# Change the greeting

> You change the greeting under Assistants → Behaviour; it must always say that an AI is speaking, or the dashboard refuses to save it.

https://scoco.ai/en/docs/greeting/

The greeting is the first thing a caller hears from your assistant. You write it yourself, on one condition: it must say that an AI is speaking. This page covers which wording counts, how to change the greeting and what happens when the dashboard refuses it.

## What your callers hear

Your assistant speaks the greeting word for word, exactly as it stands in the field. It neither rephrases nor shortens it. After that it carries on the conversation freely. If a caller does not speak German, the assistant switches to their language only after the greeting, and says again in that language that an AI is speaking. See [Languages](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/languages/).

Three kinds of caller do not hear the greeting straight away:

- Callers that a rule with **Block and end immediately** recognises before the conversation starts. They hear a short announcement in German, then the call ends. See [Rules](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/rules/).
- Known callers who are put straight through to you. If you do not answer, your assistant picks up with the greeting. See [Put known callers through](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/known-callers/).
- Every caller while your status is **Paused**: your phone rings first.

## The mandatory AI disclosure

The EU AI Act (Art. 50) requires that callers are told at the start that they are talking to an AI. scoco checks this twice: when you save, and before every single call. You can reword the disclosure, but you cannot remove it.

The check looks for one of the German phrases below. Upper and lower case do not matter, and the feminine form counts just the same:

| Phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| künstliche Intelligenz | artificial intelligence | „… Sie sprechen mit einer künstlichen Intelligenz." |
| KI-Assistent, KI-Telefonassistent | AI assistant, AI phone assistant | „Hier ist die KI-Assistentin der Praxis …" |
| digitaler Assistent, digitaler KI-Assistent | digital assistant | „Guten Tag, hier ist der digitale Assistent von …" |
| Sprachassistent | voice assistant | „Hier spricht die Sprachassistentin von …" |
| virtueller Assistent | virtual assistant | „Sie sprechen mit dem virtuellen Assistenten von …" |

The word „KI" (AI) on its own is not enough, and neither is „Bot" or „automatische Ansage" (automated message).

When you save, the phrase must also end within the first 80 characters of the greeting, about four seconds into it when spoken. That keeps the disclosure at the very start. An older greeting that says it later stays in use until you change it.

## Change the greeting

1. Open **Assistants** and choose your assistant.
2. On the **Behaviour** tab, the **Greeting** card is at the top.
3. Edit the text. Keep one of the phrases above in it.
4. Click **Save** in the save bar. **Discard** takes you back to the saved text.
5. Call your assistant's scoco number yourself to hear the greeting ([how](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/test-call/#call-it-yourself)), or check it with a **Test call**.

The new greeting applies from the next call.

> **Tip:**
>
> Your assistant introduces itself in the greeting. If the form does not match the voice you chose, for example „Telefonassistent" (the masculine form) with a female voice, a note on the **Voice & language** tab points it out.

## When the greeting is refused

If none of the phrases is in the text, the dashboard does not save. A message at the top of the workspace says that the AI disclosure is missing.

What that means:

- Your callers keep hearing the previous greeting.
- Your edited text stays in the field. Add the disclosure and save again.
- The save bar saves every change to this assistant in one step. If the greeting is refused, nothing else from that step is saved either, including changes on other tabs.

## Common problems

**The text contains „KI" and is still refused.** The word on its own does not count. Write, for example, „KI-Assistentin" or „künstliche Intelligenz".

**An English greeting is refused.** The check only knows the German phrases in the table. Write the greeting in German. Your assistant switches to the caller's language afterwards, see [Languages](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/languages/).

**Other changes were not applied.** They were not saved because the greeting was refused in the same step. They are still in their fields as long as you stay on the page. Fix the greeting and click **Save** again.

_Last checked: 26 October 2026_