Nextiva NEXT - NEXT Studio - AI Employee

If you do not have Administrator rights within NEXT, you will not be able to see the information described below.

Overview

AI Employees are AI-powered conversational agents that interact with users through natural, human-like conversations.
They act as digital coworkers that help customers, understand intent, and complete tasks quickly and efficiently.

AI Employees use artificial intelligence (AI), specifically natural language processing (NLP) and speech recognition, to understand and respond to spoken or written language.
They can automate customer support, sales, and other customer-facing interactions without a dedicated interface or UI, communicating with customers seamlessly across various channels.

Multi-language Support

AI Employee supports multiple languages across Voice, Live Chat, and SMS channels. You can configure the language your AI Employee speaks during the Set your voice and appearance step when creating or editing an AI Employee.

The following languages are supported out of the box and active by default — no configuration required during onboarding:

• English — available across all channels

• Spanish — available across Voice, Live Chat, and SMS

• French — available across Voice, Live Chat, and SMS

• German — available across Voice, Live Chat, and SMS

The following languages are available on request:

• Ukrainian

• Mandarin

• Indian languages and accents

Note: Languages marked as available on request are not enabled by default. To enable an additional language for your AI Employee, contact your Nextiva account representative.

You can review or change your AI Employee's language settings at any time in Step 1 – Set your voice and appearance, and use the What languages should your AI speak? dropdown.

Core Components

Each AI Employee is made up of two main elements:

1. Personality

• Defines how the AI Employee sounds and interacts with users.

• Includes a name and a voice (for both chat and voice-based conversations).

2. Skills

• The specific tasks the AI Employee can perform (for example, supporting customers, generating leads, answering FAQs, or scheduling appointments).

What's a Skill?

A Skill is one specific job the AI Employee can perform end-to-end.
Each Skill contains the following elements:

• Name & Description: Clearly defines the Skill's purpose (for example, "Book Appointment" – helps customers book, reschedule, or cancel appointments).

• Instructions: Simple rules or steps that define how the Skill should operate.

• Functions / Tools: Actions the Skill can perform, such as sending an email or SMS, creating a ticket, or using any custom functions you create in NEXT Studio.

• Knowledge Base: The reference content that the Skill can access. For example, FAQs, support articles, policies, price lists, or menus.

Tip: Skills are like LEGO bricks. You can add or remove them anytime without rebuilding the entire AI Employee.

Default Receptionist Skill

Every AI Employee includes a Default Receptionist Skill. When you use Transfer to AI Employee in a workflow, the receptionist runs automatically even if you select another specific Skill.

By default, the receptionist:

• Acts as the first point of contact and greets the customer.

• Infers intent and routes to the appropriate Skill (e.g., FAQ/Support, Lead Generation, Appointments).

• If a customer requests a human, routes to the correct inbox based on the query, inbox names, and descriptions.

• Maintains the illusion of a single, continuous AI Employee, seamlessly managing transitions between multiple Skills without losing context. No matter how many Skills are added, the receptionist coordinates them smoothly to ensure a unified customer experience.

• Prevents loops, limits function retries to two, and offers escalation on repeated failures.

• Terminates the conversation on user request.

• Marks tickets created by the AI Employee as resolved when the conversation ends.

• When a conversation is transferred to an inbox, the ticket moves to Open; once a human accepts, it moves to In progress.

Why Businesses Use AI Employees

AI Employees help businesses deliver faster, more consistent customer experiences while reducing operational effort.

Key Advantages

• Always On: Provides 24/7 coverage, no hold music, and no missed calls.

• Fast Responses: Handles queries instantly, even during peak hours, without additional staff.

• Saves Money: Automates repetitive questions and routine tasks so teams can focus on high-value work.

• Closed-Loop Actions: Goes beyond responses and can send emails, send SMS, create tickets, create leads, or use any custom functions built in NEXT Studio.

• Seamless Handoff: Escalates to a human agent with full context (conversation transcript and summary).

• Quick Setup & Flexible: No-code setup that's easy to configure and adapt.

Create and Configure AI Employee (Guided Flow)

Overview

The guided flow simplifies the creation and configuration of an AI Employee. You can define its appearance, business details, skills, and communication channels all within a single setup experience.

The setup includes the following five steps:

1. Set your voice and appearance

2. Add your business details

3. Train your skills

4. Test your AI

5. Turn on your channels

Onboarding checklist

When you create a new AI Employee, NEXT displays an onboarding checklist to guide you through the most important setup tasks before going live. The checklist tracks your progress and ensures nothing critical is missed during configuration.

The checklist covers the following areas:

• Business knowledge — Add your company details, products, and services so the AI Employee can respond accurately to customer inquiries.

• Availability — Set your business hours and define when the AI Employee should be active.

• Greetings — Configure the opening message your AI Employee uses when it first interacts with a customer.

• Handoff rules — Define what happens when the AI Employee cannot resolve a request, including which inbox or team receives the escalation.

