Step-by-step guide

1. 1

   A direct, two-way ServiceM8 connection

   Optiphone plugs straight into your ServiceM8 account. When your AI receptionist answers a call, it can capture the caller and create the job in ServiceM8 automatically, so enquiries land in the system you already run your business from. This is a native, secure connection, not a manual export or a spreadsheet.

2. 2

   Your contacts stay in sync both ways

   Every caller the AI speaks to is matched against your ServiceM8 contacts. New callers are added as a company and a contact. Repeat callers are matched by phone or email, so the AI recognises existing customers. If any details clash, Optiphone holds the change for you to review instead of overwriting your records. Your existing ServiceM8 contacts flow back into Optiphone too.

3. 3

   You decide if the AI ever touches your schedule

   By default the AI does not book into your diary. It takes the job details and tells the caller your team will confirm the time, so nothing lands in your schedule without you. When you are ready, you can switch on direct booking for any calendar and the AI will book confirmed appointments straight into ServiceM8 against the right staff member. Want to keep your schedule completely private? Leave your ServiceM8 calendar unmapped. Your contacts still sync, but the AI never sees or writes to your schedule.

4. 4

   How a booking reaches ServiceM8

   With direct booking switched on, a booking creates a job in ServiceM8 and schedules it against the mapped staff member, with the caller's name, contact details and job description attached. If a caller cancels through the AI, the scheduled time is cleared but the job record stays, so nothing quietly disappears from your history.

5. 5

   What you need to connect

   Direct scheduling is available on the Tradesman plan and above. Connecting takes a couple of minutes. You authorise Optiphone from inside your ServiceM8 account using secure sign-in, so no passwords are ever shared. Then you map each Optiphone calendar to the ServiceM8 staff member it belongs to, or skip mapping to start with contact sync only.

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