Customizing Your AI Secretary
Emily Chen
AI Solutions Expert
Emily specializes in AI communication systems and voice interface design with over 8 years of experience.
In this article
Introduction
One of PhoneShield's most powerful features is the ability to customize your AI secretary to match your personal preferences or professional needs. This guide will walk you through all the customization options available to help you create the perfect AI assistant for your calls.
Why Customization Matters
A well-customized AI secretary can dramatically improve caller experience and make your PhoneShield more effective. Taking the time to personalize your AI's voice, personality, and instructions ensures it represents you or your business appropriately.
Understanding AI Profiles
PhoneShield uses AI profiles to manage different configurations of your AI secretary. You can create multiple profiles for different purposes and switch between them as needed.
What is an AI Profile?
An AI profile is a collection of settings that define how your AI secretary behaves, including its personality, voice, instructions, and call handling preferences.
Think of it as a character sheet for your virtual assistant, defining who they are and how they interact with callers.
Multiple Profiles
You can create different profiles for different scenarios:
- A professional one for business hours
- A casual one for personal calls
- A strict one for screening unknown callers
- A special one for after-hours calls
Creating and Managing AI Profiles
Here's how to create and manage your AI profiles:
- Navigate to AI Profiles in your dashboard
Access your PhoneShield dashboard and find the AI Profiles section.
- Click on "Create New Profile"
This will open a form to configure your new AI profile.
- Configure the profile settings
Fill in all the required fields and customize the options to your preference.
- Save your new profile
Click the Save Profile button to create your new AI profile.
- Set as default (optional)
Toggle the "Set as default profile" option if you want this to be your primary profile.
Pro Tip
Start by customizing the default profile before creating additional ones. This ensures you always have at least one well-configured profile active.
Basic Profile Settings
These are the fundamental settings for any AI profile:
Profile Name
Choose a descriptive name to help you identify this profile:
- "Professional Assistant"
- "After Hours Screening"
- "Family Calls Only"
- "Lead Generation"
Description
Add an optional description to provide more details about when and how this profile should be used.
"This profile is for business hours (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm). Uses a professional tone with specific questions for lead qualification."
Default Profile
Toggle whether this profile should be the default one. The default profile is automatically assigned to new phone numbers and used when no other profile is specified.
Voice Settings
Customize how your AI secretary sounds to callers:
ElevenLabs
High-quality, natural-sounding voices with exceptional clarity and expression.
- Lifelike intonation and emotion
- Wide range of voice personalities
- Premium voice quality
- Recommended for professional use
Deepgram
Fast processing with good clarity and consistent delivery.
- Quick response times
- Good voice clarity
- Reliable performance
- Multiple voice options
Voice Selection
Choose from a variety of voice options based on your selected provider:
- Rachel: Clear and professional female voice
- Adam: Neutral male voice with a mid-range tone
- Nova: Versatile female voice with natural intonation
- Jasper: Confident male voice with rich tone
Speech Speed
Adjust how quickly your AI speaks:
Finding the right balance is important: too slow can frustrate callers, while too fast may be difficult to understand.
Voice Selection Tips
Choose a voice that aligns with your brand or personal style. A clear, professional voice works well for business use, while a warmer, friendlier voice might be better for personal calls.
AI Personality & Instructions
Define how your AI secretary behaves and responds to callers:
AI Provider
Select which AI model powers your secretary:
Claude
Anthropic's advanced AI with excellent conversational abilities
GPT-4
OpenAI's powerful language model with strong reasoning
Gemini
Google's AI model with broad knowledge and capabilities
Friendly
Warm, conversational, and engaging. Builds rapport with callers and creates a positive, welcoming impression.
Professional
Formal, articulate, and business-like. Projects competence and authority while maintaining politeness.
Efficient
Direct, concise, and to the point. Focuses on quickly gathering information and resolving the purpose of the call.
Supportive
Helpful, patient, and understanding. Shows empathy and provides reassurance to callers.
Custom Instructions
Provide detailed instructions to shape your AI's behavior. Here are some examples:
"You are a professional executive assistant for a law firm. Speak formally, use legal terminology where appropriate, and ask callers for specific details about their legal matter. Never provide legal advice, but collect information and offer to schedule a consultation with an attorney."
"You are a friendly personal assistant. Be warm and conversational, address callers by name when possible, and make them feel welcome. Ask how you can help and try to gather details about their reason for calling. Let them know I'll get back to them as soon as possible."
Effective Instructions
The best instructions are specific but concise. Include how the AI should introduce itself, what information to collect, and how to handle different types of callers. Mention any specific phrases or terminology you want it to use or avoid.
Call Handling Preferences
Configure how your AI secretary manages and processes calls:
Call Forwarding
Configure when and how calls are forwarded to your personal number:
- When the caller asks to speak with you directly
- When the AI identifies an urgent matter
- After a set time period of screening
- For VIP callers or specific phone numbers
Business Hours
Set specific times when this profile should be active:
- Define active days of the week
- Set time ranges for each day
- Create different profiles for business vs. after hours
- Automatically switch based on your calendar
Response Options
Choose how your AI handles different call scenarios:
- Take detailed messages
- Schedule callbacks or appointments
- Provide basic information to callers
- Qualify leads with specific questions
Call Handling Flow Example
- Caller dials your PhoneShield number
- Your AI secretary answers with a customized greeting
- AI engages in conversation to understand the caller's needs
- Based on your settings, the AI will:
- Forward the call to you immediately (for VIPs)
- Screen for a set period before offering to forward
- Take a detailed message without forwarding (Castle Mode)
- Use conditional responses based on caller keywords
- The call is logged with transcript and summary in your dashboard
Advanced Features
Contextual Knowledge
Provide custom information that your AI secretary can use when answering questions:
- Business hours and policies
- Product information and pricing
- Services you offer
- Frequently asked questions
- Contact details for team members
Conditional Responses
Set up specific responses for particular situations or keywords:
Creating an Effective AI Secretary
The most effective AI secretaries combine clear instructions, contextual knowledge, and specific response patterns. Test your configuration with different types of calls to ensure it handles a variety of situations appropriately, and refine as needed.
Testing Your AI Secretary
After configuring your AI secretary, it's important to test it to ensure it behaves as expected:
- Call your PhoneShield number from a different phone
- Listen to how your AI introduces itself and note the voice quality and tone
- Try different conversation scenarios:
- Ask questions your AI should be able to answer with the contextual knowledge you provided
- Request to speak with you directly to test call forwarding
- Leave a message to test transcription and summary capabilities
- Try scenarios that match your conditional responses
- Review the call summary, transcript, and AI analysis in your dashboard
- Make adjustments to your AI profile based on the test results
Testing Tip
Ask friends or colleagues to call your number and provide feedback on their experience with your AI secretary. This real-world testing can reveal aspects of the interaction you might not have considered.
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