Getting started with Sidekick
A 10-minute walkthrough: from new account to your AI agent answering every call. Do these six steps in order and your phone is live by the end.
- Fill in Business Info — name, type, address, your forwarding number.
- Set your Operating Schedule and AI coverage hours.
- Train Riley with a few sentences of knowledge (pricing, policies, FAQ).
- Turn on call summaries to your email and mobile.
- Forward your business line and place a test call.
Tell us about your business
Open Settings › Business Info. This is the foundation — Riley reads from these fields on every single call, so accuracy matters more than detail.
| Business name | As you'd say it on the phone. "Acme Plumbing", not "Acme Plumbing & Drain Co. LLC". |
| Business type | Pick the closest match. We use this to tune Riley's vocabulary and default booking flow. |
| Business phone | The number callers currently dial. We'll forward it to your AI line in Step 6. |
| Website | Optional, but Riley can text the link if a caller asks. |
Set your hours and coverage
There are two schedules to set, and they do different things:
Operating Schedule
Your customer-facing business hours. Riley announces these to callers ("we're open Monday through Friday, 9 to 5") and uses them to decide when to offer same-day appointments.
AI Coverage Hours
When Riley should auto-transfer to you vs. handle the call solo. Most owners pick Scheduled Hours: forward calls during the workday, let Riley take everything else.
Teach Riley about your business
Open Settings › AI Agent Knowledge. Three fields, all optional, all powerful.
Business knowledge base
Free-form. Anything Riley should know — prices, service area, what you don't do, common Q&A. Plain English, in your own voice. Aim for 5–10 short bullet points.
Service call: $85 flat, applied to repair if you book.
Service area: Mohave County only.
Emergencies: Available 24/7, $150 after-hours fee.
No: commercial work, septic systems, pool plumbing.
Payment: All major cards, check, Venmo.
Booking & policy instructions
How Riley should book. "Offer Tuesday or Thursday mornings first." "Quote 90-minute windows." "Never book Mondays — that's office day."
Transfer trigger words
Comma-separated. If a caller uses any of these, Riley immediately offers to call you. Default starters: emergency, lawsuit, talk to the owner.
Turn on call summaries
After every call, Riley sends you an AI-generated summary: who called, what they wanted, sentiment, suggested next action. We never store or send raw call transcripts (per our privacy policy). Open Settings › Call Summary Notifications.
- Email summary — AI-generated summary, no transcript. On by default.
- SMS recap — 3-line text to your mobile. Requires SMS consent.
Forward your business line
From the phone whose number customers dial today, set up call forwarding to your AI phone number (find it in Business Info).
| Unconditional | **21*<AI number># — forwards every call. Use this if Riley is your sole answerer. |
| When busy / no answer | **61*<AI number># — rings your phone first, falls back to Riley after ~25s. |
| Turn off forwarding | ##21# or ##61# |
Codes vary by carrier. Search "<your carrier> call forwarding" if those don't take.
Place a test call
From any phone other than your forwarded line, call your normal business number. Riley should pick up within two rings.
A good test script:
- "Hi, I'd like to book an appointment for [your typical service]."
- Give a fake name and number when asked.
- Hang up — you should get a summary email within 60 seconds.