A Front Desk agent is an AI-powered virtual receptionist that helps your business manage customer conversations across supported channels, including voice calls, web chat, text messages, and email. It can answer common questions, manage appointments, and follow the procedures you configure for your business.
In this article, you'll learn how to create a Front Desk agent, configure its system prompt and languages, select communication channels, assign procedures, and publish the agent for your selected locations.
Before you begin
Before setting up your Front Desk agent, make sure your Practice Management System (PMS) or CRM is connected to Birdeye. This allows the agent to access appointment availability and manage appointments based on the information synced from your PMS or CRM.
Note: The agent can only book or manage appointments for providers, appointment types, and locations that are synced with your PMS or CRM.
Access Front Desk agents
From the left navigation, go to Operations section > Front Desk, expand Agents and select the Front Desk Agent.
The Agents page displays the Front Desk agents available in your account.
Handy Tip: To use a pre-built agent, click the Library tab and select a template that matches your requirements.
Create a Front Desk agent
You can create an agent from scratch or start with a pre-built template from the Library.
Click Create an agent to build an agent from scratch.
Click the Library tab to browse and select a pre-configured agent.
You can customize a Library template after adding it to your account.
Configure your Front Desk agent
The setup wizard guides you through five steps.
Getting started
Configure agent
Select channels
Select procedures
Review summary
Step 1: Getting started
Enter the basic details for your Front Desk agent.
Agent name: Enter a name for your agent. Use a descriptive name that makes it easy to identify the agent in your account.
Locations: Select the locations where you want to make the agent available. You can select one or more locations, or all locations.
The agent is published to the locations you select.
NOTE: To enable Text for a location, the location must have a texting number configured in Birdeye.
Click Next to continue.
Step 2: Configure agent
Customize how your Front Desk agent interacts with customers using the system prompt and language settings.
A system prompt is provided by default. Review and edit the prompt to customize the agent's behavior, personality, environment, and tone, or replace it with your own instructions.
English is selected by default. To add other languages, select them from the dropdown.
Once you've configured the system prompt and language settings, click Next.
Step 3: Select channels
Choose the communication channels where you want your Front Desk agent to interact with customers.
Click the dropdown and select one or more available channels, such as Voice Call, Web Chat, Text, and Email.
IMPORTANT: For the Voice Call channel, Recording requirements may vary based on your region. Enable recording only if it complies with applicable regulations.
After selecting a channel, configure the settings available for that channel. Click Apply to save your changes.
Repeat these steps for each channel you want to enable.
Once you've configured all selected channels, click Next.
Step 4: Select procedures
Select the procedures your Front Desk agent will follow when handling customer requests.
You can select an existing procedure from the Procedure Library or create a new procedure based on your business requirements.
Select an existing procedure
Select the checkbox next to a procedure to add it to your agent.
To review a procedure before selecting it, click View.
You can review details such as:
Procedure title — Identifies the procedure.
When should this procedure be used? — Explains when the agent should use the procedure.
Context type — Defines the context in which the procedure applies.
Steps — Shows the actions the agent follows when executing the procedure.
Review the procedure details and click Save to add it to your agent.
Handy Tip: Your account may already include procedures in the shared Procedure Library. Review the available procedures before creating a new one.
Create a new procedure
If you don't find a procedure that meets your requirements, click Create New.
Add the required details and define the steps the agent should follow. Once you've configured the procedure, click Save.
After selecting or creating the required procedures, click Next to continue.
Step 5: Review summary
Review your Front Desk agent's configuration before publishing it.
The summary page shows:
Agent name
Selected locations
Enabled channels
Selected procedures
Channel settings
Review the configuration to make sure everything is set up as required.
Once you've reviewed the details, click Create. A confirmation message appears when the agent is created successfully.
Your Front Desk agent is created and becomes available for the selected locations and channels.
Next steps
Your Front Desk agent is now ready to use. To configure the resources that support your agent's workflows, see Configure Front Desk resources.
You can configure resources such as Providers, Appointment Types, Availability, Knowledge Base, and Widgets to help your agent handle appointments and customer requests.