CallsCovered› HELP CENTRE

Help centre

How to run your receptionist

Plain answers for businesses using CallsCovered: setting up, the dashboard, settings, plugins, your phone line and website chat, and what to do when something isn’t working.

Getting started

Dashboard

  • The Overview pageWhat the numbers, chart and lists on your dashboard's Overview page mean, and what each one opens.
  • The Conversations pageFind any call, chat or message, read its summary and full transcript, call the person back, or delete it.
  • The Bookings pageSee the appointments your receptionist has booked, confirm them once they're in your diary, or cancel them.
  • The Callbacks pageSee who asked to be rung back, call them from the dashboard, and mark each one done.
  • The Leads pageSee new customers who left their details with your receptionist, ring them, and track where each one is up to.
  • The Email pageRead the emails your receptionist has picked up, check the replies it has written, and send or skip them.
  • The Insights pageWhat people get in touch about and when, what came of each conversation, and how to download your records as a spreadsheet.

Settings

  • The Settings pageWhat's on the Settings page, how to find a setting with the search box, and a link to the article for every tile.
  • Phone greetingChange the first thing callers hear when your receptionist answers the phone.
  • Opening hoursSet the days and times you're open, which decide when bookings can be made and what your receptionist does while you're closed.
  • What your receptionist should knowAdd facts, prices, offers and closures so your receptionist can answer what people ask.
  • Your logoUpload or remove the logo shown on your website chat button and at the top of the chat.
  • Website chatChange your receptionist's name, the chat's first message, pop-up, colours, button and suggested questions.
  • Add the chat to your websiteCopy the one line that puts your receptionist's chat button on your website.
  • Monday emailChoose where your weekly summary email goes and set the average booking value it uses to estimate what was booked.
  • Taking over callsSet the mobile that rings when you take over a live call from your dashboard.
  • Booking rulesSet minimum notice, gaps between appointments, a daily limit, how far ahead people can book, and which services can be booked.
  • How your receptionist talksChoose a formal or friendly tone, shorter replies, whether to use first names, words to avoid and a sign-off line.
  • After hoursChoose what your receptionist does while you're closed: help as usual, take a message, offer a call back or give an emergency number.
  • CallsSet the longest a phone call can last, and how long your receptionist waits when the line goes quiet.
  • Call summariesChoose whether you get a text or email summary after each call, who else gets it, and quiet hours for texts.
  • PrivacyChoose how long conversations are kept, and whether the privacy note shows under your website chat.
  • LanguagesLet your receptionist reply in the language people write in, on the website chat, texts and WhatsApp.
  • Set answersGive your receptionist questions to answer in your exact words, such as parking, prices or cancellation policy.
  • Your accountChange your dashboard password and see which features your plan includes.
  • Sign-ins for your teamHow to get a dashboard sign-in for someone on your team, what they can see and do, and how to remove one.

Phone and voice

  • Choosing your phone provider and voiceWho answers your number, how your receptionist sounds, and what each choice costs. You pay the providers directly, with no mark-up from us.
  • Your phone line and numberWhere your receptionist's number comes from, how to keep your own number by forwarding it, and how to check the line works.
  • Phone providersTwilio, SignalWire, Telnyx, Vonage and Plivo: what works on each, which keys you need, and where to paste the addresses.
  • Choosing your receptionist's voicePick the voice callers hear, preview it, and choose another voice provider such as Google, Amazon Polly or Azure.

Website chat

  • The chat on your websiteWhat the website chat is, and step-by-step help adding it to WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and other sites.

Texts

  • Texts and opt-outsEvery text your receptionist can send, who it comes from, and how STOP and START work.

Plugins

  • How plugins workWhat plugins do, how to switch on a free one or request a paid one, how to set it up, and what each one costs.
  • Asking for a plugin built for youWhen the catalogue doesn't have what you need, one of our developers can build a plugin for your business. Here's how to ask.
  • Team alertsPost bookings, call backs and urgent calls to your team's Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Google Chat or Telegram.
  • API actionsLet your receptionist look things up in your own systems, or send them approved requests, set up for you by CallsCovered.
  • Calendar syncStop your receptionist booking people in when you're busy, and see every booking in your Google, Outlook or Apple calendar.
  • Closures and holidaysTell your receptionist the days you're closed, such as Christmas and bank holidays, so nobody is booked in and callers know when you're back.
  • Conversion trackingReport the bookings and enquiries your receptionist wins to Google Analytics and Meta ads, so you can see which ads bring customers.
  • CRM syncAdd every enquiry, call back and booking to HubSpot, Pipedrive, Capsule, Close, Freshsales, Copper or Square, or new leads to Salesforce or Clio Grow.
  • Booking depositsText people a secure Stripe link to pay a deposit when they book, so fewer miss their appointment.
  • Daily summaryGet a short round-up each day of bookings, cancellations, call backs and urgent calls, by text or email.
  • EmailLet your receptionist read your inbox and answer new emails, for you to approve or sent automatically.
  • Urgent escalationPage your on-call team through PagerDuty, incident.io, Splunk On-Call or Pushover when a caller has an emergency.
  • SOE ExactRead busy times from your practice's Exact diary, so your receptionist only offers appointments that are really free.
  • Helpdesk ticketsOpen a Zendesk, Freshdesk, HubSpot or Help Scout ticket for each call back and urgent call, closed when you mark it done.
  • Job managementAdd call backs, new enquiries and urgent messages to ServiceM8 or Fergus, ready to quote and book in.
  • Email notificationsEmail your team about each booking, call back and urgent call, through Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, SendGrid, Postmark, Mailgun or Resend.
  • On-call rotaGet a text, and if you like a phone call, the moment a caller says something is urgent, sent to whoever is on call.
  • Read-back on callsYour receptionist reads names and phone numbers back to callers before saving a booking or call back, so a misheard digit is caught.
  • Appointment remindersText people before their appointment so fewer forget, and optionally confirm each booking or cancellation by text.
  • Review requestsAsk people how their visit went by text or WhatsApp, and send your review link to those who answer.
  • Smart routingWrite your own rules for who hears about what, so callers who mention a topic are passed to the right person by text or email.
  • Call screeningBlock nuisance numbers, put important callers straight through to you, and turn away sales calls politely.
  • Spreadsheet logAdd a row to your Google Sheet, Airtable or Smartsheet for every booking, call back, enquiry and call.
  • Text messagesYour receptionist answers texts sent to your number, and people can reply to your reminders and other texts.
  • Task listTurn call backs and urgent messages into tasks in the work tool your team already uses, ticked off when you mark them done.
  • Put me throughWhen a caller asks for a person, your receptionist offers to put them straight through to you, at the times you choose.
  • Cancellation listKeep a list of people who'd like an earlier slot, and text them when someone cancels.
  • WebhooksSend every booking, call back, enquiry and call summary to Zapier, Make, n8n or your own systems.
  • WhatsAppYour receptionist answers WhatsApp messages from your own WhatsApp account, and steps back when you reply yourself.

Privacy and data

  • Privacy and data retentionWhat CallsCovered keeps about your callers and chats, how long it's kept, how to delete or download it, and what callers are told.

Billing

  • The Billing pageWhat's on your monthly bill: your plan, paid plugins, and how a plugin switched on or off part-way through a month is charged.
  • What you pay, and who you payWhat your CallsCovered bill covers, and the phone, text and voice charges you pay to those providers directly.

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Write to hello@callscovered.ai with your business name and what you were trying to do, and a person will reply.