How to create an AI agent

Give people a helpful first reply, even when you’re busy. Choose a template and add the details your agent should know. One agent can handle calls, texts, and email.

Create your agent See pricing

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Start with one useful job for your AI agent

Think of a question your team answers every day. Opening hours, booking requests, and callback messages are good places to start. This guide walks you through a front desk agent that answers those questions and passes callers to your team. You can build it in the console without writing code.

The screenshots use Example Studio and fictional US phone numbers.

1. Choose an AI agent template

Open Agents in the console. Select New agent (or Create agent when the list is empty), then choose Front desk. The template gives you a greeting and starter instructions to work with.

Hail also has templates for appointments, support, sales, deliveries, after-hours messages, and an email inbox. Pick the one closest to your task. You can edit the details as you go, or use Undo after a template change.

The template guides below include examples for each job.

2. Make the greeting and instructions your own

Give your agent a name, such as “Example Studio front desk.” In Greeting, write the welcome you would like customers to hear. Add your opening hours, services, and location to Instructions so the agent can give useful answers.

Here is a starting point for taking messages. Replace the capitalized text with your business details:

You answer for BUSINESS NAME. Our hours are HOURS. Our address is ADDRESS. Our services are SERVICES. Answer from these facts or information returned by your tools. Ask one question at a time. For a callback, collect the person's name, number, reason, and preferred time. Read the details back so the caller can correct them. When someone asks for a person, call the handover contact. If nobody answers, take a message for the team. Let the team confirm callback times, refunds, and order changes. Confirm a booking only after the calendar reports success.

The First line tells callers they are speaking with AI. Your greeting follows it. For more ideas, try the prompt builder.

3. Give callers a path to your team

Under Hand over, choose the person who can help. Add a short note about when to call them. For example: “Call Alex when someone asks for a person or has a question about a bill.”

Hail can send the caller’s number and reason by text and email while your teammate’s phone rings. This helps them pick up the conversation. Alert delivery times vary. The handover guide walks through alert setup and what happens when nobody answers.

Under Tools, choose the actions that help your agent do its job. For example, Send an email to a team member lets it pass a message to someone in your team directory.

4. Connect calls, texts, and email to the same agent

Under Answers, turn on Calls, Texts, and Email for the channels you want. Under Numbers, choose a number and select Add. The labels calls on and texts on show what it will answer.

You can choose a new number in Numbers. Each option shows its price and whether it supports calls and texts. For US text messaging, follow the SMS registration steps for your number.

Set your preferred call length, language, and recording options. Then select Create agent. Calls and messages use your prepaid balance. See usage prices.

To add email, open Email domains and expand Agent replies for your Hail-mail address. Choose the agent you just created.

Start with Team members only for your first email test. For customer replies, choose Anyone who emails this address, review the on-screen notice, and confirm your choice before saving. This lets outside senders use the agent’s enabled tools, so keep those tools suited to the job.

The same agent can now answer calls, texts, and incoming email. An email gets an email reply in its thread. For an email-only setup, follow the Inbox template guide. You can also add phone conversation history so calls can pick up details from earlier texts.

Call your agent from another phone and ask about your business. Try a text and an email too. For a team-only inbox, send the email from your verified team address. Treat this as a practice run: listen, adjust the instructions, and try again.

Ask about your opening hours or a service you offer.
Leave a message and check that the agent gets the details right.
Ask for a person and try the handover, including when nobody answers.
Email the Hail-mail address and check the reply in your inbox.
Open Activity to read the conversations and see what worked.

Once you are happy with the replies, share the number with customers. To keep an existing business line, try your provider’s call forwarding to Hail. Use a separate number for your handover contact so calls reach your team.

6. Build or update your agent through MCP

Prefer to describe the setup in chat? Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or another supported assistant to Hail MCP. You can start here or use MCP to update an agent you made in the console.

Try this prompt:

Help me create a front desk agent for BUSINESS NAME in Hail. First, look for an existing agent with that name and show me its settings. Use these business details: HOURS, SERVICES, ADDRESS. Help it answer calls, texts, and email. Use an existing phone number and Hail-mail address from my workspace. Show me the choices before changing an existing number or address. Start email replies with Team members only so I can try it first. Show me the instructions, tools, and handover contact before saving. Ask me about any missing details. Do not buy a number or send a test message without my approval.

Once it is set up, you can ask your assistant to update hours, review conversations, or draft a follow-up. It can also help you choose which senders get email replies.

For calls that remember earlier messages, add the thread_history tool through MCP or API. It looks up calls and texts for the same agent and caller number from the last seven days. Email replies use their email thread. This does not automatically combine email with phone history. Keep your other tools when adding history, and recheck it after changing tools or templates in the console. See agent tools for the steps.

7. Connect your business software with the API

Your developer can use the API to manage agents from your own software. Webhooks send your software updates, such as when a call ends. Use them to add a follow-up task to your customer records or pass a booking request to your calendar.

For appointment booking, your calendar checks the requested time and confirms the result. The webhook guide covers setup, checking updates, and handling repeat deliveries.

Choose your agent template

Start with the job you want to hand over. Each guide includes example instructions you can make your own.

Explore the AI receptionist and virtual phone assistant guides for more ways to use your agent. For broader tasks, see the AI secretary and AI telephone guides.

AI agent setup FAQ

Can I create an AI agent without code?

Yes. Pick a console template, add your business details, and connect a number. The walkthrough above takes you through each step.

Can one agent answer calls, texts, and email?

Yes. Turn on all three under Answers. Connect a phone number, then choose the same agent for your Hail-mail address.

Can my agent reply to customer emails?

Yes. Turn on Email, choose the agent under Agent replies, and select Anyone who emails this address. Review the notice and confirm your choice before saving. Hail checks incoming senders before replying.

Can I create this agent through MCP?

Yes. Connect Hail MCP to Claude, ChatGPT, or another supported assistant, then describe the agent you want. Use the console when you prefer a visual walkthrough. Both paths let you work with the same agent.