AI Call Agent 📞 Configuration, operation and optimal settings

The AI Call Agent is a voice-controlled AI assistant or digital receptionist that answers phone calls for your salon. Customers can book appointments by phone, ask simple questions and manage bookings — 24/7, without a staff member having to answer the phone.

By phone, customers can:

The agent guides the customer step by step through the conversation until the appointment is fully confirmed.

The Call Agent uses exactly the same technology as the AI Chat Assistant: the same logic and the same booking rules. Telephony is essentially just a new “channel” that uses the same AI system.

This is currently an initial version.

This means:

The salon’s existing phone number can be forwarded to the new number handled by the AI, but Optios cannot configure this forwarding.

What can it do? ✅

What can’t it do? ❌

The customer calls the phone number and is greeted by the AI Call Agent. It answers with: “You’re speaking with the digital assistant of [your salon name].” The assistant asks how it can help and then guides the customer step by step through the booking process.

The AI Call Agent tries to recognize the customer based on the phone number they are calling from. Depending on the situation, the following happens:

At the top, you can immediately see the most important figures for the selected period:

The graph shows how many calls were received per day and what the outcome was:

🟢 Appointment booked: an appointment was booked.

🟠 Callback request: a callback request was created by the caller.

🔵 No result: the call did not result in a booking or callback request.

Below the graph, you can find all individual calls. For each call, you can see the date, call duration, caller and result. If one or more appointments were booked, these are displayed in the Appointment column.

Transparency helps prevent frustration. Prepare a clear marketing email and communicate the same information on all your social media channels and website.

Example marketing email

Example social media post

This helps ensure that customers:

The AI Call Agent uses the names, descriptions and structure of your online booking to understand what a customer is asking for and which treatment matches their request. The clearer this information is configured, the easier it is for the AI Call Agent to recognize and book the correct service.

During a phone call, customers do not always use exactly the same words as those used in your online booking. The AI Call Agent tries to match what the customer says to the services you have configured.

For example, a customer may ask to “have my hair dyed”, while the service in Optios is called “Color full head”. Or a customer may ask for “a buzz cut”, while the treatment in your online booking is called “Clipper cut.”

The clearer and more recognizable your service names are, the easier it is for the AI Call Agent to suggest the correct treatment. Therefore, use names that customers themselves would use. Avoid internal terms, codes and abbreviations that are not self-explanatory to customers.

For example:

❌ COL FH + BW
✅ Full hair color + blow-dry

For the same type of treatment, use the same terminology as much as possible. Facial treatments in particular are often described using different terms interchangeably, such as facial, facial treatment, skin improvement, skin treatment or treatment.

When these terms are used interchangeably without a clear distinction, it becomes more difficult for the AI Call Agent to determine which treatment the customer means.

For example:

❌ Luxury Facial
❌ Skin Treatment Deluxe
❌ Skin Improvement Premium
❌ Facial Treatment Plus

If the names and descriptions do not clearly explain the differences, the AI Call Agent may have difficulty determining which service is appropriate when a customer says: “I’d like to book a facial treatment.”

Instead, use a consistent main term and clearly specify the difference between treatments:

✅ Facial treatment – hydrating
✅ Facial treatment – deep cleansing
✅ Facial treatment – anti-aging
✅ Facial treatment: Skin improvement – microneedling

You can of course keep commercial names, but make sure the description clearly explains what the treatment involves and what it is intended for. This allows the AI Call Agent to better match the customer’s words to the correct service.

Avoid services with almost identical names when the difference between them is unclear.

For example:

❌ Hair color
❌ Hair color 1
❌ Hair color 2

Instead, describe the actual difference:

✅ Root color
✅ Full hair color
✅ Balayage

The same applies to variants where only an internal abbreviation is used:

❌ Balayage S – Balayage M – Balayage L

Better:

✅ Balayage – short hair
✅ Balayage – medium-length hair
✅ Balayage – long hair

This allows the AI Call Agent to ask more targeted questions and select the correct option.

A good rule of thumb: if a new customer can understand which option to choose without additional explanation, the AI Call Agent will generally also be better able to interpret the difference.

Describe both the service and the menu clearly: what the treatment involves, who it is intended for and when the customer should choose it. This gives the AI Call Agent additional information to distinguish between similar treatments.

For example:

For coloring the entire hair from roots to ends. Do you only want to color your regrowth? Choose ‘Root color’ instead.

You can also include other words that customers commonly use for a treatment in the description. For example, for Clipper cut you could add:

Full haircut using clippers, also commonly referred to as a buzz cut.

The AI Call Agent also uses the structure of your online booking to guide the customer toward the correct treatment. A clear and logical structure makes it easier to determine which service or menu matches the customer’s request.

Group related treatments together

Place similar treatments under a clear category or in a logical menu.

For example:

Hair coloring

Avoid spreading these treatments across different menus with unclear names. You can include different synonymous terms in the descriptions, but keep the terminology used in the menus themselves consistent.

For some treatments, a consultation or first appointment is required beforehand. The AI Call Agent can take this into account, provided that this is clearly stated in the configuration of your services and menus. However, this is not a 100% guarantee!

▪️ Consultation service

Under ‘Description’, clearly explain what the consultation is intended for, for example:

Short skin analysis and discussion of your wishes. Book this consultation first if you are booking a skin improvement treatment for the first time.

▪️ Treatment service

Under ‘Description’, clearly state that a consultation is required if the customer has not had this treatment before. Use the same terminology as for the consultation service, for example:

An intensive facial treatment fully tailored to your skin and skin goals. A consultation is required before your first appointment. Please book ‘Skin improvement consultation (first time)’ first.

▪️ Do you use a menu? Update the menu description as well

Under Description, add the same information about the consultation. Again, use the same terminology and the same name for the consultation service.