How to build an FAQ for your phone line: common questions with answers that work by ear
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
A phone line FAQ is the answer sheet your operator uses on calls. Build it from call recordings: listen to 30–50 calls, write down every question and group them by price, address, hours, documents and payment. Write each answer for the ear: one or two short sentences, round numbers, a landmark, and a next-step question at the end. For questions with no answer, set a rule: who calls back, and when. Update the sheet on the same day a price changes.
How a phone FAQ differs from a website FAQ
People read a website FAQ: they can go back and scan a table. On the phone the customer only listens, and hears it once. So reading a long website answer down the phone doesn’t work: by the third number they’ve forgotten the first. A phone answer sheet is written separately, in spoken language, short, and ending with a question.
Where to collect the questions
- Listen to 30–50 recordings from the last week, or read their transcripts, and write down each question the way the customer said it.
- Ask the staff who answer calls: “What do people ask most? Which question is hard to answer?”
- Add questions from Direct and Telegram: they often come up on the phone too.
- Group them: price, address and directions, hours, documents, payment, booking, returns and complaints.
- Put the most frequent at the top of each group and answer those first.
Answers for the ear: bad and good
Take Yo‘l Ustozi driving school as an example. Prices and timings are examples only.
| Question | Written answer (bad on the phone) | Spoken answer (good) |
|---|---|---|
| “How much is the course?” | “Category B: theory 1,500,000, practice 2,000,000, exam preparation extra…” | “Category B is 3.5 million so‘m, payable in two parts. Would you like a day group or an evening one?” |
| “Where are you?” | The full postal address with floor and room number | “Five minutes from Chilanzar metro, opposite the bazaar. When would you like to come?” |
| “How long does it take?” | A table of hours and types of lesson | “About three months, three times a week. When would you like to start?” |
| “What documents do I need?” | Reading out a list of six documents | “Your passport, a medical certificate and four photos. We’ll tell you the rest when you come.” |
Rules for spoken answers
- One fact per sentence. Split long sentences in two.
- Round the numbers: “three and a half million”, “about three months”.
- A landmark instead of an address: the metro, the bazaar, a big building.
- No more than three items in a list; the rest can come at the next step.
- End with a next-step question: “Shall I book you?”, “Which day suits you?”
- Not “roughly” or “maybe”: if you know, say it exactly; if not, say “I’ll check and call you back”.
Questions with no answer, and updates
Every answer sheet meets a question it can’t answer. Set the rule in advance: the operator says “I’ll check, and our manager will call you back by five today”, and notes the question and number. At the end of the week, go through those questions and add the answers to the sheet. If a price, the hours or the address change, update the sheet that day: one call quoting an old price costs you the customer’s trust.
Giving the FAQ to an AI operator
Sado answers incoming calls from the company’s own information: prices, address, hours, services. It doesn’t invent what isn’t there; it says a manager will call back and creates a task. You can ask Yordamchi in the portal “Which questions couldn’t it answer?”, which gives you a ready list for filling gaps in the sheet.
Sado’s team does the setup with you: connecting your number. Questions about Sado itself: frequently asked questions. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
How many questions should a phone FAQ have?
Coverage matters more than the count: every question found in your recordings should have an answer. The 20 most frequent are enough to start; add the rest week by week.
Who should write the answer sheet?
The person who answers the calls, together with the manager. The first knows how customers ask; the second is responsible for prices and rules being right.
What does an AI operator say to a question that isn’t on the sheet?
It doesn’t make anything up. It says a manager will call back and creates a task; you add the answer to the sheet, and next time the operator answers it itself.