Three settings that make the first impression
Even before the first question, the caller hears three things: a voice, the way it pronounces your business's name, and what is behind it. At Sayelo, these are three separate settings.
- The voice. Expressive voices that you listen to before choosing, during setup and then in “What it says” → “Voice”.
- The pronunciation of the name. You define the exact pronunciation of your business's name, and the variants the agent should recognise when your callers mangle it.
- Background ambience. A discreet background, chosen so that the call sounds like your business.
The rest, what the agent says and in what order, is down to the script. A beautiful voice can't rescue a badly written greeting, and a good script sounds wrong with a voice that doesn't suit the business. The two are worked on together.
Choosing the tone for your trade
The right starting point isn't “which voice is the most pleasant”, but “what does the caller expect”. Three tones cover most situations.
| Tone | What the caller expects | What you should hear | Typical trades |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reassuring | To be listened to, without abruptness | Calm pace, soft voice, pauses | Psychologist, healthcare practice, funeral director, nursery |
| Upbeat | A quick answer, a solution | Brisk pace, smiling voice, short sentences | Garage, hairdresser, gym, pizzeria |
| Measured | Seriousness, precision | Steady pace, clear articulation, neutral tone | Notary, accountant, solicitor, architect |
Reassuring
For a psychologist, the person calling may have hesitated for a long time before dialling the number. A hurried voice can make them hang up. Look for a calm voice that gives the conversation room to breathe, and a simple greeting. The same rules apply to a healthcare practice, an office that deals with families or a funeral director.
Upbeat
At a garage, the caller wants to know when they can drop their car off. They expect efficiency. A lively, smiling voice that gets straight to the point meets that need. It's the tone for shops, salons and service businesses where people call for a slot.
Measured
At a notary's, accountant's or solicitor's, the caller is talking about a case, dates, sometimes money. They want to feel rigour. A measured voice, without familiarity, that articulates dates and references clearly, inspires confidence.
These categories are starting points, not rules. An upmarket garage may prefer the measured tone; a practice whose clients are mostly young, a livelier one. Choose according to your actual customers, not the label of your trade.
Your business's name, pronounced the way you say it
It's the first word the caller hears, and the one people notice when it's mangled. Three cases need attention:
- proper names and foreign words: a surname, a term from another language, an unusual spelling;
- acronyms: are they said letter by letter, or as a word?
- long names: the full registered name is often longer than the name your customers use.
Set the exact pronunciation, then list the variants your callers use: a shortened name, the business's former name, the owner's name instead of the company's. The agent will recognise them instead of giving an answer that misses the point.
Then listen to the whole greeting. It contains the business name and the announcement that the caller is talking to an AI, made in the very first sentence and impossible to switch off. Our guide to announcing the AI explains how to word it without weighing down the greeting.
Background ambience: present, never intrusive
Background ambience gives the call a setting. It must stay behind the voice, and follow three rules:
- it never drowns out a syllable: if you have to strain to hear, it's too loud for the phone;
- it sounds like your business: a quiet practice and a busy workshop don't have the same background;
- it stays bearable on a long call: what is pleasant at the start of a conversation can become tiring as it goes on.
Test it in your callers' conditions, that is, on a phone, and not just on a good headset.
What to listen for during the “Test call”
The “Test call”, always at the top of the screen, lets you talk to your agent through the microphone, from your browser, with its voice, script and ambience. Nothing is recorded or billed, and each test lasts 5 minutes at most. This is the moment to compare. Play the same scenario with each candidate voice, and listen for six things.
- The greeting. Is the name said properly? Is the AI announcement clear, without sounding recited?
- The pace. Do you understand everything first time? Think of your oldest callers, and of those calling from the street.
- Numbers. Ask for a date, a time, an address. This is the information the caller needs to remember.
- Interruptions. Cut the agent off in the middle of a sentence. It should stop and pick up again naturally.
- Long explanations. Describe a complicated problem, with hesitations. The agent mustn't cut you off.
- Tone over time. After a few exchanges, does the voice get on your nerves? If it does for you, it will for your customers.
Note down your impressions voice by voice, and keep the two that suit you best. Would you rather hear an agent on your own phone? The demo takes three minutes, free and with no bank card: the agent calls you back and plays the switchboard for your trade.
During the trial: the voice against your real calls
The “Test call” tells you whether you like the voice. The 14-day free trial tells you whether your callers like it. During those days, read through the summaries and transcripts with one question in mind: is the voice getting in the way anywhere?
The signs to look out for:
- callers asking for things to be repeated, especially dates and numbers;
- calls that end during the greeting;
- comments about the speed or the tone;
- regular customers who mention it to you, for better or worse.
Also ask a few loyal customers what they think: they'll tell you frankly whether the greeting feels like you. Our first-days checklist puts this point at the right moment in the trial.
When to change voice
Nothing is final: you can adjust your agent at any time, in “What it says” → “Voice”, or simply by asking your agent in a message, in the app or on WhatsApp. On WhatsApp, it can even send you an audio clip of a voice or an ambience, so that you can listen to it before changing. Change voice when:
- callers regularly ask for things to be repeated, even though the line is good;
- the tone no longer matches your customers, because they've changed or because you're starting a new line of business;
- the greeting sounds wrong with a new script, more formal or warmer;
- you or your team don't like hearing it: you'll listen to it often, when testing and adjusting the agent.
One rule: change one thing at a time. If you change the voice, the ambience and the script on the same day, you won't know what improved, or worsened, the greeting. After each change, do another “Test call”, then read through a few days' summaries. And don't change too often: a consistent voice is part of what makes your greeting recognisable.
Tone is also set by the words
The voice carries the tone, the script sets it. A warm voice reciting “Please state the purpose of your call” still sounds cold. Adapt the phrases: the greeting, the way of offering a slot, the way of wrapping up. You set the tone and the standard answers, and our teams fine-tune the agent with you. Our greeting scripts by trade give ready-to-use phrases.
To go further, the voices and background sounds page details what can be adjusted. Our comparison of AI voice agents for small businesses ranks the solutions on the criteria that matter to a small business, and the pricing page sets out the plans and what they include.
