Set Up a Smart Intelligence (SI) Receptionist

This guide shows an administrator how to set up a Smart Intelligence (SI) Receptionist: an AI receptionist that answers your calls by voice, answers questions from your own business information, and passes callers to a person when needed. In the RingQ web app the feature is called AI Receptionists.

Before you start

Have these ready:

• An administrator login. Only administrators can create receptionists and change keys.
• An API key for the AI you choose. OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Groq, DeepSeek, Grok, or an Azure OpenAI deployment and endpoint.
• A Deepgram key. It gives the receptionist its speech recognition and voice. It is required for Claude, Groq, DeepSeek and Grok. OpenAI, Gemini and Azure OpenAI can fall back to their own live voice without it.
• A free extension number for each receptionist. It must not belong to a phone, a queue, an IVR or another rule.
• Your business information. A short description of the company and its rules, plus any documents or web pages the AI may quote.

Step 1: Create a receptionist

You create a receptionist from Settings, then AI Receptionists. Each receptionist is one "agent" with its own extension.

1. Open Settings, then AI Receptionists, and click Create AI Agent (or Add Your First Agent if the page is empty).

1. Enter an Agent Name and, if you like, a Description.

1. Enter the Agent Extension, the number callers dial to reach this receptionist. Pick a number nobody else uses.
2. Make sure Enable Agent is on. A disabled agent does not answer.
3. Choose the AI Provider and enter its API Key (see Step 2).

1. Choose the Voice engine, Voice and Language (see Step 2).
2. Write the Greeting Message, the first sentence the caller hears.

1. Write the System Prompt: who the receptionist is, how it should sound and what it should do.
2. Add business context, knowledge and tools, then transfers (Steps 3 and 4).
3. Click Save.

After saving, a green message says the agent was saved and synced. A red message that says "Extension N is already used by another program" means the number is taken by another rule. The agent was saved, but it will not answer calls until you pick a free extension or the old rule is removed.

To test, dial the extension from another phone, listen to the greeting, then ask a question the knowledge base can answer.

Step 2: Provider, key and voice

Each receptionist uses its own AI provider and key, so you can try several side by side.

AI Provider and API Key. Choose one of OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Groq, DeepSeek, Grok or Azure OpenAI and paste the key for that provider. When you save, RingQ asks the provider whether the key works and refuses a key that is clearly rejected. The key is stored encrypted and is never shown in the list. Switching provider means entering a new key. Azure OpenAI also needs its Azure Endpoint and Deployment Name.

Voice engine. There are two ways a receptionist can talk:

Claude, Groq, DeepSeek and Grok always use the standard engine. If Deepgram is missing or fails before the caller hears anything, OpenAI, Gemini and Azure switch to their native voice. The other providers send the call to a person instead.

Voice settings. On the AI Receptionists page, open Voice settings and save your company's Deepgram key once. It applies to every receptionist.

Voice, Language and Temperature. Voice picks how the receptionist sounds. Language is the language it speaks and understands; it will not switch languages even if the caller asks. Temperature controls how varied the answers are; lower is steadier.

Step 3: Business context, knowledge and tools

The receptionist answers only from what you give it, so this is the most important part to fill in well.

• System Prompt. Describe the role in plain words, for example the company name, tone, opening hours and what to do when unsure.
• Manual Context Editor. Type facts the AI must know: products, prices, policies, addresses. It treats this text as authoritative.
• Context Sources. Add web pages or documents. Enter a Website URL and a Sync Interval and RingQ reads the pages and keeps them fresh. During a call the AI looks up the passages that match the caller's question.
• Timezone. Set it so the AI understands "tomorrow at 3" when it books.
• Connectors and tool permissions. Connect Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, then tick which connectors this agent may use. The AI can then look up the caller in contacts, search email, check availability, create calendar events and send email. It always asks the caller to confirm before creating an event or sending a message.

If the AI is not given the answer, it says it will check or hand over, and does not guess. Review what it says in test calls and add missing facts to the context.

The AI Context box

On the agent page, the AI Context box holds everything this agent may answer from. Manual notes, uploaded documents and pages of your website are all searched during a call. It has three tabs: Manual Context, Documents and Website. The small number beside Documents and Website shows how many items you have added.

• Enable Manual Context. Tick this box so the agent receives the notes, guidelines or FAQs typed in the editor on every turn of the call.
• When it is switched off. The text is kept, but the agent will not use it on a call until you tick the box. A grey notice in the box tells you this, so tick it before you test.
• Manual Context Editor. Paste or type your context, guidelines or FAQ text here. Use short, plain facts, one topic at a time.
• Documents and Website. Use these tabs for uploaded documents and web pages the agent may quote. During a call the AI searches all three tabs together.