• Testing — Verify that your AI Employee responds correctly across all configured skills before going live.

• Call forwarding — Set up call forwarding to ensure inbound calls reach your AI Employee correctly.

Each item on the checklist is marked as complete as you progress through the setup. You can select any checklist item to jump directly to that configuration step.

Note: The onboarding checklist is shown to new customers during their initial account setup. It is not shown when creating an AI Employee manually via Administration > AI Employees > Create new. You can revisit any of these settings at any time by selecting Edit on the AI Employee from the AI Employees list.

To begin, select Administration in the left navigation, then under People & AI, select AI Employees. Select Create new to start the setup.

Step 1 – Set Your Voice and Appearance

In this step, you define how the AI Employee looks and sounds when interacting with customers.

Configure Voice and Appearance

1. Select the edit icon on the avatar image to pick your AI's image. This image appears to customers in Live Chat and in message history.

2. Enter a name for your AI Employee in the Give your AI a name field.

3. In What languages should your AI speak?, select one or more languages from the dropdown. English is selected by default.

4. In What should I sound like?, choose a voice from the dropdown.

   • Example: Warm Voice (Female 02)

5. Select Play to preview the selected voice.

6. In the Default greeting field, enter the greeting your AI Employee will use when it first interacts with a customer.

   • Example: "Hi, my name is Sophia. I'm an AI employee from [Company]."

   • Compliance note: Clearly disclose that the customer is interacting with an AI system.

7. Select Next to continue, or Save & exit to save your progress and return later.Step 2 – Company information

Step 2 – Add Your Business Details

In this step, you provide the business context your AI Employee needs to respond accurately to customer inquiries.

Add your website

1. Enter your website URL in the field provided.

2. Select Scan website.

3. A progress screen appears while the system reads your website, learns about your business, identifies your products and services, and prepares your business overview. This may take up to 3 minutes. Select Cancel to stop the scan at any time.

4. Once complete, a confirmation bar shows the scanned URL and the last synced date and time. Select Update to re-scan the site, or Change to use a different URL.

Brand identity

1. Review the Brand name AI should use field, auto-filled from your website.

2. Review the Company description field, auto-filled with a summary of your business.

3. Edit either field as needed.

Review your business FAQs, policies and more

1. Review the items found on your website (for example, Contact Info, Brands Offered, Business Type, Product Quality Measures, Product Categories). The count of items found is shown above the list.

2. Select the pencil icon to edit an item, or the X icon to remove it.

3. Select + Add more to add additional FAQs or policies manually.

Products & Services

1. Review the products and services found on your website, shown as Item, Description (optional), and Price/Range (optional).

2. Edit or remove any row using the trash icon.

3. Enter a new product or service in the Add a product or service... field and select + Add.

4. Select Next to continue, or Save & exit to save and return later.

Step 3 – Train Your Skills

Skills are the tasks your AI Employee can perform to help customers, such as booking appointments or managing orders.

Overview

The Train your skills screen is divided into two sections:

• Add & train skills — where you add and configure new skills

• Trained skills — skills that are already active on your AI Employee

The Receptionist skill appears under Trained skills by default and is always on. It acts as the first point of contact greeting customers, inferring intent, and routing conversations to the correct skill or a human agent. It cannot be removed. To add more skills, select the Add skills card or select Add skill on any recommended skill card shown on the screen.

Add a Skill

There are two ways to add a skill from the Train your skills screen:

• Select the Add skills card (the + icon) to open the skill picker

• Select Add skill directly on any recommended skill card shown on the screen

Recommended skills displayed on the screen include:

• Lead Generation Skill — tagged Recommended — for generating leads when a customer expresses interest in pricing, purchasing, partnerships, growth, or customization

• Google Appointment Management Skill — tagged Recommended — for booking appointments, checking agent availability, listing user appointments, and canceling scheduled meetings. Requires Google Calendar

Pick Your Skills

When the Pick your skills modal opens:

When the Pick your skills modal opens:

1. Use the search bar to find a specific skill, or browse the available options.

2. The following skills are available by default:

    

