XBert

Overview

XBert is Nextiva's AI Employee for small businesses. It answers your calls, text messages, and website chats around the clock, so you never miss a customer. XBert answers questions about your business, captures leads, books appointments, and sends follow-up texts and emails on its own. When a customer needs a person, XBert transfers the call to a phone number you choose or notifies you by email or text, with a summary of the conversation.

Setup takes minutes, with no technical skills required. Tell XBert about your business, give it a name and a voice, choose the skills it should have, and turn on your channels. From then on, every conversation lands in one General Inbox with its transcript, recording, and summary, and your Home screen shows how your AI Employees are performing: how many customers they handled, how long conversations took, and how many were answered without a transfer.

This article explains how to use XBert. It is intended for XBert administrators and covers the Home screen, Inbox, Contacts, Tickets, AI Employees, Analytics, and Administrator Settings.

NOTE: XBert shares its screens with NEXT. Each section below describes what is different in XBert and links to the NEXT article for step-by-step instructions. The linked articles refer to the product as NEXT. Unless this article says otherwise, the screens are the same.

Signing In

Signing in to XBert works the same as NEXT. See Signing In To NEXT Web.

In XBert:

• Self-serve customers are signed in automatically after completing payment.

• Sales-led customers receive a welcome email with their username and instructions to set a password.

Onboarding and AI Training

Onboarding in XBert is the same as XBert AI Classic today. New accounts complete a short sign-up flow and then land on the AI Training page, where the AI Employee is trained and launched. XBert AI Classic Standalone

In XBert:

• After sign-up, you land on the AI Training page instead of the Home screen.

• Advanced Onboarding and the Complete Setup banner are not available. Transfer numbers, 10DLC registration, and live chat deployment are done from Settings or from the Home screen Setup tile.

• AI Training stays in the left navigation panel until setup is complete. It then disappears.

Onboarding

Enter Your Website Address

The first step is to enter your company website in the text field. Click the Continue button.

Click Google Business if you want to use your Google Business profile.

Enter your Google Business profile, suggestions appear as you type. Select your Google Business from the suggestions.

Your business appears next to a green check mark and a message appears saying your business was found.

Click Continue.

Click Add Manually to manually enter your business details.

On the Tell Us About Your Company page, do the following:

NOTE: Scroll to see the Website URL and Google Business buttons

1. Enter the company name in the Company Name field. 

2. Enter a description of the company in the Tell us about your business field. Information entered here can include: services offered, business hours, location, or anything to help personalize your experience.

3. Use the Industry drop-down field to select the company’s industry. Available options are:

   1. Restaurant

   2. Healthcare

   3. Legal

   4. Home Services

   5. Salon / Spa

   6. Automotive

   7. Fitness

   8. Other

4. Click Continue.

Personalize Your AI Employee

On the Personalize Your AI Employee page, do the following:

1. Click the pencil icon on the avatar of the AI Employee to change the photo. This is the photo customers see during live chats and in conversation history. You can pick a photo from the following categories, scroll to see all options:

   1. Casual

   2. Business Casual

   3. Professional

   4. Or, click Upload Your Own to upload a photo from your device.

1. Enter the AI Employee’s name in the Give Your AI a Name field. 

2. Enter the company name in the Brand Name AI Should Use field. Use the name most customers recognize.

3. Use the Gender drop-down field to select the AI Employee’s voice. Available options are Female and Male.

4. Use the Voice drop-down field to select the AI Employee’s voice. Available options are:

   1. Agile

   2. Warm

   3. Robust

   4. Confident 

   5. Bubbly

5. Modify the greeting in the Default Greeting field. This is the first message customers receive from the AI Employee. It is recommended to disclose that customers are interacting with AI.

Creating Your AI Employee

Next, you see a loading screen as your AI Employee is being created. This can take up to 60 seconds.

Your AI Employee has Been Hired

Next, you receive a confirmation message that your AI Employee has been hired. 

Click Copy number to copy the AI Employee’s number in further steps. Click Train AI Employee.

Getting Started with

AI Training

AI Training has four steps: Select channels, Business details, Products and services, and Finish setup.

Select channels

On the Select channels page, click the checkbox next to each channel your AI Employee will use to help customers. The options are:

• Voice

• SMS

• Live Chat

Click Next to continue.

NOTE: If you select SMS, a notice appears saying text messaging won't work until 10DLC registration is complete. Complete 10DLC registration from Settings or from the Home screen Setup tile.

Business details

The Business details page will be pre-filled based on the website or information that you gave in the sign-up flow.

