1. Define when every phone path applies
Write normal business hours in the company’s actual timezone. Add weekends, holidays and one-off closures. Then separate three states: the office is open and available; the office is open but busy; the office is closed. Each state can have a different first destination and fallback.
- Which number rings first?
- How long should it ring?
- Does busy behave differently from no-answer?
- Does after-hours voicemail compete with a forwarded receptionist?
- Who verifies a holiday exception?
2. List services in caller language
Internal categories do not always match the words a homeowner uses. List the service, common phrases, obvious exclusions and the next question that separates routine from urgent. Keep the list maintainable; the goal is qualification, not diagnosis.
For example, “water heater” might include leaking tank, no hot water and installation quote. It should not automatically mean emergency. Reported gas, smoke, sparks, severe flooding or personal danger belongs to a separate safety branch.
3. Make service-area eligibility explicit
Start with five-digit ZIP codes if that reflects dispatch reality. City names can be ambiguous, and a radius may cross areas the business does not actually serve. Define what happens when a caller does not know the ZIP or gives one just outside coverage.
- Eligible: continue the intake.
- Ineligible: explain the business does not currently serve the location.
- Unknown: capture a callback request without promising service.
4. Separate urgent plumbing from immediate danger
An active leak can be urgent business. Gas, fire, electrical danger near water or immediate personal danger may require a different safety response. Write approved wording and review it before any automated system uses it. A receptionist should not provide repair steps or represent itself as a licensed plumber.
5. Design the transfer failure
For each transfer destination, record availability, ring timeout and fallback. If the call does not bridge, the caller should hear that it did not connect. The system should then capture the minimum callback facts and alert the right person. Never let a failed transfer sound successful.
6. Define an actionable lead
A lead record should answer the dispatcher’s next questions without forcing a second intake. A practical baseline includes caller, callback number, address, ZIP, problem, urgency, service-area result, preferred time, transfer state and a concise summary.
7. Protect usage and attention
Set a maximum call duration, monthly allowance, warning thresholds and hard-limit behavior. Decide how spam, silence, vendors and wrong numbers end. For a public demo, use stricter duration, caller and daily-spend caps than production tenants.
8. Test before redirecting the primary line
Run routine, urgent, out-of-area, silence, interruption, poor audio, transfer failure and immediate-danger scenarios. Verify the caller experience and the business record. Only then connect live traffic. Repeat the test after changing hours, emergency rules or transfer destinations.
Final review
- Hours and exception owner identified
- Services and exclusions approved
- ZIP rules tested
- Safety wording reviewed
- Transfer failure tested
- Lead summary useful to dispatcher
- Usage ceiling accepted
- Fallback works without the AI provider