Try Out Iris Through a 7-Day Trial

To see is Iris is a good fit for your company, you can start a 7-day free trial to test out its features. 
To start an Iris trial…

1. Click the Subscriptions button at the top-right of your web portal.
   
2. On the AI Receptionist tab of the Subscriptions menu, review the description of Iris and click the Try It Free for 7 Days button. 
   
3. Once the button is clicked, a confirmation message will appear. Click the OK button to move forward.
   
4. Click the OK button again for the next confirmation message.
   

Train Iris to Represent Your Business

Once Iris has been enabled, you will see a new accessible page for Iris.

On the Iris page, you will be prompted to search for and select your business's Google business profile or the URL for your website so that Iris can train itself using the information from either of those sources.

Once you select the name of your business or enter your company's website, Iris will begin analyzing your business' description, the services your business offers, and any listed hours of operation.

Deploy Iris

Once Iris has trained itself, you will be taken to its Call Inbox. The Call Inbox will show a prompt that states that calls will need to be forwarded to Iris. Click this prompt's Deploy instructions button to view the Deploy tab.

In the Deploy Iris section, there will be a list of steps to follow to implement Iris within your business' call routing.

Step 1: Create a User for Iris

In order for Iris to be able to receive and route calls, a user will need to be created for it. This can be done by clicking the Create user button.

Clicking this button will have a user named “Iris AI Assistant” created with the extension number 40000. 

Once this user is created, its answering rules will automatically be set to have calls it receives directly forwarded to your Iris agent's Vee address.

Step 2: Forward Calls to Iris

Different businesses can have very differing call flows to meet their specific needs. It is recommended to review how your business' calls route before deciding how Iris should be implemented.

Method 1: As a Destination for Calls During a Specific Time

Some companies may prefer that Iris only be used during a specific time, such as their business hours or times they are busy (e.g., meetings, lunches, etc.). This can be done by adjusting the answering rules of a user or Inbound Routing User that are being utilized to perform time-of-day routing.

1. Navigate to the Users page.
   
2. Use the search bar to find the user that receives calls from your main phone number.
   

   Quick Tip: For a whole business or a specific site/location, an Inbound Routing User is usually the first destination for calls to a phone number. This routing user's sole purpose is to handle the time-of-day routing of the business/site. 

   To review your phone numbers and check the destinations for calls going to them, navigate to the Inventory page.

   

    
3. Click the Edit icon next to the user and select Answering Rules.
   
4. Click the Edit icon next to the answering rule of a specific time frame where Iris should handle calls.
   
5. In Call Forwarding section of the Edit menu, select User - 40000 (Iris AI Assistant) for the Always box.
   
6. Click the Save button.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for any other answering rules that need to be updated.
8. Place a test call to your phone number during the time Iris is active to confirm calls are routing as intended.

Method 2: For Unanswered Calls from a Call Queue

Some business may prefer to have an AI Agent used as a last resort for when all of their team members are busy. To do this, Iris can be set as a queue's destination for unanswered calls. 

1. Navigate to the Call Queues page.
   
2. Click the name of the queue or the Edit icon next to the queue needing adjustment.
   
3. Go to the In Queue Options tab.
   
4. Adjust the following to set Iris as the destination for unanswered calls:
   • Queue Ring Timeout (sec) - If needed, use the slider to adjust how long agents in the queue should ring (in seconds) before a call is counted as unanswered.
   • If unanswered - Make sure Forward to destination is selected.
   • Forward Destination - Type and select User - 40000 (Iris AI Assistant).
     
5. Click the Save button.
6. If needed, repeat steps 2-5 for any other call queues needing this change.
7. Place a test call to the queue and have your team not answer your call to check that your unanswered call routes to Iris.

Method 3: As the Destination of an Auto Attendant

If you have an existing auto attendant that you would like to still use as a greeting or to give callers specific options before they interact with Iris, you can set Iris as a Dial Pad Menu option. 

To set Iris as the destination for calls when a specific option is selected in an auto attendant, do the following:

1. Navigate to the Auto Attendants page.
   
2. Click the name of the auto attendant used during the afterhours.
   
3. In the Dial Pad Menu section, click the number that callers should press to reach Iris. 
   
4. Update the Menu Prompt of the auto attendant to ensure it mentions that the caller can follow an option to interact with an AI Assistant. 
   To do so, click the Edit icon in the Menu Prompt section.
   