   Skill	App Requirement	Example Functions	Description
   Support Skill	Optional	retrieval, send_sms, create_ticket	Answers customer questions and can send updates or create tickets. This skill is available but not added by default during onboarding.
   Lead Generation Skill	Optional	create_lead, send_email	Captures leads and syncs to CRM when connected.
   Appointment Skill	Required – Calendar	create_appointment, get_appointments, delete_appointment	Manages scheduling through a connected calendar.
   In-Person Service Scheduling Skill	None	send_sms, send_email	Handles requests to schedule in-person service visits and shares a booking link for appointment setup.
   Calendly Appointment Skill	Required – Calendly	create_appointment, get_appointments, delete_appointment	Manages appointment booking, retrieval, rescheduling, and cancellation via Calendly.
   Go High Level Appointment Skill	Required – GoHighLevel	check_availability, create_appointment, get_appointments, delete_appointment	Manages appointment lookup, availability checks, booking, retrieval, rescheduling, and cancellation via GoHighLevel.
   Google Appointment Management Skill	Required – Google Calendar	google_book_appointment, google_check_availability, google_get_appointments, google_delete_appointment	Handles appointment booking, availability checks, and cancellation using Google Calendar.
   Outlook Appointment Management Skill	Required – Outlook Calendar	outlook_create_appointment, outlook_get_appointments, outlook_check_availability	Manages appointment scheduling and availability checks on Outlook Calendar.
   Shopify Support Skill	Required – Shopify	retrieval, send_sms	Handles Shopify-related queries including order status, shipment tracking, and product search.
   Square Appointment Manager	Required – Square	create_appointment, get_appointments, delete_appointment	Manages appointment booking, retrieval, rescheduling, and cancellation using Square.
   Zoho Customer Management Skill	Required – Zoho	zoho_create_lead, zoho_search_contact, zoho_get_tickets	Manages leads, contact details, and customer interactions using Zoho CRM.

   Note: No skills are pre-added during onboarding except the Receptionist. The Lead Generation skill and all other skills must be added manually from the skill picker.

3. To build a new skill from scratch, select Create custom in the top right of the modal.

4. To reuse a skill already configured in your account, select Use existing skill.

5. Select the skill you want to add and select Add.

Train a Skill

After adding a skill, a modal appears asking "How would you like to do training?"

Choose one of the following training methods:

Guided setup (Recommended) Designed for non-technical users. The setup assistant guides you through a series of questions to automatically build the skill's instructions. No prompting experience required. Select Select to begin.

Write my own instructions Best for advanced users who want full control over the skill's behaviour. Opens a manual editor where you can define the skill's name, workflow, functions, and Knowledge Base directly. Select Select to begin.

Note: If a skill has been added but not yet trained, a 1 skill pending training indicator appears at the top right of the Train your skills screen. Complete training for all skills before proceeding.

Guided Setup Flow

1 — Connect Apps

After selecting Guided setup, a modal appears asking:

"Would you like your AI to take actions in other apps?" For example, connect your calendar so your AI can create and manage events for you.

1. Under Browse apps by type, select a category:

   • CRM & Productivity — connect a CRM or productivity tool such as GoHighLevel

   • CRM & Sales — connect a CRM system such as Zoho, HubSpot, or Salesforce

   • E-commerce — connect an e-commerce platform such as Shopify or Square

   • E-commerce & Productivity — connect tools that combine e-commerce and productivity workflows

   • Field Service — connect a field service management tool such as ServiceTitan

   • Productivity — connect a calendar or scheduling app such as Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Calendly, or Cal.com

2. The right panel shows available apps for the selected category. Apps that are already connected show an Installed badge.

3. Select the app you want to connect and authorize access.

4. If no integration is required for this skill, select Cancel to skip.

5. Select Next to continue.

2 — Grant Function Access

1. The screen Which functions do you want me to access? displays available permissions.

2. Review and select the functions your AI Employee should perform:

   • Calendar functions — create_appointment, delete_appointment, get_appointments, check_availability

   • CRM functions — create_lead, update_lead, get_lead_details

   • General functions — send_sms, send_email, create_ticket

3. Review each function's description before enabling it.

4. Select Next.

3 — Train the Skill

1. The Guided Training Assistant opens and begins asking configuration questions.

2. The assistant asks 5–7 questions about the skill's purpose, scope, and expected responses.

3. Provide answers to each question — for example, define what types of requests the skill should handle, when to escalate, and how to respond to specific customer intents.

4. As you respond, the assistant builds structured prompts, sample replies, and conditional logic based on your input.

5. When training reaches 100%, review the generated instructions, make any adjustments if needed, and select Save.

4 — Review Prompt Instructions

1. The summary lists the skill name, purpose, generated instructions, and linked Knowledge Base collections.

2. Select Rewrite my prompt if you want to optimize tone, grammar, or clarity.

3. When satisfied, select Save to apply your changes.

Write My Own Instructions

Use this option if you want full control over how the AI Employee behaves, responds, and escalates conversations.

When you select Write my own instructions, the Skill training editor opens for the selected skill. A banner at the top reads:

"To give you a head start, we've filled in each section with suggested instructions. Make edits or add details as needed."

Review and update the pre-filled content to match your business needs.

The editor includes four numbered steps in the left navigation:

1. Name & Description

2. Workflow & Instructions

3. Functions & Tools

4. Knowledge Base

1 — Name & Description

1. In Describe this skill's role and purpose, enter a clear description of what this skill does.

   • Maximum 200 characters.

   • Example: "For all the user queries where user shows interest in the product, pricing, customization or growth to generate a lead."

2. In Instructions, define the steps the AI Employee should follow when this skill is active.

   • Include function names in {curly brackets} to reference integrated functions.

   • Select View preferred format and instruction writing guide for guidance on structuring your instructions.

