> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getsmartalex.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up an AI receptionist in 10 minutes

> A step-by-step guide to AI receptionist setup: bootstrap your agent from a website URL, add a knowledge base, connect a calendar to book appointments, assign a phone number, and go live in about ten minutes.

An AI receptionist answers every inbound call, replies from your own knowledge, books appointments into your calendar, and hands off to a human when it matters. This is the fastest path from a blank workspace to a live phone line, and it takes about ten minutes if your website and calendar are ready.

You will do the whole thing by chatting with Alex, the in-app assistant that builds and runs your voice agents. Alex proposes each change on a review card, you approve it, and only then does it touch your live agent. Nothing goes out silently.

<Info>
  **Before you start, have these handy:** your website URL, your business hours and services, and access to the calendar you book into (Google Calendar or Outlook). That is enough to get a working receptionist. A phone number comes in step five.
</Info>

## How the finished receptionist works

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
  A[Caller dials your number] --> B[Your receptionist answers with your greeting]
  B --> C{What does the caller need?}
  C -->|A question| D[Answers from your knowledge base]
  C -->|A booking| E[Checks your calendar and books the slot]
  C -->|A person| F[Warm-transfers to your team]
  D --> G[Logs the call and captures the lead]
  E --> G
  F --> G
```

## The setup

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Composer and start from your website URL">
    Sign in and you land on your home screen: a single chat, the Composer. Tell Alex to build a receptionist and paste your website URL, for example "Create a receptionist for me and learn everything from acmedental.com."

    Alex scans the site, drafts the agent, and pulls in a starter knowledge base so you are not starting from an empty prompt. Review what it proposes, then approve.

    <Note>
      Alex never changes your agent on its own. Every edit lands on a review card first, and destructive actions (like deleting an agent) ask you to type "confirm". This is the propose-then-approve flow.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the greeting and objective">
    Every agent has a North Star: the one objective it keeps in view on every call. For a receptionist that is usually "answer every call, book qualified appointments, and never let a lead reach voicemail." Your later edits stay true to it.

    Set the opening line the way you want callers greeted, and pick a voice. Just ask in plain language:

    ```text theme={null}
    Greet callers with "Thanks for calling Bright Dental, this is Robin, how can I help?"
    Keep answers to one or two sentences. Warm, calm, never rushed.
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a knowledge base">
    Your receptionist only answers from what it knows, so a richer knowledge base means fewer "let me check on that" moments. Alex already scanned your website; use the "+" Add knowledge control in the Composer to fill any gaps: hours, services, pricing, location and parking, booking policy, common FAQs. Paste text, upload files, or point Alex at more pages.

    <Tip>
      Keep entries short and factual. If a policy changes (say, new opening hours), update the knowledge base and the receptionist reflects it on the very next call. No re-training step.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect a calendar so it can book">
    To let the receptionist book appointments, connect a calendar from the Composer's Connectors, then switch on the booking tools (Check availability and Create booking). Now it reads live availability and writes the appointment straight into your calendar mid-call.

    Google Calendar and Outlook are the direct path. Calendly and Nightsbridge sync availability too, and iCal booking is available with the Power Tools add-on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign or buy a phone number">
    The Free plan is browser-only for testing, about five minutes of in-browser voice with no live phone calls. To take real calls, move to a paid plan: Professional is \$99/month (with a 7-day free trial) and includes one phone number, 250 minutes, and five concurrent call slots.

    Assign that included number to your receptionist, connect a number you already own, or add another from \$2/month. Extra concurrent call slots are \$15/month each if you expect overlapping calls. See [pricing](/pricing) for the full breakdown.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test-call before you go live">
    From the Composer you have two ways to test. "Talk to your agent" runs a live call in your browser. "Call my phone" makes the agent ring your phone so you hear it on a real line, exactly as a caller would.

    After each test call, Alex posts a summary, a call-quality score, and recommended next steps into the chat. Tighten the greeting, add any missing knowledge, adjust the tools, and re-test until it sounds right.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Go live">
    Point your business line at your SmartAlex number by forwarding or publishing it, and your receptionist is answering calls. Optionally drop the [web widget](/essentials/widgets) on your site so visitors can talk to the same agent by voice or chat.

    Watch every conversation in [call logs](/essentials/call-logs) and [analytics](/essentials/analytics), and refine as you learn what callers actually ask.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What it handles on day one

Switch these on per agent in the Tools section. A receptionist typically runs with:

* **Answers questions** from your knowledge base, with optional live web search for anything current.
* **Books appointments** against your connected calendar (check availability, create booking, schedule a callback).
* **Captures leads** into your CRM and sends a follow-up email or SMS.
* **Transfers to a human** with a warm hand-off that announces the caller before connecting, or routes to an extension.

See [agent tools](/essentials/agent-tools) for the full list and how each one behaves on a call.

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How long does AI receptionist setup actually take?">
    About ten minutes if your website and calendar are ready. Bootstrapping from a URL does the heavy lifting: Alex drafts the agent and a starter knowledge base, and you spend the rest of the time on the greeting, calendar, and a test call.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need a phone number to start?">
    No. You can build and test entirely in the browser on the Free plan (about five minutes of in-browser voice). You only need a phone number when you want to take real calls, which requires a paid plan.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can it really book appointments on its own?">
    Yes. Once you connect Google Calendar or Outlook and enable the booking tools, the receptionist checks real-time availability and writes the appointment into your calendar during the call, then confirms it back to the caller.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Will it transfer to a person when needed?">
    Yes. Turn on transfer and warm transfer, and the receptionist hands the caller to your team (announcing them first) or routes to a specific extension when the request is out of scope.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What does it cost to run?">
    Professional is \$99/month and includes 250 minutes plus one phone number. Beyond your included minutes, calls draw from a prepaid wallet (shown as tokens, where 1 token is \$0.01), and extra numbers start at \$2/month. Full detail is on [pricing](/pricing) and [add-ons](/essentials/add-ons).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="What is an AI receptionist?" icon="headset" href="/guides/what-is-ai-receptionist">
    The plain-English primer: what it does, how it works, and where it fits.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Create an agent in Studio" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/studio/create-agent">
    A deeper walkthrough of the Composer and the propose-then-approve flow.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Phone numbers" icon="phone" href="/essentials/phone-numbers">
    Buy, connect, and assign the number your receptionist answers on.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Knowledge base" icon="book-open" href="/essentials/knowledge-base">
    Ground your receptionist so it answers accurately, every call.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>