How to Create Your First AI Agent

An AI Agent is your virtual assistant that handles calls 24/7. It can answer questions, schedule appointments, and follow your specific business instructions—just like a human employee, but without the need for breaks or coffee.

Two ways to create an agent

SkipCalls offers two ways to get your agent up and running:

1. From Website (Recommended)

This is the fastest way to start. Our AI will visit your website, learn about your business, and automatically configure your agent's personality and knowledge.

Go to the Agents page in your dashboard.
Click the From Website button in the top right.
Enter your website URL and click Create.
Wait a few moments while the AI analyzes your content and builds your agent.

2. Manual Creation

If you prefer to start from scratch and define every detail yourself:

Go to the Agents page.
Click the New Agent button.
Enter a Name for your agent (e.g., "Front Desk Sarah").
Enter a brief Description (this is for your internal reference).
Click Create Agent.

Configuring Your Agent

Once your agent is created, you'll be taken to the configuration dashboard. Here you'll find several tabs to customize how your agent behaves:

Identity: Set your agent's name, internal description, and choose from our library of professional Voices. You can also toggle the agent Active or Inactive here.
Conversations: This is where the magic happens. Provide Instructions for how the agent should handle incoming and outgoing calls. You can also set a First Message (greeting) and limit call duration.
Knowledge: Connect your knowledge base files or documentation so the agent can answer specific questions about your business (requires subscription).
Settings: Configure advanced options like Call Transfer to a human, data consent requirements, and background sounds to make the call feel more natural.
Embed: Get the code to add a voice widget directly to your website so customers can call you with one click.
Evaluations: Set up quality checks to ensure your agent is meeting your standards (covered in a separate article).
Collections: Define specific information the agent should collect from callers, like email or phone numbers (covered in a separate article).
Calendar: Connect your Google or Outlook calendar to allow the agent to book appointments directly during calls.

Key settings to configure first

To get the best results, we recommend focusing on these four settings before your first call:

Name: Choose a professional name that fits your brand.
Voice: Listen to the available voices and pick one that represents your company well.
First Message: Write a warm greeting that lets callers know they are speaking with an AI assistant.
Instructions: Clearly explain the agent's goal and what it should do during a call.

Test your agent

Before going live, you should always test your agent. Click the Test Agent button in the top right corner of the screen. This allows you to have a real-time conversation with your agent to see how it responds to different questions and follow-ups.

Tips for success

Start simple: Don't try to make the agent do everything at once. Start with a simple goal and add complexity as you get comfortable.
Iterate: Test your agent after making major changes to its instructions or knowledge base.
Be descriptive: When writing instructions, use clear and specific language.

Quick Reference

Feature	Purpose
Voice	How the agent sounds to callers. Choose one that fits your brand personality.
Instructions	The "brain" of your agent. Tells it what to say, what to do, and how to represent your business.
Call Transfer	Allows the agent to hand off complex calls to a live human when needed.
Knowledge Base	Uploaded documents (PDFs, docs) that the agent uses for reference to answer questions.