Setting Up Your First Agent

After signup and a short security setup (password, authenticator app, recovery codes), the dashboard takes you to Build your agent, a guided wizard that walks through everything your agent needs, one step at a time, with an Ask Allison panel on every step. This article is the overview of that journey.

If you came in through a discovery call with Allison, much of your knowledge base is already filled in from that conversation and the wizard is mostly review. If you signed up directly, you start with the essentials and add your business as you go. Either way, the wizard shows you exactly what's still missing.

Step 1: Get a Phone Number

Purchase a new number, forward your existing one, or bring your own Twilio number. Each number maps to a location. You can also skip this during signup and add a number later from Settings → Phone Numbers. Your agent just cannot answer calls until a number is connected.

Step 2: Business Basics and Knowledge

The first wizard steps cover your business basics (fallback phone, locations, hours) and your knowledge base:

• Quick Facts: short answers like accepted insurance, parking, payment methods, and cancellation policy. Correct anything that's wrong. (Hours and address are configured separately in Schedules and Locations.)
• FAQs: common questions and answers. Add any that are missing.
• Documents: longer reference material you paste in. Remember to publish a document once it's ready; drafts stay invisible to your agent.
• Catalog: products, services, or a menu, if you have one. Skip it or mark it not applicable if you don't.

Step 3: Connect Integrations

If you use Google Calendar, connect it from the Integrations page with one OAuth click. For HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, and other tools, connect via Allison's API and outbound webhooks. See the "Connecting via API and Zapier" help article for step-by-step examples.

Step 4: Set Business Hours

Configure your schedules: business hours, holidays, and closures. Each location can have its own schedule. Outside business hours your agent still answers, takes messages, and books appointments; it just won't transfer calls to your team.

Step 5: Add Team Members and Call Handling

Add the team members who might receive transferred calls. Set their name, title, department, tags, and phone number, plus their transfer hours (when the agent can route calls to each person) and how your agent says their name to callers. See How Your Agent Says Each Team Member's Name. In the Call handling step, review your call types (intents) and escalation rules.

Optional: Name and Voice Your Agent

Give your agent its own name and pick its voice from a curated set, per location. Both are optional and included on every plan. See Naming and Voicing Your Agent.

Step 6: Test

Call your number and test as if you were a customer. Try scheduling an appointment, asking about your hours, requesting a transfer. Check the dashboard for call summaries and quality scores.

Step 7: Go Live

Your agent is ready. Forward your business phone to your new number, or give it out directly. Your agent starts answering calls immediately.

Ongoing Configuration

After your agent is live, you don't need to open the dashboard every time something changes. Ask Allison directly ("add a new FAQ about gift cards" or "change our Saturday hours") through the dashboard chat or by calling her. She confirms the change before making it. For a full list of what you can configure conversationally, see Configuring Your Agent Through Conversation.