It never tries to handle an emergency itself.
That is a design decision, not a limitation we are apologising for. An automated assistant should not be the thing standing between somebody and a gas leak.
What it does instead is the part that actually goes wrong at 3am: it tells the caller what to do for their own safety, then it gets a real person on it, and it keeps going until somebody accepts.
What it says before it pages anyone.
Safety first, in plain words, and it does not wait for permission to say it.
Gas or a burning smell
Leave the building now. Call 911 or your gas company from outside. Do not touch any switches on the way out.
Stranded on a road
Stay in the vehicle with your belt on and your hazards going. Do not stand on the shoulder.
Water or a flood
Shut the water off at the valve if you can reach it safely. Keep away from anything electrical.
Then, and only then, it starts calling your people. The safety instruction does not wait for a human to be found, because that is the part that cannot wait.
What the caller hears while that happens.
They are not left listening to hold music while a phone rings somewhere else.
It says so out loud
“I am waking our on-call tech right now and they will call you back on this number.”
It stays on the safety instruction
The thing they have to do right now has already been said, before anyone was paged. It does not get repeated over the top of it.
The callback is to that number
They hang up and wait for a person, on the phone they just called from. Nobody is asked to call a second number.
Then it calls your person until one picks up.
You give us the order and how long to wait at each step. It works down the list.
- FirstCalls your primary on-call. If they accept, it connects them and stops.
- If no answerWaits the number of seconds you set, then moves to the next person on your list.
- Still nobodyKeeps going down the list, and texts everyone on it at the same time so the phone is not the only way through.
- Either wayYou get the record. Who was called, at what second, who accepted, and what the caller said.
We will be straight about the limit: if nobody on your list picks up and nobody responds to the texts, the system cannot invent a technician. What it can do, and does, is show you exactly that, immediately, instead of leaving it in a voicemail box until morning.
The record is the point.
Most of this category stops at the word escalated. Here is what we mean by it instead.
- Call receivedInbound, after hours
- AnsweredDisclosed automated, consent to record
- Flagged emergencyNo heat, 50F inside, infant in the house
- Caller advisedKeep the baby in one warm room, doors shut
- Paged on-callMarcus R, primary
- AcceptedMarcus R, 38 seconds after paging
- Callback placedMarcus R to the homeowner
On-call accepted in 38 seconds.
- Call receivedInbound, after hours
- AnsweredDisclosed automated, consent to record
- Flagged emergencyGas smell, common hallway by unit 14
- Caller advisedEvacuate the building, call 911 from outside
- Paged on-callPriya, on-call maintenance
- AcceptedPriya, 41 seconds after paging
- Fire departmentAlready en route, confirmed by the caller
On-call accepted in 41 seconds.
You decide what counts.
These are the defaults we start from. We change them to yours during setup.
The questions worth asking us.
Does it dispatch anyone?
No. It escalates to the human you nominated. We are deliberate about that word because dispatching implies we are deciding who goes and when, and we are not. You are.
Can it be wrong about what is an emergency?
Yes, in both directions, and we would rather say so. It is tuned to err toward waking you, because a call you did not need is cheaper than a flood you found out about at 7am. If it gets one wrong you will see exactly why in the transcript, and we adjust the rules.
What if the caller is panicking and will not answer questions?
It gives the safety instruction first, gets the address, and pages your person. It is not going to work through an intake script at somebody standing outside their house.
What about 911? Does it call them?
No, it tells the caller to. A system calling emergency services on someone's behalf, from a number that is not at the scene, is not something we are willing to build.
Does it work if your systems go down?
Calls fail over to the number you nominate, so the phone still rings somewhere. We will walk you through exactly what that path is when we set you up, rather than leaving you to find out.
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