What if the AI gets it wrong? Keeping an AI receptionist in check.

It's the first thing many people ask when they consider an AI on the phone: what happens when it tells a customer something wrong? It's a fair question. An AI receptionist can get things wrong – mishear a name or a time, or get a question it isn't set up for. So the real question isn't whether it can happen, but how the service is built so mistakes stay small, visible and easy to fix.

01She only answers from what you've taught her

You write your greeting and fill in Noa's knowledge in the app – opening hours, prices, services and the things customers often ask. That's what she answers from. Most "mistakes" are therefore gaps in what she's been told: an old price list means an old price. Keep her knowledge as up to date as your website.

02When she doesn't know: a message or a transfer

• She transfers. You decide who handles what, and on which days and hours they can take calls.
• She takes a message. If nobody can take it, she writes it down with name, number and what it's about, and it lands in your inbox.

03Every call is written out

She's an AI – so you get the whole conversation written out, and can always see what was said. Every call lands in your Telenoa inbox with the transcript and Noa's message. Audio isn't recorded unless you switch recording on; then it's kept for 30 days and Noa says so in the greeting.

04How you correct her

• Wrong or missing knowledge: fix it in her knowledge in the app, at any time.
• Wrong transfer: change who handles what, and when. The same goes for greeting, voice and opening hours.
• Wrong behaviour: in Telenoa you can mark what Noa did as right or wrong. Write what was wrong, and she remembers it next time.

And if you need a breather, you can pause Noa in the app.

05Bookings: she reads the time back first

With a connected calendar or booking system, Noa finds a free slot within your rules, reads it back and only books once the caller has said yes. Cancellations and changes become a message, so you adjust the booking yourselves. See the phone booking guide.

06What Noa shouldn't do

• No professional advice. No health or dental advice and no troubleshooting over the phone – those become a message or a transfer.
• She doesn't judge urgency. You set the rules for urgent calls; otherwise she takes a message straight away.
• No patient records. She isn't connected to record systems and never reads or writes them.
• She doesn't pretend to be human. Her first sentence says the caller is talking to an AI, and that can't be removed.

07Can you trust an AI receptionist?

Not blindly – any more than a person you've just hired. What you can trust is the frame: she answers from your knowledge, takes a message when she doesn't know, everything is written out, and you can correct her straight away.

• Fill her knowledge with hours, prices, services and your ten most common questions
• Write down what you don't do
• Set up transfers: who handles what, and when
• Call her yourselves and ask the hard questions first
• Read the transcripts in the first weeks and fill the gaps