How to set up your Voxipo receptionist

You do not need a script for every possible call. You need accurate business information, a calendar that actually drives the work, and a decision about which requests stay with staff.

This is the go-live path we use with US and Canadian small businesses. It is not a promise that configuration is instant. It is a checklist you can complete in a working session, then verify with test calls from a second phone.

Numbered go-live checklist

1. Write services, hours, coverage area, exclusions, and approved answers. If a price is not written down, the agent must not invent one.
2. Set a greeting that names the business and discloses the AI assistant in language you are comfortable putting on a recording.
3. Connect the calendar you actually use for bookable work. Disable booking until a test event looks correct.
4. Verify the business number with SMS one-time passcode if you want callbacks to present that caller ID.
5. Ask the carrier how to set conditional call forwarding (unanswered / busy) versus a time-of-day schedule. Write the code down; it differs by carrier.
6. Run the five test calls below from a second phone while watching the workspace.
7. Review recording, transcript, summary, contact, and any calendar event for each test.
8. Forward customer traffic only after those records look right for a full business day of your own tests.

If any step is skipped, the first real caller becomes the test. That is how invented arrival times and out-of-area bookings get into the calendar.

Calendar prerequisites

Voxipo supports Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Cal.com, Calendly, and Jobber.

Before you connect:

• Confirm the calendar’s time zone matches the office, not a personal travel calendar.
• Set duration per bookable service. A 15-minute “callback slot” is not a two-hour install window.
• Mark which services may book versus which must become a staff request (estimates, diagnostics, anything that needs a visit first).
• Remove stale availability. An empty Tuesday in the calendar is a live offer to callers.

A booked slot is not dispatch. If Jobber or another field tool owns the route, treat Voxipo’s calendar event as intake unless you have configured that tool as the system of record.

Carrier forwarding

Keep your existing number or take a platform number. Most owners keep the number customers already know.

Conditional call forwarding means: if the line is unanswered or busy, the carrier sends the call to Voxipo. Immediate forward means every inbound call hits the agent. After-hours schedules are a third pattern. Test the pattern you intend; do not assume the platform can override the carrier’s ring count.

Callbacks use the verified business caller ID, not a random DID. Details: missed-call callbacks.

What to look at in the workspace (in lieu of screenshots)

After each test call, open the call record and confirm, in this order:

1. Audio exists and is the call you just placed.
2. Transcript matches what was said, including refusals.
3. Summary is usable in the morning without replaying the whole file.
4. Contact has the right number (not your own test line if you spoofed poorly).
5. If booking was in scope, the calendar event time, duration, and service match the conversation.

If the transcript shows a price or arrival you never approved, stop. Tighten knowledge and limits before another test.

Five tests before go-live

1. A common question with an approved answer (hours or service area).
2. An appointment inside the booking rules.
3. A request outside your area or service list.
4. A caller who needs staff follow-up (complaint, custom quote).
5. An unanswered call that should trigger callback, with caller ID checked on the inbound phone.

If any test invents a price, arrival, or diagnosis, the agent is not ready.

After you go live

Review the first week of records the way you would review a new hire: exceptions first. Expand the knowledge base only for questions that actually arrived. Setup is not finished at the moment forwarding is enabled.

Book a walkthrough if you want the setup reviewed against your real call types. Industry examples: home services, HVAC.