Once your Receptionist is set up, the next step is to add the information it uses to answer calls and messages.
Your Receptionist relies on this knowledge to introduce your business, respond to common questions, and share accurate details with callers and texters.
Each Beside line has its own Receptionist and knowledge base.
Access your Knowledge settings
From the web app
Go to app.beside.com and click Receptionist in the sidebar
If you have multiple lines on your account, select the line you want to edit from the switcher at the top left of the sidebar
Make sure the Phone tab is selected at the top
Scroll to Knowledge to expand and edit it, or click one of its sub-pages directly: Company Details, Contact Information, Company Knowledge, or Products & Services.
When you're done, scroll back to the top of the page and click Save Changes to apply your edits.
From the mobile app
On iPhone and Android, Knowledge is organized into sections: Import your website, Business Details, Contact Information, Business Knowledge, and Products & Services. On Android there's also a dedicated Operating hours entry.
On Android
Open the Beside mobile app and tap Receptionist
If you have multiple lines on your account, first tap the line you want to edit.Make sure the 📞 Phone tab is selected at the top
Scroll to Knowledge and tap Import your website, Business Details, Contact Information, Operating hours, Business Knowledge, or Products & Services
On iPhone
Open the Beside mobile app.
Tap on Receptionist → Knowledge
If you have multiple lines on your account, first tap the line you want to edit.Tap Import your website, Business Details, Contact Information, Business Knowledge, or Products & Services
Tapping Import your website scans your site and walks you through the suggested content, the same way as on the web - review and confirm or skip each change before anything is saved.
Set your Operating hours
Operating hours are when your business is open. Your Receptionist uses them to tell callers whether you're open, to set the right expectations, and to offer appointment times that make sense.
💡 Not the same as your Ringing Schedule:
Operating hours are what your Receptionist tells callers about when you're open.
Your Ringing Schedule decides when your phone rings. They're set in different places and can hold different hours. 📖 Set your Ringing Schedule
On Beside on the web and Android
You get a full hours editor, with a day-by-day schedule and extras:
Set each day to Open, Closed, or By appointment
Add more than one time range per day, for a lunch break or a split shift
Mark a day Open 24 hours
Closed dates - days you're closed, like holidays or a vacation. They override your weekly hours
Emergency coverage - when your Receptionist can tell a caller with an emergency that they can be helped. Choose 24/7, or set a custom schedule on the web
Notes - extra details for callers, like seasonal hours. Your hours above still decide when you're open
Find it on the web under Receptionist → Knowledge → Company Knowledge, and on Android under Receptionist → Knowledge → Operating hours.
📌 You may be asked to check your hours:
If your hours came from your website scan or from setup, Beside asks you to confirm them once (Check these hours).
Review them and tap Confirm. Saving a change to them confirms them too.
On iPhone
iPhone has an Operating Hours field under Business Knowledge, but it's a free-text box rather than the day-by-day editor - write your hours as a sentence, for example Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-2pm. The full editor reaches iPhone in a future update.
💡 Hours are shared across your apps: they belong to the line, not to the device. Hours you set in the editor on the web or Android are what your Receptionist uses, whichever app you check them from.
Provide business details
On Android
1. Business Details
Toggle This number is for a business at the top of this section:
Off ("Callers are reaching you as an individual"): Preferred Name and Your Role are editable.
On ("Callers are reaching your business"): Preferred Name and Your Role are disabled - they're not needed for a business line.
You can also set:
Business Name - how your Receptionist refers to your business.
Industry - helps your AI answer in the right context.
📖 Set your Receptionist's name and identity - for exactly how this toggle changes what your Receptionist calls itself and how it refers to you or your business.
2. Contact Information
Email, website, and address your AI gives to customers:
Email Address - shared when callers ask how to reach you.
Website - shared when callers ask for your site.
Address - where callers can find you (City, State, ZIP, Country).
3. Business Knowledge
FAQ - common questions and answers.
Additional Details - anything else callers might ask about.
4. Products & Services
Give your Receptionist a list of what you offer so it can reference them naturally in calls or texts.
Tap New to add a product or service.
Enter a product or service name (e.g., Dry cleaning).
Optionally add a price, choose the currency, and select if it's per item, per hour, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Toggle whether pricing requires an invoice.
Add an optional description (e.g., Clearing clogged drains).
Press Save to add each product/service, and save again to confirm.
Business Details, Contact Information, and Business Knowledge each open as their own screen, with a Save button at the bottom. Operating hours has its own screen too.
On iPhone
1. Business Details
Toggle This number is for a business at the top of this section:
Off ("Callers are reaching you as an individual"): Preferred Name and Your Role are editable.
On ("Callers are reaching your business"): Preferred Name and Your Role are disabled - they're not needed for a business line.
You can also set:
Business Name - how your Receptionist refers to your business.
Industry - helps your AI answer in the right context.
