Set up and deploy AI Receptionist | FieldCamp

FieldCamp AI Receptionist uses one saved agent configuration across its supported customer channels. Set the agent's instructions and voice, train approved knowledge, test the saved behavior, enable the Receptionist, and then deploy only the channels you are ready to monitor.

The Receptionist workspace includes Agent, Knowledge, Rules, Webhook, and Settings. This guide covers setup and deployment workflows for Agent, Knowledge, testing, Webhook, Settings, and channels.

Before you begin

Only the Account Owner, an Admin, or a Super Admin can open Receptionist and change its configuration. Review Roles and permissions before delegating setup.

Complete the prerequisite for every channel you intend to deploy:

If a prerequisite is missing, connect that channel before enabling it. Do not use a production number, mailbox, or booking page for the first test unless the team is ready to handle unexpected routing.

Recommended setup order

Follow this order to avoid activating a channel before its agent is ready:

1. Write and save the Agent configuration.
2. Add, review, and train Knowledge sources.
3. Test the saved agent in Voice and Chat.
4. Turn on Receptionist Enabled and save that master status by itself.
5. Refresh or reopen Settings.
6. Enable one customer channel at a time.
7. Save channel modes and behavior settings.
8. Test each deployed channel from the customer's side.
9. Add the webhook only if an external system needs text access.

Phone and email activation can fail if the Receptionist master status has not already been saved. That is why the master status is saved before channel activation.

Configure the Agent

1. Select Receptionist in the main sidebar.
2. Open Agent.
3. Complete the personality and instruction fields.
4. Choose a voice provider, voice, language, and model.
5. Select Save Changes.
6. Wait for confirmation before testing or opening Settings.

Agent field reference

Provider-specific default text-to-speech models are Cartesia sonic-3, ElevenLabs eleven_turbo_v2_5, and OpenAI tts-1.

Write a useful System Prompt

A production prompt should cover:

• Business name, service area, business hours, and supported services.
• What the Receptionist may book, change, quote, or collect.
• Information it must gather before taking action.
• Topics it must not guess about, such as final price or emergency advice.
• When it should hand the conversation to a person.
• What to say when no verified answer exists.
• Privacy boundaries for payment, health, access, or customer data.

Avoid putting frequently changing service details in the prompt when they can be maintained as a Knowledge source.

Use the AI writing controls

You can write the fields manually or use FieldCamp's generation actions.

Generate all personality fields

1. Select Generate All with AI.
2. Describe the business in up to 2,000 characters.
3. Generate the four fields.
4. Review and edit every generated result.
5. Select Apply All.
6. Select Save Changes on the Agent page.

Apply All replaces the current System Prompt, Speaking Style, First Message, and Returning Caller values, but it does not save them to the Receptionist until you select Save Changes.

Generate or refine one field

Use the sparkle action beside a field. When the field is blank, it generates a suggestion. When text already exists, it refines that text. Applying the result replaces the current field, so copy any wording you need to preserve before applying.

The generator is instructed to target these output lengths:

These are generation constraints, not documented limits for manual entry.

Build the Knowledge source library

Use Knowledge for approved business information that should be maintained separately from the agent personality.

1. Open Knowledge.
2. Turn on Enable Knowledge Base to reveal the source manager.
3. Select Add.
4. Upload a document, import a website, or add text.
5. Wait until the source is Ready.
6. Test an answer that depends on the new source.

Upload a document

1. Select Add > Upload document.
2. Choose one or more PDF, DOC, DOCX, or TXT files.
3. Wait while FieldCamp uploads each file and refreshes the source list.
4. Confirm each file reaches Ready.

FieldCamp derives the source title from the filename and uploads multiple selected files one at a time. Upload limits can vary with the workspace environment and its network proxy, so this guide does not promise one fixed maximum size.

Import a website

1. Select Add > Import website.
2. Enter the required website URL.
3. Optionally enter a display title.
4. Select Preview Website.
5. Review the extraction method, character count, estimated chunks, warnings, and issues.
6. Correct the extracted content if needed.
7. Select Add and Train.
8. Wait for Ready.

The reviewed content cannot be blank when it is added for training.

