What you will accomplish
Plan an AI receptionist with call scope, approved answers, human handoff, consent, fallback behavior and launch tests. By the end, you should have an owner-reviewed checklist you can apply to your own business. The tutorial is free; any implementation by Mandile SEO is a separate paid service.
Step-by-step tutorial
List the calls your team actually receives
Review a few weeks of non-sensitive inquiry categories: hours, service area, estimates, appointment requests, existing customer issues and emergencies. Choose one low-risk category for a pilot rather than letting the agent improvise on everything.
Define approved information and prohibitions
Write down exact services, hours, verified prices when available and who receives escalations. Ban invented quotes, unsupported technical diagnoses, undisclosed recording and imaginary calendar slots. Provide an answer for unknown questions: a human will confirm.
Pick the phone and voice architecture
Check whether the current business provider supports forwarding, transfers, voicemail detection and lawful recording notifications. Evaluate optional vendors such as ElevenLabs where their actual plans and integrations fit. Never put API keys into public website code.
Specify human handoff and failure fallback
Decide what happens when a caller asks for a person, a request sounds urgent, the CRM is down or a transfer fails. Do not claim a transfer completed until the provider confirms it. Record minimal audit events and provide an owner-controlled pause switch.
Test before putting a live number on it
Run synthetic calls covering routine, uncertain, distressed and adversarial scenarios. Verify provider billing, consent, data retention, volume limits and the real transfer path. Require written owner acceptance, then measure answer quality and confirmed bookings during a limited pilot.
Mistakes to avoid
- Using a generic prompt as if it were a deployed phone system
- Forgetting emergency or human handoff rules
- Claiming calendar bookings without confirmation
- Ignoring recording and messaging laws
Launch checklist
Use the browser’s Print or Save as PDF function to keep this checklist. No personal information or email address is collected.
- Choose the first call category
- Approve knowledge base and prohibited answers
- Test human transfer and outages
- Document vendor and usage charges
- Obtain owner sign-off before activation
Frequently asked questions
Does your free builder answer real calls?
No. Mandile SEO's public Agent Studio exports a draft workflow and call simulations. Live telephony requires separately quoted integrations.
Can this run after hours?
An approved live deployment can be designed for after-hours intake, subject to provider availability, service limits, and escalation planning.
Use the guide for free. Hire Mandile SEO for the build.
Mandile SEO charges for professional setup, development, integration, testing and optional monthly management. A written scope and fee are agreed before work begins. Hosting, domains, licensed software, phone/SMS services, AI API usage and other vendor costs are additional unless expressly included in writing. Free tutorials are not a free implementation offer.
Editorial and affiliate disclosure: No personal Hostinger referral codes are included in these guides. If any permitted commercial affiliate links are added in the future, we will disclose material commissions clearly. Tool prices and plan features can change; verify them with each provider. Results and rankings are not guaranteed.