5. In the Manage Audio menu, adjust the greeting to mention that callers can press an option to speak with Iris.
   
   

   Quick Tip: If you would like the auto attendant to send callers to Iris without the caller needing to press a button, you can say “please stay on the line” instead.

    
6. Click the Save button.
7. In the Choose a new application section, select User. 
   
8. In the Choose the user box, type “Iris” or “40000” and select the 40000 (Iris AI Assistant) user.
   
9. Click the Save button.
10. To have the auto attendant send callers to Iris automatically, click the Options button.
11. In the Options menu, adjust these two options based off preference:
    
    • If no key is pressed - If the caller should be sent directly to Iris if they caller does not press any keys.
    • If unassigned key is pressed - If the caller should be sent to Iris if they press any key that is not set to send callers to a destination. 
      

      Quick Tip: This option may get set to send callers to Iris anyways if Iris will be the only option for the auto attendant and as a backup, just in case the caller is confused and not sure what to press.

       
12. Click the Done button and click the Save button again. 

Method 4: As the Only Destination for a Phone Number

If you are not concerned with your business needing time-of-day routing, you can set a phone number you own to solely route calls to Iris. 

1. Navigate to the Inventory page of the web portal to view your list of phone numbers.
   
2. Click the phone number or the Edit icon next to the phone number that needs adjustment.
   
3. in the Edit menu, adjust the following to set Iris as the phone number's destination for calls.
   • Treatment - Select User.
   • User - Type and select 40000 (Iris AI Assistant). 
   • Notes - If needed, add any special notes about this phone number. 
     
4. Click the Save button.
5. If needed, repeat steps 2-4 for any other phone numbers needing this change. 
6. Place a test call to the phone numbers that were changed to confirm that Iris is in use.

Create an Additional Iris Assistant

1. In the Assistants section, click the Add icon. 
   
2. In the New assistant menu, select how you want to create the new assistant. 
   
   

   Help Me Create an Assistant

   1. In the Assistants section of the Iris page, click the Add + icon. 
   

   2. In the New assistant menu, select Help me create an assistant.

   3. In the Pick an industry section, select the industry your organization is a part of. 
   

   4. In the Use case section, select the type of tasks your assistant will handle that relates to the industry selected in the prior step. 
   

   5. In the Complete your assistant menu, input the following:
   
       •  Assistant name - Type a name for the assistant for identifying the assistant later. 
       •  Website (optional) - If you have a website that you would like your Iris assistant to train itself from, paste the website's address. 
       •  Main goal - Type a description of the assistant's purpose and how the assistant should handle calls.

   6. Click the Create assistant button.

   Quick Tip: The System prompt used by this assistant will be generated based off the Industry, Use case, and Main goal selected while creating the assistant. 

   

    

   6. Give some time for your new Iris assistant to be generated.
   

    

    

    

   Blank Assistant

   1. In the Assistants section of the Iris page, click the Add + icon. 
   

   2. In the New assistant menu, select Blank assistant. 
   

   3. In the Complete your assistant menu, type a name for the assistant in the Assistant name box. 
   

   4. Live Mode - 
   

   5. Click the Create assistant button.

    
3. Follow the Manage Your Assistant's Settings section to make sure the new assistant has its features and settings customize to meet your organization's needs. 
4. Follow the dropdown below to deploy the new assistant so that callers can start interacting with the assistant.
   

   Deploy the New Assistant

   Step 1: Create a User for the New Assistant

   1. If you are not already viewing the assistant's settings, click the Assistant settings icon next to the new assistant. 

   

   2. Go to the Deploy tab.
   

   3. In the Recommended steps section of the Deploy page, click the Create user button.
   

   ✔ Since these changes were made automatically, steps 1 and 2 of the Deploy Iris list will now be completed.

   

    

    

   Step 2: 

    

    

Review and Adjust Your Business Info for Iris

Before allowing Iris to fully handle calls, it is recommended to check the Business information listed in the Iris page's settings to confirm the information it has for your business is thorough and up to date.

To check your Business Information in the Iris page…

1. Go to the Settings tab of the main Iris page. 
    
2. In the Settings menu, go to the Business information tab.
   

Check the following sections to make sure Iris has an accurate description of your business, its services, and your operating hours

• Training sources - If you change your business' name or your website's URL, make sure that these options are up to date.
  
  If you click the Update button to adjust these, use the Update training sources menu to have Iris retrain itself using your updated Google business profile or Website. 
  
