Get your dealership's numbers (the main line, plus a service line for service texts), choose when AutoBook Agent answers calls and how it sounds, and decide who gets a call when a person should take it.
Two settings pages cover your dealership's phones. Settings → Phone & texting has three sections: Lines (your numbers), Answering calls (when AutoBook Agent picks up and what it may handle) and How it sounds. Settings → Routing decides which person gets a call, in its Phone calls section. Whether AutoBook Agent answers the phone at all is the Voice row on Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy. Every setting here is per dealership.
The sections
Lines (Phone & texting)
Your numbers: the main line for calls and texting, and the service line for service texts.
Answering calls (Phone & texting)
When AutoBook Agent answers calls and What AutoBook Agent handles on a call. The short text after a phone call has its own switch on Settings → Follow-ups (the Text after a phone call row), not here.
How it sounds (Phone & texting)
AutoBook Agent's Tone and the Opening greeting a caller hears first. The Voice line shows which voice callers hear; AutoBook sets it.
Phone calls (Routing)
Screening, When to transfer, Who can receive transfers (the desks at the top of the same page), what happens if nobody answers, and Rep calling: whether an incoming call rings the customer's own rep before AutoBook Agent picks up.
Getting a phone number (Lines)
The Lines section on Settings → Phone & texting has two rows. The Main line is the front door: one number for both texting and calls. To get one, click Request a number on the row, optionally enter a Preferred area code (e.g. 416), then Send request. AutoBook finds a Canadian number and sets it up, usually within a business day, and the row shows Requested until then. The Account Owner sees Buy a number instead: it confirms the monthly fee and the number arrives right away.
The Service line is the service desk's own number. Every text about service work (service tickets, service visits, service follow-ups) goes out from it, and replies reach your service team, not sales. The first text a customer gets from it opens with your store's name and Service (for example "It's Lakeside Motors Service."). Courtesy texts never merge across your two numbers: a sales receipt and a service missed-call text arrive as two texts, one from each line. Verification codes and opt-out confirmations go from whichever number the customer is using. It is bought at launch with the main number from the Store readiness checklist. If a dealership doesn't have one yet, the Service line row offers the same buttons as the main line.
Service texts use the service line only once its carrier registration is complete and the line is active. Until both are true they go from the main line, so nothing is missed, and they still belong to the Service desk. The one exception is a rep who deliberately picks the service line, for example to text from it: AutoBook says the line isn't ready yet rather than sending from the main line. AutoBook handles the registration with the carriers, and service texts move over on their own; there is no switch to flip.
Good to know about your numbers
- Each number is a real purchase with a small monthly fee.
- The Active switch on each line takes the whole number dark when off: customers' texts to it are dropped, calls to it aren't answered by AutoBook Agent, and nobody can text or call out from it. On the service line, service texts fall back to the main line while it is off. The number stays on your account; turn it back on any time.
- Releasing a number isn't self-serve. Contact support@auto-book.ca.
Choosing when AutoBook Agent answers the phone (Answering calls)
On Settings → Phone & texting → Answering calls:
- When AutoBook Agent answers: Always answer (the default; it transfers to a rep when needed), After hours only (it answers when the dealership is closed; open hours ring through) or Overflow (a rep answers first and AutoBook Agent takes what they miss; AutoBook sets how long staff are rung, and the page shows it). Open and closed follow your business hours.
- What AutoBook Agent handles: Smart router (captures the lead and routes it), Router + Q&A (also answers inventory, hours and directions), Qualified handler (also qualifies, books appointments and covers financing basics) or Full engagement (the default; handles most calls end to end and transfers for pricing, complaints or on request).
Press Save. To stop AutoBook Agent answering the phone entirely, set Voice to Off on Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy.
Changing how AutoBook Agent sounds on calls (How it sounds)
1
Pick a tone
In the How it sounds section, pick a Tone: Warm & friendly, Polished & professional or Casual & laid-back. Press Save.
2
Write an opening greeting (optional)
Leave Opening greeting blank for a natural default, or write your own, e.g. "Thanks for calling! How can we help?"
The voice itself is set by AutoBook; the Voice line at the end of the section names it. There is no speaking-pace or pronunciation setting, and stores don't give AutoBook Agent a name. Asked on a call whether it is a person, it says it is the dealership's virtual assistant.
Deciding which calls go to a person (Routing → Phone calls)
The Phone calls section at the bottom of Settings → Routing decides who gets a call. Screening (on by default): the rep hears who is calling and why before the call is handed over, and can accept or decline. Off, transfers go straight through. Press Save after any change.
