Knowledge, call handling, and business hours

The assistant should answer from business information that has been reviewed by the team. Include services, service areas, hours, common process questions, and any policies the assistant is authorized to explain. Keep pricing rules, warranties, or availability out of the knowledge unless they are current and safe to state without a person reviewing the call.

When the business website is used as a knowledge source, review the imported pages and correct outdated or conflicting information at its source. A polished answer is not useful if it repeats an old service area, phone number, or policy.

Define the caller details your team consistently needs, such as name, callback number, requested service, service location, preferred time, or another business-specific field. Use clear prompts and avoid asking for information that does not change routing or follow-up.

Appointment requests can be captured as requested dates or times for review. Do not describe a request as confirmed unless the configured workflow actually creates and confirms the appointment.

Create a clear response for questions outside the approved knowledge. The assistant can explain that the team needs to confirm the answer, collect the caller details, and follow the configured transfer or follow-up path. This is safer than producing an answer that sounds confident but has not been approved.

Use human escalation for sensitive, unusual, high-value, or policy-dependent conversations. The assistant is a call-handling layer, not a substitute for professional judgment, emergency services, or a team member who has authority to make an exception.

Set the workspace time zone, normal business hours, and the after-hours response. If the business has an on-call process, define which caller needs qualify and where those calls should go. If there is no on-call coverage, collect the request and state the expected follow-up accurately.

Review seasonal hours, holidays, and staffing changes before they take effect. A well-written greeting cannot compensate for an outdated schedule or an unmonitored transfer destination.

Review early call summaries, captured fields, transfers, and calls marked for attention. Look for repeated missing information or caller questions that the team can answer safely and consistently. Update the approved knowledge or intake rules when the same gap appears more than once.

Make narrow, testable changes and place another test call after each important update. Preserve the boundary between information the assistant can state and decisions that still belong to the business.