# Intros

> Create the opening lines and qualifying questions the AI agent uses for each campaign and for inbound callers.

- Section: Using the app (manual) › AI agent
- Web page: https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/intros
- MCP (AI assistant) equivalent: [Intros](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/intros.md)
- Video: placeholder — "Writing intros that get callers talking" (not yet recorded)

An **intro** is the campaign-specific part of the AI agent's script. It holds what the agent says first, the questions it asks to qualify the lead, and what it does next. Your [voice prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/voice-prompt.md) holds the rules that apply to every call. When a call starts, Bigly drops the intro into the voice prompt where the `{intro}` placeholder sits.

You'll usually have one intro per campaign or offer, plus a few special intros for inbound situations, such as callers who ring outside office hours.

## Before you start

- Write your [voice prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/voice-prompt.md) first, and make sure it contains `{intro}`.
- Add the phone numbers you want inbound callers to reach. See [Phone numbers](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/phone-numbers.md).
- Fill in your [prompt variables](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/prompt-variables.md) so you can use placeholders such as `{company_name}` in your wording.

## How intros are used

- **Outbound calls.** When you start an AI call campaign on the [Calls](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/calls.md) page, you choose which intro it uses. Follow-up calls can use an intro too.
- **Inbound calls.** When someone calls you, Bigly picks an intro in this order:
  1. If you're outside your working hours, the intro tagged **After Office Hours**.
  2. An intro tagged to match the caller's most recent tag, such as **Transferred Dropped** or **Scheduled Callback**.
  3. The intro whose **Select Number** matches the number they dialled.
  4. The intro of the last campaign that contacted them.
  5. If none of these match, your voice prompt's default inbound wording.

Bigly doesn't stop you from giving two intros the same inbound number. If you do, only one of them is used, so keep each inbound number on a single intro.

## Create an intro

1. Go to **AI › Teach Your Bot › Intros**.
2. Click the **+** button at the end of the intro tabs. A new tab called **New Intro** opens.
3. Enter a **Title**. Your team sees this name when choosing an intro for a campaign.
4. Optionally, choose a **Voice Prompt** for this intro (see [Use a different voice prompt for one intro](#use-a-different-voice-prompt-for-one-intro)).
5. Make sure **Outbound** is selected in the Inbound/Outbound switch, then fill in the outbound fields (see the next section).
6. Click **Inbound** and fill in the inbound fields.
7. Click **Save** at the bottom of the page.

> **Fill in both directions:** A campaign can't start if its intro is missing any of these: the outbound intro text, the inbound intro text, the **First Outbound Sentence**, the **First Inbound Sentence** or the inbound number. Leads often call back the number that called them, so the inbound side matters even for outbound campaigns.

## Write the outbound side

With **Outbound** selected:

1. **First Outbound Sentence**: the first thing the agent says when the lead answers. For example: *Hi {name}, this is Sarah from {company_name}.*
2. **Second Outbound Sentence**: what the agent says next, once the lead responds.
3. **Transfer Call Summary Prompt (Outbound)**: instructions for the short summary the agent gives your team member before connecting a transferred call. Leave it empty to connect transfers without a summary.
4. **Intro (outbound)**: the script for this campaign. Describe the opening, then how to work through the questions, using `{Q1}`, `{Q2}` and so on where each question should be asked. Say what to do on a yes or a no, for example transfer the call or end it politely.
5. Add your qualifying questions (see [Add qualifying questions](#add-qualifying-questions)).

If your account has ringless voicemail turned on, you'll also see **No-Answer Voicemail Recording URL**. Paste a link to a recording, or click **Upload** to upload a WAV, MP3 or OGG file, then save the intro.

## Write the inbound side

1. Click **Inbound** in the switch.
2. To start from your outbound wording, click **Copy from Outbound**. This copies the intro text, the first sentence, the transfer summary prompt and the questions into the inbound fields, replacing what's there.
3. Edit the **First Inbound Sentence**, which is the agent's greeting when someone calls in.
4. Edit the **Transfer Call Summary Prompt (Inbound)** and the **Intro (inbound)** text.
5. In **Select Number**, choose the phone number this intro answers.
6. Leave **Tag** empty for a normal campaign intro. Tags are for the special intros described below.

