Setup guide
The plain-English setup path for routing existing phone lines to an AI receptionist without disrupting how staff answer important calls.
Decide when Havio answers: always, only after hours, only when staff miss a call, or only during overflow periods.
A safer rollout keeps humans available for calls they should answer while the agent handles structured demand.
Run test calls and a narrow pilot before routing all phone demand. Review transcripts, missed intents, and transfer outcomes.
Checklist
Most teams do not need to replace their whole phone system to start. The first deployment is often a forwarding rule for missed, busy, overflow, or after-hours calls.
List your current phone provider and numbers.
Choose when the agent should answer.
Define fallback contacts and transfer hours.
Run at least five test calls before going live.
Review the first week of transcripts before expanding scope.
Field examples
Use these examples to pressure-test vendors. The right answer is specific about the caller situation, the action Havio takes, and the check the buyer should run before launch.
Example
Situation: Staff answer first, but calls forward to Havio after the team misses the ring window or every line is busy.
Havio move: Answer as overflow, collect the call reason, handle routine requests, and create a callback or transfer urgent calls.
Buyer check: Ask who owns the ring timeout, rollback path, and failed-transfer alert.
Example
Situation: The business wants AI coverage only outside staffed hours and on holidays.
Havio move: Use the approved schedule, disclose AI, classify urgency, and route critical callers to the on-call path.
Buyer check: Verify holiday behavior, on-call availability, and what callers hear if no human is reachable.
Example
Situation: The team already uses RingCentral, OpenPhone, Aircall, or another business phone provider.
Havio move: Keep the phone platform in place and define where forwarding, transfer, caller ID, and callback ownership live.
Buyer check: Separate phone-platform features from AI workflow value when comparing vendors.
Buyer FAQ
Usually no for the first pilot. Many teams start with forwarding or conditional forwarding before considering any number migration.
Test no-answer, busy-line, after-hours, transfer failure, caller ID behavior, booking, CRM writes, and the rollback plan.
The launch plan should include a rollback path, a human owner, and a quick way to confirm whether the issue is phone routing, carrier behavior, or the AI workflow.
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