• Business information - If needed, update the Name, Description, and Address of your business so that Iris gives callers this information accurately when asked. You can also update Iris' list of your services anytime your business adds a new product or service that callers can now request. 
  
• Opening hours - Verify that the business hours listed are correct.
  
  If you notice that these hours need to be updated, click the Update button and use the Update opening hours menu to select the days and times your business is open for.
  

Manage Your Assistant's Settings

There are a variety of settings that you can adjust for your Iris Assistants to fine-tune their personality, instructions for specific situations, and more. 

To view the settings of an Assistant, hover over the Assistant and click the Assistant settings icon.

In the Assistant's settings, you can do things like, adjust the assistant's voice, pick an AI model for Iris to use, set up alerts, create transfers for Iris to use, and much more!

Configure your Assistant

Create a Custom Welcome Message

By default, the new Assistant will generate a unique greeting for each caller based off the instructions in its System Prompt. 

If you have a preferred script that Iris should use for its introductory greeting, you can type out what you would prefer Iris to say in the Welcome message box. 

To find the Welcome message field, scroll down to the bottom of the Assistant tab.

 

For the welcome message you create, it is recommended to include the following:

• The name of your business.
• Your company's motto if you would like to include it.
• A description of how Iris, an AI Assistant, can help handle their call.
• An ending sentence that prompts the caller to respond with what they are looking to accomplish, such as “How can I help you today?".
  

  Note: After this welcome message plays, Iris will pause and listen for what the caller is requesting. To avoid confusion, make sure Iris asks what they need. 

   

Pick a Voice for Iris

By default, Iris will use the voice, Carina. There are many other voices that can be used instead. To preview these voices and find one that works best for you…

1. Click the voice that is currently in use.
   
2. Hover over a voice you want to preview and click the Play button that appears over their picture. 
   
3. If you are happy with a voice, select the voice. 
   
   

   ✔ You should now see the new voice selected. 

   

    

Iris Assistant Tools

Iris assistants offer additional features, or tools, that can be implemented to enhance how they handle calls. These tools include transferring callers to users, call queues, and voicemailboxes, allowing callers to ask to be transferred to a user by name, texting links to callers that ask for specific information and agrees to a text, and taking down a message with a caller's information when a specific condition for the call is met. 

Add Transfer Destinations

Some callers that interact with Iris may ask to speak with a specific department or person. You can set where calls should be forwarded when a specific person/department is mentioned.

1. In the Call transfers section of the Settings, click the Add transfer button to add a destination for transferred calls.
   
2. In the Add transfer menu, input the following:
   
   • Extension - Type the name or extension number of the name, call queue, or auto attendant that would receive the transferred call.
   • Transfer to - Select whether to have the user ring or to send the caller directly to this user's voicemailbox. 
   • When to transfer - Type a description of an event for Iris to listen for to trigger a transfer to this person, department, or voicemailbox.
   • Message - If a custom message is needed before the transfer is initiated, type a script for Iris to announce to the caller. 
3. Click the Save button. 
4. Repeats steps 1-3 for each keyword and transfer that needs to be added.
   
5. To make sure the transfers work as you intended, click the Make a test call button at the top-right of the Settings menu and ask for these people/departments by name. 
   

The Directory Tool

Many auto attendants may use the Dial-by-Name Directory to allow callers to search for and contact a team member directly. This can also be done within Iris using its Directory feature. 

If you would like to try out this feature, click the Enable directory tool toggle.

Text Links

Iris can text a link to a caller after a keyword or scenario is met during a call. 

To add links that this assistant can share with callers…

1. Click the Add link button.
   
2. In the Add scenario menu, input the following:
   
3. Click the Save button.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each link that should be added. 
   

Message Taking

Iris assistants can record a message from the caller when specific conditions are met. This can be a great alternative to having Iris transfer the caller to a mailbox. 

1. Click the Add prompt button.
   
2. in the Add message taking menu, type instructions for a scenario where the assistant should take a message from the caller. 
   
3. Click the Save button.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each scenario where the assistant should record messages from callers. 
   

Analysis Settings

On the Analysis tab of an assistant's settings, the assistant can be set to collect specific data while interacting with callers. 

In the Contact fields section, select whether or not this assistant should collect a caller's name and/or email address for reference later. 

Other data outside of the caller's name and email can be collected through custom fields. To learn more about creating custom data extraction fields, review the dropdown below:

Alert Settings

Iris assistants can send alert notifications to individuals when specific conditions are met during a call. The triggers that start an alert include, spoken keywords, caller sentiment, and messages taken by Iris. These alerts can be sent as an email and SMS notification.

