Write a clear greeting for reception or qualification

A strong greeting is short enough to sound natural and specific enough to reassure callers that they reached the right business. Choose the pattern that matches what should happen immediately after the caller responds.

Use a General Reception greeting for open-ended calls

Use an open invitation when calls may concern many unrelated needs.

Include:

1. a brief welcome;
2. the business name;
3. the agent name when desired; and
4. one open invitation to explain the request.

Thanks for calling Northwind Home Services. I’m Alex. How can I help today?

This pattern gives normal reception room to identify the caller’s purpose before deciding whether a configured action or qualification path is relevant.

Use a targeted greeting to start qualification after yes

Use one clear yes-or-no path question when a number, campaign, service, or program is intended to send matching callers directly into structured qualification.

Hi, this is Alex with Northwind Mortgage. Are you calling about the low-down-payment homebuyer program?

Pair this pattern with Call Handling → Qualification → Start after the greeting. A clear affirmative can move directly into the first configured qualification criterion. A clear negative or intelligible nonaffirmative response continues through normal reception and is not recorded as a criterion answer.

Ordinary business questions, unrelated requests, social or capability questions, and uncertain responses should not be treated as affirmative entry. If semantic topic entry is also enabled, a caller who does not enter from the greeting can still enter later by clearly expressing a configured service, program, or need.

The greeting question is an entry decision, not criterion one. Do not duplicate it as the first qualification question.

Adaptable targeted greeting templates

Business use	Greeting template
Mortgage program or campaign	“Hi, this is [Agent name] with [Mortgage company]. Are you calling about the [program name]?”
Home-services request	“Thanks for calling [Business name]. Are you calling about a new [service type] request?”
New legal matter	“Thank you for calling [Firm name]. Are you contacting us about a new matter?”
New-patient or appointment request	“Thanks for calling [Practice name]. Are you looking to become a new patient or schedule an appointment?”

Keep each template generic until you replace the bracketed text with approved customer-facing wording. A greeting must not promise eligibility, case acceptance, appointment availability, or a result that still requires staff review.

Avoid unnecessary greeting setup

Do not list every service, policy, or routing option in the greeting. Put detailed business answers in Knowledge and structured routing in Call Handling.

Avoid long disclaimers, multiple questions, or promises that depend on staff availability. A targeted qualification greeting should contain one decision, not the entire screening script.

Keep handling rules out of the greeting. Put them in reception instructions so the opening stays stable while your team refines behavior.

Make the greeting easy to hear

• Use short sentences.
• Spell unusual names phonetically when needed.
• Avoid abbreviations that sound ambiguous.
• Read the greeting aloud before saving.

Test a General Reception greeting

Preview the greeting in Voice & Behavior, save it, then start a new test. Listen for clipped words, awkward pauses, and whether the invitation naturally leads to the caller’s request.

Test a targeted qualification greeting

Test each case separately after saving:

1. a clear yes that should enter criterion one;
2. a clear no that should continue normal reception;
3. an uncertain answer;
4. silence;
5. an unrelated statement;
6. an ordinary business question; and
7. a social, identity, or capability question directed at the agent.

Then test a later matching topic if semantic entry is also enabled. For complete copy-and-adapt configurations, see Start qualification from your greeting.