The example is made up: Hartwell Accounting, a small firm that prepares taxes and does bookkeeping for local small businesses and families, and Casey, its after-hours receptionist. Nothing in the lesson is tax advice.
Why does an office need an after-hours receptionist?
Because the calls you miss after 5 PM are often the ones that matter. A small accounting firm gets calls all evening from people who have just opened an IRS letter, have a deadline, or want a new accountant. After hours those calls go to voicemail, and many callers do not leave a message. They call the next firm on the list.
The lesson's before and after: before, voicemail after 5 PM and a Monday morning of guessing who called. After, every call is answered, simple questions about hours and services are handled on the spot, and each worried caller leaves a name, a number, a one-line reason and an urgent flag. An AI receptionist does this job without replacing your front desk in the day.
How do you build it, step by step?
- Create it. Click the + next to Agents, choose Blank Agent, type Hartwell Accounting After-Hours and click Create Agent.
- Give it the job. Replace You are a helpful assistant. in System prompt with Casey's job, the message flow and the rules.
- Write the greeting. In First message, name the firm, say the office is closed, say Casey is an AI assistant and that the call may be recorded.
- Teach it the office. Under Configure, click Knowledge Base, then Add document and Create Text. Name it Hartwell Accounting hours, services and FAQ and paste the text.
- Publish and test. Click Publish, confirm, then Preview and the round phone button.
- Read the message. Under Monitor, click Conversations, open the call and read Overview, then Transcription.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the six steps in the message flow?
They are written into Casey's system prompt: 1. Ask for the caller's name. 2. Ask for the best phone number, and read it back to confirm. 3. Ask what the call is about, in one sentence. 4. Ask if it is urgent, for example a notice from the IRS with a deadline this week. 5. Say a team member will call back the next business morning, and that urgent messages are marked first. 6. Ask if there is anything else, then say goodbye.
- What should the greeting say?
Casey's greeting names the firm, says the office is closed, says Casey is the after-hours AI assistant, says the call may be recorded and offers to answer quick questions or take a message. Saying the office is closed tells callers why they got Casey and not a person. ElevenLabs asks you to tell callers they are talking to AI, and recording rules vary by state.
- What goes in the knowledge base document?
The things callers ask most: office hours (including the busy-season extension from February 1 to April 15), the services, how new clients start, the address, what to bring to a tax appointment, what to do about an IRS letter, how pricing works and when someone will call back. It also says what the agent must not do, such as quote prices. Only put facts you have approved in it. The knowledge base entry explains the idea.
- Why use Create Text instead of uploading a file?
The hours, services and answers fit on one page, so you don't need a file. Create Text lets you paste it straight in.
- What must the receptionist never do?
Casey's rules: never give tax advice, never quote a price that is not in the knowledge base, never promise a callback time other than the next business morning, and never ask for a Social Security number, bank account number or password on the phone. Keep answers to one or two sentences, use only facts from the knowledge base, and if it does not know, say so and offer to take a message.
- How does it decide a message is urgent?
Step 4 of the flow asks. In the test call, the caller says her notice must be answered by Friday, so Casey marks the message urgent and promises a call back first thing next business morning.
- What should I say on the test call?
The lesson uses three lines. A quick question (what time does the office open on Monday, and do you do payroll?), a worried request (an IRS letter, can someone call?), then the details (name, number and a Friday deadline). Check that Casey answers the first from the document, gives no tax advice on the second, and reads the number back and flags the third as urgent. The guide to testing a voice AI agent has more test callers.
- Where does the team read the message?
In Conversations, under Monitor. The Overview is the message: who called, why, the number and that it is urgent. One line each, instead of a voicemail you have to play. Transcription has the whole call.
- Does this connect a real phone number?
No. This lesson never connects a phone number, so the agent is tested in the browser only. Check ElevenLabs' pricing page for call minutes, and note that a phone provider bills separately once you connect a number.
- What is a good next step?
The lesson suggests letting the agent text or email the message to the team the moment the call ends, so urgent notices do not wait until morning.
Try it free, step by step
Never Miss an After-Hours Client Call: An AI Receptionist for a Small Office (ElevenLabs). A small accounting firm loses new clients to voicemail after 5 PM. Build an AI receptionist in ElevenLabs that answers, knows your hours and services, and takes a clear message for the morning. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ElevenLabs Agents, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Start the free lesson
Key takeaways
- Write the message flow into the prompt: name, number read back, reason, urgent or not, callback promise.
- The greeting says the office is closed, that it is an AI and that the call may be recorded.
- Put approved hours, services and answers in one Create Text document.
- Rule out tax advice, prices, other callback times and sensitive numbers.
- Test with a worried caller and read the Overview your team would see.
For the slip-ups to avoid, read after-hours receptionist mistakes. The AI receptionist setup checklist helps you plan your own, and automating after-hours calls with AI shows where this fits. Print the steps from the cheat sheets library, then build Casey.