2 — Workflow & Instructions

Define how the skill should operate during a conversation. The editor is pre-filled with a sample structure that includes:

• Role Description — describes the skill's purpose and any behavioral guidance around tone and approach

• Main Workflow — the primary conversation flow and what information to gather, including which functions to use and when

• Business Rules — important constraints, timing, and authentication requirements specific to your business

• Tool Usage — guidance on when and how to use each function attached to the skill

• Conversation Management — how to handle different situations, keep conversations flowing, and when to end

• Error Handling — what to do when tools fail and how to handle off-topic questions

Modify these sections or add new ones as needed.

3 — Functions & Tools

List the tools the skill can use during execution. Each function includes a purpose and parameters. For example:

• {send_sms} — sends an SMS to a user. Parameters: phone_number, message

• {create_ticket} — creates a support ticket. Parameters: purpose

4 — Knowledge Base

Attach a Knowledge Base collection to the skill. This allows the AI to pull verified information from your company's help articles or documents while responding.

Save

1. Select Rewrite my prompt at the top right to improve tone, grammar, or clarity using AI. Review suggestions before accepting.

2. When satisfied with all sections, select Save at the top right.

3. Select Cancel to discard changes and return to the Train your skills screen.

Skill-specific Notes

CRM and Calendar Integration

Overview

CRM and calendar integrations allow the AI Employee to connect with external systems for managing leads, contacts, and appointments.
Once connected, the AI Employee can perform supported actions automatically through the associated skills.

CRM Integration

Supported providers

Connect a CRM

1. During Guided Setup or in Integrations, select Add apps.

2. Choose CRM from the available categories.

3. Select the provider: HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho.

4. When prompted, select Connect and sign in with your CRM credentials.

5. Authorize access for NEXT Studio to read and write lead and contact records.

6. When successful, the CRM status changes to Connected.

Field Mapping

How It Works

• When Lead Generation or Support Skills are active, the AI Employee automatically creates or updates CRM records.

• New leads appear with source NEXT AI Employee in the CRM.

• The AI Employee retrieves existing details using get_lead_details.

• If connection fails, the lead data is cached locally and retried once the CRM reconnects.

Error Handling

• Duplicate records are automatically updated instead of re-created.

• Expired authorizations prompt a reconnect message in the Integrations panel.

• If field mapping is incomplete, the AI Employee proceeds with default fields only.

Calendar Integration

AI Employee appointment scheduling requires an active calendar integration.

Calendar connections are configured from the Meetings page in the Admin settings. The AI Employee uses this connected calendar to check availability and create or update appointments.

Prerequisite

Before enabling the Appointment Scheduling skill:

1. Navigate to Administrator Settings.

2. Open Meetings.

3. Connect a supported calendar provider.

4. Complete authentication.

5. Confirm the calendar status shows as connected.

If no calendar is connected, the AI Employee will not be able to:

• Check availability

• Create appointments

• Update appointments

• Cancel appointments

Supported Providers

Connect a Calendar

1. During Guided Setup, select Add apps, then choose Calendar.

2. Select a provider – Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar.

3. Authorize access using your account credentials.

4. When connected, the app appears in Active Integrations.

How It Works

• The Appointment Skill uses the connected calendar to check availability, propose time slots, and confirm bookings.

• All appointments are added directly to the user's connected calendar with full event details.

• The AI Employee operates using the tenant's time zone.

Field Mapping

Error Handling

• If the calendar connection fails, the AI Employee pauses scheduling and prompts the user to reconnect.

• If a selected slot becomes unavailable, it automatically proposes the next available time within business hours.

Function Reference

Overview

The AI Employee uses predefined system functions to perform automated actions such as creating tickets, sending messages, scheduling appointments, or updating records.
Each function includes required and optional parameters, purpose, and usage notes.

Example 1 – Support Skill

Purpose

The Support Skill helps the AI Employee handle customer questions, provide immediate responses from the Knowledge Base, and create support tickets when an issue requires human attention.

Example Setup

Skill name: Product Support
Skill description: Assists customers with product troubleshooting and general inquiries, escalates unresolved issues to Support Inbox.
Knowledge Base: Product FAQ, Warranty Policy
Functions enabled: retrieval, create_ticket, send_sms

Example Conversation Flow

1. Customer message: "My device isn't charging even though the cable is plugged in."

2. AI Employee behavior:

   • Searches Knowledge Base using retrieval for relevant troubleshooting steps.

   • Responds with: "Please try a different outlet or USB port. If the issue continues, I can create a support ticket for our team to follow up."

3. Customer reply: "Yes, please create a ticket."

4. AI Employee action:

   • Executes create_ticket with parameters:

     • subject: Charging issue

     • description: Customer reports device not charging despite power connection

     • contact_id: 14322

   • Sends confirmation using send_sms: "Your support ticket #7456 has been created. Our team will contact you soon."

