It's already Q4 2026 and I'm only just catching the voice agent train that left early this year. Hopefully not too late.
Meet Tiffany, the AI receptionist I built at FusionKong for a local cabinet company in Melbourne. She answers calls on behalf of their staff, books customers in to visit the showroom, and handles after-sales support when something unexpected goes wrong.
Behind her is a custom CRM that tracks every customer's calls, bookings and issues in one place. Each call also syncs to WeCom, the work chat the team already lives in: a notice from the group chat bot, plus a new row in a Smart Sheet. So the owner can catch up on the latest calls anytime, from their phone.
This is the first of a few short case studies on Tiffany, one feature each. It starts with the question every business owner asks me first.
What happens when a caller wants a real person, and nobody is there?
Every receptionist, human or not, eventually gets this call. The customer doesn't want to explain the problem to anyone but a person. And it's 8 pm. The team has gone home.
So I rang the live receptionist myself, on a Tuesday at 8:09 pm, as Uncle Bob: a slightly confused older customer whose cabinet "doesn't work".
What you just watched
Uncle Bob is me in a wig. Everything else is the real system, answering the real line.
- Tiffany picks up straight away. She says she's a virtual assistant and that the call is recorded, then asks in English and Mandarin whether it's about new cabinets or an existing order.
- Bob is vague. "It's just falling off." She doesn't make him describe it perfectly. She offers to get the team to call him back, and asks his name.
- Bob asks for a transfer. "I need to talk to a human, please."
- It's after hours, so there's nobody to put him through to. Tiffany says so plainly: the team isn't available right now, but someone will call him back.
- She checks the number he's calling from is the best one to reach him, once. Then she asks if there's anything else, and says goodbye.
About two minutes, start to finish. No hold music, no voicemail beep, no "press 3 for after-sales".
What the business sees afterwards
About ten seconds after Bob hung up, all of this had happened on its own:
- An after-sales case opened in the CRM, with the recording, the transcript, and a short summary in English and Chinese.
- A notice went to the team's WeCom group, and a new row appeared in their Smart Sheet.
- The team got a text: who called, what it's about, and the number to call back.
- Bob got a text too, saying his message has been passed on and the team will call him back.
The next morning, nobody has to dig through voicemail or guess who "the guy with the cabinet" was. The call back is already on the list, with everything needed to make it.
During business hours, it's a real transfer
The after-hours answer only works because the daytime one is solid. In business hours:
- Tiffany puts the caller through when they ask for a person, or when an after-sales problem is urgent right now, like water leaking or something unsafe.
- The team's mobiles ring one after another. Whoever answers hears who is calling and why before they're connected, then presses 1 to take the call.
- If nobody picks up, the caller hears that the team will call them back, and gets a text saying the same. The team gets a "missed transfer" text with the caller's number.
Nobody gets left on hold, and nobody gets a promise the business can't keep.
The rules matter more than the voice
A receptionist that transfers every call is just an expensive phone tree. One that never transfers makes people angry. The useful part is the rules in between:
- A new enquiry gets answered on the spot: questions, the current offer, booking a showroom visit. No transfer unless they ask for a person.
- An after-sales problem gets the details taken, one question at a time: name, address or suburb, what went wrong, and how urgent it is. A transfer only when it's urgent right now.
- Anyone who asks for a person gets put through straight away during business hours. No "can I ask what it's about first?"
- After hours, nobody gets transferred. They get an honest "someone will call you back", and the details to make it happen.
None of these came out of a template. They were tuned by listening back to real calls, one fix at a time.
In English or Mandarin
Tiffany greets every caller in English and Mandarin, and answers in whichever language they speak. When a caller is clearly finding English hard, she offers Mandarin in the middle of the call. For a business with a lot of Chinese-speaking customers, that alone changes how the phone feels.
The call, word for word
Lightly trimmed, with the company's name and Bob's number left out.
Tiffany: Hi, I'm the company's virtual assistant, Tiffany, and this call is recorded. Do you need help with new cabinets or an existing order?
Bob: Hi there. I'm Uncle Bob. I'm having some issues with my cabinet.
Tiffany: Hi Uncle Bob, I'm sorry to hear that. Can you tell me what's gone wrong with your cabinet?
Bob: I'm not quite sure. It's just falling off. Can you send someone over, please?
Tiffany: I can get the team to call you back about it. May I have your name?
Bob: I'm Uncle Bob. I need a transfer. I need to talk to a human, please.
Tiffany: The team is not available right now, but someone will call you back to help with your cabinet issue. Is the best number to reach you the one you're calling from?
Bob: Yeah, that's my number.
Tiffany: Great, the team will call you back to arrange someone to visit. Is there anything else I can help with?
Bob: No, that's it. I'm too sleepy. Bye-bye.
Tiffany: Goodbye Uncle Bob, and thanks for calling.
Do you actually need one?
Honestly, not always. If you miss a handful of calls a week, missed-call text-back catches most of them for a lot less. A receptionist earns its place when the phone is your front door: a showroom, a clinic, a trade with after-sales calls, or customers who would rather talk than text.
If that sounds like you, the AI receptionist page has what she can do and how it's set up.
Missing calls after hours? Let's look at what your phone actually needs.
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