Review scheduling
Offers times for an annual or semi-annual review with the caller's advisor from the advisor's calendar, books the slot, and sends a confirmation. It confirms only the caller's name and the advisor they work with.
Deployment blueprint
A phone system for an advisory firm where verification stays with people.
Twelve advisors, their associates, a client-service desk and two offices. Clients call about accounts, transfers and reviews, and the firm has to document instructions. This blueprint shows how 3CTel designs routing, recording and a deliberately narrow AI role.
- Advisor and associate paired on every client line
- Client-service queue with callbacks
- AI schedules reviews; staff verify identity
Example
Active call HD
IN
Inbound caller
+1 (604) 555-0177 · 01:12
Mute
Keypad
Hold
Transfer
End
Your team
- RCReceptionAvailable
- S1Sales 1On a call
For a wealth or financial advisory firm, 3CTel pairs each advisor with their associate on a shared line, routes general calls to a client-service queue with callbacks, records instruction calls with an announcement and a retention period set with the firm, and limits the AI receptionist to scheduling reviews and taking messages. Identity verification, account questions and trade instructions are always handled by staff.
Deployment blueprint: a representative, anonymized scenario compiled from how 3CTel implements this kind of organization. No client is named and no result figures are stated; every parameter is a configuration choice we design with you.
- Sector
- Wealth and financial advisory
- Users
- 38 (advisors, associates, client service, operations)
- Sites
- 2 offices plus home offices
- Time zones
- 1 (Eastern)
- Languages
- English, French on request
- Modules
- Business phone, Contact Centre, AI receptionist, video meetings
- AI agents
- Review scheduling and message-taking only
- Integrations
- CRM via API; calendar via Microsoft 365
Situation
An advisory firm of this shape runs on relationships. Each advisor has a book of clients who expect to reach the advisor or a named associate, not a general queue. Calls cluster at market-moving moments and around tax and RRSP deadlines, when clients want to move money or ask what to do. Operations staff deal with dealer and custodian paperwork and rarely take client calls.
The firm's obligations to its dealer and regulator include keeping records of client instructions and communications. It wants those calls recorded consistently, kept for a period it sets, and accessible to its compliance function. It also wants nothing automated to touch a client's account, verify identity or give the impression of advice.
Advisors work from home part of the week and from client sites. Outbound calls need to show the firm's number, and voicemail needs to reach the associate as well as the advisor so nothing waits until the advisor is back at a desk.
Requirements
- A direct line per advisor that rings the advisor and their associate together, on desk phone, desktop and mobile apps.
- A main number with a short menu: an advisor by name, client service, or operations.
- A client-service queue for general questions, with callbacks when the wait passes a threshold.
- Recording on advisor lines and the client-service queue, announced to callers, with retention set by the firm's compliance policy.
- An AI receptionist that schedules annual reviews and takes messages, and nothing else.
- Identity verification, account balances, transfers and trade instructions handled only by staff.
- Video meetings from the same platform for remote client reviews.
Call-flow design
Most clients dial their advisor's direct line. The main number exists for new callers and for clients who have lost the direct number. Dial-by-name is offered first because that is what most callers want.
ExampleView all team
Business number
+1 (416) 555-0198
Main numberActive call 00:24
IN
Inbound caller
+1 (905) 555-0142
Mute
Keypad
Hold
Add
End
Transfer call
Select a team member or department
Search people or teams
- Sales teamExt. 202
- Customer supportExt. 204
Your team
RC
ReceptionExt. 201
AvailableS1
Sales 1Ext. 202
On a callS2
Sales 2Ext. 203
AvailableSD
Service deskExt. 204
AvailableOM
Office managerExt. 205
In a meetingConceptual illustration of the 3CTel interface — not a screenshot
| When | Then |
|---|---|
| Client dials advisor direct line | Advisor and associate ring together; voicemail to both with transcript |
| Main number, caller says or dials a name | Route to that advisor's paired line |
| Main number, client service | Client-service queue; callback offered after threshold |
| Main number, operations | Operations ring group; voicemail to shared inbox |
| Any path after hours | AI receptionist takes a message or books a review; urgent request leaves a voicemail to the advisor's mobile |
| Market-event volume spike | Overflow from advisor lines to the client-service queue with a whisper naming the advisor |
Call routing
Decide who answers, in what order, and what happens when they cannot.
Learn more: Call routingRing group
One incoming call rings several phones at once or in sequence; the first to pick up takes it.
Learn more: Ring groupDID (Direct Inward Dialing)
A phone number that reaches a particular extension or department directly, bypassing the main menu.
Learn more: DID (Direct Inward Dialing)AI agents
The firm asked for the smallest useful AI role, and the design reflects that. A single agent answers after hours and when the client-service queue is saturated, and it has two jobs.
- The AI never verifies identity, discusses balances, holdings or transactions, or accepts an instruction to buy, sell or transfer.
- A caller who mentions moving money, a withdrawal or a market concern is told a person will call back and the message is flagged urgent.
- Callers can reach a person at any point; during hours that is the client-service queue, after hours a voicemail to the advisor's mobile.
Example
AI receptionist
Intent: booking · Confidence high
AI receptionistThanks for calling. How can I help today?
Inbound callerHi, I’d like to book a cleaning for next week, ideally Tuesday morning.
AI receptionistTuesday at 9:30 or 11:00 are open. Which works better?
Inbound caller9:30, please.
AI receptionistBooked. You’ll get a text confirmation. Anything else?
Appointment created in calendar
Transcript sent to front desk
Escalation rule: billing questions → office manager
Conceptual illustration of the 3CTel interface — not a screenshot
Message-taking
Takes the caller's name, number and a short reason, produces a transcript and delivers it to the advisor and associate. It does not ask for account numbers or personal identifiers.