📖 Set your Receptionist's name and identity - for exactly how this toggle changes what your Receptionist calls itself and how it refers to you or your business.
2. Contact Information
Email, website, and address your AI gives to customers:
Email Address - shared when callers ask how to reach you.
Website - shared when callers ask for your site.
Address - where callers can find you (City, State, ZIP, Country).
3. Business Knowledge
FAQ - common questions and answers.
Operating Hours - a free-text field for your opening hours.
Additional Details - anything else callers might ask about.
4. Products & Services
Give your Receptionist a list of what you offer so it can reference them naturally in calls or texts.
Tap the + sign at the top right.
Enter a product or service name (e.g., Dry cleaning).
Optionally add a price, choose the currency, and select if it's per item, per hour, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Toggle whether pricing requires an invoice.
Add an optional description (e.g., Clearing clogged drains).
Press Save to add each product/service, and save again to confirm.
Business Details, Contact Information, and Business Knowledge each open as their own screen, with a Save button at the bottom.
On the web app
1. Company Details
Help your Receptionist introduce your business properly and share accurate contact info.
You can include:
Preferred Name - how your Receptionist refers to you during conversations.
Your role - shared if someone requests your contact details.
Company Name - used when your Receptionist introduces who it represents.
Business Type, Industry - provide context so responses are tailored to your field.
Found under the Phone tab → Knowledge → Company Details. When you're done, scroll back to the top of the page and click Save Changes to apply your edits.
💡 Tips:
Keep this section updated whenever your hours, address, or contact info change.
The "Preferred name" and "Company name" settings can significantly influence how the Receptionist addresses and interacts with callers, ensuring a consistent professional tone. 📖 Set your Receptionist's name and identity
To ensure proper pronunciation, test how your company name sounds in the Receptionist's responses. If it is mispronounced, add a phonetic spelling using the Pronunciation feature on iPhone. 📖 Customize your Receptionist's voice and language
2. Contact Information
Email, website, and address your AI gives to customers - found under Knowledge → Contact Information:
Email Address - provided when someone asks how to reach you.
Website - shared when someone asks to learn more.
Address - given if location details are requested.
3. Company Knowledge
Your Operating hours editor lives here, along with FAQ entries and any other extra details unique to your business, like policies, pricing, or special services - found under Knowledge → Company Knowledge.
Set your opening hours day by day, plus closed dates, emergency coverage, and notes
Copy and paste FAQs directly from your website.
Include both short and detailed answers, your Receptionist adjusts tone automatically.
Update regularly as new questions arise.
📌 Note: Think of this as your Receptionist's "extended brain" - add anything that helps it sound more like you. The more detailed and relevant your FAQs are, the better your Receptionist can respond.
4. Products & Services
Give your Receptionist a list of what you offer so it can reference them naturally in calls or texts.
Tap the + sign at the top right.
Enter a product or service name (e.g., Dry cleaning).
Optionally add a price, choose the currency, and select if it's per item, per hour, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Toggle whether pricing requires an invoice.
Add an optional description (e.g., Clearing clogged drains).
Press Save to add each product/service, and save again to confirm.
On the web app, this is found under the Phone tab → Knowledge → Products & Services. When you're done, scroll back to the top of the page and click Save Changes to apply your edits.
Add or update your knowledge from your website
Rather than typing everything in by hand, you can pull your business details straight from your website. This works both ways: to quickly build out your knowledge base in the first place, and later on to add or refresh what's there as your site changes - new hours, a new product, an updated FAQ.
From the web app
Go to app.beside.com and click Receptionist in the sidebar
Click Import Website in the Import your website card at the bottom of the Receptionist sidebar
In the Import from your website dialog, enter your website address and click Start scan
Beside scans your site for your Website, Company Name, Industry, Address, Operating Hours, Products & Services, and FAQ, then walks you through the suggested content one field at a time - showing what's currently saved next to what it found on your site. For each one, you can:
Click Update to accept the suggestion, whether it's new information or a change (you can edit it first)
Click Keep current to leave that field as-is
Nothing is saved until you review and accept a change - scanning your website never overwrites your knowledge silently.
🟡 If the scan doesn't succeed:
You'll see a short, plain-language message telling you what to do next (for example, to double-check the website address, wait a moment and try again, or check your connection) - never a raw technical error.
Address what the message suggests, then click Try again.
From the mobile app
Open the Beside mobile app and go to Receptionist → Knowledge
Tap Import your website (purple globe icon) at the top of the Knowledge section
Beside scans your site and walks you through the suggested content, the same way as on the web - review and confirm or skip each change before anything is saved.
Best practices for training your Receptionist
The quality of your Receptionist's responses depends directly on the knowledge you provide. Here are proven tips to get better results:
Be specific, not generic. Instead of "We offer cleaning services", write "We offer residential deep cleaning, move-in/move-out cleaning, and weekly maintenance cleaning in the Greater Montreal area." The more detail, the more accurately your Receptionist can answer.
