AI Receptionist

Troubleshooting Your AI Receptionist

Quick solutions for common Cognivox receptionist problems, including incorrect answers, business hours, appointments, voice settings and company knowledge.

Updated 24 August 2026

Troubleshooting Your AI Receptionist

If your Cognivox receptionist is not behaving as expected, first identify which part of the configuration controls the information or behaviour.

Incorrect or missing answers

If the receptionist gives an incorrect answer, check the appropriate company knowledge:

  • Company Overview — general information about your business
  • FAQs — common customer questions
  • Products and Services — what your business provides
  • Additional Information — other business rules and information
  • Business Hours — opening and closing times
  • Receptionist Instructions — how calls and enquiries should be handled

Correct the information, save the changes and start a new test conversation.

The receptionist invents information

Check your company knowledge for missing, outdated or conflicting information.

Your Unknown Information Instructions should tell the receptionist not to guess when information is unavailable.

Where appropriate, it can offer to take a message or arrange human follow-up instead.

Generated Content is incorrect

When using Generate with AI, remember:

  • Your Information is the source material.
  • Generated Content is the final information saved for the receptionist.

Always review Generated Content before continuing. You can edit it directly if necessary.

Wrong voice or greeting

Return to the Call stage and check:

  • Receptionist name
  • Selected voice
  • Opening greeting

Use Test Voice to confirm the selected voice before saving.

Incorrect business hours

Return to the Hours stage and check each day's opening and closing times.

Remember that Cognivox may answer calls 24/7 even when your business itself is closed.

Appointment problems

If appointments are not working correctly, check:

  • The employee is active.
  • The employee accepts appointments.
  • Appointment duration is configured.
  • The correct calendar is connected.
  • Availability can be checked.

Cognivox should check availability before offering or confirming an appointment.

The receptionist asks repeated questions

The receptionist should not ask again for information the caller has already provided.

Check your Receptionist Instructions for rules that may unnecessarily force particular questions.

Also make sure Ask One Question at a Time is enabled if you want information collected conversationally.

Changes do not appear

After changing company knowledge or receptionist configuration:

  1. Save the changes.
  2. Start a new test conversation.
  3. Repeat the original question.

A conversation already in progress may contain earlier conversational context.

When to contact support

If the saved configuration is correct but Cognivox consistently behaves incorrectly, contact support.

Include:

  • What you asked
  • What you expected
  • What actually happened
  • Approximate date and time
  • The affected employee or integration, if applicable

Never include passwords, API keys, authentication codes or other sensitive credentials in a support request.

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