AI Receptionist
Answers, understands and books — in English and French.
Learn more: AI ReceptionistAppointment booking
Bookings taken by phone, confirmed by text, and handed to a person when needed.
Learn more: Appointment bookingAI receptionist vs answering service
Three ways to handle calls nobody can pick up, compared without a sales pitch.
Learn more: AI receptionist vs answering serviceClient-service queue
The client-service desk is a small Contact Centre queue staffed by three associates on rotation. Skills separate general service from French service. When advisors are on calls during a spike, their lines overflow into the queue and the associate answering sees the advisor's name in the whisper, so the client is greeted as someone known rather than as a stranger.
Callbacks hold the client's place and return the call from the firm's number. A supervisor view shows waits and lets the operations manager step in during deadline weeks.
Example
Supervisor view Live
3Waiting
1:12Longest wait
4Agents on
128Answered today
Queue · Customer support
- 1+1 (514) 555-01030:48Waiting
- 2+1 (613) 555-01610:31Callback requested
Agents
- REReceptionReady
- CUCustomer support 1On a call
- CUCustomer support 2Wrap-up
- SASales 1Ready
Conceptual illustration of the 3CTel interface — not a screenshot
Integrations
The firm's CRM receives a call log, recording reference and transcript for every client call, matched by caller ID to the client record where possible. The review-scheduling agent reads and writes advisor calendars through Microsoft 365. Video meetings for remote reviews are created from the same platform and the link is placed in the calendar invitation.
Both connections are delivered through API or an automation platform, scoped during planning, with availability confirmed before activation.
Security, privacy and continuity
- Recording is announced on advisor lines and the client-service queue; retention is set with the firm's compliance function and applied consistently.
- Access to recordings is limited to compliance and the advisor on the call; associates can review their own calls only.
- Home-office users register a 9-1-1 service address individually and are reminded to update it when they move.
- If an office loses internet, advisor lines continue to ring the mobile apps; the main number fails over to the second office.
- Outbound patterns are monitored and international dialling is enabled per user rather than firm-wide.
Call recording
When recording helps, how callers and staff are informed, and how access and retention are set.
Learn more: Call recordingPrivacy of call data
What the phone service processes, who can see it, and how retention and deletion are handled.
Learn more: Privacy of call data9-1-1 on VoIP
Why the registered address matters, how it is confirmed at setup, and how to keep it current.
Learn more: 9-1-1 on VoIPService continuity
What happens to calls during an internet or power outage, and how failover is planned with you.
Learn more: Service continuityRollout
Plan
List advisors and their associates, agree the recording and retention policy with compliance, and define the AI's two permitted tasks in writing.
Build on temporary numbers
Configure paired lines, the queue and the AI prompts. Compliance listens to the recording announcement and a sample AI conversation.
Pilot two advisors
Port two direct lines and run for two weeks; review transcripts and overflow behaviour.
Port the rest
Move the main number and remaining lines in one scheduled window, with the old lines forwarding until the port completes.
What we measure
The firm receives dashboards for answer time on advisor lines versus the queue, overflow volume on market-event days, callback completion, recording coverage on instruction paths, reviews booked by the AI versus by staff, and messages flagged urgent. These show how the design is behaving, not outcomes claimed in advance.
Why is the AI limited to scheduling and messages?
Because identity verification and anything about an account are the firm's responsibility to its clients and regulator, and the firm wants a person doing them. Limiting the AI to booking reviews and taking messages keeps it useful after hours while leaving verification, balances and instructions with staff. 3CTel configures those limits as explicit prompt rules.
How long are recordings kept?
For as long as the firm's own policy requires. Retention is a parameter set with the compliance function during planning, applied to the advisor lines and the client-service queue, and reviewed when the policy changes. Recordings are stored with access limited to compliance and the advisor on the call.
What happens when an advisor is with a client and the associate is on another call?
The paired line rings both for a set time, then follows the advisor's overflow choice. Most advisors send the call to the client-service queue with a whisper naming them, so the client reaches a person who knows who they are. Voicemail with a transcript is the final fallback.
Example
Calls by hourToday
96%Answered
0:42Avg. wait
7Missed
3%Abandoned
791113151719
Peak at 9–10 a.m. — add one agent
Conceptual illustration of the 3CTel interface — not a screenshot
Related pages.
Financial Services
Advisor direct lines, call records and seasonal capacity for financial offices.
Learn more: Financial ServicesBusiness Phone
Reliable calling with routing your team will actually use.
Learn more: Business PhoneContact Centre
Queues, routing and supervision for teams that live on the phone.
Learn more: Contact CentreAI Receptionist
Answers, understands and books — in English and French.
Learn more: AI ReceptionistVideo Meetings
Meetings in the app you already use for calls — no second subscription.
Learn more: Video MeetingsCall recording
When recording helps, how callers and staff are informed, and how access and retention are set.
Learn more: Call recordingFrequently asked questions.
Yes. The mobile app places calls that show the advisor's direct line or the firm's main number, and those calls are recorded and logged like desk calls.
No. In this design the AI collects a name, a callback number and a short reason, and books review times from the advisor's calendar. It is configured not to request or accept account or identity details.
Recordings are indexed by date, line and caller, with transcripts searchable by the compliance role. Access is logged.
Yes. A new advisor gets a direct line paired with an associate, joins the dial-by-name directory, and inherits the firm's recording and overflow rules.
Design your advisory firm's phone system
A 3CTel specialist works through advisor pairing, recording policy and the AI's permitted tasks with you and your compliance function, then builds and tests on temporary numbers.