Answer the phone when you can't

Build-along · ~40 min at your own keyboard

Every missed call is a customer who may call someone else. An AI line can pick up, take the caller's name, number and need, and get the message to you in a minute. It can also do real harm. It can quote a price you never agreed to, promise a date you cannot keep, or keep a caller who wants a person stuck in a loop. So this lesson is mostly rules, not software. The line says it is an AI in its first sentence. It never gives a price, makes a promise or books anything unless you wrote and approved the exact words. Anyone who asks for a person is passed to you at once. If it records calls, it says so at the start, because some states require everyone on a call to agree to recording. And it never calls anyone: you make every callback. The assistants you chat with do not answer a business phone line. You write the rules with them, then build the line on a hosted voice-agent service such as Goodcall, Retell AI or Bland (prices are dated below). You test it with one call of your own, and a person reads it, before it takes a real call.

Ladder · Level 5The long version: Building with AI ↗

Human review · Before the line takes a real call

Steve Gustafson or the class lead: Read the line's rules and the test call. Check it says it is an AI first, the never-list holds, a person is reachable on request, and the recording rule fits your state.

The rubric they use →

The coach's check below is not this review. This lesson stays provisional until a person has looked at it with you.

Your starter: Phone line rules

Instructions

Make it yours: Put in your business, your name, how the message reaches you and your real approved answers. Keep the safety rules. Delete any approved line you have not checked. Then paste the rules with your own test call under a TRANSCRIPT heading.

PHONE LINE RULES for [business]

OPENING (say this first, on every call)
"Hi, this is the AI assistant for [business]." If recording is on, add: "This call is recorded so [your name] can hear your message." Then: "How can I help?"

YOUR JOB
- Take the caller's name, callback number, what they need, and the best time to call back.
- Read the number back to check it.
- Answer only questions on the APPROVED list, in those exact words.

NEVER, unless the exact words are on the APPROVED list
- Give a price, an estimate or a discount.
- Promise a date, a time, or that the job can be done.
- Book, move or cancel anything.
- Give advice of any kind: legal, medical, safety, or how to fix something.
- Take card numbers, bank details or passwords.
- Call anyone. A person makes every callback.

HAND OFF to [your name], at once, when
- The caller asks for a person, in any words. Do not argue or ask again.
- The caller is upset, or says it is urgent.
- The question is not on the APPROVED list.
How: [transfer to your phone, or send the message to you by text or email].
Say: "I'll pass this to [your name] now. They'll call you back at [the caller's number]."
If someone may be in danger right now: "Please hang up and call 911." Then send the message marked urgent.

APPROVED (answers you wrote and checked; leave empty if none)
- Hours:
- Area we serve:

RECORDING: [on, with the line in the OPENING / off]

The coach checks that what you paste back is your own work. The starter pasted back unchanged won't pass.

Do this

0/8

Checkpoints

▸You should now see written rules with an opening that says it is an AI, a never-list, a hand-off rule and a recording line.
▸You should now see the line answering calls on a test number, using your rules.
▸You should now see a transcript of one test call where the line says it is an AI first, gives no price, and passes you to a person when you ask.

The three ways this goes wrong

The AI disclosure comes after a long greeting, or only when the caller asks 'Is this a real person?' — Move it into the first sentence: 'Hi, this is the AI assistant for [your business].' Call again and check it is the first thing you hear.
You asked for a person and the line said 'I can't help with that' or asked you to repeat yourself. — Rewrite the hand-off rule so any request for a person goes straight to the hand-off: a transfer, or your name and number taken and sent on with a time for the callback. Test it with three wordings, such as 'a real person', 'the owner' and 'a human'.
The line records calls but never says so. — Add the recording sentence to the opening, on every call. Or turn recording off and keep only the written message. Then make a new test call.

Dated facts in this lesson: As far as Flint found, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini do not answer a business phone line. Google's Gemini calling feature is outbound: it calls businesses for you. Microsoft's inbound voice agents are part of Copilot Studio with Dynamics 365 Contact Center, an enterprise product, not the Copilot assistant (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); On Feb 8, 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices are 'artificial' voices under the TCPA (FCC 24-17, CG Docket 23-362). A call placed with an AI voice needs the person's prior express consent (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); In Aug 2024 the FCC proposed a rule that callers using an AI-generated voice say so at the start of each call (FCC 24-84). Comments closed in Oct 2024. Flint found no final rule as of Oct 5, 2026; this status is not yet confirmed on the FCC docket (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); About a dozen states require everyone on a call to agree before it is recorded. The list most often given is California, Connecticut (for civil claims), Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. A call between states can fall under the stricter state's rule. Flint has not yet confirmed this list against each state's law; check your own state (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Some states require a bot to say it is not a person. California has required it for bots that sell online since July 1, 2019 (Business and Professions Code 17941). Utah requires it when a customer asks, since May 7, 2025. Maine requires it for chatbots used in trade, from 2025. The Utah and Maine details are not yet confirmed on the statute pages (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Goodcall Starter is $79 a month per agent, with unlimited minutes (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Retell AI is pay as you go, about $0.07 to $0.31 a minute depending on the model and voice, with no monthly minimum (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Bland's Start plan is $0.14 a minute with no platform fee (researched Oct 5, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it).

Share what happened

Paste your line's rules. Then, under a heading that says TRANSCRIPT, paste one test call where you asked for a price and then asked for a person. Add one line on how the message reached you.

Strip API keys, passwords, and tokens before you paste. Swap them for [KEY].

🔒 Don't paste confidential, personal-health, or payment info.