Tasks | Omnichannel | AI phone assistant

Content

• What is the AI phone assistant?
• Setup
  • Information we need from you
• What happens when a resident calls?
• How tasks are created
• Limitations of the current version
• Frequently asked questions

The AI phone assistant automatically turns residents' phone calls into tasks in the "Tasks" area: a digital phone assistant (codename "Hans") answers the call on a dedicated phone number, captures the request during the conversation, and creates a complete task from it — including the audio recording. No call gets lost, even outside office hours or during high call volume. This article is written for property management and explains how the AI phone assistant works, what callers experience, and what the resulting tasks look like.

What is the AI phone assistant?

The AI phone assistant is a source in the "Tasks" area: instead of a team member personally answering every call, an AI-powered phone assistant handles the initial conversation with the caller and automatically creates a task.

• Dedicated phone number per app: Each connected property management gets a dedicated Swiss phone number, to which existing phone lines can be forwarded.
• Available around the clock: Calls are answered and captured as tasks even outside office hours.
• Multilingual: Swiss-appropriate High German, French, and English by default (including understanding Swiss German) — additional languages are available on request.

Setup

The AI phone assistant is not set up by you in Cockpit — it is provisioned by Allthings for your property management. Contact your Allthings representative to activate the feature for one or more of your apps — later changes (emergency number, languages, your own number, deactivation) also go through Allthings.

Information we need from you

So Allthings can set up your phone assistant correctly for your property management, we need the following information from you:

• Assistant name: "Hans" by default — can be customized.
• Greeting: How should the assistant answer the phone, and what name for your property management should be mentioned?
• Emergency number: Which number should be announced at the start of the call for emergencies? If left open, no emergency number is mentioned.
• Additional languages: If you need languages beyond German, French, and English, let us know.
• Phone setup: Should a new Swiss phone number be provisioned, or would you like to connect your existing number via your VoIP/CPaaS provider using a webhook?
• Routing: How should calls from residents be distinguished from calls by other people (e.g. owners, applicants, tradespeople), so only resident calls are forwarded to the assistant?
• Availability model: At what times should the assistant take calls — e.g. only outside office hours (night/lunch coverage), for individual forwarding, or for entire teams/branches?
• Reference documents (optional): A reception handbook/phone guide, code of conduct, an emergency and escalation matrix, or your own definition of what counts as an emergency — these help tailor the assistant to your house rules.

What happens when a resident calls?

When someone calls the AI phone assistant's number, the conversation follows these steps:

1. Greeting: The assistant introduces itself as a digital phone assistant (default name "Hans") and states your property management's name. The caller can choose a language (German, English, French).
2. Recording notice: The caller is informed that the call is being recorded to process the request, and that continuing the call means agreeing to the recording.
3. Emergency notice: If an emergency number is configured, it is announced, along with a note that the assistant itself cannot handle emergencies.
4. Personal details: Name and address are asked for (see "How tasks are created" for how these are used).
5. Request: The caller describes their request freely; the assistant asks targeted follow-up questions (e.g. symptom, brand/model, since when the problem exists) and stays strictly on the device or topic mentioned.
6. Availability: Preferred availability, a callback phone number, and an email address are captured.
7. Summary & confirmation: The assistant summarizes name, address, and request and asks the caller to confirm it is correct; if corrected, it summarizes again.
8. Closing: The assistant confirms that the property management will follow up and ends the call.

The assistant only handles requests related to the home or property (e.g. repairs, damages, general administrative questions) and, for any other topic, redirects the caller once in a friendly way.

How tasks are created

After the call, a task is automatically created in the "Tasks" area. The requester is determined in the background using the email address or phone number given during the call (email takes priority if both are available) — name and address are still always asked for, partly to determine the correct building for unknown callers:

• Known person: If the caller is recognized by email address or phone number, the task is created directly for them, on their current unit. If that person is linked to multiple active units in the same app, the system currently automatically selects the most recently started unit without asking — which can occasionally result in the wrong unit, and is something we are continuously improving.
• Unknown person with a matchable address: If the address given can be matched to one of your property management's buildings, the task is created anonymously on that building. No account is created for the caller, and the task is not linked to any unit or person. An internal note shows which address the building was matched on. Name, phone number, and email address are stored as additional details, and an automatic internal note (DE/EN/FR) flags that the identity has not been confirmed.
• Unknown person without a matchable address: If neither a known person nor a matching building can be found, the task is created anonymously on behalf of the property management; the location is then the channel, with the option to add it manually. Name, phone number, and email address are stored as additional details, and an automatic internal note (DE/EN/FR) flags that the identity has not been confirmed.

Other characteristics of the created task:

• Title: Automatically generated based on the topic of the call — without name or address in the title.
• Public message: A summary of the call content, marked as system-generated.
• Internal message: For unknown callers, additionally includes the captured personal details; the audio recording of the call is added as an internal attachment.
• Label: "Phone" channel label.
• Category: Automatically determined based on the information from the call.

Limitations of the current version

The AI phone assistant is currently in an MVP testing phase. Emergencies are not handled — the assistant only refers callers to the configured emergency number. The limits of automatic unit matching for people linked to multiple units are described above under "How tasks are created."

Frequently asked questions

How do I get the AI phone assistant for my property management?
Contact your Allthings representative. The feature is currently in an MVP testing phase and is being rolled out to more property managers step by step.

Can I keep using an existing phone number?
Yes. Allthings can connect your existing number via webhook instead of provisioning a new one.

Is the caller informed that they're speaking with an AI and that the call is recorded?
Yes, both are stated unambiguously at the start of the call (see "What happens when a resident calls?").

Can the caller interrupt the assistant while it is speaking?
No, not at the moment. While the assistant is speaking, it doesn't listen. Anything the caller says during that time is not picked up. It's therefore best to wait until the assistant has finished its sentence before answering. This also applies to the language selection at the start: the language can be chosen once all languages have been announced.
The reason: especially when calling on speakerphone, the assistant would otherwise hear its own voice and mistake it for an answer.

Can additional languages be added?
Yes. German, French, and English are active by default; Allthings can set up additional languages on request.