What is intake flow for an AI agent?
Intake flow is a visual builder within your AI agent's settings that lets you create a guided sequence of questions and answers for the agent to follow during conversations with customers. Think of it as a detailed script that tells your AI agent exactly what to ask, in what order, and how to use the answers as the conversation moves forward.
Unlike the general Stage Directions guidance (which sets broad conversational rules), intake flow is structured step by step, making it useful when a conversation needs to follow a specific, repeatable path rather than relying on the agent to improvise.
When to use an intake flow for AI agent?
Intake flow is especially useful when you want your AI agent to follow a strict conversational sequence to collect specific details, rather than gathering information more loosely. Common use cases include:
Lead qualification: Guide the agent through a fixed set of questions, such as budget, timeline, or specific needs, so every lead is qualified consistently before being passed to your sales team.
Appointment booking: Ensure your AI agent collects all necessary information, such as name, preferred date and time, service type, and contact details, before confirming or booking an appointment.
Intake for support requests: Walk callers or message senders through a consistent set of questions (e.g., account number, issue type, urgency) so your team receives complete context before following up.
Order or service requests: Collect structured details, such as product, quantity, or delivery preferences, in a specific order so nothing is missed.
It's also recommended to use intake flows when connecting your AI agent to your business tools, since they capture the right information before it's sent along.
Intake flow works for both AI voice and messaging agents, helping ensure consistent, complete information is captured every time, regardless of how a customer reaches out.
How to set up intake flow for an AI agent
To set up an intake flow:
Open the AI agent you want to set up an intake flow for
Desktop:
Mobile:
2. Scroll down to the Intake Flow section
Desktop:
Mobile:
3. Click Change or Edit intake flow
Desktop:
Mobile:
You can either select one of the pre-defined templates (Contact Details, Appointment Booking, Support Request) and customize it, or build a flow from scratch.
Desktop:
Mobile:
To create from the scratch:
Click + next to Intake Flow
Desktop:
Mobile:
2. Type the first question you want your AI agent to ask
Desktop:
Mobile:
3. Click + next to the question to add the possible answer(s) a customer might give
Desktop:
Mobile:
4. Click + next to each answer to add follow-up questions your AI agent should ask depending on the customer's response
Repeat these steps to build out as detailed a flow as you need, branching further based on each possible answer.
Connecting intake flow to your agent's behavior
Once your intake flow is ready, go to the Stage Directions field and add instructions specifying when your AI agent should use the flow. For example, you might specify that the agent should begin the intake flow only after confirming the caller's name, or only when a caller indicates they want to book an appointment.
You can also reference an intake flow in the Actions section to have the AI agent follow it before performing actions in your business tools. To learn more about connecting business tools and writing instructions, see Creating an AiVA AI Agent.
Example: Appointment booking intake flow
Question 1: "What type of appointment would you like to book?"
Answer: [customer specifies the appointment type]
Question 2: "What day and time works best for you?"
Answer: [customer provides a preferred date and time]
Question 3: "Do you have a backup day or time in case that slot isn't available?"
Answer: [customer provides an alternative date and time]
Question 4: "Can I get your full name and phone number to confirm the appointment?"
Answer: [customer provides name and phone number]
Question 5: "Would you like a confirmation sent by text or email?"
Answer: [customer specifies text or email]
If email: Follow-up question: "What email address should we send the confirmation to?"