To create an automated alert for this assistant's calls…

1. Click the Add alert button.
2. Follow one of the dropdowns below depending on the type of alert that needs to be added:
   

   Keyword Alerts

   In the Add alert menu, input the following:
   

       •  Trigger - Select Keyword match. 
       •  Name - Type a name for identifying this alert later. 
       •  Match mode - Select one of the following depending on 
            –  Whole word - Select this if the keyword spoken by the caller must be the whole word. This excludes any words that have a keyword as a smaller part of the word (e.g., “support” must be said, so words like “supported” and “supportive” are excluded).
            –  Substring - Select this if the alert should be triggered when any of the keywords are spoken by the caller regardless of if the keyword happens to be part of a different word. 
       •  Keywords - Type out keywords that will trigger this alert when spoken by a caller. 

    

    

   Caller Sentiment Alert

   In the Add alert menu, input the following:

   

       •  Trigger - Select Caller sentiment. 
       •  Name - Type a name for identifying this alert later. 
       •  Caller sentiment - Select whether a call with Positive, Neutral, or Negative sentiment should trigger this alert. 

    

    

   Message Taken Alerts

   In the Add alert menu, input the following:

   

       •  Trigger - Select Message taken (callback request). 
       •  Name - Type a name for identifying this alert later. 

    

    
3. In the Email recipients section, type the email address that should receive an email notification when this alert is triggered. 
   To add additional email addresses, click the Add recipient button. 
   
4. If a text should be sent to someone when this alert is triggered, type the phone number that should be texted in the SMS recipients box. 
   To add additional email addresses, click the Add SMS recipient button. 
   
5. Click the Save button.
6. Repeat steps 1-4 for each alert the assistant should send notifications for. 
   

Advanced Settings

In an assistant's Advanced settings, the way the assistant speaks, pronounces things, and handles specific call scenarios can be adjusted. 

Knowledge Bases

Iris assistants can be assigned Knowledge Bases that they can train themselves on so that more in-depth answers can be given to callers. These knowledge bases include 

1. Click the Add knowledge base button.
2. In the Add knowledge base menu, type a name for this knowledge base to make selecting it later simpler.
   
3. Click the Create button. 
4. On the new page for managing the new Knowledge Base, click the Add source button to add information for the knowledge base. 
   
5. In the Add source menu, 
   
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each source that should be referenced by an assistant in this knowledge base. 
   
7. Click the Publish button. 
   
   

   ✔ After clicking the Publish button, the sources added to the knowledge base will start processing.

   

   After the knowledge base is successfully processed, the knowledge base will show as Complete and will now be able to be assigned to an Iris assistant. 

   

    

Assign a Knowledge Base to an Assistant

After knowledge bases have been saved and processed, they can be selected in the settings of Iris assistants. Assigning a knowledge base to an assistant will allow it to give more in-depth answers to questions using the sources provided in the knowledge base. For example, if an assistant has a source that lists available products, the assistant can give the names of those products to a caller that asks. 

To set an Iris assistant to use a knowledge base…

1. ln the Assistants section, click the Assistant settings icon next to an assistant that should be assigned a knowledge base. 
   
2. In the Knowledge base section of the assistant's settings, select a completed knowledge base that has been successfully processed. 
   

Review Calls Handled by Iris

When Iris begins handling calls, its interactions with callers will be recorded and transcribed so that they can be reviewed. 

Reviewing these call's transcripts and recordings can help you identify things, such as:

• Common questions asked by callers.
• Any patterns of issues or concerns being reported.
• Information Iris missed that may be due to that information not being included in the Business information tab of Iris' Settings. 

Each call in the Inbox will include the audio of the call, a summary generated by Iris, the option to view the call's transcript, if any links were texted to the caller, and any data that was collected via the assistant's Analysis settings. 

If needed, a copy of a call can be saved to your PC by clicking the download icon next to the call's playback bar. 

Click View transcript next to Iris' Summary to review the dialogue of the call. 

Call Traffic Insights

The Insights tab of Iris can be a great tool to use to review the days and times your company receives calls and any trends in missed calls. 

This page will also include a list of recent calls where there may have been an issue that warrants investigation. 

This page could be useful for performing tasks, such as call center forecasting and investigating issues with call routing or call flow. If there is a sudden increase in missed calls during a specific day and time, that could be an indicator that there may be a need for more coverage for phone calls during that time period.