Before you go live
1. Confirm your “job to be done”
What should the assistant achieve on most calls: take a message, book a callback, answer FAQs, take bookings, support orders?
Pick 1 to 2 primary outcomes for day one, keep everything else secondary.
2. Set clear Behaviours
What the assistant should do when it cannot help
When to offer a callback
How to handle complaints calmly
What to do if the caller asks for something out of scope
How and when to connect to your systems (only use tools when needed, never guess)
3. Make your Knowledge Base “phone friendly”
Keep answers short, ideally 2 to 6 sentences.
Put the most important facts first (price ranges, availability windows, location, service area).
Avoid adding information for the sake of it without understanding what you really want your assistant to know.
4. Choose your number setup
If you are using call forwarding, set it up now and test it.
If you are using a new number, make sure you know where you are going to update it - your website, Google Business Profile, social profiles, email signature, etc.
Confirm you understand that diverting can affect what caller number you see on some calls, depending on how your phone provider forwards the call.
5. Decide on SMS usage
Only enable SMS types you genuinely want to use.
Ensure your assistant never sends an SMS unless the caller explicitly asks for it, or explicitly agrees to it during the call.
Keep SMS messages short and useful (links, confirmations, address details).
6. Confirm business hours behaviour
Decide what “closed” means: message capture, emergency message, call back next day, or direct the caller elsewhere.
Ensure the assistant states what will happen next, and when.
Your 10-minute pre-launch test
Make 5 test calls and listen to the recordings. Use different phones if you can.
Run these scenarios:
Basic enquiry your business gets every day
Caller asks for a callback
Caller asks something you do not offer
Caller is annoyed and wants to complain
Caller asks for an SMS (only if you want SMS enabled)
Pass criteria
The assistant stays polite and brief.
It does not invent facts.
It collects the right details for your team to act.
It gives the caller a clear next step.
Any tools behave correctly and only trigger when appropriate.
Flip the switch
When you are happy with the test calls:
Put your main number live (new number, divert, or both).
Ask a colleague to make a real-world call (not a test call), and confirm the experience feels natural.
Check call history and transcripts after the first 10 calls, update Behaviours or Knowledge Base immediately if needed.
Common go-live mistakes to avoid
Going live with a Knowledge Base that is too long and repetitive
Adding too many rules at once, then not knowing which one caused odd behaviour
Allowing the assistant to “sound confident” when it is unsure
Enabling SMS without being strict about consent and allowed message types