Business facts
- Business name as callers know it.
- Main services, in the words customers use ("AC not cooling", not "HVAC diagnostics").
- Services you don't offer, so it can say so politely.
- Areas you serve — towns, postcodes or a radius — and what to say to callers outside them.
- Hours, including what happens after hours and on holidays.
- Published, fixed fees only (for example, a call-out fee), exactly as you charge them.
- How bookings work: does your team call back to confirm? When?
Urgency rules
Define, in plain words, what counts as urgent for your business and what the receptionist should say:
| Caller says… | Treat as | Receptionist should |
|---|---|---|
| Smell of gas, fire, sparks, flooding near electrics | Safety emergency | Tell the caller to contact emergency services; note the call |
| No heat in freezing weather, no water | Urgent | Capture details, mark urgent, tell them when your team will respond |
| Routine maintenance, quote | Routine | Capture details and preferred times |
Adjust for your trade. The receptionist notes urgency as the caller describes it; your team decides what happens next.
What to collect on every call
- Caller's name.
- Callback number (confirm it back).
- Address or area of the job.
- What the problem is, in their words.
- How urgent they say it is.
- Preferred times for a callback or visit.
- Whether they're an existing customer.
Keep it to what your team needs to call back. Avoid collecting payment details or sensitive personal information on calls.
Things it must never say or do
- Promise a time of arrival or confirm a booking your team hasn't confirmed.
- Quote prices for jobs that need assessment.
- Give technical or safety advice beyond "contact emergency services" for emergencies.
- Claim to be a person. It's an AI receptionist, and should say so if asked.
- Make up answers. If it doesn't know, it should take details for a callback.
How call details reach you
Decide where summaries go (email, text, CRM) and who checks them, including after hours. A captured lead nobody reads is still a missed lead.
Keep it current
- Review a sample of call summaries weekly at first. Where did the receptionist struggle?
- Update the knowledge base whenever services, hours, fees or areas change.
- Note seasonal changes — holiday hours, peak-season rules.
How MendRev sets this up
For MendRev's Voice Solutions, we write your call script and knowledge base — services, service area, hours, fees and what counts as urgent — and run test calls with you before going live. The receptionist captures the caller's name, callback number, address and problem for your team; it doesn't book jobs on its own. Limits are covered in what an AI receptionist should never decide.
Questions
How long should the knowledge base be?
Long enough to answer the questions callers actually ask, and short enough that someone can review and update it. Start with the most common call reasons and add to it from real calls.
Should the receptionist quote prices?
Only published, fixed prices you're happy to have repeated exactly, such as a call-out fee. For anything that depends on the job, it should say your team will confirm.
Next step
Hear the receptionist before you decide.
Voice is an optional supporting service: it answers the calls you forward, captures details and passes them to your team. It does not book jobs or dispatch staff on its own.
Published voice pricing and the pilot terms are on Voice Solutions and the refund policy.