Write the instructions

Tell your assistant about your business: who calls, what they need, what should happen next, and the facts it can use.

4 min read

Where to find itAssistantPrompt / Instructions

The instructions (the prompt) tell the assistant how your business works. You’ll find them in Prompt / Instructions.

Think of them as your business playbook, not a call script. You decide what should happen in each situation and which facts it can use. The assistant already knows how to run the conversation.

Prepare the instructions with AI

Press Generate with AI (or Regenerate if you already have instructions).
If your website has useful, up-to-date information, add it in Business website.
In What should this assistant do?, describe your business, why people call, what should happen in each situation, and the tone you want.
Press Generate and review the result: services, prices, conditions, and when it books or transfers.
If you edit it afterward, press Save.

In the appGenerate the instructions with AI

Important

Generating again replaces the current text, and the assistant starts using the new one right away. Copy anything you want to keep first, and review the new text before you test.

What automatic refinements do

With Automatic refinements on, we may refine and reorganize meaningful changes when you press Save, keeping what you decided. With them off, your text is saved exactly as written.

In the appPrompt / Instructions

Good to know

Even when the text is refined, check the facts and rules yourself.

What to include

Which business it represents, why people call, and what should happen for each request.
The rules that decide each case. For example: “When the caller wants braces or aligners, book an orthodontic consultation.”
Which information the team needs for follow-up, beyond the caller’s name and phone number.
Confirmed services, hours, prices, locations, policies, and terms.
When it should book an appointment or transfer a call.
The tone, like “warm and professional” or “formal and discreet.”

For catalogs, menus, listings, or detailed service material, upload a document instead of pasting it all into the instructions.

There’s a template in Templates. To edit the text, click it to open a larger editor.

What you don’t need to write

The assistant already handles some things on every call. Repeating them in the instructions can create contradictions, and automatic refinements may remove those lines. If a line would work for any business, the assistant probably does it already.

The greeting. It goes in Start Message.
The voice and language. Choose them in Voice / Language.
The order and pace of the conversation, like “first ask what the caller needs” or “ask one question at a time.”
How and in what order to ask for the caller’s name and phone number.
Telling it not to make up answers, or what to do when it doesn’t have a detail.
How to say goodbye or end the call.
When to say it’s an AI.
Phone numbers, email addresses, calendars, or booking hours. Those go in each action’s settings.

Good to know

Avoid lines like “transfer immediately” or “mark as urgent.” Describe the situation and what should happen instead.

Set up the actions too

Instructions alone don’t turn on actions. Use them to say when it should book an appointment or transfer a call. Then set up that action in its own section: calendar or transfers.

Emails after the call have their own settings. That’s where you choose when they’re sent, who gets them, and what they include.

An example

Here’s what the instructions for a dental practice could look like. They describe the business, each situation, and what should happen, but not how to run the conversation.

Example: dental practice

Northside Dental is a dental practice in Austin, Texas. The assistant answers questions about treatments and helps each caller take the right next step. Use a warm and professional tone. Situations and what should happen - For questions about treatments, answer using the business information below. - When the caller wants braces or aligners, book an orthodontic consultation. - When an existing patient reports an urgent problem after a treatment, transfer the call. - For billing questions, or questions that need a dentist’s judgment, take a message so the team can follow up. For follow-up, the team also needs the treatment involved and the caller’s question. Business information - Cleaning: $120. - Checkup: free for members. - Orthodontic consultation: $40. - Hours: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Improve them after a test

Open the call in Conversations and find what went wrong. Fix the smallest business fact, rule, or action setting that explains the problem, then repeat the same test.

What happened	What to check
It gave a wrong detail	That detail in the instructions or the document.
It did something you didn’t want	The rule that decides that case.
It didn’t book or transfer	That the action is set up, and that the instructions say when it should happen.
It repeated itself or the call felt awkward	Don’t add a step-by-step script. Repeat the same test, and change a business rule only if that’s the cause.

Good to know

Avoid adding instructions that contradict each other. If two rules clash, remove one instead of adding exceptions.