5. Ticket state: OPEN → Forwarded → In Progress once an agent accepts.

Instruction Example

When a customer asks for help with a product or service, search the Knowledge Base for relevant troubleshooting steps using the {retrieval} function.
If the customer confirms the problem continues, create a ticket in the Support Inbox using {create_ticket} and send a confirmation SMS using {send_sms}.
Always use a polite, empathetic tone.

Note: Functions must always be selected from the available list and referenced in green curly braces (for example, {create_ticket}, {send_sms}, {retrieval}).

Example 2 – Lead Generation Skill

Purpose

The Lead Generation Skill helps the AI Employee collect potential customer details and store them in the connected CRM system.

Example Setup

Skill name: Sales Lead Capture
Skill description: Gathers contact details and product interest from website visitors to create qualified leads.
Knowledge Base: Pricing Guide, Product Features
Functions enabled: create_lead, send_email

Example Conversation Flow

1. Customer message: "I'm interested in getting a quote for your enterprise plan."

2. AI Employee behavior:

   • Asks qualifying questions:

     • "Can I get your name, company, and best contact number?"

     • "Would you like me to connect you with a sales representative today?"

3. Customer response: "Sure, I'm Alex from FutureTech. My number is 480-555-8821."

4. AI Employee action:

   • Executes create_lead with parameters:

     • name: Alex

     • company: FutureTech

     • phone: 480-555-8821

     • source: Live Chat

     • notes: Interested in enterprise plan pricing

   • Sends follow-up email using send_email: "Thank you for your interest in Nextiva Enterprise Plan. A sales expert will reach out shortly."

5. Lead record: Created in CRM with status New Lead.

Instruction Example

"Ask for the customer's name, company, phone number, and interest area. Once information is complete, create a new lead in the connected CRM using the create_lead function. Send a confirmation email with next steps."

Example 3 – Appointment Skill

Purpose

The Appointment Skill enables the AI Employee to schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments for customers. It integrates with the connected calendar app (Google or Microsoft 365) to manage availability and meeting details.

Example Setup

Skill name: Appointment Scheduling
Skill description: Helps customers book, reschedule, or cancel appointments. Automatically checks calendar availability and confirms bookings.
Knowledge Base: Scheduling Policy, Office Hours
Functions enabled: check_availability, create_appointment, reschedule_appointment, cancel_appointment

Example Conversation Flow

1. Customer message: "I'd like to book a demo with your team tomorrow."

2. AI Employee behavior:

   • Executes check_availability to verify open time slots for the requested date.

   • Responds with: "We have openings at 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, or 3:30 PM tomorrow. Which time works best for you?"

3. Customer reply: "Let's do 1:00 PM."

4. AI Employee action:

   • Executes create_appointment with parameters:

     • start_time: 2025-11-24T13:00:00-07:00

     • end_time: 2025-11-24T13:30:00-07:00

     • attendee_name: Customer's name (if available from profile or entered manually)

     • attendee_email: Customer's email address

     • meeting_type: Product Demo

     • location: Video conference link auto-generated by the calendar app

   • Confirms booking: "Your appointment for a product demo is scheduled for 1:00 PM tomorrow. You'll receive a confirmation email shortly."

5. Customer message (later): "Can we move it to Wednesday instead?"

6. AI Employee action:

   • Executes reschedule_appointment to update the booking.

   • Sends confirmation email with the new time and link.

7. Customer message: "Actually, I need to cancel."

8. AI Employee action:

   • Executes cancel_appointment with parameters:

     • appointment_id: 34782

     • reason: Customer requested cancellation

   • Responds: "Your appointment has been canceled. Let me know if you'd like to book a new time."

Instruction Example

"When a customer requests to book, reschedule, or cancel an appointment, use check_availability to confirm open slots. Offer up to five options within business hours. Once the customer selects a time, confirm the booking using create_appointment. Send a confirmation email with the date, time, and meeting link. For changes, use reschedule_appointment or cancel_appointment and provide a polite confirmation message."

Appointment booking behaviour

The following behaviours apply when using the Appointment skill:

Booking within 24 hours

The AI Employee can schedule appointments within the next 24 hours, provided the time slot falls within your configured business hours and the calendar shows availability. When a customer requests a same-day or next-hour appointment, the system checks real-time availability before confirming the booking.

Appointment list after cancellation

After a customer cancels an appointment, the appointment list updates automatically to reflect the cancellation. The cancelled slot becomes available for new bookings immediately.

Confirmation emails

A confirmation email is sent to the customer after a booking is created, rescheduled, or cancelled. The email includes the appointment details and, where applicable, a meeting link. Ensure the customer's email address is collected during the conversation so the confirmation can be delivered correctly.

Note: Confirmation emails require a valid email address to be provided by the customer during the interaction. If no email address is collected, the confirmation email will not be sent.

Step 4 – Test Your AI

Before going live, test your AI Employee to verify it responds correctly across all configured skills.

