Messages and triage · Autessa AI Receptionist
Urgent call alerts
Autessa AI Receptionist sends urgent call alerts: when a caller describes something that needs someone today, like a security incident, an outage or a legal matter, the AI receptionist marks the call urgent, tells the caller the team has been alerted, and emails the right people right away. You can have it text their cell numbers too.
7:12
Lock screen · SAMPLE
Urgent call: Alex Kim, Brightline Clinic, (206) 555-0163. Staff locked out of their accounts since 6:30 PM. [Open the call]
Also emailed to you and the support lead.
The problem it solves
An outage reported at 7 PM, read at 9 AM
The worst calls are the ones that sit in a queue overnight. But an alert for every caller who says "it's urgent" trains everyone to ignore alerts. The receptionist alerts only for real, today-level problems, and only once per call.
What you get
- Urgent means something that needs someone today: a real security incident, an outage or data problem, a legal matter, or a genuine hard deadline.
- A caller simply saying "urgent" is not enough, and sales pitches are never urgent.
- The caller hears: "I've flagged it as urgent, and the team has been alerted."
- An email goes out with who called, the callback number, why, the message and a link to open the call.
- Alerts go to your alert list (or the morning summary list), plus the teammate the call is for, up to five people.
- Turn on "Also text them" to send a short text from the main line to their cell numbers in Homebase.
- Each call alerts at most once, and the call page shows when it was sent and to whom.
How it works
How does urgent call alerts work?
The caller describes the problem
The receptionist asks for specifics, then decides whether it really needs someone today.
It flags the call
The call is marked urgent and the caller is told the team has been alerted.
The alert goes out
An email titled "Urgent call: <who> - <reason>" goes to your alert list and the teammate it is for, and a text if you turned that on.
Your team acts
The email links straight to the call. The call page shows "Sent <time> to <recipients>".
Every option
Urgent alert settings
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Who gets alerts | Up to 5 email addresses. If empty, the morning summary list is used. |
| Plus | The teammate the call is for, from the team directory. Five people at most in total. |
| Also text them (the cell numbers in Homebase) | Off by default. Sends a short text from the main line with who, callback number, reason and a link. |
| Email subject | "Urgent call: <who> - <reason>". |
| Email body | Who called, callback number, why, message and an Open the call link. |
| What counts as urgent | Security incidents, outages or data problems, legal matters and genuine hard deadlines. |
| Sent once | Each call alerts at most once. |
| Marked urgent in the app | Recorded on the call, with who marked it. It does not send a new alert. |
| Test calls | Alert only the teammate testing, with "[Test call]" in the subject. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
| Who | Can |
|---|---|
| Teammates who manage the receptionist | Change the alert list and the text setting on Setup. |
| Anyone the app is shared with | Mark calls urgent or not urgent. |
| Alert recipients | Get the email (and text, if on) and open the call from it. |
What the AI does
How the receptionist handles it
Both the receptionist during the call and the reviewer after it can mark a call urgent, using the same strict test. The receptionist asks for specifics first, because vague urgency is the most common way callers try to get put through.
Questions
Questions about urgent call alerts
How does the AI receptionist decide a call is urgent?
Only when the caller describes something that needs someone today: a real security incident, an outage or data problem, a legal matter, or a hard deadline. Saying "it's urgent" alone does not count.
Who gets urgent alerts?
The people on your alert list (or the morning summary list if that is empty), plus the teammate the call is for, up to five people.
Can alerts be sent by text?
Yes. Turn on "Also text them" and recipients also get a text from your main line at the cell number in Homebase. It is off by default.
What does marking a call urgent in the app do?
It records the call as urgent and who marked it, so it stands out in your inbox. Alerts go out automatically when the receptionist takes or reviews the call.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa AI Receptionist fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours