Edit your agent's instructions

The Agent instructions tab is where you tell the agent how to handle calls: what your business is, what to do, what to say and what never to do. Your agent treats every line you write here as a rule.

1. Open Agent in the sidebar, then the Agent instructions tab.
2. Under About your business, write the paragraph you would give a new hire on their first morning: what the business is, who calls, and what matters to them.
3. Under Instructions, write how to handle calls. Short, concrete lines work best: policies, parking, who does what.
4. If your agent books, add names to People the agent may not book, one per line. This suits a booth renter or anyone who keeps their own diary.
5. Under What it listens for, add names or brands callers say that the agent gets wrong, one per line, in Words your agent often mishears.
6. Press Save instructions.

Handing over to a person

Under Handing over to a person, Escalation guidance says when the agent should stop and get someone involved, and who that person is. Transfer calls to is the number it puts a phone call through to. The transfer guide covers that field.

Specifics for your trade

If your trade has its own questions, a Specifics section appears with optional answers, such as whether you take a deposit. Each answer becomes one instruction. At the foot of the tab, a folded section shows what every agent of your trade already does, so you do not need to write it again.

Related guides

• Change your agent's name, greeting and toneRename your agent, choose Warm, Professional, Concise or Friendly, and rewrite the greeting and closing callers hear.
• Transfer calls to a personSet the number the agent puts callers through to when they ask for a person, limit transfers to opening hours, and tell the agent when to stop and get you involved.
• Add knowledge: answers, text and documentsGive your agent the facts callers ask about by writing question-and-answer pairs, adding text sections, or uploading documents.