How Zephaux Works — AI Voice Dispatch Setup for Service Businesses
Setting up Zephaux involves configuring your services, pricing rules, service area, and AI agent persona in the app today. Setup time depends on how many services and pricing rules your business has. This page walks through the four setup steps, what you can do right now, and what requires additional work before live call answering and booking launch.
The four-step setup process
Configure your business
This is the foundation of how Zephaux makes decisions. In the app today you can enter:
- Services — the specific jobs you offer (for example, emergency lockout, rekey, lock change).
- Pricing rules — fixed prices, price ranges, or inspection-required flags for each service. See Phone Quotes and Arrival Windows for a full breakdown.
- Service area — the ZIP codes or regions you cover, so the AI agent knows whether to book a caller or refer them elsewhere.
- Business hours — your regular hours, after-hours availability, and emergency service settings.
- Technician skills and availability — which techs handle which work, and when they are available.
None of this requires a voice provider. It is all editable in the Zephaux app right now.
Set up your AI agent
Once your business is configured, you shape how the AI agent speaks with callers. In the app today you can configure:
- Agent persona — the name, tone, and greeting your AI agent uses.
- Frequently asked questions — canned answers for common questions like hours, service area, and base pricing.
- Dispatch logic — how calls are routed, including emergency detection rules and when to escalate to you directly.
You can also try the Test Lab simulator to walk through booking flows and see how the AI agent would respond to different caller scenarios. The simulator runs entirely inside the app — no phone call is placed.
Note: A natural-sounding voice on a live phone call requires a connected voice provider. That connection is planned. Today you can configure the persona and test the logic in the simulator.
Forward your calls (planned)
This is the step that connects your existing phone number to Zephaux. The plan is to use conditional call forwarding — set on your existing cell or business line through your carrier — so that busy, unanswered, or always-forwarded calls route to a future assigned Zephaux AI number.
Conditional forwarding means you keep your existing number. You do not need to port it. If you ever want to stop forwarding, you turn it off through your carrier. Read our deep comparison in Call Forwarding vs Number Porting.
Status: Voice provider connection is not yet available. When it is live, we will provide the assigned number and carrier-specific forwarding instructions. You can prepare everything else in the app today.
Manage your schedule
Zephaux includes an internal calendar for viewing availability and booked jobs. Today you can:
- View your internal calendar and configured availability.
- Review buffer rules and time slots derived from your business hours.
- Adjust technician availability and skills.
When the voice provider is connected, the design is for the AI agent to read this calendar before offering time slots to callers, then book jobs directly into it. Server-side booking enforcement is pending activation.
What works today vs. what requires a voice provider
It is important to understand which parts of Zephaux are available now and which depend on a future voice provider connection. This table breaks it down.
| Capability | Available today | Requires voice provider |
|---|---|---|
| Business config (services, pricing, hours, service area) | Yes | — |
| Technician skills and availability | Yes | — |
| AI agent persona config (greeting, tone, FAQs) | Yes | — |
| Internal calendar viewing and configuration | Yes | — |
| Test Lab simulator for booking flows | Yes | — |
| Conditional call forwarding to an AI number | No | Planned |
| Live call answering with natural-sounding voice | No | Planned |
| Live transcription and owner notifications | No | Planned |
| Automatic booking from incoming calls | No | Planned |
What this means for your setup today
If you are a solo or small service business evaluating Zephaux, you can get a meaningful head start right now. Configure your services, pricing rules, service area, and AI agent persona, then use the Test Lab simulator to see how the dispatch logic behaves. Before live call answering and booking can launch, the following must be completed: a voice provider connection with verified inbound routing, the server-side booking migration and capacity checks, a customer notification delivery provider (email or SMS), and an end-to-end test of the full call-to-booking flow. Carrier forwarding setup depends on your provider and will be guided when the service is ready.
For a locksmith-specific walkthrough of how this configuration maps to lockout, rekey, and automotive jobs, see Zephaux for Locksmiths. For practical guides on call forwarding, phone intake, and quoting, browse the Resources hub.
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