Special Instructions

What it does

Special Instructions let you tell your AI receptionist exactly how to behave — things to always say, things to never say, how to handle specific situations, and the tone you want it to use on every call. Think of it as a standing memo you hand to a new employee before their first day: the rules and preferences that are not obvious from a job description alone.

This is different from your Knowledge Base. The Knowledge Base holds facts about your business — your hours, services, pricing, policies. Special Instructions are behavioral — they tell the receptionist how to act, not just what to know.

How to get there

1. Click Agent in the left sidebar (the robot icon).
2. Click the Special Instructions tab near the top of the page.

The textarea is directly below the tab. Start typing to add your instructions.

Step-by-step

Writing your instructions

Type your instructions directly into the text area. There is no specific format required — plain sentences work fine. You can use bullet points or numbered lists if that helps you organize your thoughts, but they are not required.

The field holds up to 4,000 characters — roughly 600 to 700 words. A character counter is not displayed, but you will see an error if you go over the limit.

Saving

Your instructions save automatically as you type. After you stop typing for about a second, you will see one of three status indicators in the upper-right corner of the text area:

• Saving — your changes are being sent
• Saved — everything is stored
• Error — something went wrong; try refreshing the page and retyping

You do not need to click a save button.

When changes take effect

Changes to Special Instructions apply to the next call your receptionist receives. They do not affect a call that is already in progress. If you make a change right before an expected call, wait for the Saved status to appear before that call comes in.

Tips

Be direct and specific. The receptionist follows your instructions literally. Instead of “be friendly,” write “greet the caller by name once you know it.” Instead of “handle pricing questions carefully,” write “if someone asks about pricing, tell them to visit our website at example.com or call us back during business hours.”

Use “always” and “never” when you mean it. These words carry weight. “Always ask for a callback number before ending a call” will be followed every time. If there are exceptions, describe them: “Always ask for a callback number before ending a call, unless the caller says they prefer not to leave one.”

Address your most common situations first. Start with the call types that happen most often or that have caused problems in the past. You can always add more later.

Instructions work alongside your Knowledge Base. If your Knowledge Base says “we close at 6 PM” and your Special Instructions say “if someone asks about hours after 5 PM, remind them we close soon,” both apply at once.

Test your instructions with a real call. After saving, call your receptionist number and try to trigger the situation you wrote about. Listen for whether the receptionist responds the way you intended.

Examples of good instructions

These are the kinds of instructions that work well:

• Always ask for a callback number before taking a message.
• If someone asks about pricing, tell them to visit our website at example.com for a full quote.
• Be brief and professional. Avoid casual language — no "sure thing," "no worries," or "absolutely."
• If a caller sounds upset or frustrated, acknowledge their frustration before offering to help. Do not jump straight to solutions.
• Never discuss competitor products or compare our services to anyone else's.
• If a caller asks to speak with someone who is not on your contacts list, take a message and tell them someone will follow up within one business day.
• If a caller says they are a vendor or salesperson, politely decline and end the call.
• Always spell out our phone number digit by digit if a caller asks for it: 1-800-555-0100.

What Special Instructions cannot do

Special Instructions cannot override core system behavior. For example, you cannot instruct the receptionist to stay on the line indefinitely or to make outbound calls. Instructions about things your business handles — tone, routing priorities, what to say in specific situations — work well. Instructions that conflict with how the call system works technically will simply be ignored.

Troubleshooting

The receptionist is not following my instructions. First, confirm the status indicator showed Saved after your last edit. If it showed Error, your changes were not stored — try retyping and waiting for Saved to appear. Also check that your instruction is specific enough. Vague instructions like “be helpful” are interpreted broadly. Rewrite them with concrete guidance.

I typed my instructions but the status indicator is stuck on “Saving.” This usually means a temporary connection issue. Refresh the page and check whether your text is still there. If it is not, retype it and watch for the Saved confirmation before navigating away.

My instructions are being followed on most calls but not all. Special Instructions apply to every call, but the receptionist adapts to the conversation. If a situation does not come up naturally in the flow of a call, the instruction may not trigger. For example, an instruction to “ask for a callback number” only applies when the caller is leaving a message — it would not appear in a call that ends with a transfer.

I want to apply different instructions for different times of day or call types. Special Instructions are a single global field — there is no per-contact or per-time-of-day configuration. For after-hours behavior specifically, configure your Business Hours settings, which control how the receptionist handles calls outside your set schedule.

I am running out of space (approaching 4,000 characters). Prioritize your most important instructions. If you have a long list, ask yourself which instructions address the situations that come up most often or that matter most when they go wrong. Trim anything that duplicates something already covered in your Knowledge Base — factual information belongs there, not in Special Instructions.

Pausing and resuming your receptionist

At the top of the Agent page, you’ll see your receptionist’s status — Active or Paused — along with a button to toggle it.

• Pause stops your receptionist from routing calls to team members. It still answers the phone and talks to callers, but it takes a message for everyone instead of trying to connect them. The Agent page shows a “Paused” badge.
• Resume brings it back to normal behavior — routing calls to active contacts again.

This is different from an account-level pause, which is managed by the Azumo team and affects your entire subscription. If your dashboard shows “Paused” but you did not pause the agent yourself, your account may be paused at the billing level — contact support@azumo.com.

Related

• Knowledge Base — add factual information about your business that the receptionist draws on to answer questions
• Call Recording — enable recording and configure the disclaimer callers hear
• Business Hours — control what happens on calls outside your operating hours
• Voice and Tuning — adjust your receptionist’s speaking speed and tone