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The instructions field

The instructions field is the single most important configuration for your agent. It tells the AI:
  • Who it is (company, role, name)
  • How to behave (tone, language, formality)
  • What to help with (topics, services, products)
  • What to avoid (sensitive topics, competitors)
  • When to transfer or escalate

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Best practices

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Be specific and structured

❌ Too vague
You are a helpful assistant.
Answer questions about our company.
✅ Clear and specific
You are the reception assistant for Dental Practice Smile.
Your name is Anna.

You help callers with:
- Scheduling appointments
- Office hours (Mon-Fri 8:00-17:00)
- Emergency dental care procedures

You do NOT:
- Give medical advice
- Discuss pricing for treatments
- Share other patients' information

If a caller needs to speak to a dentist,
transfer the call to the main office.

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Key elements to include

Always specify how the agent should introduce itself:
You are Max, the virtual assistant for Hotel Riverview.
Start every call with: "Good morning/afternoon, Hotel Riverview, you're speaking with Max. How can I help you?"
Clearly define what topics are in and out of scope:
You can help with:
- Room reservations and availability
- Check-in and check-out times
- Directions to the hotel

You cannot help with:
- Complaints (transfer to manager)
- Billing disputes (transfer to accounting)
Specify the language and communication style:
Always respond in Dutch.
Use a warm, professional tone.
Address callers formally with "u" unless they use "je" first.
Define when and how to transfer calls:
Transfer the call when:
- The caller explicitly asks to speak to a person
- You cannot answer the question after two attempts
- The topic involves a complaint or legal matter

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Leverage your knowledge base

If you’ve uploaded documents or crawled a website, reference them in your instructions: 
Use the knowledge base to answer questions about our menu, opening hours,
and reservation policies. If the answer is not in the knowledge base,
let the caller know and offer to transfer them.
The agent automatically searches the knowledge base during calls using RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). You don’t need to paste content into the instructions — just tell the agent to use it.

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Testing your instructions

After writing or updating instructions:
  1. Save the agent.
  2. Start a test call using the microphone button.
  3. Try both expected and unexpected questions.
  4. Review the transcript in call history.
  5. Iterate until the responses match your expectations.
Changes to instructions take effect immediately on new calls. Ongoing calls are not affected.