The Connectors box

Below the AI Context box, Connectors lists the outside systems this agent may use for information or actions. Each row shows the system name, a status badge, a short description and a switch on the right.

Connect the system first, then turn on its switch for this agent. Leave the switch off for any system the agent does not need, so it can only reach what you intend.

Step 4: Transfers and escalation to a person

A receptionist can pass a call to a person in two ways, and the person who takes it sees what the caller already said.

Below the System Prompt, the agent page shows two boxes: AI Keywords Trigger Routing (the Keyword Triggers list with an Add Keyword button) and Escalation to a Person (one on/off switch). On a new agent the list says "No keyword triggers configured for this agent" and the escalation switch is off.

Keyword transfers

When the caller says a keyword, the AI says your message and transfers the call to the extension or voicemail box you chose. A transfer to voicemail works, but the caller hears that the person is unavailable, so the editor warns you.

1. Scroll to AI Keywords Trigger Routing and click Add Keyword. The Add Transfer Keyword window opens.
2. In Keyword, type the word the caller will say, for example "support".
3. In Message, type what the AI says before it transfers, for example "Connecting you to the support desk".
4. In Point to Extension/PBX target, click Select action and choose the extension or voicemail box that should receive the call.
5. Click Save Keyword. Click Cancel to close the window without saving.
6. Repeat for each keyword, then test with a real call: say the keyword and check that the message plays and the call goes to the right place.

Each field has an information icon beside its label that shows a short hint. Choose keywords that callers really say, and keep one purpose for each keyword so two keywords do not compete for the same call.

Saved keywords. After you click Save Keyword, the trigger appears as a row in the Keyword Triggers list. The row shows the keyword, the message the AI will say, and the destination as "Route to". Use the orange pencil icon to edit a keyword and the red bin icon to delete it.

Sample keywords. Use these as a starting point and replace the extension numbers with your own.

Tips for keywords:

• Keep it short. Use the single words callers really say, such as sales, support or billing.
• One purpose per keyword. Two keywords may point to the same place, but one keyword should not need two places.
• Short message. One sentence is enough; it is spoken just before the transfer.
• Prefer a live extension. A voicemail target works, but the caller hears that the person is unavailable.

Escalation to a person

Turn on Escalate to a person to hand the call over automatically when the AI should not carry on. The agent says your message, then transfers, and the person who picks up sees a summary of the call so far. The switch is off by default; when you turn it on, these options appear:

• When the caller asks for a person. Hands over when the caller says things like "Can I speak to a human", "representative" or "manager". English is caught instantly; other languages are recognised by the AI itself.
• When the caller is frustrated. Hands over when the caller is angry or upset, says the agent is not helping or listening, or keeps repeating the same request.
• When the AI cannot answer. Choose how many unanswered questions in a row are allowed before the call is handed over, for example "After 2 unanswered questions in a row". 0 means never.
• Transfer to. The extension that should take the call. If you leave it empty, the call goes to the default human line.
• Message before transferring. What the AI says just before the transfer, for example "I am sorry about that. Let me connect you with the person who can help."

Sample escalation settings.

If the AI cannot answer the call at all, for example when the key is rejected, the call is sent to a person rather than left in silence.

The hand-off card

When a transferred call rings at an agent, a card appears at the top right of the RingQ web app. It shows who is calling, what they asked, the AI's summary, the caller's mood and the transcript, so the caller does not have to repeat themselves. It goes away when the call ends.

Test your transfers

Do this before announcing the number:

1. Dial the agent extension from another phone.
2. Say a keyword such as "sales". The message should play and the call should reach the right extension.
3. Say "I want to talk to a person". Escalation should hand the call to the human line.
4. Ask a question the AI cannot answer. After the number of misses you set, the call should go to a person.
5. Check that the hand-off card shows the caller, summary, mood and transcript on the agent's screen.

Status, restart and call records

Status and Restart. On the AI Receptionists page, Status shows whether the voice service is running and what is missing, and Restart starts it again. If the service does not come back, contact RingQ support.

Call records. After each call the receptionist saves a summary, the caller's mood, their intent and the next step, together with the transcript. For a transferred call the record is available to the agent who took it. If the summary service is busy, the record is saved without a summary and the transcript is kept.

Good habits:

• Test every new receptionist with a real call before announcing the number.
• Keep one extension per receptionist, and never reuse a phone's number.
• Review a few call records each week and add the facts the AI was missing to the context.

Troubleshooting

Most problems come from a missing key, a taken extension or a service that was not restarted.