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AI Receptionist Onboarding

Let's build your AI receptionist properly and safely.

This form captures everything we need to build you a safe, accurate, and compliant AI phone receptionist.

How it works

1

Tell us the details

We capture the exact business rules, tone, services, FAQs, booking logic, and escalation paths.

2

We build the agent

Bertrand AI turns the intake into a prompt, tools, workflow checklist, and test plan.

3

Approved before launch

Nothing goes live until the details are complete, tested, and signed off.

1Contact

So we can reach you about your account — not the number your callers will dial, which you'll set up below.

2Business Details

Start typing — pick a suggestion or write your own. It sets your agent's tone and the topics it must not discuss, so name what the business actually does rather than "other".

A real phone that reaches your team - used so the AI can ring or transfer a caller to an actual person (staff-ring-first, an escalation, or someone asking to speak to a human). This is separate from the number your callers dial, which is whatever you choose under Phone Line & Call Setup below, including if that's a brand new one we're setting up for you.

Sets your bank holidays and the accent your receptionist listens for and speaks with.

3Phone Line & Call Setup

Tell us how your existing phone line should work with the AI receptionist. You can keep your existing number and forward calls, or we can manage it for full control. This is the one thing every assistant genuinely needs before we can build anything else.

✓

Your call routing is sorted. Everything below just tells your receptionist how to sound and what to say.

A new number takes about a week to activate

UK regulations require a new phone number to be registered to your business before it can be switched on. That review is run by the telecoms provider and usually takes 5–7 working days. We build your assistant straight away, but it goes live — and your billing begins — only once the number is active, so you never pay while waiting.

If you want your assistant answering immediately, forward your existing line to it instead. Choose “keep my existing number — forward calls to the AI” above. There is no registration and no wait, nothing changes with your current provider, you keep the number your customers already have, and your assistant can be live within a day. You can still take a dedicated number later, once it has been registered in the background — the two are not exclusive, and most clients start this way.

A local number is answered over the internet like everything else here — the area code just tells callers where you are. Most businesses find it reads as more established than an 07 number.

No preference — we'll find you any available UK number.

A new number is not instant. Every new UK number has to be registered to your business with the regulator before it can take calls, and that takes days rather than minutes — sometimes longer. We will confirm the timescale with you before anything is bought.

If you would rather be answering calls straight away, keep your existing number and forward calls to it — that needs no registration and no wait, and you can still add a new number later.

Any new UK number has to be registered to your business before it can take calls, so this is not instant. We'll find a matching number and get James's sign-off on the exact one before it's purchased, so nothing goes live without a final check.

Registering the number

UK regulations require a new number to be registered to whoever will actually be using it. We submit this for you — we just need the details.

Your Companies House number. Eight digits, or two letters and six digits.

One line describing what the business does.

This route needs photo ID

For an individual rather than a registered company, the regulator requires a government-issued photo ID (passport or driving licence), and for a local landline number a proof of address as well — a utility bill, council tax notice, tenancy agreement or title deed.

You may not need to do this at all. If you keep your existing number and forward calls to your assistant, there is no registration and no ID required, and you can be live within a day. Change “Number strategy” above to keep your number.

If you would rather go ahead, attach them below. They go straight to secure storage — they are not read automatically and they are not attached to any email. Please do not put identity documents in the file upload higher up the form; that one is for material about your business.

Passport or driving licence. PDF, JPG or PNG.

Showing the address above, issued within the last year. Only needed for a local landline number.

A real phone you can be reached on. It cannot be an internet or virtual number.

4Receptionist Persona

The name above is what your receptionist calls itself. This is what callers actually hear — the two are set separately, so a name alone doesn't decide it.

Callers tend to trust a voice that sounds local. We start from where your business is based; change it if you would rather something else. Your receptionist understands regional accents whichever voice you pick.

Fixed across every Bertrand AI assistant so every caller gets clear AI disclosure, as required by Ofcom guidance. Updates automatically from the name and business above.

The opening line can be personalised further upon request.

5Knowledge Base

List any subjects the AI must *never* discuss, such as medical diagnoses, legal advice, financial advice, or personal opinions. If in doubt, list it.

6Booking & Escalation

We use the default rules below unless you want to change them. You can leave this as-is.

After every call the AI handles, we email a summary — who rang, their number, what they wanted, and any message they left. This is where those go. Several addresses are fine, separated by commas.

For calls the AI flags as urgent, or that need a person. Often the same address as above — worth splitting if someone different watches for them.

A real, live UK phone number. If a caller sounds distressed, panicked, or asks for a human, the AI will transfer the call here immediately — not just take a message. Used internally, never read aloud to callers. Can be the same as your main contact above, but must be an actual number, not a description.

We use the default safety wording below unless your business needs different instructions. You can leave this as-is.

How appointments should be made. Which calendar you use, how long a typical appointment lasts, how much notice you need, and anything the receptionist must check before putting someone in the diary. If you are not offering calendar booking, say what should happen instead — usually taking a message for the team to call back.

If enabled, the AI can check real-time availability and book appointments directly during the call, not just take a message.

7Compliance & Approval

Please provide the message callers should hear regarding AI use and/or call recording. If you're unsure, we can provide a standard disclosure.

Please provide the email address that customers should use for privacy or data protection enquiries (e.g. privacy@yourcompany.co.uk).

Ready to submit?

Bertrand AI will review the details and confirm anything missing before we build or launch your receptionist.

Terms of Service and Privacy Notice agreement

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