Most support tickets about a new voice AI agent come from its first week. A greeting that doesn't sound like the business. A transfer that rings the wrong person. A question nobody taught it.
You can head off most of them with a plan. This is the one we suggest, from switch-on to a customer who asks for more. Your team can run it for the customer, or hand it to them.
The short answer: go live small, read every call, fix in drafts, then widen. Set it up on day 1, test it on day 3, put it on one answering rule on day 4, and turn on the rest once a week of calls looks right.
(Searchers call this an AI receptionist. We call it a voice AI agent, because it does more than answer.)
Last reviewed: November 7, 2026.
Day 1: How does a customer get started?
With the portal login they already have. No new account, no ticket.
- They switch it on. Before they do, their portal shows their own missed calls from the last 30 days next to your offer. One click starts it, and their workspace is created for them. Or you set it up from your partner portal.
- It learns the business. Setup starts from their website or Google Business Profile. Nobody writes a prompt.
- They set the greeting. Write the exact opening line ("Thanks for calling Larkhaven Family Dentistry"), or let the agent greet callers on its own.
- They pick a voice. 22 voices, each with a preview. Most follow a caller between English and Spanish.
Day 2: What should it know before the first call?
What callers actually ask. Spend the day on four things.
- Knowledge. Add the pages callers ask about: services, insurance, prices, directions. Pages can refresh every week on their own, so answers stay current.
- Transfers. Decide who gets which calls. The agent hands callers to the customer's own users, queues, auto attendants and voicemail, and callers can ask for anyone by name. With warm transfer on, it briefs the staff member before connecting the caller.
- Messages and bookings. Say when the agent should take a message. The caller's name, number and reason reach the right person while the call is still going. If the business books on Cal.com, the agent books too.
- Routines. For calls that follow the same steps every time, like booking a visit, write a scenario: plain-language steps the agent follows in order.
Also list the names the agent must hear right: staff, products, street names. It listens for them on every call.
Day 3: How do you test it before callers hear it?
Make the calls the business gets most, before any caller does.
- Call it from the browser. A test call, in the agent's voice, without touching the phone system.
- Type to it. The test panel chats with the draft or the published version, previews texts, and shows each tool it uses as it happens: checking the calendar, booking, transferring.
- Try the awkward ones. An angry caller. A caller who wants a person. A question it shouldn't answer. A caller who switches to Spanish.
Nothing reaches callers until someone presses Publish.
Day 4: How do you go live without the risk?
Start with one answering rule, not the main line.
- Deploy in three steps. From the portal: create the agent's user, set the answering rule, assign a number from the domain's own inventory. Each step turns green when it's ready.
- Or start smaller. Copy the agent's SIP address into the customer's existing after-hours or no-answer rule. The calls nobody can pick up go to the agent. The rest ring as before.
- Tell the team. Who gets transfers, where messages arrive, and that every call shows in the inbox.
Day 5: What should you look at after the first calls?
Every call, for the first few days. It goes fast, because nobody has to listen to recordings.
- The inbox. Each call has a summary, the recording, the transcript and every tool the agent used. Calls and texts from the same caller sit in one thread.
- The morning email. At 8 am, the daily digest lists callers who need a follow-up and calls that weren't resolved, each with a suggested next step and a link to the call.
- Calls worth a look. Insights flags the calls that went wrong, each with a one-line summary of what happened.
Day 6: How do you fix what went wrong?
In a draft. Then test it and publish.
- Find the cause. A wrong answer usually means missing knowledge. A wrong transfer usually means a rule. Insights lists the top reasons calls failed.
- Ask for the change. With Ask Your Agent, the customer asks in plain words: "Why was this call transferred?" or "Tell callers we validate parking." It drafts the change for them to test and publish.
- Undo in one click. The last 10 published versions can be restored, so a bad change costs a minute.
Day 7: When do you turn on the rest?
When a week of calls looks right. Open Insights with the customer.
- What it handled. How many calls the agent handled end to end, how many it transferred, and how many spam calls Spam Shield screened out.
- What callers wanted. The reasons people called, and the busiest times.
- What comes next. Move it to the main line or more answering rules, add a scenario for another routine, and choose who gets which emails.
The 7-day checklist
| Day | Do this | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switch it on, set it up from the website or Google Business Profile, set the greeting and voice | The greeting sounds like the business |
| 2 | Add knowledge, transfers, messages, bookings, routines and names to hear | Every common question has an answer |
| 3 | Test by call and by chat, awkward calls included | The draft handles the calls the business gets most |
| 4 | Deploy, or start on one answering rule; tell the team | Real calls reach the agent |
| 5 | Read every call, the digest and Calls worth a look | No call surprises you |
| 6 | Fix in a draft, test, publish | Each issue has a fix live |
| 7 | Review Insights with the customer; widen | The customer asks for more |
How do you keep the support pile small?
- See what the customer sees. From your partner portal, log in as any customer to check a call or a setting.
- Let customers answer their own "how do I". Ask Your Agent answers in their portal.
- Lean on us. Your team gets onboarding from us, and support by email, phone and a private Slack channel.
Want to see a customer launch in your own portal? Book a demo.
FAQ
How long does it take to launch a customer's voice AI agent?
A customer can be set up and taking test calls on day one. We suggest a week from switch-on to the main line, so real calls shape the agent before every caller reaches it.
Should the agent answer every call from day one?
No. Start with after-hours or no-answer calls, read them for a few days, then widen.
Who should run the first week, the provider or the customer?
Either. Customers can do every step in their own portal. Running it yourself for your first few customers shows you what the next ones will ask.
What if the agent says something wrong?
Changes are drafts until someone publishes them, and the last 10 published versions can be restored in one click. Every call has a summary and a transcript to review.
Does the agent replace the customer's phone menu or hours?
No. Hours, phone menus and voicemail stay in your phone system. Calls reach the agent through the answering rules you already run.
