If you want to control the names your AI Receptionist uses, you might want to:
Change the name it introduces itself with
Decide whether it refers to you or your business
Make the names it uses more personal, professional, or branded
ℹ️ Good to know
You might notice that your AI Receptionist uses different names depending on the situation. That’s because different parts of a call pull names from different settings (for example, the Welcome Greeting vs the Company Name).
If you have multiple lines, names shown in call summaries are based on the Inbox name and may differ from the names your AI Receptionist uses during the call.
Which setting controls which wording?
What you want to change | Where to update |
1. How your AI Receptionist introduces itself (first greeting) | AI tab → 📞 Phone → Preferences → Welcome Greetings |
2. How your AI Receptionist refers to you during conversations | AI tab → 📞 Phone → Knowledge → Preferred Name |
3. How your AI Receptionist refers to your business during conversations | AI tab → 📞 Phone → Knowledge → Company Name |
ℹ️ Names used by your AI Receptionist vs names shown in call summaries
The settings in this article control what names your AI Receptionist uses during calls or messages.
They do not control how names appear in:
Call summaries
Call history
Outbound call logs
For users with multiple lines, those views use the Inbox name, which represents the business line the call belongs to.
1. Change how your AI Receptionist introduces itself
To change the name used in the very first message your AI Receptionist sends or says (on calls or messages), you need to update the Welcome Greeting message. For example: “Hi, this is Emma from Bright Dental”.
👉 Open the Beside app → AI tab* → 📞 Phone → Preferences → Welcome Greetings.
* Business plan users: if you have multiple inboxes, select the line you want to update first ⬇️
➡️ Edit the greeting text to reflect exactly how you want the AI to introduce itself, whether that’s a person’s name, your name, or your business name.
💡 Tip: this is the only place that controls the AI’s initial introduction.
2. Change how your AI Receptionist refers to you
By default, your AI Receptionist uses the name set in your app settings when referring to you during conversations - the name displayed at the top of your Settings, right under your profile picture.
If you’re on a Business plan with multiple inboxes and want your AI Receptionists to use a different name per line (e.g. a first name, team name, or role-based name), you can override this behavior by setting a Preferred Name.
How it works
Default behavior: Your AI Receptionist uses the name configured in your app settings.
With a Preferred Name: Your AI Receptionist uses the inbox-level name instead of the app-level name.
This gives you more control over how the AI Receptionist speaks on your behalf.
For example, one inbox's Receptionists can speak as “Emma” on one line, while another speaks as “Front Desk”.
ℹ️ This setting only affects AI conversations (calls and texts). It does not change how your names appear in call summaries or outbound calls.
Where to update your Preferred Name
👉 Open the Beside app → AI tab* → 📞 Phone → Knowledge → Preferred Name.
* Business plan users: if you have multiple inboxes, select the line you want to update first.
➡️ Enter the name you want your AI Receptionist to use when referring to you during conversations.
💡 Examples
Use your first name instead of your full business name
Use a role-based name like “The Front Desk” or “Client Support”
Use a more casual or more professional name, depending on your audience
📖 Learn more here: How can I customize Beside for personal use?
3. Control how your AI Receptionist refers to your business
If you want your AI Receptionist to mention your business name or speak on behalf of your company (for example: “Thanks for contacting Bright Dental”), make sure your Company Name is set.
👉 Open the Beside app → AI tab* → 📞 Phone → Knowledge → Company Name.
* Business plan users: if you have multiple inboxes, select the line you want to update first.
➡️ This helps your AI Receptionist consistently talk about your business in a clear, branded way.
Account and inboxes names
Your account name is the name displayed in your app settings.
It is not used by your AI Receptionist during calls or messages.
👉 Open Beside → Settings tab → Edit Name
If you’re on a Business plan with multiple lines, each inbox has its own Inbox name.
👉 Open Beside → Settings tab → Inboxes → Inbox name
The Inbox name is used in:
Call history
Call summaries
Outbound call logs
💡 Tip (Business plans)
If you manage multiple business lines, give each inbox a clear, distinct name.
This helps identify calls in history and summaries, but does not affect how the AI:
introduces itself (Welcome Greeting)
refers to you (Preferred Name)
refers to your business (Company Name)