Test the AI Employee

1. On the You're ready to test your AI! screen, type a message in the chat window or select one of the suggested sample questions:

   • What are your hours of operation?

   • How can you assist me?

   • Where are you located?

   • Can you tell me about your company?

   • What products or services do you offer?

2. Review the AI Employee's responses and confirm they are accurate.

Your AI Testing Checklist

Use the Your AI testing checklist panel on the right side of the screen to verify the following before going live:

• Ask a common customer question

• Ask questions that trigger each skill

• Try a request the AI should not handle

• Ask for a real person

1. If responses are not as expected, select Back to return to earlier steps and make adjustments.

2. Once satisfied, select Next to proceed to the final step.

Step 5 – Turn on Your Channels

In this step, you connect the channels your customers will use to reach your AI Employee. The page heading reads "Connect calls, texts, and chat".

Configure AI Coverage and Scheduling

1. Under AI coverage & scheduling, select the inbox you want the AI Employee to be part of from the Which inbox do you want me to be part of? dropdown.

2. In When are you open for business?, select a schedule from the dropdown. Select Preview schedule to review the selected schedule before confirming.

Note: To enable SMS for your AI Employee, you must complete 10DLC text messaging registration first. A banner on this screen reminds you to navigate to Administration > Channels > SMS Text to complete your 10DLC registration before SMS can be used.

Select Channels

Under Select where your AI will answer customers, toggle on the channels you want to activate, and configure each one as described below.

Calling

1. Toggle Calling on.

2. In Select the phone numbers AI will answer, select the phone numbers you want the AI Employee to handle.

3. In When do you want your AI Employee to be available?, select the availability window. The default is Always (24/7).

4. Toggle Send a call summary for each call your AI answers on if you want a summary sent after each call.

5. Under What should happen if your AI can't resolve a request?, select one of the following:

   • Hand-off internally — automatically routed to the right inbox and team

   • Forward the call to a specific number — enter the number to forward to

   • Get a notification summary — receive a summary notification instead of a live transfer

Advanced Settings

1. Toggle Would you like a custom greeting for calls? on to set a custom greeting for voice calls.

2. Toggle Do you need to handle escalations differently after hours? on to configure a different escalation path outside business hours.

SMS (Text Messaging)

1. Toggle SMS (text messaging) on.

2. In Select the phone numbers your AI will answer, select the phone numbers you want the AI Employee to handle for SMS.

3. Toggle Send a conversation summary for each text conversation your AI answers on if you want a summary sent after each SMS conversation.

4. Under What should happen if your AI can't resolve a request?, select one of the following:

   • Hand-off internally — automatically routed to the right inbox and team

   • Get a notification summary — receive a summary notification

Advanced Settings

1. Toggle Would you like a custom greeting for text messages? on to set a custom greeting for SMS.

2. In Set your custom text greeting, enter the greeting text your AI Employee will send at the start of each SMS conversation.

   • Example: "Hi, my name is [AI Employee name]. I'm an AI employee from [Company]."

   • Compliance note: It is best practice to include a disclosure informing customers they are interacting with AI.

Live Chat

1. Toggle Live chat on.

   • A reminder banner appears: "Confirm your live chat widget is installed so customers can see and use chat on your website." Select View installation steps if the widget has not been installed yet.

2. In Assign chat channels for your AI to handle, select the live chat channels you want the AI Employee to manage.

3. Toggle Send a conversation summary for each live chat your AI answers on if you want a summary sent after each live chat.

4. Under What should happen if your AI can't resolve a request?, select one of the following:

   • Hand-off internally — automatically routed to the right inbox and team

   • Get a notification summary — receive a summary notification

Advanced Settings

1. Toggle Would you like a custom greeting for live chats? on to set a custom greeting for live chat.

2. In Set your custom live chat greeting, enter the greeting text your AI Employee will send at the start of each live chat.

   • Example: "Hi, my name is [AI Employee name]. I'm an AI employee from [Company]."

   • Compliance note: It is best practice to include a disclosure informing customers they are interacting with AI.

Launch

Once your inbox, schedule, and channels are fully configured, select Launch to make your AI Employee active. Select Save & exit to save your progress and return later.

After selecting Launch, a confirmation screen appears with the message "[AI Employee name] has joined your team". The screen confirms the following:

• Your AI Employee will start talking to customers when they reach out

• All AI conversations will appear in your Inbox

• Requests that need follow-up will have a Forwarded status

From this screen, select Go to inbox to view incoming conversations, or Go to AI Employee page to return to the AI Employees list.

AI Employee Routing and Workflow Logic

When you finish setting up an AI Employee, NEXT automatically creates and manages all required routing.
You do not need to:

• Create or edit a Journey

• Create a Workflow

• Use AI workflow templates

• Add the AI Employee to a flow

• Connect your number or channel manually

The system automatically handles:

• Voice routing

• SMS routing

• Live Chat routing

• Business Hours / After Hours behavior

• Escalation to inboxes

• Entry points for each channel

This ensures your AI Employee is active and reachable without requiring any workflow-building experience.

