Setting up instructions for your assistant (system prompt)

Your assistant does exactly what you tell it to. How it greets callers, which details it captures and when it ends a conversation — you control all of that in your voice config. This guide shows which fields shape the behaviour and how to fill them in well.

In short: First store your business details under Settings (name, address, opening hours, timezone). Then set the Greeting Message in your voice config, optionally your own System Prompt with {{variables}} and the details your assistant should collect. Greeting, farewell and language behaviour are added by rednea automatically. Your assistant knows your business details and the date and time only if you put the matching {{variables}} in the prompt.

What is a system prompt? (in plain terms)

Think of the system prompt as the onboarding of a new receptionist: you explain once how they should behave, which questions to ask and what to pay attention to — and from then on they do exactly that on *every* call, around the clock. There's nothing to program; you simply write down in plain language what your assistant should do.

First: store your business details

Before you fine-tune the prompt, fill in your business profile under Settings. Your assistant can use these details during a call once you insert them into the prompt with {{variables}} (see below):

• Business Name, Business Description, Business Type
• Address, Phone, Website, Email
• Opening hours (one line per day)
• Timezone — controls which date and time your assistant knows (e.g. Europe/Zurich)

The more complete the profile, the less you have to write into the prompt by hand.

The voice config fields

These fields in your voice config control how your assistant behaves.

Greeting Message

The first sentence callers hear. Example: *"Grüezi, thank you for your call. How can I help you?"* Important: the greeting is spoken automatically at the start of every call. You don't need to repeat it in the system prompt.

Farewell message

An example of how the assistant says goodbye before hanging up — for instance *"Thank you for your call. Have a lovely day. Goodbye."* The assistant only hangs up once the caller's request has been fully handled.

System Prompt

Here you describe how your assistant behaves — tone, tasks, what to capture, when to transfer a call or end the conversation. The system prompt is a template with {{variables}} that is filled with real values at call time. If you leave the field empty, rednea uses a sensible default: answer in a friendly way, capture name, callback number and reason for calling, and stay in the caller's language.

Information to collect

Describe the questions your assistant should ask directly in the System Prompt. For example: "For an appointment request, ask for the preferred date and time. For a callback, ask when the caller can be reached."

Variables: insert business details automatically

Instead of hard-coding details into the prompt, use placeholders in double curly braces. rednea replaces them with the current values at call time. That keeps the prompt correct even if your details change later.

rednea fills in the values on every call, with date, time and day of the week localised for your language and timezone. Important: your assistant knows these details only if the variable is in the prompt. If {{address}} is missing, for example, it does not know your address.

What rednea adds automatically

Some things you don't need to write yourself — rednea adds them on every call:

• The greeting is spoken at the start.
• The farewell is used at the end, and the assistant hangs up cleanly.
• The language behaviour per language (including Swiss conversational conventions and the formal "Sie" for Swiss German).

So focus your system prompt on what makes your business unique: tasks, tone and the details you want captured.

Example: a simple system prompt

A good prompt consists of a few clear building blocks. It could look like this — with variables instead of fixed values:

• Role: "You are the friendly phone assistant of {{business_name}}. Speak calmly, naturally and professionally, and address callers formally (in German, use 'Sie')."
• Context: "About the business: {{description}}. Address: {{address}}. Opening hours: {{opening_hours}}."
• Task: "Capture the caller's name and a callback number, briefly clarify their request, and answer questions about opening hours and location using these details. If you don't know something, say so honestly and offer a callback."
• Information to collect: "For appointment requests, ask for the preferred date and time. For a callback, ask when the caller can be reached."

Write these four building blocks as one continuous text into the System Prompt field — done.

Tips for good instructions

• Short and specific. Clear, short instructions work more reliably than long texts.
• Say what should be captured. Name, callback number, request — name them explicitly.
• Use variables instead of fixed values. That keeps the prompt current when opening hours or your address change.
• Test with a test call. Play through typical situations and adjust the prompt until the conversation feels right.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to put the greeting into the system prompt?

No. The Greeting Message is spoken automatically at the start of every call. You don't need to mention it again in the prompt.

What happens if I leave the system prompt empty?

Then rednea uses a sensible default: answer in a friendly way, capture name, callback number and reason for calling, and stay in the caller's language.

How does the assistant know today's date?

Through the variables {{current_date}}, {{current_time}} and {{day_of_week}} in your prompt. rednea fills them in on every call, matching the Timezone you stored in Settings. If they are not in the prompt, the assistant does not know the date.

Can I ask different questions per language?

Yes. Describe any language-specific questions directly in your System Prompt. The assistant follows those instructions in the caller's language.