Playbooks: how to apply it
Playbook: let AI answer your phone
For businesses that get a lot of calls and cannot always pick up. Five steps from missed calls to an assistant that answers, books appointments and transfers. This is how we set it up at Seven.
Sound familiar?
- The phone rings while you are with a customer.
- After five o'clock everything goes to voicemail, and people who get voicemail often call someone else.
- A colleague answers the same questions about opening hours, prices and delivery times every day.
- Calling back slips when it gets busy.
Step 1. Count what comes in for a week
For every call, note what the caller wanted, whether it was handled right away and what time it was. After a week you can see which questions keep coming back and at which hours nobody answers. That becomes the assistant's job. Anything that happens only once stays with a person.
Step 2. Write down the answers
Put the ten most frequent questions on one page, with the answer you would give yourself. Opening hours, prices from, delivery times, how an appointment works. This is what the assistant draws on. If an answer is not there, it says it does not know and transfers the call.
Step 3. Decide what it may do
Start with answering and suggesting. Let it write in your calendar only after you have read along for a few weeks.
- Which calendar it books appointments in, and between which times.
- Who it transfers to, and what happens if that person does not pick up.
- What it never promises: custom prices, discounts, delivery dates it cannot see.
Step 4. Put a safety net under every promise
An assistant that says it will put something in the calendar has to do it. Have a summary emailed after every call with what was agreed, and check it against your calendar for the first weeks. That is how we found a call where two appointments were promised but not booked. Since then, any missing appointment lands on the task list automatically.
Step 5. Say it is AI and start small
Since 2 August 2026 a caller has to know they are talking to AI. So have the assistant introduce itself that way. Put it on one number first, or only outside office hours, and expand once the summaries are right.
What it costs
You pay for the calls themselves, per minute, and for setting it up and keeping it current. At Seven an AI employee starts from € 550 per month. Weigh that against what a missed call costs you now: in step 1 you counted how many callers you never spoke to.
How we do it ourselves
Our own number is answered by our AI employee. She introduces herself as AI, answers questions, books appointments and transfers to a colleague, who hears what the call was about. After every call a summary arrives by email. Everything runs on servers in the EU.
Frequently asked questions
What if the caller would rather speak to a person?
Then the assistant transfers the call or takes a callback request. You set this in step 3.
How long does setup take?
Counting in step 1 takes a week. How long the rest takes depends on your calendar and phone system. You will know after a thirty-minute intake call.
Can I record the calls?
Yes, if you say so at the start of the call and explain why. A line on your website is not enough.
Read on
In this series
Our approach
From advice to management, with one partner
The same rhythm for every project.
Advice
We start with a conversation, not with code. First clarity on what you need and what you do not.
Build
We build and integrate to measure, with technology that fits you. You own your data and your code.
Manage
We stay involved: monitoring, adjusting and growing with your business.
Hear how it sounds
Call +31 85 083 5775. Our AI employee answers.
Call 085 083 5775A 30-minute intake