Receptionist Settings Tab

How to configure your AI receptionist's behavior, voice, model, knowledge bases, and message delivery from the Settings sub-tab.

1. Overview: The Receptionist Tab

The Receptionist tab is where you create and manage AI receptionists -- always-on voice assistants that answer inbound calls, take messages, and route callers. Unlike general agents, receptionists are configured for a specific inbound phone number and are optimized for a persistent, friendly front-desk persona.

Each receptionist has three sub-tabs: Messages, Analytics, and Settings. The Settings sub-tab gives you full control over how the receptionist behaves.

2. Messages, Analytics, and Settings Sub-Tabs

Messages

Analytics

Settings

Messages

Shows all messages taken by this receptionist. Each message includes the caller transcript, a summary, and any contact details captured. Messages trigger push notifications if you have them enabled.

Analytics

Call volume, average call duration, busiest hours, and message frequency for this receptionist. Use this to understand when your phone is busiest and whether your receptionist is handling calls effectively.

Settings

Everything about how the receptionist behaves -- what it says, what model it uses, what voice it speaks in, and how it delivers messages to you. This is covered in detail in the next section.

3. Settings Field Reference

System Prompt

The receptionist's core instructions. Define its persona, what business it represents, what information to collect from callers, and how to handle common scenarios. Keep it concise -- voice agents perform better with focused prompts under ~500 words.

Greeting

The exact phrase spoken when a call connects. Example: "Thank you for calling Acme Plumbing, this is Alex. How can I help you today?" Keep it under 15 words for a natural opening.

Model

The LLM used to power this receptionist. Defaults to anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5. You can select from 300+ models including Proven (tested for voice) and Untested tiers. See Choosing the Right LLM Model for guidance.

Voice

The TTS voice used for this receptionist. Choose from ElevenLabs voices (higher quality) or Deepgram Aura voices (lower latency). Voice selection affects how the receptionist sounds to callers -- pick one that matches the persona in your system prompt.

Temperature

Controls response variability. Values between 0.5 and 0.7 work best for receptionists. Lower values make responses more consistent; higher values make them feel more natural but less predictable.

Knowledge Bases

Attach one or more knowledge bases so the receptionist can answer questions about your business (hours, services, pricing, FAQs). See Knowledge Base & RAG for setup instructions.

4. Availability & Transfer Settings

The Availability & Transfer card in the Settings sub-tab controls when your receptionist is active and how it handles call transfers.

Available 24/7

A checkbox toggle. When enabled, the receptionist answers calls at all hours regardless of the business hours schedule you have configured. When disabled, the business hours schedule applies and the after-hours greeting plays outside of those hours. Turn this on if your business never closes or if you want the AI handling calls around the clock.

Transfer Number

The phone number where the AI transfers urgent calls. This is configured per-receptionist. The transfer number must not be the same number that is forwarded to the AI -- if it is, you would create an infinite call loop. The system has built-in loop detection to prevent this. Use a VoIP.ms DID, Google Voice number, or any other line that is not forwarded to the receptionist. By default, the receptionist takes a message instead of transferring. It will only transfer when the caller indicates an emergency or insists on speaking with a person.

Never set the transfer number to the same phone number that routes inbound calls to the AI receptionist. This creates a call loop. The system will block this configuration, but double-check your setup if transfers are not working as expected.

5. Message Delivery Options

When the receptionist takes a message, you can have it delivered to you through multiple channels simultaneously. Toggle each option on or off in the Settings tab:

Channel	What Gets Sent	Setup Required
SMS	A text message with the caller name, phone number, and a short message summary.	A phone number must be configured in your account settings to receive SMS.
Google Sheet	A new row is appended to a connected Google Sheet with caller details, timestamp, and full message text.	Connect your Google account in Settings and select a target spreadsheet.
Email	An email with the full transcript and caller information sent to one or more addresses.	Enter recipient email addresses in the field. No additional setup needed.

You can enable all three delivery channels at once. Many users keep email on for a paper trail, SMS on for instant awareness, and Google Sheet on for team visibility.

6. Message Taker Template

When creating a new receptionist, the creation wizard now includes a Message Taker template option alongside the existing templates. The Message Taker template creates a simple receptionist that does one thing well: take messages.

No departments, no routing, no scheduling. The receptionist greets the caller, collects their name, callback number, and message, then ends the call politely.
Best for: personal assistants, solo practitioners, and small businesses that just need a reliable way to capture messages when they cannot answer the phone.
You can customize the Message Taker after creation just like any other receptionist -- change the greeting, voice, or add a knowledge base. The template simply gives you a clean starting point.

7. Message Taking Improvements

Message taking has been improved across all receptionists, not just the Message Taker template:

Structured collection: The AI collects the caller's name, callback number, and message content in a natural conversational flow.
Callback number confirmation: The AI reads the callback number back to the caller to confirm it is correct before ending the call. This prevents typos and misheard digits.
Messages inbox: All messages appear in the Messages sub-tab for the receptionist, along with a push notification if you have them enabled (see PWA Install & Push Notifications).
Call Back button: Each message in the inbox has a Call Back button. On mobile, tapping it opens the native phone dialer with the callback number pre-filled. On desktop, it places an outbound call through Twilio directly from the dashboard.

8. VoIP & Bria Integration

In the global Settings page (not the per-receptionist settings), there is a VoIP Softphone card that lets you configure how live call transfers are handled.

Two transfer options

Use Twilio SIP (built-in): Transfers ring your Twilio SIP endpoint. No additional software needed -- the call routes through Twilio's infrastructure.
Use my own number (VoIP.ms, etc.): Transfers ring a phone number you provide. This can be a VoIP.ms DID, Google Voice number, or any SIP-connected line.

Bria softphone

If you use the Bria softphone app, you can receive transferred calls directly on your computer or phone. When the AI receptionist transfers a call, Bria will ring just like a normal incoming call. Outbound calls placed from Bria use your business number as the caller ID, so the recipient sees your company number instead of your personal line.

VoIP integration is optional. If you only need the AI to take messages and never transfer calls, you do not need to configure anything in the VoIP Softphone card.

9. Receptionists vs. Agents Tab

Previously, receptionists appeared in both the Receptionist tab and the Agents tab, causing confusion about which one to edit. This has been cleaned up:

Receptionists live only in the Receptionist tab. They no longer appear in the Agents tab.
The Agents tab now exclusively shows outbound and general-purpose agents -- agents used for campaigns, manual calls, and custom workflows.

If you previously managed a receptionist from the Agents tab, you will now find it in the Receptionist tab under the correct phone number.

Existing receptionists were not deleted or changed. They were simply moved out of the Agents list. All your configuration, message history, and analytics are intact.

10. Configuration Tips

Write a focused system prompt

The system prompt is the most important setting. A good receptionist prompt includes:

The business name and what it does
The receptionist's name and persona
What information to collect (name, callback number, reason for call)
How to handle the most common call types (booking, pricing questions, emergencies)
What to say when the caller asks to speak to a person

Use a short, warm greeting

Long greetings feel robotic. "Thank you for calling [Business], this is [Name], how can I help?" is ideal. Avoid listing your full menu of options in the greeting -- let the caller speak first.

Start with Claude Haiku 4.5 for the model

It handles tool calling well, responds fast, and costs very little per call. Only upgrade to a more powerful model if the receptionist is consistently misunderstanding complex questions or failing on tricky scenarios.

Attach a knowledge base for FAQs

Rather than hard-coding all your business details into the system prompt, upload an FAQ document as a knowledge base. The receptionist retrieves relevant answers in real time. This makes it easier to keep information up to date.