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By default, your AI Receptionist answers callers using your FAQ knowledge base. If you need more control over how the AI handles calls — for example, qualifying inbound leads with a specific question flow — you can switch to a custom prompt instead: a freeform textbox where you describe your business and exactly how the AI should handle callers, just like campaign prompts in AI Calling.

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When to Use a Custom Prompt

  • You already have a prompt set up for AI Calling and want to reuse it for inbound calls
  • You want the AI to follow a specific conversation flow (e.g., lead qualification questions in a set order)
  • Your call handling is too nuanced to express as question/answer pairs
If you mainly need the AI to answer informational questions about your business, the FAQ knowledge base is usually the better fit — it’s structured, easy to maintain, and can be generated automatically from your website.

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Switching to a Custom Prompt

  1. Go to AI Receptionist → FAQs
  2. Select the Custom Prompt tab
  3. Write your instructions in the textbox — describe your business, what to ask callers, and what information to collect
  4. Click Save & Activate
Your FAQs stay saved when you switch — you can return to the FAQs tab and click Use FAQs Instead at any time to switch back, with nothing lost.

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Reusing an AI Calling Prompt

If you’ve saved prompts in AI Calling → Prompts, you can import them directly:
  1. On the Custom Prompt tab, pick a prompt from the Import from saved prompts dropdown and click Import
  2. Click Adapt for Inbound (AI) — outbound prompts are written for the AI making the call, so this rewrites your prompt for answering calls: it keeps your business details, offers, and qualification questions, and removes outbound-only content like cold-call openers
  3. Review the result, tweak as needed, and click Save & Activate

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What the Custom Prompt Controls

The custom prompt replaces the FAQ knowledge base as the AI’s source of truth about your business. Everything else about your receptionist keeps working as configured:
  • Greeting — the first message is still set in Greeting & Voice
  • Call transfers, SMS scheduling links, and keypad dialing — still controlled by your call handling actions
  • Language and voice — still controlled by your settings

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Tips for Writing a Good Prompt

  • Describe the business first (“You answer calls for Smith & Associates, a family law firm…”)
  • List the questions to ask callers and the information to collect (name, callback number, reason for calling)
  • Spell out what the AI should not do (e.g., “Do not quote fees; say that pricing is discussed during the consultation”)
  • Keep instructions phone-friendly — the AI speaks them, so write the way you’d talk