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Control who your Receptionist handles

Choose who your Beside Receptionist handles for calls, texts, and emails - set global rules, exclude specific contacts, and configure audience scopes.

Your Receptionist doesn't have to handle everyone. You can choose exactly who it answers for - and who gets through to you directly.

This is useful when you want to personally handle conversations with key clients, collaborators, or simply allow friends and family to reach you directly.

You can define:

  1. Global rules for who the Receptionist should handle (for calls and texts separately)

  2. Individual exclusions for specific contacts you always want to handle personally

Choose who your Receptionist should handle

You can define the audience for calls and texts independently. Each channel has its own Scope settings.

Calls

From the web app

Go to app.beside.com, click Receptionist in the sidebar, select your line, and click the Calls tab.

Answers to: Choose who the Receptionist handles.

  • Missed From Everyone - Receptionist handles all missed calls

  • Missed From Contacts - only saved contacts are handled

  • Missed From Unsaved Numbers - only new or unknown callers are handled

When you're done, scroll back to the top of the page and click Save Changes to apply your edits.

📌 Note: Excluding individual contacts isn't available on Beside on the web - it's done from the Beside mobile app (iOS or Android). See Exclude specific contacts below.

From the mobile app

Open the Beside mobile app → Receptionist → 📞 Calls section → Scope.

Answers after: Choose when your Receptionist picks up.

  • Direct to Receptionist - the Receptionist answers immediately without ringing your phone.

  • Or set a ring count so you have time to answer first.

Answers to: Choose who the Receptionist handles.

  • Missed calls from everyone - Receptionist handles all missed calls.

  • Missed calls from unknown numbers - only new or unknown callers are handled. Saved contacts bypass the Receptionist.

  • Missed calls from saved contacts - only saved contacts are handled. Unknown numbers go to Beside voicemail.

📌 Note: If you miss a call and the caller doesn't match your chosen audience, the call goes to your Beside voicemail - no call is ever lost.

Texts

From the web app

Go to app.beside.com, click Receptionist in the sidebar, select your line, and click the Texts tab.

Replies to:

  • Texts from Everyone - Receptionist replies to all incoming texts

  • Only from Contacts - only saved contacts receive Receptionist text replies

  • Only from Unsaved Numbers - ideal for new leads or first-time texters

When you're done, scroll back to the top of the page and click Save Changes to apply your edits.

📌 Note: Excluding individual contacts isn't available on Beside on the web - it's done from the Beside mobile app (iOS or Android). See Exclude specific contacts below.

From the mobile app

Open the Beside mobile app → Receptionist → 💬 Texts section → Scope.

Replies to:

  • Texts from Everyone - Receptionist replies to all incoming texts.

  • Only from Contacts - only saved contacts receive Receptionist text replies.

  • Only from Unsaved Numbers - ideal for new leads or first-time texters

Emails

Email scope and exclusion settings don't apply to email drafts. When Draft Emails is enabled, your Receptionist prepares a draft for every new, non-automated email thread in your connected Gmail or Outlook inbox - there's currently no way to limit drafts to specific senders or exclude individual contacts.

If you don't want a draft for a particular email, you can simply ignore or delete it - nothing is ever sent automatically. To stop drafts entirely, turn off Draft Emails from your Receptionist settings.

📖 See Draft email replies with your Receptionist for setup and customization.

Exclude specific contacts

In addition to the global scope settings, you can exclude individual contacts so your Receptionist never handles them - for calls, texts, or both.

Each channel (📞 Calls and 💬 Texts) has its own Exclude Contacts list, so you can exclude a contact from calls but keep Receptionist text replies, or vice versa.

📌 Note: Excluding contacts is only available in the Beside mobile app (iOS or Android). It can't be done on Beside on the web.

Add a contact to the exclusion list

  1. Open the Beside mobile app → Receptionist.

  2. Go to the 📞 Calls or 💬 Texts section (depending on which channel you want to configure).

  3. Under Scope, tap Exclude Contacts.

  4. Tap + Add Contacts.

  5. Search or browse your contact list, then select the contacts you want to exclude.

  6. Tap Continue.

The selected contacts now appear in your exclusion list. Your Receptionist will no longer handle their calls or texts.

