---
name: al-319-write-the-call-script-and-rules-for-an-ai-receptionist-or
description: "Before you switch on any AI receptionist or after-hours answering service, you need a script it follows: how it greets callers, which details it collects, which questions it may answer from your facts, and the situations where it must stop and get a person. This prompt writes that script for your business type, with versions for HVAC and trades, law offices and medical or dental offices. Use when the user wants help with phone & reception (customer support) for a small business."
---

# Write the call script and rules for an AI receptionist or answering service: greeting, intake questions, what it may answer, and when it must hand off to a person

Before you switch on any AI receptionist or after-hours answering service, you need a script it follows: how it greets callers, which details it collects, which questions it may answer from your facts, and the situations where it must stop and get a person. This prompt writes that script for your business type, with versions for HVAC and trades, law offices and medical or dental offices.

## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts.

- Name, type: e.g. HVAC / plumbing / law office / dental or medical…
- Area
- Hours
- Services, prices or price ranges you're happy to quote, booking…
- Name or 'take a message'

## Instructions

Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket].

Write the call script and rules for an AI receptionist for my business. Business: [name, type: e.g. HVAC / plumbing / law office / dental or medical office / salon / other], service area: [area], hours: [hours]. Facts it may use (and nothing else): [services, prices or price ranges you're happy to quote, booking rules, payment options, parking, languages]. Calendar/booking tool: [name or 'take a message']. Write: 1) a greeting under 15 words that says it's an automated assistant and gives the business name; 2) the intake questions in order (name, callback number, reason for calling, address or matter type, urgency), asked one at a time; 3) answers to the 10 questions callers ask most for this type of business, using only my facts; 4) hand-off rules: when to transfer or promise a call back, with an exact sentence for each. Always hand off for: emergencies (gas smell, flooding, no heat in freezing weather; for medical offices chest pain, trouble breathing or any emergency: tell them to call 911 or local emergency services), anyone upset, cancellations, prices not listed, and for law offices anything that asks for legal advice; 5) things it must never do: give legal or medical advice, promise arrival times or outcomes, take card numbers by voice, or ask for more personal or health details than needed to book; 6) the closing line and the summary it should text or email me after each call. Add a short version of the script for after-hours calls.

## Safety checks (share these with the user)

- Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes.
- Anything legal, tax or compliance-related is a first draft for a qualified person to check. It is not professional advice, and clause references and deadlines must be checked against the source.
- Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings.
- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
- Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed.

## About this skill

- Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, your AI receptionist or answering-service app
- Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-319-write-the-call-script-and-rules-for-an-ai-receptionist-or-an/
- To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/