- The greeting text, with the company name and the note about the assistant
- The three to six details a call has to leave behind
- The emergency rule: an urgent call is not recorded at all
- Voicemail as the fallback if the assistant is unreachable
AI phone assistantVoicemail
A greeting can ask nicely. It cannot ask questions.
Instead of an answering machine for the company, CoderConda puts an AI phone assistant on the line that asks: the reason, the call-back time and the three details that would otherwise go on the tape. Most company greetings only say nobody is there.
“This is Becker Heating and Plumbing in Bergisch Gladbach.”
“We call back by six.”
“After the tone, please tell us your name, your number and what it is about.”
“For a burst pipe or a heating failure, please dial our emergency number directly.”
Beep · the tape starts here
01 — The greeting
Four sentences, in this order.
You can record it yourself today. Every sentence has a reason, and it is given alongside.
Sentence 01
Name the company
Anybody unsure they dialled correctly records nothing. The name comes first, not the apology.
Sentence 02
Say when you will call back
“By six” is a commitment a caller can hold on to. “We will be in touch” is not.
Sentence 03
Ask for three details
Name, number and what it is about. Three, because nobody memorises five while they are waiting.
Sentence 04
Take the emergency out
Somebody with a burst pipe should not be recording a message. The second number for urgent cases belongs in the last sentence.
02 — The limit
A greeting makes the caller do the work. The assistant takes it off them.
| On the call | A good greeting | Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Remembering the details | A good greetingThe caller, while waiting | AssistantNobody, each one is asked separately |
| Structure of the call | A good greetingThe caller has to find it | AssistantFixed, question by question |
| When something is missing | A good greetingNoticed on playback | AssistantNoticed during the call |
| Who catches mistakes | A good greetingNobody, until the call back | AssistantThe caller, during the read-back |
| Work for the company | A good greetingListen and type it up | AssistantRead |
Spoken in English (AI-generated voice) · subtitles in English · Music: Fear Being Unfelt, Ingrid Hägglund
03 — The setup
The greeting stays. As the assistant’s first sentence.
Sometimes voicemail is the right answer. Then I tell you so.
- At low call volumes a monthly price does not pay for itself. A rewritten greeting costs nothing and still helps.
- Anybody who already answers nearly every call needs a rule for the exception, not an assistant.
- The assistant asks and writes down. It quotes no prices; you settle that on the call back.
04 — Questions
Three questions about greeting and voicemail.
01Can I keep my existing greeting?
The text yes, provided it names the company. What gets added is the sentence that a digital assistant is speaking. It goes at the start rather than the end, because by then a caller is already answering.
02Does voicemail stay?
Yes, as the fallback. If the connection to the assistant drops, voicemail takes the call as before and nothing goes nowhere.
03What about the old messages on the system?
They stay where they are. The assistant sits on the diversion and does not touch the provider’s storage.
Another question? I settle it with you on the first call.
05 — Appointment
Pick a time.Fifteen minutes.
I tell you in the call whether an assistant makes sense for you. If a new greeting is enough, I say that too.
15 minutesno obligationwith me personally
Damjan SavićIntro call · 15 minutes
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