Configuring Call Handling for Your Cognivox Receptionist
The Call stage is the first step in Receptionist Setup.
This stage controls the basic identity and call-handling behaviour of your Cognivox AI receptionist, including its name, voice, opening greeting and how it should interact with callers.
Receptionist name
Enter the name you want your AI receptionist to use when speaking with callers.
For example:
James
The receptionist can use this name when introducing itself and throughout the conversation where appropriate.
Choose a name that suits the style and personality you want your business to present to callers.
Choose a voice
Select the voice you want your Cognivox receptionist to use during telephone conversations.
Different voices have different characteristics, so you can choose the one that best represents your business.
Test the selected voice
Use Test Voice to hear a preview of the currently selected voice.
You can:
- Select a voice.
- Choose Test Voice.
- Listen to the voice preview.
- Select another voice if required.
- Repeat until you find the voice you prefer.
The selected voice will be used by your AI receptionist when speaking with callers.
Opening greeting
The Opening Greeting controls how your receptionist begins a telephone conversation.
For example:
Hello, [Company Name]. You're speaking with Receptionist Name, the virtual receptionist. May I take your name, please?
Placeholders such as [Company Name] and Receptionist Name allow the greeting to use information from your Cognivox configuration.
A good opening greeting should be:
- Professional
- Friendly
- Concise
- Easy to understand over the telephone
- Appropriate for your type of business
Avoid making the opening greeting unnecessarily long. The caller should quickly understand who they have reached and be given an opportunity to speak.
Ask for the caller's name
Enable Ask Caller Name if you want the receptionist to obtain the caller's name during the conversation.
Knowing the caller's name can help Cognivox provide a more natural conversation and can also be useful when taking messages or handling enquiries.
Ask the reason for the call
Enable Ask Reason for Call if you want the receptionist to establish why the caller is contacting your business.
This helps Cognivox determine how the enquiry should be handled.
For example, a caller might be contacting your business about:
- A new sales enquiry
- An existing appointment
- Booking an appointment
- Technical support
- Billing
- A product or service
- Speaking with an employee
- Leaving a message
More detailed business-specific handling rules can be configured later in Receptionist Instructions.
Ask one question at a time
Enable Ask One Question at a Time to encourage the receptionist to ask a single clear question and wait for the caller's response before asking another.
This is particularly useful during telephone conversations.
Instead of asking:
Can I have your name, email address, telephone number and the reason for your call?
the receptionist should gather the information naturally, one question at a time.
This helps make conversations easier to follow and reduces the chance of the caller missing part of a question.
Keep responses concise
Enable Keep Responses Concise to encourage short, natural responses during telephone conversations.
Telephone conversations are different from written chat. Long explanations can make an AI receptionist sound unnatural and can make it difficult for callers to respond.
Cognivox should provide enough information to answer the caller while avoiding unnecessary detail.
Handling unknown information
Use Unknown Information Instructions to tell the receptionist what it should do when the information required to answer a caller is unavailable.
A recommended instruction is:
Do not invent information. Explain naturally that the information is not currently available and offer an appropriate next step.
This is an important safeguard.
Your receptionist should use the information configured for your business and should not guess facts that have not been provided.
Where appropriate, the receptionist can offer an alternative such as taking a message or arranging human follow-up.
Closing a call
Use Call Closing Instructions to define how the receptionist should end a completed conversation.
For example:
When the caller's enquiry is complete, ask briefly whether there is anything else you can help with, then close the call politely.
A good call closing should be brief and natural.
The receptionist should avoid continuing the conversation unnecessarily once the caller's enquiry has been completed.
Review your settings
Before continuing, check:
- The receptionist name is correct.
- You have selected the preferred voice.
- You have tested the voice if required.
- The opening greeting sounds natural.
- Caller-name handling is configured correctly.
- Reason-for-call handling is configured correctly.
- Conversation behaviour matches your requirements.
- Unknown-information instructions are appropriate.
- Call-closing instructions are appropriate.
Continue to the next stage
When you are satisfied with the configuration, select Continue.
Your Call settings will be saved and you can proceed to the Template stage, where you will choose the receptionist template that best matches your business.