1. Enter your business's brand name in the Brand name AI should use field.

2. Enter a description of your business in the Company description field.

3. (Optional) To add more information about your business, click Add More.

   1. Enter a label or a question in the Title field.

   2. Enter the details in the Details field.

   3. Click Save.

4. To edit a detail, click the pencil icon next to it. To delete it, click the gray X icon.

Products and services

On the Products and services page, you can add what your business offers so your AI Employee can describe products, services, and pricing accurately. This step is optional.

1. Enter the name of the item or service in the Item field.

2. (Optional) Enter a description in the Description field.

3. (Optional) Enter a price in the Price / Range field.

To add an item, enter it in the “Add a product or service…” field and click + Add.

Finish setup

On the Finish setup page, your AI Employee's phone number is displayed. Click the copy icon to copy the number. Click the play icon to hear how your AI Employee sounds.

Choose the number customers call. Select one of the following:

• Use my current business number — Update call forwarding with your carrier so incoming calls ring your AI number.

• Use my new AI number — Copy your AI number and add it everywhere customers find you, such as:

  • Website — your contact page, footer, and any click-to-call links

  • Google Business Profile — add your AI number to your listing

  • Social profiles and directories — business listings where customers find you

Choose what happens when a caller needs a person. Select one of the following:

• Forward call to another number — Enter the number in the Which number would you like to forward to? field. This must be different from your business number.

• Notify me with a summary of the issue — Select where the summary is sent: Text message, Email, or both. Then enter the phone number, the email address, or both.

Click Finish first-day setup.

Home

This section explains how to navigate the Home screen in XBert. The Home screen is the first screen you see after logging in and provides a snapshot of your AI Employees, their activity, and recent conversations.

The Home Screen

Click Home in the left navigation panel to return to the Home screen at any time. The screen greets you by name and displays the current date at the top.

Your AI Employees

Displays every AI Employee on your account. The total count appears next to the heading.

• An active AI Employee shows its avatar, name, phone number, skills, and an Active label. Click Edit to open its settings.

• An AI Employee still in setup shows a Setup progress bar (for example, Setup 60%). Click Continue Setup to resume.

• Use the arrows on the right to scroll through your AI Employees. Click View All to open the full AI Employees list.

Your AI's Activity

Displays aggregate metrics across your AI Employees for the last 30 days:

• Sessions Total — total number of AI Employee sessions

• Avg. Conversation Duration — average length of AI Employee conversations

• Answered by AI — percentage of sessions handled by AI without a transfer

Hover over the (i) icon next to a metric to see its definition. Each tile includes an arrow to view more detail.

Setup

Displays outstanding setup tasks for your account, such as text messaging registration. Click Start Registration to begin 10DLC registration. See Setup in NEXT Web - Home.

Recent Activity

Displays your most recent AI Employee conversations. Each entry shows the contact name, a preview of the last message, the time of the interaction, and the channel. Click Go to Inbox to open the General Inbox.

Using the NextIQ Panel

Works the same as NEXT. See Using the NextIQ Panel in NEXT Web - Home and NEXT Web - NextIQ Overview.

Top Navigation Bar

The top navigation bar is accessible from every screen in XBert.

• Search — Use the Search anything... bar (or press ⌘K) to search across XBert.

• Ask NextIQ — Opens the NextIQ AI assistant panel.

• Your Profile (avatar) — Click your avatar to manage your profile and preferences.

Left Navigation Panel

The left navigation panel provides access to all sections of XBert:

• Home, Inboxes, Contacts — Always visible in the main navigation.

• AI Training — Visible until setup is complete.

• More — Click to reveal Companies, Analytics, and Tickets.

• Marketplace — Opens the integrations marketplace.

• Settings — Opens Administrator Settings.

• Help — Opens help and support resources.

Your Profile

Works the same as NEXT. See Your Profile in NEXT Web - Home.

Inbox

The Inbox in XBert works the same as NEXT. See NEXT Web - Inbox.

In XBert:

• XBert has one General Inbox, shared by every administrator. All users are members of General Inbox by default. There is no My Inbox, no Teams section, and no + Create Team option.

• All channels for one customer are grouped into a single conversation thread.

• The channel filter offers Call, SMS, and Live chat. Email is not available.

• To contact a customer from a conversation, request a callback from the inbox phone number or send a text message. Outbound calls can be made from the inbox phone number. [Confirm where the Message action opens the conversation]

• The widget rail on the right offers NextIQ, Contact, and Tickets. The Meetings widget and the Video and Email contact actions are not available.

