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Glossary

Plain-English meanings of the words you'll see in your dashboard and in this help centre.

After hours. Any time outside your opening hours. What your receptionist does then is set in After hours.

API key, auth token, secret. A password that lets one service use another for you, such as CallsCovered using your Twilio account. Once saved, it's never shown again.

Booking reference. The short code given to someone when a booking is made, starting with your business's letters.

Call back (callback). A request from someone to be rung back. They appear on the Callbacks page.

Call forwarding (divert). A setting on your phone that sends calls on to your receptionist's number, for example when nobody answers. See The setup guide.

Call screening. Checking a caller's number before answering: blocking nuisance numbers and putting important callers through. See Call screening.

Call summary. A short note of what a call was about, sent to you by text or email after the call. See Call summaries.

Closure day. A day you're shut, such as a bank holiday, set in Closures and holidays.

Coming soon. A feature we're working on that isn't in your dashboard yet.

Conversation. One call, chat, text thread, WhatsApp thread or email, with its summary and transcript.

CSV. A spreadsheet file that opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Downloads from Insights are CSV files.

DeepSeek. The AI model that writes your receptionist's replies. See The AI behind your receptionist.

Flow. The path every call and chat follows, step by step. See How your receptionist decides what to do.

Lead. A new customer who left their details. They appear on the Leads page.

Live call. A phone call where callers talk naturally and can interrupt. Other calls are turn by turn: the caller speaks, then hears the reply. See Choosing your receptionist's voice.

Opt-out (STOP). When someone replies STOP to a text, they get no more automatic texts from your receptionist. See Texts and opt-outs.

Phone provider. The company that owns your receptionist's number and carries its calls and texts, usually Twilio. See Phone providers.

Plan. What CallsCovered sets up for your business, and its monthly price. See The Billing page.

Plugin. An extra for your receptionist, such as a new channel or a link to a tool you use. See How plugins work.

Read-back. Your receptionist repeating a name or number to the caller to check it. See Read-back on calls.

Security check. A quick automatic check on the website chat that the person typing is a real person and not a bot. See My chat says the security check didn't pass.

Set answer. A reply your receptionist always gives word for word to a particular question. See Set answers.

Take over. Putting a live call through to your mobile from the dashboard. See Taking over calls.

Transcript. The written record of everything said in a conversation. Calls aren't recorded as audio.

Twilio. The standard phone provider for CallsCovered. You pay Twilio directly for calls and texts. See What you pay, and who you pay.

Voice provider. The company whose voice your receptionist speaks with on the phone. See Choosing your receptionist's voice.

Webhook. An address another system gives you, so your receptionist can send it details automatically. See Webhooks.

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