Write like you talk. Your Receptionist mirrors the tone of what you write. If your knowledge is formal, the Receptionist sounds formal. If it's conversational, the AI sounds friendly. Match the tone to your brand.
Cover your top 5 questions. Think about the questions you get most often on calls. Add them as FAQs with clear answers. This alone can dramatically improve how your Receptionist handles conversations.
Test, listen, iterate. After updating your knowledge, use Test Receptionist in the mobile app to simulate a call and hear how the Receptionist uses your new content. If something sounds off, adjust the wording and test again. 📖 Test your Receptionist
Update after every change. New service? Changed hours? Updated pricing? Go back to Knowledge and update the relevant section, or use Import Website (web) / Import from Website (mobile) if the change is already live on your site. Your Receptionist will use the latest version on the next call.
💡 Pro tip:
For a name, company, or specific word, the cleanest fix is to add a phonetic spelling under Pronunciation on iPhone. 📖 Customize your Receptionist's voice and language
For email addresses or other read-aloud rules (e.g. "Please always spell our email address when telling it: Support at Beside dot com"), use Company Knowledge on the web instead (Business Knowledge → Additional Details on mobile).
Review and test your Receptionist
When your Knowledge is set up, you can test how your Receptionist responds.
In the mobile app, at the bottom of the Receptionist screen, tap Test Receptionist to simulate a call and review how it responds using your Knowledge.
FAQ
How can I fix the pronunciation of an email address or specific word?
How can I fix the pronunciation of an email address or specific word?
For a name, company, or specific word (iPhone only): use the Pronunciation feature. Go to Receptionist → 📞 Phone → Preferences → Pronunciation, tap New Word, then enter the word and how it should be said (e.g. Acme → Ak-mee). 📖 Customize your Receptionist's voice and language
For an email address or other read-aloud rule (any platform): use Additional Knowledge - on the mobile app, go to Receptionist → Knowledge → Business Knowledge → Additional Details; on the web app, go to Receptionist → Knowledge → Company Knowledge - and add a line such as "Please always spell our email address when telling it: Support at Beside dot com" (for [email protected]).
Can I adjust the number of rings before the call is answered by my Receptionist?
Can I adjust the number of rings before the call is answered by my Receptionist?
No - there is no ring count to set anymore. Your line rings for a fixed ~25 seconds before your Receptionist picks up, or goes straight to it if you choose Direct to Receptionist. You set this under Ringing Mode: on the Beside mobile app, Settings → your line, if you have more than one → Calls → Call Flow → Ringing Mode; on Beside on the web, Settings → Phone Numbers → your line → Ringing Mode.
My Receptionist gives wrong or vague answers - what should I do?
My Receptionist gives wrong or vague answers - what should I do?
This usually means the Knowledge section needs more detail. Check your FAQ and Company Knowledge sections (Business Knowledge → Additional Details on mobile) - if the answer to a question isn't there, your Receptionist won't know it. Add the missing information, be as specific as possible, then test again with Test Receptionist.
Can I import information from my website?
Can I import information from my website?
Yes, and this works for both the first setup and later updates, on both the web app and the mobile app. When you first set up your Knowledge, you can enter your website URL and the Receptionist will automatically learn your services, hours, and FAQs from your site. Anytime after that: on the web app, click Import Website in the Import your website card on the Receptionist page; on the mobile app, go to Receptionist → Knowledge and tap Import your website. Either way, you'll review each suggestion before it's saved.
Where do I set my Operating hours?
Where do I set my Operating hours?
On Beside on the web, under Receptionist → Knowledge → Company Knowledge. On Android, under Receptionist → Knowledge → Operating hours. Both give you the full editor: a day-by-day schedule with split shifts, Open 24 hours, By appointment, closed dates, emergency coverage, and notes.
On iPhone, Operating Hours is a free-text field under Business Knowledge for now. The hours belong to the line, so whatever you set on the web or Android is what your Receptionist uses.
What's the difference between Operating hours and my Ringing Schedule?
What's the difference between Operating hours and my Ringing Schedule?
Operating hours are what your Receptionist tells callers about when your business is open, and they shape the appointment times it offers. Your Ringing Schedule decides when your phone rings. They're separate settings and can hold different hours. 📖 Set your Ringing Schedule
Why is Beside asking me to "Check these hours"?
Why is Beside asking me to "Check these hours"?
Because the hours on file came from your website scan or from your setup answers rather than from you directly. Review them, then tap Confirm so your Receptionist can rely on them. Saving any change to them confirms them too.
Does each line have its own knowledge base?
Does each line have its own knowledge base?
Yes. If you have multiple lines on your account, each line has its own Receptionist and its own independent knowledge base. Changes to one line's knowledge don't affect the others.