Contacts

Contacts in XBert work the same as NEXT. See NEXT Web - Contacts.

In XBert:

• Call requests a callback to the contact from the inbox phone number.

• Video and Email are not available in XBert.

• Message 

• The Upcoming Meetings section is not available.

• The Tickets section shows tickets created manually. See Tickets.

Companies

Companies in XBert work the same as NEXT. See NEXT Web - Companies.

Tickets

Tickets in XBert work the same as NEXT. See NEXT Web - Tickets.

In XBert:

• Tickets are created manually by an administrator. AI Employee conversations do not create tickets.

• The Team Inbox field is always General Inbox.

• You can reply to a ticket by text message. Email replies are not available.

• The Meetings panel is not available in the ticket view.

AI Employees

Creating, training, and managing AI Employees works the same as NEXT. See NEXT - AI Employees for the five setup steps, skills, CRM and calendar integrations, functions, and channel enablement.

Where to Find Your AI Employees

• During setup — Click AI Training in the left navigation panel.

• After setup — Click Edit on the AI Employee's card on the Home screen, or go to Settings › AI Employees.

What's Different in XBert

Analytics

Analytics in XBert works the same as NEXT. See AI Employee Engagement Dashboard and Reports in NEXT Web - Analytics.

In XBert:

• XBert includes one dashboard, AI Employee Engagement, and one report, AI Employee Report. To access them, click More in the left navigation panel, then Analytics.

• The dashboard counts Sessions rather than Conversations.

• The dashboard filters are date range, Inbox, Channel, Skills, Time Zone, and Business Hours. The Campaigns, Priority, and Status filters are not available.

• The default date range is Last 30 days.

• Transferred Sessions include sessions forwarded to an external number and sessions escalated by notification.

• Durations are shown in minutes and seconds.

• + Custom Report offers the AI Employee Report template. Running, downloading, and scheduling reports work the same as NEXT.

Administrator Settings

Administrator Settings in XBert work the same as NEXT. See NEXT - Administrator Settings.

To access Administrator Settings, click Settings in the left navigation panel. The Company information page opens. There is no Admin home page in XBert.

In XBert:

My Settings

My Settings in XBert work the same as NEXT:

• NEXT Web - My Settings - Account

• NEXT Web - My Settings - Login and Security

• NEXT - Settings - Communications & Preferences

In XBert: The Default Outgoing Number is the General Inbox number.

Global Search

Global Search in XBert works the same as NEXT. See NEXT Web - Global Search. Results include contacts, tickets, conversations, and companies.

NextIQ

NextIQ in XBert works the same as NEXT. See NEXT Web - NextIQ Overview.

See also: NextIQ Agent Assist — Conversation Summary and AI Suggestions. In XBert, tickets exist only when you create them, so ask NextIQ about conversations instead. "Accounts" are called Companies.

FAQ

The following sections of the NEXT Web FAQ apply to XBert: Signing In, Contacts, Companies, Tickets, My Settings – Account, My Settings – Login and Security, My Settings – Preferences, and NextIQ. Answers that refer to calling a contact, video, meetings, email, or My Inbox do not apply.

XBert Questions

Why don't I see Calls, Meetings, or Team Chats? These features are not part of XBert. See What's Not in XBert.

Where did AI Training go? AI Training appears in the left navigation panel only while an AI Employee setup is in progress. Once setup is complete, edit your AI Employee from the Home screen or from Settings › AI Employees.

Why do I have only one inbox? XBert uses a single General Inbox. Every AI Employee conversation appears there, and every user is a member.

Can I call a customer? You cannot place outbound calls in XBert. Open the conversation and request a callback from the inbox phone number.

Why don't AI Employee conversations create tickets? In XBert, tickets are created manually. AI Employee conversations are tracked in General Inbox with their transcript and summary.

Where are my AI Employee metrics? On the Home screen under Your AI's Activity, and in More › Analytics › AI Employee Engagement.

How do I add another person to my account? Go to Settings › Users › Add user. Every user in XBert is an administrator.

Is there a limit on call length? Yes. An AI call ends automatically after 45 minutes.

I'm on XBert AI Classic. When do I move to XBert? New customers start on XBert from launch. Existing customers stay on XBert AI Classic for now. Nextiva will contact you when migration is available.

Can I upgrade to NEXT? Not at launch. The upgrade will be available in the coming weeks through a support request. Your AI Employees, inbox, conversations, and settings are kept.

What's Not in XBert

The following NEXT features are not available in XBert.