How-to guidesAgents

Configure an agent

Every field on the Agent tab — name, first message, system prompt, voice, language

The Agent tab shapes what the agent says and how it behaves. Five fields control everything.

Agent tab in the dashboard
The Agent tab

Name

Internal only — the caller never hears it. Use it to keep your Agents list organized. See Create an agent → naming tips.

First message

The first thing the agent says when the call connects. Keep it under twenty words: say who’s calling and hand off into the conversation. Type {{ to insert a variable — provide values via batch calls (CSV columns) or outbound calls.

Good

“Hi, this is Maya from Northwind Health. I’m confirming your appointment for Thursday — is now a good time?”

Less good

“Hello! I am an AI assistant from Northwind Health. I am calling to ask you a series of questions about your upcoming appointment. Do you have time right now to answer these questions?”

The shorter version sets context, gives the caller agency, and gets out of the way.

System prompt

The agent’s standing instructions — its role, tone, scope, and what to do when it doesn’t know something. A good structure:

You are Maya, the appointment-confirmation assistant for Northwind Health.
Your job:
- Confirm the caller's appointment.
- Offer to reschedule if they can't make it.
- Collect any updated contact information.
Your tone:
- Warm, professional, never robotic.
- Short sentences. Pause for the caller.
Limits:
- For clinical questions, say "I'm not able to answer clinical questions — let me have a nurse call you back," then end the call.
- Never invent information that isn't in your knowledge base.
Closing:
- Confirm next steps before saying goodbye.

Agents follow the prompt literally. Spell out edge cases — an upset caller, background noise, an answer that isn’t in the knowledge base. Vague prompts produce vague agents.

Voice

The speaker the caller hears. Preview each by clicking the play icon. See Voice & language.

Language

What the agent understands and speaks — it drives both speech recognition and synthesis. Match it to your callers; see Voice & language.

Saving

Two buttons sit at the bottom-right, greyed out until you edit something:

  • Save changes — persists every field; the agent uses it on the next call, with no separate deploy.
  • Discard — reverts to the last saved version.