When to transfer
Tick the topics AutoBook Agent hands to a person instead of handling itself: Caller asks for a specific person, Specific pricing / negotiation, Financing specifics, Trade-in commitments, Complaints / upset callers. Anything unticked, it keeps.
Who can receive transfers
Transfers ring the people on the desks: sales calls the Sales desk, service calls the Service desk, set at the top of the same page. There is no separate transfer list. A caller with an assigned rep only ever gets that rep; if the rep can't be reached, AutoBook Agent takes a message for them. Each desk's Calls row says how people are rung: App only (the AutoBook app, 15 seconds each) or App, then cell (the app, then the rep's cell phone).
If nobody is available
If nobody answers, AutoBook Agent takes a message. It lands in your Inbox as a voice message and the right person is notified. Callers never hit a traditional voicemail box.
Who is on each desk lives on Staff & Roles
Who gets calls is each person's Sales desk (or Service desk) row under Settings → Staff & Roles → Stores & desks. To keep someone on the desk but off calls, open Advanced: fine-tune channels on that desk.
Ringing a customer's own rep first, and calling from the app (Rep calling)
Reps call customers with the Call button in the Inbox or the app, so the call is transcribed and threaded under the customer automatically. Calls from a personal phone are invisible to AutoBook. Calling is on for every rep at every dealership; there is nothing to switch on.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|
Rep calling (Ring the assigned rep first) | The one rep-calling setting. On, an incoming call to your main line from a customer who already has a rep rings that rep in the app before AutoBook Agent picks up. Off (the default), AutoBook Agent answers every call. |
Everything else about rep calling is fixed. A customer always sees your dealership's number, never a rep's own, so a call back reaches the dealership and joins the same conversation. The assigned rep is rung for about 15 to 20 seconds, and only when they are actually reachable in the app; otherwise, or if they don't pick up, AutoBook Agent answers straight away. Calls to the service line never ring the sales rep; they work like service. Whatever this setting says, a caller who asks for a person mid-call reaches their own rep only; if that rep can't be reached, AutoBook Agent takes a message for them.
Unanswered rings fall back to AutoBook Agent
With Rep calling on, an unanswered ring lands on AutoBook Agent, which greets the caller and handles the call. The rep has to be signed in to the AutoBook app to be rung at all, so a rep who is away never costs the caller a wait.
Saving phone and texting changes
On Phone & texting and Routing, edits collect as you scroll and the save bar saves everything at once. The Lines section is the exception: requesting, buying or switching a line takes effect right away.
Why is one number used for both calls and texts?
Each dealership's main line handles calls and texts, so customers have one place to reach you. Each dealership also gets a service line at launch for service texts, and calls to it are handled as service. Service texts fall back to the main line whenever the service line can't send.
I provisioned a service number. Why are service texts still coming from the main number?
Two things have to be true first, and neither is a switch you flip: the number's carrier registration has to be complete (AutoBook handles that with the carriers), and the line has to be active. Until both hold, service texts stay on the main line on purpose: carriers can silently filter an unregistered sender, and a missed reminder is worse than one sent from the main number. Once both hold, service texts ride the service line automatically. If it has been a while, email support@auto-book.ca and we'll tell you where the registration stands.
A rep isn't getting calls. Why?
Calls follow the desks. Check the rep's Sales desk (or Service desk) row under Settings → Staff & Roles → Stores & desks, and that Advanced: fine-tune channels on that desk hasn't taken them off calls. On a desk set to App only they must be signed in to the AutoBook app with notifications allowed; the desk section on Settings → Routing marks anyone who can't be rung.
Are rep calls recorded?
No audio is recorded. Every call is transcribed and threaded under the customer, which is what puts it in the conversation history, but no recording is stored.
Why is there only one rep-calling setting?
Everything else has a single right answer. Calling is always available, the customer always sees the dealership number, the ring length is fixed, and only a reachable rep is rung. The one choice is whether the assigned rep is rung first.
Where is the switch for the text after a phone call?
On Settings → Follow-ups, in the Text after a phone call row. It is the one switch for that text.
Can I sync calls to Google Calendar?
No. Only Outlook Calendar sync is available.
Does "Customers can book" affect who can take transfers?
No. Customers can book only controls whether a rep appears on the booking page; it has nothing to do with transfers. Who gets calls is the person's desk row under Settings → Staff & Roles → Stores & desks.