Remove a contact from the exclusion list

  1. Go to Exclude Contacts in the relevant channel.

  2. Tap the ⊖ button next to the contact you want to remove.

  3. Confirm by tapping Remove in the confirmation dialog.

Your Receptionist will start handling that contact again based on your scope settings.

💡 Tip: The number next to Exclude Contacts shows how many contacts are currently excluded for that channel.

From an existing conversation

  1. Open the conversation with that contact in the Beside mobile app.

  2. Tap the + icon to the left of the message composer.

  3. Tap Receptionist.

  4. Toggle off:

    • Answers calls - Receptionist won't answer missed calls from this contact

    • Replies to texts - Receptionist won't send automated replies

These settings override your global call/text scopes for this specific contact only.

If no conversation exists yet

If you haven't exchanged messages or calls with the contact yet, you can configure the exclusion directly from Contacts in the mobile app:

  1. Tap + in the top-right corner of the screen.

  2. Select the contact you want to exclude.

  3. Tap the + icon to the left of the message composer.

  4. Tap Receptionist.

  5. Toggle off Answers calls and/or Replies to texts as needed.

💡 Tip: From the same menu, you can also disable call recording for that contact. 📖 Disable call recording for specific contacts

How scopes and exclusions work together

  • Call scope controls who the Receptionist should answer when you miss a call

  • Text scope defines who receives automated text replies

  • Exclusion lists override both scopes - an excluded contact is never handled by the Receptionist, regardless of the scope setting

  • Beside Voicemail automatically covers calls not handled by the Receptionist

  • Call and text exclusions are independent - you can exclude a contact from calls but not texts, or vice versa

Examples of common setups

Lead-focused setup

  • Calls: Receptionist answers unsaved numbers

  • Texts: Receptionist replies to unknown contacts only

  • Exclude VIP clients from both channels so you handle them personally

Personal + business mix

  • Calls: Everyone

  • Texts: Everyone

  • Exclude family and friends from both channels

FAQ

Can I exclude a contact from calls but keep Receptionist text replies?

Yes. Each channel has its own exclusion list. Add the contact to the Exclude Contacts list under 📞 Calls, but don't add them under 💬 Texts. The Receptionist will skip their calls but still reply to their texts.

What happens to calls from excluded contacts?

If you exclude a contact from Receptionist call handling, their calls ring through to you normally. If you miss the call, it goes to your Beside voicemail instead of the Receptionist.

Can I see all my excluded contacts in one place?

Yes, in the Beside mobile app: go to the Receptionist → 📞 Calls (or 💬 Texts) → Scope → Exclude Contacts. Each channel has its own list. Excluding contacts isn't available on Beside on the web.

Can I exclude contacts from the web app?

No. Excluding contacts is only available in the Beside mobile app (iOS or Android). On Beside on the web you can still set your call and text Scope across Everyone, Contacts, and Unsaved Numbers, but adding or removing individual excluded contacts has to be done from the mobile app.

Is there a limit to how many contacts I can exclude?

There is no hard limit on the number of contacts you can exclude. You can add as many as you need from your contact list.

Can I make my Receptionist only handle business inquiries (and ignore personal contacts)?

Calls and texts: yes. Set your call and text Scope to Unsaved Numbers so the Receptionist only handles new leads (e.g. inspectors, insurance adjusters reaching out for the first time), and add personal contacts (family, your kids' school, etc.) to Exclude Contacts so they always come straight to you.

Emails: there's currently no per-sender control. When Draft Emails is on, your Receptionist drafts replies for every new non-automated thread - business or personal. The Receptionist never sends anything automatically, so you can simply ignore or delete drafts you don't need, or turn off Draft Emails entirely if it's more noise than help.

Can I exclude specific senders from Receptionist email drafts?

No. Email drafts are generated for every new, non-automated email thread - there's no per-sender exclusion or scope setting for email. To stop drafts entirely, turn off Draft Emails from your Receptionist settings. Since drafts are never sent automatically, you can also just ignore or delete any draft you don't want. See Draft email replies with your Receptionist.

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