, 2 min read
Your information is the script: setting up an AI front desk well
An AI front desk can only answer as well as the information behind it. What to write down, what to leave out, and how to keep it current so every answer is one you'd give yourself.
When a new receptionist starts, you spend the first week telling them things. What you charge. Which jobs you don't take. That Tuesday is the late night. That the parking is round the back. An AI front desk needs the same week, written down.
The quality of every answer it gives comes from that information. A vague setup gets vague answers. A careful one gets answers you'd be happy to have given yourself.
What to write down first
Start with what customers ask most. For nearly every business that's:
- Services and prices. Use the names your customers use. Give the price, or a "from" price, and how long each one takes.
- Opening hours. Including holidays and the day you open late.
- Where you are and how to get there. Parking, accessibility, which door.
- How booking works. Deposits, cancellation notice, who does what.
- What you don't do. Saying "we don't do that, but here's what we can do" is far better than a guess.
Write it the way you'd say it
Short, plain sentences work best. "A men's cut is $30 and takes 30 minutes" beats a paragraph of marketing copy. If there's a condition, say it: "Colour needs a patch test 48 hours before."
Leave gaps rather than guesses
If you don't know a price until you've seen the job, say so. A good AI front desk will tell the customer that and offer to arrange a visit or pass the question to you. It should never fill the gap by inventing something.
Keep it current
Prices change, staff come and go, hours shift for the season. Make updating your information part of the change itself, not a job for later.
How RingPost uses it
In RingPost, everything the AI says about your business comes from your Knowledge page: services, prices, hours, policies and anything else you add, including documents you upload. Prices, times and bookings are checked against that information and your calendar before a reply goes out. If the answer isn't there, it says it will find out and passes the question to you. RingPost also shows you the questions customers asked that your information didn't cover, so you know exactly what to add next.
Learn more about business knowledge and how the checks work.
Written by the RingPost team.