Set up the AI receptionist and text agent

Overview#

TradesWork has two AI agents. The AI receptionist answers phone calls: after hours, when the office doesn't pick up, or every call. It qualifies the caller, books verified customers into real open time, takes messages and booking requests, and transfers emergencies to a person. The text agent replies to new leads within seconds, asks what's needed, offers your real arrival windows and books when the customer picks one. Both follow the same escalation triggers, and anything they can't finish becomes a task for your team.

Before you start#

• Role. Owners and admins set up both agents. Dispatchers and CSRs work what the agents produce: calls in Calls › Calls, leads in Calls › Bookings & Leads, conversations in Calls › Chat and tasks in Tasks.

• AI must be connected and on. The AI needs an API key on the server and AI turned on for your company in Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences. Without it the agents do nothing.

• The receptionist also needs phones and the voice relay. If anything is missing, the AI receptionist card in phone settings shows Not available with the reason, for example "The voice relay isn't deployed yet (VOICE_RELAY_URL), so the AI can't take live calls." While it's not available, calls follow your normal ringing and voicemail rules.

• The text agent also needs texting. If texting isn't connected, its replies are recorded as not sent. The Text agent page lists anything blocking it at the top.

Steps#

Turn on the AI receptionist#

1. Go to Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting and scroll to AI receptionist. Check the badge: Ready or Not available.

2. Tick Let the AI receptionist answer calls.

3. Choose When it answers:

   • After hours only.

   • After hours, and when the office doesn't answer.

   • Every call.

4. Set Longest AI call (minutes). AI calls are capped at this length.

5. Enter Transfer to (owner or on-call phone). Emergencies and "talk to a person" go here. Blank means the first office phone.

6. Click Save phone settings.

What the receptionist does on a call#

1. Greets the caller. The default greeting says it's a virtual assistant and that the call is transcribed.

2. Checks every caller sentence against your escalation triggers before the AI answers.

3. Looks the caller up by caller ID. To book, it verifies them by asking for the house number or ZIP of their service address (up to 3 tries).

4. Verified customers can be booked into a real open arrival window, if the job type allows it. The call is marked Booked with the job.

5. New or unverified callers become a Booking request in Calls › Calls with name, need, address and preferred times. The receptionist tells them the office will confirm a time.

6. It can also take a Message, request a Call back, and, if allowed for the job type, confirm, reschedule or cancel a verified caller's upcoming visit.

7. It never tells a caller they're booked unless the booking was saved.

8. Callers can press 0 or ask for a person at any time.

9. Every call gets a summary and next step in Calls › Calls under the AI receptionist filter.

Turn on the text agent#

1. Go to Settings › Phones › AI Text Agent. The page is titled Text agent.

2. Tick Turn on the text agent. It only texts leads with a mobile number and texting consent, and never anyone who replied STOP.

3. Under Reply to leads from, tick the sources it should answer.

4. Optionally tick Also answer existing customers who text in.

5. Set Hours (days, From, Until). The default is every day 7:00 to 21:00. Outside these hours leads wait for a person.

6. Under Guardrails:

   • Hand off after this many agent texts (default 8).

   • Book the window the customer picks. Off: it offers times and a person confirms.

   • Mention "from $X" prices from your online booking services. Off: it never mentions prices.

7. Under Voice, write the Greeting and pick a Tone: Warm and friendly, Professional or Short and to the point.

8. Add up to 12 FAQs. The agent answers only from these.

9. Click Save.

10. Try it in Test chat. It uses your real rules and real availability, but nothing is sent or booked.

11. Watch Outcomes, last 30 days: Agent texts, Booked by the agent, Handed to a person and AI cost.

Set escalations, tasks and limits#

1. Go to Settings › Phones › Escalations & Tasks. The page is titled Agent controls.

2. Escalation triggers: built-in triggers are Gas leak, Fire or smoke, Carbon monoxide, Flooding and No heat in freezing weather. For each one set:

   • What the agent does: Escalate to a person now (transfer the call / hand off the text) or Take a message and create a task (the agent keeps helping).

   • Task type for this trigger, Safety instructions given to the customer (optional) and Phrases.

   • On, AI receptionist and Text agent checkboxes, then Save.

3. Add your own in Add a custom trigger (for example a warranty claim) and click Add trigger.

4. Task types: set Name, Description, Assign to (team queue, a role queue or a person), Priority and Due in (min). One type is the Catch-all (by default "Follow up", due in 120 minutes), so nothing is lost.

5. Which outcomes create tasks: for each outcome and channel, tick whether it creates a task and pick the type. By default not-booked calls, escalations, messages and reschedule or cancel requests create tasks. Click Save routing.

6. What the agents may do per job type: tick Book, Reschedule / confirm and Cancel per job type, separately for calls and texts. New job types allow booking only. Click Save permissions.

7. Opening messages: set the First text back when someone texts in (sent word for word) and the AI receptionist greeting. {company} becomes your company name. Click Save opening messages.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting: business hours, office phones, mode, transfer number.

• Settings › Phones › AI Text Agent: text agent.

• Settings › Phones › Escalations & Tasks: triggers, tasks, permissions, opening messages.

• Settings › Communications › Web Appointments: the windows and "from" prices the agents can offer.

• Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences: AI on or off and usage.

Tips#

• Start with After hours only for a week. Read every AI call in Calls › Calls before widening it.

• Give Transfer to a phone someone will actually answer at night. If nobody can take a transfer, the caller is offered a message instead.

• Keep reschedule and cancel off until you trust the agent. Those requests then come to the office as tasks.

Troubleshooting#

• The AI receptionist card says Not available. Cause: shown in the card (AI not connected, voice relay not deployed, phones not connected, or AI off for your company). Fix: an owner fixes the item named; until then calls ring or go to voicemail.

• The agent didn't book a caller. Cause: the caller wasn't a verified existing customer, the job type doesn't allow booking, or there was no open window. Fix: work the Booking request in Calls › Calls.

• Leads aren't getting agent texts. Cause: the source isn't ticked, it's outside agent hours, there's no texting consent, or texting or AI isn't connected. Fix: check the warning at the top of the Text agent page.

• Tasks aren't appearing. Cause: that outcome's box isn't ticked under Which outcomes create tasks. Fix: tick it and Save routing.

FAQ#

Can the AI receptionist book a brand-new customer? No. Only callers who match by caller ID and confirm their service address can be booked. Everyone else becomes a booking request for the office.

Does the agent make up prices or times? No. Times come from your schedule, and prices are only "from $X" amounts from your online booking services, and only if you allow them.

How do I stop the text agent on one lead? Click Take over on the lead, or reply from the lead or from Chat. The agent stops on that conversation.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Similar: ServiceTitan's AI virtual agents (part of Contact Center Pro) answer and book calls. TradesWork includes an AI receptionist and a text agent you configure yourself.

• Different: escalation triggers, task routing and per-job-type booking limits are all set in Agent controls, and every agent step is logged on the call or lead.

• Status: the receptionist needs the voice relay deployed for your account. Check the Ready badge before relying on it.