Member Receptionist

This is the one that answers your phone. Every inbound call, day or night, gets picked up by the AI, greeted (by first name when it knows who's calling), and helped. If the AI can answer the question, it does. If it can't, it transfers the call, books a time, or logs it for your team. Nobody gets voicemail and nobody gets a made-up answer.

In the template picker, this one's called Member Receptionist.

There's no outreach here. It doesn't call through a list or send texts on a schedule. The only calls it makes are callbacks: appointments that got booked and answers your team has ready. For the full setup (name, voice, routing, and which questions get which escalation), see Configure Your Receptionist.

In the lines below, anything in brackets fills in for each caller: [First name], [AI name] (whatever you've named your AI employee), [Agency], and [Carrier].

At a glance

What callers hear

Members whose info is on file (it uses their first name and carrier) hear:

Hey [First name], thanks for calling [Agency]! I'm your always on member concierge assistant, here to help with questions about your [Carrier] plan. Just so you know, this call may be recorded for quality purposes. I can always get you the answer, or find someone who can. How can I help you today?

Everybody else hears:

Hey there, thanks for calling [Agency]! I'm your always on member concierge assistant, here to help with questions about the MA marketplace or your plan. Just so you know, this call may be recorded for quality purposes. I can always get you the answer, or find someone who can. How can I help you today?

After that, there's no script, because it doesn't know what they'll ask. If they just say hi, it says hi back ("hey, how's it going?") and lets them get to it. If they open with the reason, it jumps right in.

How it handles things

The receptionist is made up of six AI employees. Each one covers a different kind of call.

Members during the day

This is the main one. It listens, figures out what they need, and either helps or takes the next step:

• Benefit, coverage, or plan questions. It answers from the member's actual plan info, or looks it up. If it doesn't have the answer, it says so instead of guessing: "Hmm, I don't actually have that in front of me - want me to get you over to someone who can pull that up?"
• Something it can't handle. If nothing it has fits what they're asking for, it logs a follow-up so your team picks it up, and says so plainly: "I'll have someone follow up with you about that." No invented times, no invented names, no "you're all set."
• Medical questions. It points them to their doctor: "that's actually something you'd wanna talk to your doctor about."
• "Can I talk to a person?" If you've set up a transfer, it honors that right away: "yeah absolutely, let me get someone for you, one sec." If not, it logs a follow-up instead: "yeah, I'll have someone reach out to you directly about that." It never says it's transferring someone when it can't.
• "Take me off your list." It does it on the spot: "you got it, I'll take care of that right now."
• The person they want isn't free. It doesn't make something up. It logs a follow-up so the team reaches out, and never names a callback time it didn't actually book.
• They state something it can't verify (a carrier, an effective date, "my plan is active"). It doesn't confirm it or build on it. If it's not in the plan info, it says something like "I don't wanna give you the wrong date on something this important - lemme have someone confirm that and call you back."
• "Are you a real person?" It's straight with them: "yeah, I'm an AI assistant - so what can I help you with?"

Heads up: it only does what your escalations let it do. It won't offer or confirm an appointment unless booking is set up, and it won't claim a transfer unless a transfer is set up.

It never ends the call on its own. When the issue's handled, it checks in ("anything else I can help you with?"), then closes warmly once they're done: "okay, well you've got our number if anything else comes up. hope you have a great rest of your day."

New callers during the day

Same approach, for people who aren't already members on file. They might be looking for a Medicare Advantage plan, asking about enrollment, a bill, or anything else.

After hours (members and new callers)

Same greeting, but these two employees know the office is closed and everyone's gone home. So most of the time they log an inquiry so someone can follow up once the team's back. If you've set up booking, they can book a time for the team to call back instead. If they can't do something, they let the caller know the team will follow up during regular business hours, never a made-up time. Your escalations can also be set differently for business hours and after hours. See Configure Your Receptionist.

Appointment callbacks

When someone books a time, this employee makes the callback. It opens with:

Hi [First name], this is [AI name] from [Agency] calling for your scheduled appointment with our team. Is now still a good time?

It mentions the recorded line, and if now works, it transfers them to your team: "ok great - let me get you over to them right now, just hang on one sec." It doesn't know what the appointment was about, so it doesn't guess, and it doesn't try to handle the issue itself. If now's bad (or someone else picks up and the member isn't around), it books another time and confirms it back so it feels locked in.

Inquiry callbacks

When your team answers an inquiry, this employee calls the member back with the answer. It opens with:

Hi [First name], this is [AI name], your personal assistant from [Agency] again. I had a chance to run your question by the team, and I have your answer! Is now a good time?

It reminds them what they asked ("does that ring a bell?"), waits for them to remember, then gives your team's answer in plain words, a piece at a time if it's long. It doesn't take on new issues or improvise beyond the answer. If they have more questions, it gives them your number. If they miss the call, the voicemail says:

Hi [First name], this is [AI name], your personal assistant from [Agency] again. I had a chance to run your question by the team, and I have your answer! Please give me a call back whenever you get the chance. Thanks. Bye bye.

The cadence

There isn't one. The receptionist's Pulse is empty, so it never calls or texts anyone on a schedule. It answers when people call, and makes callbacks only when an appointment or an inquiry answer is waiting.

Before you turn it on

• Set up your escalations. Out of the box, every kind of question is set to log an inquiry. Upgrade the ones you want to transfers or bookings, and point them at a transfer destination and an appointment configuration. Inquiries go to your Inbox and the Inquiries page, and the member's assigned agent gets notified. See Handle Inquiries.
• Check your agency info. It needs your agency name and phone number, plus your AI employee's name.
• Get your book in. The more member data careCycle has, the more callers get greeted by name and the more questions it can answer. See Import Your Book of Business.
• Set your business hours. That's what decides daytime versus after-hours handling. See Business Hours and Holidays.
• Test it. Call your number and try a few questions. See Test Your Campaign.

Changing any of this

• Name, voice, routing, and escalations: see Configure Your Receptionist.
• What the AI says: the Employees tab. See Edit Your AI with Employees.