## Add qualifying questions

Each question card has these fields:

| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| **Question** | The question the agent asks, such as *Do you own your home?* The first question fills `{Q1}`, the second `{Q2}`, and so on. |
| **Attribute Name** | A short name the answer is stored under, such as `owns_home`. Use lowercase words joined by underscores. |
| **Answer Type** | **String**, **Number**, **Boolean (True/False)** or **List**. |
| **Expected output** (outbound) or **Instruction (Expected answer)** (inbound) | What counts as an answer. Pick a preset, such as *must get a yes, no or equivalent answer*, *must get a number* or *must get a zipcode*, or choose **custom** and type your own instruction. |

- Click **Add Question** to add another card.
- Click the red bin icon on a card to delete it, then confirm. A card can't be deleted when it's the only one.
- If **Uses Prompt Attributes** is on in [AI settings](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/ai-settings.md), each question has a **Contact Attributes** link. Click **show**, then click an attribute to insert the contact's value into the question.

Keep the number of `{Q#}` placeholders in your intro text equal to the number of questions. An extra placeholder is read out literally, and a question with no placeholder is never asked.

## Set up special inbound intros

Create a separate intro, click **Inbound**, and choose a **Tag**:

| Tag | When it's used |
|---|---|
| **After Office Hours** | Someone calls outside your working hours. Write a short message saying you're closed and when you'll call back. Without this intro, callers hear a generic closed message. |
| **Transferred Dropped** | A caller whose last transfer to your team dropped calls back. Acknowledge the earlier call and offer to connect them again. |
| **Scheduled Callback** | The caller has a callback booked. |
| **SMS Callback** | The contact asked for a call back over text. |

These intros don't need questions. Every account should have an **After Office Hours** intro.

## Use a different voice prompt for one intro

By default, every intro uses the main voice prompt. To give one campaign completely different rules:

1. On the [Voice Prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/voice-prompt.md) tab, save the alternative prompt with **Save As**.
2. Back on **Intros**, open the intro and choose that prompt in the **Voice Prompt** dropdown.
3. Click **Save**.

Calls that use this intro now use the selected prompt instead of the main one. The intro is still inserted at its `{intro}` placeholder.

## Change the voice for one intro

The right-hand column of each intro has the same voice settings as the Voice Prompt tab: **Voice Engine**, **Speech to Text**, **Text to Speech** and **Voice Activity Detection**. Leave **Voice Engine** on **Same as assistant** to use the main settings, or change them to give this campaign its own voice or model. See [Voice prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/voice-prompt.md#settings-explained) for what each setting does.

## Clone or delete an intro

- **Clone:** click **Clone Intro**, choose the intro in **Select Intro**, then click **Clone**. A copy named *<title> - Copy* opens as the first tab. Edit it and click **Save**.
- **Delete:** open the intro's tab, click the **×** on the tab, then confirm with **Delete**.

## Settings explained

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Title** | The intro's name in lists and campaign settings. |
| **Message** | A text message for the AI to use with this intro, for accounts that send links by text. |
| **Voice Prompt** | Optional. Replaces the main voice prompt for calls that use this intro. |
| **Select Number** | The inbound number this intro answers. |
| **Tag** | Makes this a special inbound intro (see above). |

## Troubleshooting

**The agent skips my campaign script.** The voice prompt is missing `{intro}`. Add it on the [Voice Prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/voice-prompt.md) tab.

**A question is never asked.** Check that the intro text has a `{Q#}` placeholder for every question, in the same order.

**Inbound callers get the wrong greeting.** Check which intro has the number in **Select Number**, and whether the caller has a recent tag that matches a tagged intro.

**I lost my edits.** If you switch tabs with unsaved changes, Bigly asks you to confirm. Clicking **Discard** drops the changes. Click **Save** first.

## Related

- [Voice prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/voice-prompt.md)
- [Prompt variables](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/prompt-variables.md)
- [Test calls](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/test-calls.md)
- [Manage intros with your AI assistant](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/intros.md)

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All documentation pages: https://docs.biglysales.com/llms.txt