Practical operating guide
How to prevent an AI receptionist from inventing a price
By ByTomorrow · Published
A caller asks for a price. The receptionist has seen several amounts in old documents, but none clearly applies to this request.
A plausible number can sound like an offer even when nobody authorized it. The problem starts before the spoken answer, with uncertainty about which source and conditions govern the price.
Diagnosis
A fluent answer cannot authorize a price
Reference material conflicts
An old quote, a draft rate sheet and an approved current offer may describe different work. The agent needs a designated source and applicability rules rather than permission to choose the most convenient amount.
A moderation setting is not a price check
Retell documents guardrails for prohibited topics. Those controls replace flagged content and do not themselves transfer a call or trigger another action. Treat approved-price lookup and human quotation as separate workflow requirements.
Missing context changes the meaning
A price may depend on service scope, location, timing or an inspection. If the required condition is unknown, the agent cannot establish that the amount applies.
Working worksheet
An approved-price source checklist
Source ownership
Complete this record for each allowed price statement: source identifier ___; approving owner ___; effective date ___; review date ___; superseded source ___; permitted wording ___. Drafts and customer-specific old quotes do not become general pricing authority.
Applicability
Record the exact service, unit or package, required inputs, inclusions and exclusions. Define whether the amount is a fixed offer, an estimate or a starting amount. The spoken wording must preserve those distinctions and approved qualifications.
Allow an answer only on a complete match
Proposed rule: speak the approved wording only when the current source and every required condition match. If sources disagree, a required field is missing or the source is overdue for review, use the quote-request branch.
Quote-request branch
Suggested script: "I cannot confirm a price for that request. I can collect the details for a quote review." Use the second sentence only when a working review route exists. Record the unanswered pricing question and the information still needed.
Adversarial caller example
Illustrative caller: "Just give me the cheapest number you have." Expected response: the agent keeps the same applicability rule. Pressure from the caller does not make an expired promotion or unrelated quote usable.
After the conversation
Store which source supported any spoken amount and which conditions were confirmed. If no price was authorized, record quote requested, not quote delivered. An employee should be able to reconstruct why the agent answered or declined.
Use the worksheet
Put it into practice
Remove ambiguous price sources from the answer path
Retain historical documents where the business needs them, but mark which approved source the receptionist may use. Ask the owner to resolve conflicting current entries.
Test missing and conflicting inputs
Use synthetic cases with incomplete scope, an expired source and competing amounts. Each should reach the approved fallback without a guessed number.
Review changes before reuse
When the owner changes a price, update the approved source and test the exact spoken answer. Confirm the former source can no longer supply an answer.
Questions
Straight answers.
Only when the owner has approved an estimate method and the required inputs are present. Label the result accurately and preserve its conditions. Otherwise collect a quote request.
Use that instruction, but also control which sources and actions are available and verify their outputs. A prompt alone is not evidence that every live answer will follow the rule.
Sources and further reading
- Retell guardrails documentation
Supports the limited role of topic moderation and that guardrail replacement does not initiate transfer or other actions. Price governance checklist is an original workflow recommendation.
Checked .
Start with the approved pricing source
Bring the document the owner actually authorizes and the questions that require a quote. No invented range is needed to scope this workflow.
Discuss your workflow