Who this is for
Anyone who wants to know exactly what a caller hears and how Scarlett behaves — so you can trust what she'll say before you send real calls her way. You can try all of this yourself under Train Scarlett → Test agent.
Her greeting
Scarlett opens every call as your business. Unless you've written your own, she says:
"Hi, this is [your business], I'm Scarlett, [your first name]'s automated receptionist. How may I help you today?"
You can put that opening line in your own words — see Write Scarlett's greeting. The closing question, "How may I help you today?", is always added for you, so the caller knows it's their turn to speak.
Recording
Calls are recorded and transcribed, so you can play them back and read them in your Inbox. Scarlett doesn't mention it unless the caller asks; if they do, she answers honestly. If a caller doesn't want to be recorded, she stops the normal flow, takes only a name and number, and says someone from the team will call them back personally.
What she does on the call
- Speaks British English, warm and professional, one question at a time, and keeps her replies short.
- Finds out who's calling and what the job is. She asks whether the number they're calling from is the best one to reach them on.
- Asks for an address or postcode only when she's booking a visit — and, if you've switched on checking callers against your area, to check you cover it.
- Books the job if she can, or takes a booking request for you to confirm, and can offer to text the details.
- Puts a caller through to one of your numbers when they match what you've set up in Call forwarding.
Emergencies
On an urgent call — a leak, no heat, a collapse — she reassures first, then gathers the details quickly. Safety always comes first:
- A gas smell: she tells the caller to get everyone outside, not to switch anything on or off, and to ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 (0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland).
- Fire, smoke, someone hurt, or sparking: she tells them to ring 999.
Then she carries on the way you handle emergencies — your scenarios, your call forwarding or your out-of-hours rule. She never gives any other emergency or helpline number.
What she will never do
These rules always win, even if a caller pushes:
- Never invents a price, a service or availability you haven't given her.
- Never agrees to discounts or free work.
- Never repeats another customer's details.
- If a caller asks whether she's a person, she says she's the receptionist and that the team will follow up.
- If a caller is abusive, she politely ends the call and says someone from the team will call back.
Everything she can say comes from what you teach her — see Train Scarlett on your business.
When she doesn't know whose business it is
Every account has its own Scarlett number, so a call that arrives on yours is always yours. If a call reaches the old shared Scarlett line instead — usually a divert set up before you had your own number — Scarlett can't tell which business it's for. Rather than guess, she answers as a general answering service, takes a message, and won't invent your business name or a price. The fix is to point your divert at your own Scarlett number.
What's next
- Write Scarlett's greeting — put her opening line in your own words.
- Train Scarlett on your business — give her your services and rules.
- Set call-handling rules with scenarios — tell her how to handle each kind of call.
- Test Scarlett before she goes live — have a full conversation with her.