Conversation Journeys (Voice, Live Chat, SMS)

Overview

A conversation journey defines the complete lifecycle of an interaction handled by an AI Employee, from the first customer message to ticket closure. Each channel follows the same core stages Open, In Progress, Resolved, and Forwarded but timing, routing, and closure behaviours vary by channel.

Voice Conversation Journey

How It Works

• A ticket is created in Open when an inbound call reaches the AI Employee or an agent.

• The AI Employee greets the caller and handles questions based on its assigned skill.

• If the caller asks for a human or the AI transfers the call, the ticket is Forwarded to the correct queue.

• When an agent answers, the ticket moves to In Progress.

• If the caller disconnects or the call ends normally, the ticket is marked Resolved.

• The call summary, transcript, and disposition remain attached to the ticket.

Behavior Details

• The AI Employee always respects Business Hours and routing defined in the workflow.

• If the AI is configured as First, it greets and assists before escalation.

• If the AI is configured as If No Agents Available, it handles only when no live agents are online.

• Transfer to an external number is supported for the Voice channel only. External transfer is not available for Live Chat or SMS.

• Call recording settings and transcripts follow tenant-level policies.

Live Chat Conversation Journey

How It Works

• When a visitor opens the chat widget, a ticket is created in Open and assigned to the Live Chat queue.

• The AI Employee greets the visitor and begins the conversation.

• While AI is active, transcript updates are delayed until the page is refreshed.

• If the AI transfers to a human inbox, the ticket status changes to Forwarded.

• Once an agent accepts, the ticket moves to In Progress.

• If the visitor stops responding, the system waits one hour before marking the ticket Resolved.

• When both sides end the chat normally, the ticket displays as Closed in the journey view.

Behavior Details

• Each new chat creates a single ticket, even if the visitor closes and reopens the widget.

• The AI cannot be interrupted with Assign to me while it is active.

• Business Hours control when AI or humans respond.

• Escalations preserve full transcript history in the ticket.

• Global greeting applies; per-channel greetings are planned for a later release.

SMS Conversation Journey

How It Works

• When a customer sends a text to the business number, a ticket is created in Open.

• The AI Employee responds and continues until the issue is resolved or escalated.

• If the AI transfers to an inbox, the ticket becomes Forwarded and moves to In Progress when an agent accepts.

• If the conversation ends naturally, the ticket becomes Resolved.

• If the customer does not respond, the ticket resolves automatically after twenty-four hours of inactivity.

Behavior Details

• Voice and SMS share the same number by default.

• AI handles the conversation until it detects escalation or inactivity.

• Handoff to an external number is not available for SMS in this release.

• Transcript and message history are retained within the ticket thread.

• The global greeting applies to SMS as well.

Known Behaviors and Gaps

• Assign to me does not interrupt an active AI conversation.

• Real-time transcript is not available for Live Chat.

• Voice, SMS, and Live Chat use shared greetings; per-channel greetings will be added in a later version.

• Tickets created by AI always include the AI transcript and metadata, even after human escalation.

• Live Chat shows Closed on end of session; Voice and SMS show Resolved.

Setting AI Employee Defaults

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Fill in the company name. If you have a longer official company name, but that is not how customers refer to your business, use the name most commonly used. For example, if your company's official licensed name is Bill's Bait and Fishing Pro Shop, INC, but it is called Bill's Bait by your customers and on most marketing or sales materials, name it Bill's Bait for your AI Employee.

3. Fill in the company description. The more details you can provide, the better. This should be several sentences describing what your company does, how it assists customers and in what ways, and what services you offer.

   • The description helps your AI Employee understand the nature of your business and how to respond in a way that feels authentic. For example, a dental clinic AI will speak differently than a real-estate agency AI, because it knows the setting, the customers, and the services it represents. Context ensures your AI uses the right terminology, and prioritizes relevant solutions.

4. Select the blue Save button when finished.

Viewing or Editing AI Employee Skills

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

Delete an AI Employee Skill

You can remove a skill from an AI Employee if it is no longer needed. Deleting a skill may impact workflows or automations currently using that skill.

Before You Begin

• Review any Journeys or workflows that use the skill.

• Confirm the skill is no longer required.

• Understand that deleting a skill may break existing routing or automation logic.

Delete a Skill

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Under People & AI, select AI Employees.

3. Locate the AI Employee you want to update.

4. Click the three-dot menu next to the AI Employee.

5. Select Edit.

6. Continue through the setup flow until you reach Step 3 – Train your skills.

7. Locate the skill you want to delete.

8. Click the Delete icon on the skill card.

9. In the confirmation window, select Delete.

The skill is removed from the AI Employee.

What Happens After Deletion

• The AI Employee will no longer respond using that skill.

• Any Journeys or configurations relying on the skill may fail.

• You may need to update routing or assign a replacement skill.

