtered by their carriers regardless of your number.

Save and test

After saving, always run a quick test call and listen. Tweak the greeting and instructions until it sounds exactly how you'd want a great front-desk person to.

Tip: changes save to your live agent immediately. If real callers are already using it, test changes on a quieter agent or off-hours first.

Editing later

Open Agents, click an agent, adjust any field, and save. To remove one, use the delete action on its page.

Next step

Let AI write your instructions with the AI prompt builder.