Blog page 3
Do You Have to Tell Callers They Are Talking to an AI?
The actual law on AI call disclosure in the UK, EU and US, with the statutes linked. The EU duty is now live, one US state covers voice, and the folklore fails.
The Latency Budget of a Voice AI Phone Call
A stage-by-stage budget for a real-time voice agent pipeline. Why endpointing dominates, what STT and TTS vendors actually publish, and the transport myth.
Barge-In, and Why Your Voice Agent Talks Over People
Interruption handling end to end. The four sounds a mic hears, every platform's barge-in settings with defaults, and the output buffers nobody flushes.
Why Declining a Forwarded Call Makes Your Phone Ring Again
Your PBX almost never sees you press decline. What the carrier does with it, what SIP 486 and 603 actually mean, and the settings that fix the loop.
The System Prompt for a Plumbing and Heating AI Phone Agent
The complete, copy-paste system prompt for a plumbing and heating AI phone agent. Emergency triage, the gas refusal, call-out fee rules and dispatch, annotated.
The 12 Test Calls and 24 Questions to Use Before You Buy an Answering Service
Twelve scripted calls to place at any AI receptionist or answering service, and the 24 questions to send in writing. Free, no form, no download.
The 11pm Burst Pipe, and What Your AI Receptionist Should Do With It
One emergency call followed from ring to booked job. Safety routing, the on-call rota, what happens when nobody answers, and what it writes into Tradify or Commusoft.
AI Receptionist vs Answering Service, Priced Properly
Published UK prices for both, the rounding trick that adds 70% to a bill, who owns your phone number, and a 12-call test battery to run before you sign.
When and How a Voice Agent Should Transfer to a Human
Warm versus cold transfer, copy-paste escalation rules, a priority list, spam screening, and what to do when nobody picks up the phone.