Rules: who gets which treatment
A rule tells your assistant: when a certain caller or request comes in, then put them through, take a message, refer them to e-mail or decline.
Rules decide how your assistant deals with particular callers: whom it puts through, whom it takes a message from and whom it politely turns away. Without rules it treats every caller the same. This page explains how a rule is built and in which order rules apply, with three examples.
How a rule is built
Every rule has a Rule name, a condition under When and an action under Then.
| Condition | Matches when … |
|---|---|
| Reason for calling (AI detection) | the caller's request fits your Description of the request |
| A VIP contact calls | the number belongs to a contact you marked as VIP |
| A known contact calls | the number is in your Contacts |
| An unknown caller | the number is not in your contacts, including withheld numbers |
| Number withheld | the caller withholds their number |
| Specific phone numbers | the number is on the rule's list |
| Time window | the call comes in on one of the chosen Weekdays within the set times |
| Action | What your assistant does |
|---|---|
| Transfer straight through | puts the caller through; if that is not possible, it takes a message |
| Qualify, then transfer or book | asks for name, company and request, then puts them through; if nobody answers, it notes a callback number or offers an appointment if booking is set up |
| Take a message | asks for name, request and callback number |
| Politely refer to e-mail | gives the rule's E-mail address for offers in writing and takes no callback number |
| Politely decline | says politely that there is no interest and ends the conversation without a callback number |
| Block and end immediately | ends the call |
| Continue normally | handles the call as if there were no rule |
For a transfer you choose under Transfer target whose phone rings, see Transfers.
The order in which rules apply
The card says Order = priority. In practice:
- Before the greeting, your assistant checks every rule that can be decided from the number or the time, top to bottom. The first one that matches applies to the whole call. A rule with Block and end immediately then ends the call before the greeting, and the call does not count towards your minutes.
- During the call, it checks the rules with Reason for calling (AI detection) as soon as the caller has said who they are and what they want. It picks the rule that clearly fits. If none does, it carries on normally. If a rule with an action other than Continue normally already matched before the greeting, this check is skipped.
- Time windows use the time zone of your business hours.
- Rules switched to Off are not checked.
Two rules marked Managed from Contacts can appear at the top: Blocklist (contacts) and Always put through (contacts). They are created when you block someone, or have someone always put through, under Contacts, or mark a call as spam in the Inbox. You change them only there. Your own rules sit below them.
Create a rule
- Open Assistants, choose your assistant and stay on the Behaviour tab.
- In the Rules card, click Rule.
- Enter a Rule name.
- Choose the condition under When and fill in the fields below it.
- Choose the action under Then.
- Click Apply. The rule is saved at once and applies from the next call.
- A new rule goes to the end of the list. Use Move up to move it into place.
Open lets you edit or delete a rule. The switch in its row turns it off and on again.
Describe a rule in your own words
Instead of choosing the condition and the action yourself, you can also describe a rule in one sentence. The field sits at the top of the Rules card when Ask scoco can propose changes.
- Type a sentence into the Describe a rule field, for example "Refer sales reps politely to info@example.com".
- Click Propose.
- Ask scoco shows the proposal as a card right below, with When and Then. Check both.
- Click Apply, or Open in the form to adjust the rule first.
Nothing changes until you apply it. The new rule goes to the end of the list, and Undo takes it out again. Continue in Ask scoco lets you test the proposal or ask more; the conversation is in your history there.
Three examples
Refer sales calls to e-mail. When: Reason for calling (AI detection) with the description "an unsolicited sales or insurance offer". Then: Politely refer to e-mail to info@example.com. When a caller offers you software, your assistant gives them the address and ends the call. When someone asks whether you offer something, the rule does not apply.
Put VIP customers through. When: A VIP contact calls. Then: Transfer straight through to the transfer target "Workshop". The rule matches before the greeting. Your assistant greets the caller and puts them through. If nobody answers, it takes a message.
Messages only in the evening and at night. A time window cannot cross midnight, so this takes two rules with a Time window on every weekday and Take a message: 20:00 to 00:00 and 00:00 to 07:00. To 00:00 means the end of the day.
Common problems
From must be before To. For a window over midnight, create two rules, as in the example above.
A rule never applies. If a rule further up matches the same call, that one applies. Also check that the switch is set to On.
Your assistant does not put the caller through despite the rule. If no transfer target is set, or your status is Messages only, it takes a message instead.