Add text

1. Select Add > Add text.
2. Enter a Title.
3. Enter the approved Content.
4. Add the source.
5. Wait for Ready.

Both Title and Content are required. This source type is useful for short policies, FAQs, service boundaries, and operational notes that do not already exist in a document.

Understand source states

Do not depend on a source in a customer interaction until it is Ready and its answers have been tested.

Maintain a source

Open the action menu beside a source to:

• Review its extracted content.
• Reindex the current source.
• Deactivate or Activate it.
• Delete it.
• Use Save & Retrain after editing extracted content.

Deactivating a source removes its indexed content from active retrieval. Reactivating it queues processing again, so wait for Ready before testing it.

Test the saved Receptionist

The Test Console uses the saved tenant and agent configuration. Unsaved Agent form text is not passed into a test session.

1. Return to Agent and select Test Receptionist.
2. Choose Voice or Chat before connecting.
3. Optionally enter a caller phone number and email to test caller context.
4. Select Connect.
5. For Voice, allow browser microphone access.
6. For Chat, send text or attach an image.
7. End the session when the scenario is complete.
8. Update the Agent or Knowledge configuration, save it, and reconnect for another test.

For Voice, use Mute, Unmute, and End during the session. Expected states include Ready to connect, Connecting, Listening, Disconnected, and Connection failed. Chat shows Type a message when it is ready.

Minimum test checklist

Test more than the happy path:

• The first greeting and a returning-caller greeting.
• A common question with a verified Knowledge answer.
• A question the source library cannot answer.
• A request outside your service area or business rules.
• A booking or service-request intent.
• An escalation request.
• Silence and interruption in Voice mode.
• A message containing an image in Chat mode, if your workflow expects it.

Record wording or routing that needs correction, update the saved configuration, and repeat the same test so the result is comparable.

Enable the Receptionist master status

The System Prompt and First Message must contain text before the Receptionist can be enabled.

1. Confirm the Agent changes are saved.
2. Open Settings in Receptionist.
3. Turn on Receptionist Enabled.
4. Select Save Changes without activating customer channels yet.
5. Wait for success.
6. Refresh or reopen Settings.

If either required field is missing, FieldCamp rejects the enable request and tells you to complete the agent instructions and greeting.

Configure deployment channels

After the master status has been saved, configure one channel at a time.

Because save timing differs by channel, wait for each immediate operation to finish and still select Save Changes after configuring the page.

Online Booking

1. Confirm Online Booking is active.
2. Enable Online Booking in Receptionist Settings.
3. Choose whether the Receptionist should take requests, book one-off jobs, or book recurring jobs.
4. Select Save Changes.
5. Open the public booking page and test the launcher and intended booking path.

Online Booking uses two gates: Enable Knowledge Base controls whether its Receptionist launcher is displayed, and the Online Booking channel toggle controls whether the public session can start. Verify both.

Phone

1. Select an active FieldCamp phone number.
2. Enable the Phone channel.
3. Choose a mode.
4. For No answer, set a timeout from 5 through 60 seconds.
5. Select Save Changes for the mode and timeout.
6. Call the number from an external phone and verify the result.

Phone modes behave as follows when the number does not have an IVR menu. If IVR is enabled, that menu remains the entry flow:

• Always routes calls directly to AI when no IVR menu is configured.
• After hours uses the organization's Company Schedule, timezone, and holiday overrides. Outside business hours, it routes to AI; during business hours, the number follows its normal configured team or IVR flow.
• No answer rings the team first, then fails over to AI after the configured timeout when no IVR menu is configured.

If phone activation fails, confirm that the master status was saved first, a number is selected, and the number still belongs to the current workspace. Disabling the Phone channel restores its previous normal voice handling.

WhatsApp

1. Select an active WhatsApp account.
2. Enable the channel.
3. Choose Always active or After business hours.
4. Select Save Changes.
5. Send a test message from a non-team account.

When the connected account has a usable phone number, the page also provides a scan-to-chat QR code that can be downloaded.

Email

1. Find the connected mailbox.
2. Enable the Receptionist for that mailbox.
3. Choose Always active or After business hours.
4. Wait for the immediate save to finish.
5. Send a test email from an external address.

Each mailbox is controlled separately. Enabling one does not enable every connected email channel.

