Creating an AI Agent

Creating an AI agent takes about 5 minutes. You'll define what the agent says, pick a voice, and set up its capabilities. By the end, you'll have an agent ready to handle calls.

This guide walks you through each step of the agent creation wizard.

Before you start#

Make sure you have:

• A dialnote account with admin access
• At least one phone number in your account
• A basic idea of what you want your agent to do

Starting the wizard#

1. Go to AI Agents in your dialnote dashboard sidebar
2. Click Create Agent → Voice Agent
3. Pick a starting point

Three ways to start#

AI-Powered Setup (recommended) — A chat-based builder asks about your business in plain English. It generates a complete agent config (name, greeting, identity, guardrails) that you can review and tweak before saving.

Browse Templates — Pick from 16 industry-specific templates (two per industry) covering healthcare, real estate, professional services, home services, retail, tech, hospitality, and education. Each template comes pre-filled with a greeting, conversation flow, and relevant tools. If you filled out the onboarding questionnaire, dialnote highlights the best match for your industry.

Build from Scratch — Start with a blank slate and full manual control. Look for the "Advanced user?" link at the bottom of the starting point screen.

All three paths lead to the same 5-step wizard. You can move between steps freely. The agent is saved once you move from the Knowledge Bases step to the Actions step — that's when it gets a record you can attach tools to. Everything after that point can be changed later.

The five steps are: Basic Info, Instructions, Knowledge Bases, Actions, and Review & Test.

Step 1: Basic info#

The first step covers your agent's name, language, timezone, greeting, and voice.

Agent name#

Give your agent a descriptive name (up to 100 characters). This appears in your agent list and helps you identify which agent is which.

Examples:

• "Reception Assistant"
• "After-Hours Support"
• "Appointment Scheduler"

The name is for your reference. Callers won't hear it unless you include it in the greeting.

Language#

Choose the primary language your agent speaks. dialnote supports more than 20 language and region options, including:

• English (US, UK, Australia, India)
• Spanish (Spain, Mexico, US)
• French (France, Canada)
• German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil/Portugal), Dutch, Polish, Russian
• Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional)
• Hindi, Arabic

The agent responds in the selected language. If callers speak a different language, the agent will still try to help but may switch back to the configured language.

Timezone#

Set the agent's timezone. This is the clock the agent uses when it talks about times — for example, when reading back calendar availability or confirming an appointment slot.

Greeting message#

This is the first thing callers hear when your agent answers (up to 500 characters). Keep it natural and brief.

Good greeting:

"Hi, thanks for calling Smith Dental. This is Alex, how can I help you today?"

Avoid:

"Hello valued customer. Your call is important to us. Please state the nature of your inquiry clearly and concisely."

Tips for greetings:

• Include your company name
• Keep it under 3 sentences
• Sound like a real person, not a recording

Voice#

Pick a voice that matches your brand. Use the filters to narrow down options:

• Gender: filter by the genders available in the voice catalog
• Accent: American, British, Australian, and more

Click the play button next to any voice to hear a preview. Pick one that sounds natural for your use case. A law firm might want a calm, professional voice. A pizza shop might want something more casual and upbeat.

Step 2: Instructions#

This is the core of your agent. You're telling the AI who it is, how to behave, what to say, and what to avoid. Two fields are required (Agent Identity and Conversation Flow); the rest are optional.

Agent Identity (required)#

Describe who the agent is and why it's answering calls (10–1,000 characters).

Structure your identity like this:

You are [Name], a [Role] at [Company].
Context: You're answering because [reason - after hours, agents busy, etc.].
Vibe: [Personality - professional, friendly, calm, etc.]

Example:

You are Sam, a Customer Support Assistant at Acme Corp. Context: You're picking up calls because all human agents are currently busy. Vibe: Professional, empathetic, and efficient.

Interaction Style (optional)#

Define how the agent should speak. This is optional but helps create consistent behavior.

Consider including:

• Tone: Warm, formal, casual, reassuring
• Pacing: Keep responses short (under 20 words works well)
• Turn-taking: What to do if the caller interrupts
• Filler words: Natural phrases like "I understand" or "Got it"

Conversation Flow (required)#

Write the step-by-step flow your agent should follow (10–2,000 characters). Be specific and include exact phrases.

Example flow:

1. Greeting: "Hi, this is Sam from Acme Corp. How can I help you today?"
2. Capture name: Ask "Who am I speaking with?"
3. Capture reason: Ask "What's the main reason for your call?"
4. Acknowledge: Confirm what you heard back to the caller
5. Next steps: Let them know someone will follow up, or offer to transfer
6. Closing: "Thanks for calling. Have a great day!"

The more specific your flow, the better. Vague instructions lead to unpredictable behavior.

Lead Capture Fields (optional)#

Use the field editor to list the details you want the agent to collect during a call — name, email, reason for calling, and so on. The agent works these questions into the conversation and saves the answers with the call.

Guardrails & Rules (optional)#

Define what the agent should never do (up to 3,000 characters). These rules help prevent mistakes.

Common guardrails:

• Don't promise specific callback times
• Don't share other employees' personal information
• Don't provide legal or medical advice
• If unsure, offer to transfer to a human

Step 3: Knowledge bases#

Knowledge bases give your agent specific information to reference during calls. You can select from existing knowledge bases or create new ones.

To attach a knowledge base, check the box next to it. The agent will search this content when answering questions.

See Knowledge Bases for details on creating and managing them.

Step 4: Actions#

Actions (tools) let your agent do things during a call beyond talking. The agent can already end the call on its own, so there's no separate "end call" tool to add.

Available tools:

• Transfer to a teammate: routes the call to specific team members
• Hand off to another agent: swaps the call to a different AI agent
• Send an SMS: texts the caller
• Check Availability: looks up open time slots (Calendly or Cal.com)
• Book Meeting: schedules an appointment directly (Calendly or Cal.com)
• Custom webhook: calls your own API

Add a tool, then give it a name and a short description so the AI knows when to use it. Some tools need extra setup — a connected calendar for scheduling, or a URL for a custom webhook.

See Custom Tools for detailed setup instructions.

Step 5: Review and test#

The last step lets you run a quick test of your agent and check its configuration before going live. Use it to confirm the greeting, voice, and flow sound right. You can step back to any earlier step to make changes — they're saved when you finish.

For deeper testing, see Testing your agent.

After creation#

Once you finish the wizard, your agent is ready but not yet live. To start receiving calls:

1. Go to Phone Numbers in Settings
2. Select the number you want the agent to answer
3. In the call flow settings, add your AI agent as a step

You can also test your agent before assigning it to a phone number.

Editing an existing agent#

To modify an agent:

1. Go to AI Agents in the sidebar
2. Click the agent you want to edit
3. The same wizard opens with your current settings
4. Make changes and click Save changes

Changes take effect immediately for new calls. Calls in progress continue with the original configuration.

What's next#

• Configure agent settings for advanced options
• Add knowledge bases to train your agent
• Set up tools for scheduling, SMS, and more
• Test your agent before going live