You can duplicate an existing trained skill to save time when creating a similar skill without rebuilding it from scratch. Each skill belongs to exactly one AI Employee — skills are not shared or synced across AI Employees. Previously, the same skill could be used across multiple AI Employees, so editing a shared skill in one AI Employee would also change it in every other AI Employee using it. This is no longer the case. Duplicating an AI Employee clones its skills along with it, but the two copies are now fully independent — editing a skill in one AI Employee does not affect the same-named skill in another AI Employee.

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Under People & AI, select AI Employees.

3. Locate the AI Employee whose skill you want to duplicate and select Edit.

4. Navigate to Step 3 – Train your skills.

5. Under Trained skills, locate the skill you want to duplicate.

6. Select the Duplicate icon on the skill card.

7. A copy of the skill is created and appears under Trained skills.

8. Select the edit icon on the duplicated skill to rename and update it as needed.

9. Select Save when finished.

Note: The Receptionist skill cannot be duplicated.

Every time you save changes to an AI Employee, NEXT and Xbert automatically creates a version — capturing its skills, business details, prompts, and routing, along with who made the change and when. This lets you experiment freely and revert if something doesn't work out.

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Under People & AI, select AI Employees.

3. Select the three-dot menu of the AI Employee which you want to review.

4. Select Edit.

1. Select History next to the "Edited [time]" label.

 

The Version history panel opens, showing all changes made to that AI Employee, grouped by month:

• The Current version is highlighted at the top, showing the most recent save time and a summary of what changed (e.g., "Updated escalation settings").

• Each past version below it lists what changed (e.g., "Updated calling phone number," "Updated skills," "Saved as draft") and who edited it.

 

1. In the Version history panel, hover over the version you want to restore and select Restore.

2. In the Restore from [date/time] dialog, choose where the version goes:

   • Save as a new AI employee — creates a separate AI Employee from the selected version, so you can test or compare it without affecting the current one.

   • Replace current AI Employee: [name] — overwrites the current AI Employee with the selected version.

3. Select Restore.

 

Note: Restoring a version does not restore Channel sources (phone numbers and live chat widgets). You'll need to reconnect these manually after a restore.

Note: Skills are not shared across AI Employees — each skill lives inside exactly one AI Employee. Duplicating an AI Employee clones its skills along with it, so a change made to a skill in one AI Employee will not affect the same skill in another.

Delete an AI Employee

Deleting an AI Employee permanently removes it. This action cannot be undone.

Before You Begin

• Confirm the AI Employee is no longer needed.

• Review any active inboxes or channels assigned to the AI Employee, as these will no longer be handled after deletion.

Delete an AI Employee

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Under People & AI, select AI Employees.

3. Locate the AI Employee you want to delete.

4. Select the three-dot menu on the right side of the AI Employee's row.

5. Select Delete.

6. Confirm the deletion when prompted.

The AI Employee is removed from your account and will no longer handle any conversations.

Chatbot

Chatbot builder is a visual or low-code interface that allows users to create and manage automated conversational agents for messaging channels like websites and apps, typically through a live chat widget.

Create a Chatbot

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Drag and drop relevant Elements into the main section of the screen to begin building with them. Move each element around by dragging and dropping it.

   • Selecting the Enable AI toggle to the left of the search bar will give you help when building your chatbot. It will also activate the chatbot so that it works effectively.

   • Use the Save button to save where you are at in your work before exiting the Chatbot Builder area.

   • Use the Train Model button to teach the chatbot so it can begin to learn answers and refine its responses when talking to Agents or customers.

   • Use the Preview button to open up a new box on the right hand side of the Chatbot builder screen to see what your Chatbot will look like once it is published. We recommend using this button frequently when building out your Chatbot. You will need to press the Preview button each time to refresh the preview window.

Link a Knowledge Base to a Chatbot

Linking a Knowledge Base ensures the chatbot answers from approved sources.

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Under NEXT Studio, select Chatbot.

3. Open your bot.

4. Select Link KB located at the top right corner.

5. Choose the available Knowledge Base that the bot should use.

6. Save.

7. (Optional) Select Train model to improve retrieval with the newly linked sources.

Important: Add clear, specific descriptions to each KB collection and article so the bot can select the right source and avoid irrelevant content.

Viewing or Editing Existing Chatbots

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. You can now view the details of that specific chatbot. You can also edit it from here. Use the information from Step 6 onward in the Create a Chatbot section above. Remember, Chatbot builder is a visual or low-code interface that allows users to create and manage automated conversational agents for messaging channels like websites and apps, typically through a live chat widget.

Copy a Chatbot

Make a copy of an existing chatbot to save yourself time if you do not want to build another chatbot from scratch.

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Under NEXT Studio, select Chatbot.

Rename a Chatbot

Change the name of an existing chatbot.

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

2. Under NEXT Studio, select Chatbot.

Delete a Chatbot

1. Select Administration in the left navigation.