Enable Call Assistant tools

Review the tool catalog, enable the right capabilities on an assistant, and satisfy what each tool needs before a live call.

Tools are the things a Call Assistant can actually do during a call — check a schedule, text a link, hand the caller to a person. Steer Phones defines and maintains the catalog; you decide which tools each assistant may use, and you supply what those tools depend on.

Review the catalog

Open Call Assistants > Tools. The page lists every tool available to your assistants with its name and a short description, grouped by category:

The page is read-only: tool behavior is configured by Steer Phones. Contact support if a tool needs to behave differently or you want one that is not listed.

What the built-in tools need

Enabling a tool is not enough on its own — most tools depend on something else being configured first. The catalog Steer Phones ships includes:

Your Tools page is the authority for what your assistants can use — the list above describes the built-in set and may not match yours exactly.

Enable tools on an assistant

1. Open Call Assistants > Assistants and select the assistant.
2. On the Enabled Tools card, open the picker and select the capabilities this assistant should have. Selected tools appear as badges under the picker.
3. If you enable Transfer Call, a Transfer Destinations card appears below. Configure at least one destination — see Set up transfer destinations.
4. If you enable a scheduling tool, assign booking services to this assistant — see Set up booking services.
5. Select Save.

Enable only what the assistant should be trusted to do. Every enabled tool is one more thing the assistant may decide to use mid-conversation.

Some tools are managed entirely by Steer Phones and are not offered in the picker. If an assistant already has one enabled it stays enabled and keeps working — you simply cannot add or remove it yourself.

When an assistant follows a Profile, its tools come from that Profile and the picker is read-only. See Use a Steer Phones-managed Profile.

Check your work before going live

The Assistants list warns you about the two dependencies that most often go missing:

• No transfer destinations are defined for this assistant — it can call for a transfer but has nowhere to send anyone.
• No AutoOps services are linked to this assistant — its booking and availability tools have nothing to book.

Both warnings describe a tool that will fail on a real call, so clear them before you route callers to the assistant. Then place a test call and ask for each capability you enabled.

Expected result

The Tools page lists the catalog by category, the assistant’s Enabled Tools card shows exactly the capabilities you selected, no dependency warning appears on its card, and a test call can exercise each enabled tool end to end.

Troubleshooting

• “No tools are currently available”: the catalog did not load, or none are published for your account. Select Retry; if it persists, contact support.
• A tool you expect is missing from the picker: it is either withheld from selection by Steer Phones or not part of your catalog. Contact support to ask for it.
• The picker is read-only and badged with a Profile name: the assistant’s tools are managed by that Profile.
• The assistant never uses a tool you enabled: the assistant chooses tools from the conversation. Add an instruction to the Custom Prompt describing when to use it, then test again.
• The assistant tells the caller it could not send a text: the tool has no text template linked to it. Contact support.
• Booking tools are ignored on live calls: when the booking connection is not configured, those tools are dropped for the call. Check the Booking Services page for a status message.

Related guidance

• Create and route a Call Assistant.
• Set up transfer destinations.
• Set up booking services.
• Use a Steer Phones-managed Profile.