Configure call behavior

The Behavior controls are visible while the local master toggle is on and are saved with Save Changes.

Choose limits that match the business workflow and the laws and consent requirements that apply to call recording in your location.

Pause or stop a deployment safely

Do not rely on the master switch alone to prove that every channel link is inactive.

1. Disable the Phone channel and wait for its immediate update.
2. Disable each Email mailbox and wait for each immediate update.
3. Turn off Online Booking and WhatsApp channel toggles.
4. Select Save Changes.
5. Refresh or reopen Settings and confirm that every channel toggle remains off.
6. Turn off Receptionist Enabled and save again.
7. Refresh once more and confirm the saved master and channel states.
8. Test the customer-facing phone number, mailbox, WhatsApp account, and booking page.

This sequence removes the individual deployment paths before turning off the overall status.

Connect the optional text webhook

The Webhook tab lets an external system such as n8n, Zapier, Make, or custom code send text to the Receptionist and receive a synchronous text response.

Generate and store the secret

1. Open Webhook.
2. Select Generate.
3. Copy the secret immediately.
4. Copy the ready-to-use request example.
5. Store both in an approved secret manager, not a shared document or message.

The secret appears only after generation. The reference example later replaces it with a placeholder.

Request format

Use the exact webhook URL shown on the page.

POST /api/receptionist/webhook/text
Content-Type: application/json
X-Webhook-Secret: <secret>

{
  "org_id": "<organization id>",
  "message": "What services do you offer?",
  "session_id": "optional-session-id"
}

Request limits:

• message is required, cannot be blank, and has a 4,000-character maximum.
• session_id is optional and has a 128-character maximum.
• The endpoint allows 30 requests per minute per organization.
• The downstream request times out after 50 seconds.

A successful downstream response is returned synchronously and is expected to include values such as:

{
  "reply": "...",
  "session_id": "...",
  "kind": "...",
  "latency_ms": 1234
}

Webhook error reference

An Active webhook status only means a secret exists. It does not prove that the master status, knowledge, or downstream Receptionist service is healthy. Send a safe test request after generation or rotation.

Troubleshooting

Receptionist is missing from the sidebar

Confirm that you are the Account Owner, an Admin, or a Super Admin. If the sidebar was customized, restore or show Receptionist in Customize Sidebar. A non-admin account is redirected away from the page.

Receptionist cannot be enabled

Open Agent, complete System Prompt and First Message, and select Save Changes. Then return to Settings and save Receptionist Enabled before activating a channel.

Test Console says to save settings first

Refresh the page, confirm you are still signed in to the correct workspace, save the Agent settings, and reconnect. If the message persists, contact FieldCamp support.

Voice test cannot hear you

Allow microphone access for FieldCamp in the browser and operating system. Close any other application holding the microphone, reconnect, and confirm the console reaches Listening.

Test Console shows a service or authentication error

That error is not repaired by rewriting the prompt. Contact FieldCamp support with the time of the test and the displayed error.

A Knowledge answer is missing

Confirm the source is Active and Ready, then test a direct question whose answer appears clearly in the source. Reindex it or use Review > Save & Retrain after correcting the extracted content.

Phone activation fails

Save Receptionist Enabled first, refresh Settings, select an active Twilio-backed FieldCamp phone number, and try again. If the number was removed, disconnected, lacks its calling connection, or belongs to another workspace, choose a valid number.

Email or WhatsApp does not respond

Confirm that the specific mailbox or WhatsApp account is active, its own Receptionist toggle is enabled, and the mode applies at the current time. Test from an external account rather than the connected business account.

After hours behaves unexpectedly

Review the organization's Company Schedule, timezone, and holiday overrides. Phone After hours uses that schedule to decide between AI and normal team routing.

A webhook request is unauthorized after rotation

Replace the secret in every calling integration. The previous secret stops working immediately when a new one is generated.

A channel still responds after the master status is off

Disable the individual channel toggle, save it according to that channel's behavior, and test again. Do not use the master status as the only channel shutdown step.

Related articles

• Set up WhatsApp messaging — connect the WhatsApp account required by Receptionist deployment
• Connect Gmail and Outlook — prepare email channels before enabling the Receptionist for a mailbox