Overview
Sona is OpenPhone’s AI agent that ensures you never miss a call. Available 24/7, Sona answers calls professionally, provides instant responses to customer questions using your knowledge base, takes detailed messages, and seamlessly transfers to human agents when needed. It’s like having an always-on receptionist that’s smarter than voicemail and more affordable than an answering service.Sona is available as an add-on for all OpenPhone plans and includes a 7-day free trial with unlimited calls.
What Sona can do
Core capabilities
Professional call answering:- Answers calls 24/7 when you’re unavailable
- Introduces itself with customizable greetings
- Maintains professional conversation flow
- Records and transcribes every interaction
- Provides instant responses using your knowledge base
- Handles common customer inquiries automatically
- Shares business information (hours, location, services)
- Escalates complex questions to human agents
- Captures caller details and reason for calling
- Collects specific information you define
- Creates structured call summaries for team review
- Ensures no important details are missed
Advanced features
Natural conversation:- Uses advanced AI for human-like interactions
- Understands context and caller intent
- Adapts responses based on conversation flow
- Maintains professional tone throughout calls
- Works within your existing call flows
- Multiple Sona steps can be configured differently
- Coordinates with business hours and phone menus
- Preserves your current calling experience
How Sona works
AI-powered conversation
Understanding callers:- Listens to and processes caller requests
- Uses natural language understanding
- Identifies caller intent and needs
- Responds appropriately based on available knowledge
- Accesses your custom knowledge base
- Provides accurate, up-to-date information
- Maintains consistency across all interactions
- Updates responses as you modify knowledge
Call flow integration
Flexible placement:- After Ring users step (for missed calls)
- After phone menu options
- After business hours checks
- Multiple positions in same call flow
- Custom greetings for different scenarios
- Specific knowledge sets for different contexts
- Tailored message collection requirements
- Unique settings for each Sona step
Getting started with Sona
Prerequisites
Plan requirements:- Available as add-on for Starter, Business, and Scale plans
- Must be on paid OpenPhone plan (not free trial)
- Requires Stripe billing (not iOS App Store billing)
- Admin or Owner permissions needed for setup
Trial and pricing
7-day free trial:- Unlimited calls during trial period
- Full feature access including knowledge base
- No interruption of service
- Automatic conversion to paid after trial
- $49/month base subscription
- Includes 50 calls per month
- $1 per additional call beyond included amount
- Billed according to your OpenPhone billing cycle
Setting up Sona
Initial configuration
- Access Sona dashboard in left sidebar of OpenPhone
- Select inbox to configure Sona for
- Add Sona to call flow using call flow builder
- Configure greeting and introduction message
- Set up knowledge base for question answering
- Define message collection requirements
Customization options
Greeting personalization:- Include your business name and identity
- Clearly identify Sona as AI assistant
- Mention call recording for transparency
- Maintain brand voice and tone
- Add business information and FAQs
- Include product or service details
- Provide contact information and hours
- Update knowledge as business evolves
- Default: caller name and reason for calling
- Custom: specific information relevant to your business
- Conditional logic for follow-up questions
- Structured data for easy team review
Best practices
Effective Sona deployment
Professional introduction:- Clear identification as AI assistant
- Mention of call recording for compliance
- Welcoming and helpful tone
- Business name and context
- Comprehensive FAQ coverage
- Current business information
- Clear, concise responses
- Regular updates and maintenance
- Train team on Sona capabilities
- Establish follow-up procedures for messages
- Monitor call summaries for quality
- Regular review of Sona performance
Common use cases
After-hours coverage:- Handle calls outside business hours
- Provide basic information and take messages
- Set expectations for callback timing
- Emergency contact information
- Handle calls when team is busy
- Reduce wait times for customers
- Capture leads during high-volume periods
- Maintain professional experience
- Screen and route calls appropriately
- Provide business information
- Schedule appointments and callbacks
- Reduce administrative burden
Learn more about Sona
Detailed guides
Explore comprehensive documentation for Sona setup and management:Sona overview and setup
Complete setup guide and configuration
Knowledge management
Build and maintain Sona’s knowledge base
Message taking
Configure Sona to collect specific information
Billing and pricing
Understand Sona costs and billing
Troubleshooting
Not eligible for Sona trial
Not eligible for Sona trial
Ensure you’re on a paid OpenPhone plan with Stripe billing and have Admin or Owner permissions. iOS subscribers need to switch to online payments.
Sona not answering calls
Sona not answering calls
Verify that Sona is properly configured in your call flow and that the step is published. Check that the call flow is active for your phone number.
Poor quality responses
Poor quality responses
Review and update your knowledge base with more comprehensive information. Ensure knowledge articles are clear and cover common customer questions.
Can't configure Sona settings
Can't configure Sona settings
Only workspace Admins and Owners can configure Sona. Verify your role permissions and ensure you have access to call flow builder.
Trial converted to paid unexpectedly
Trial converted to paid unexpectedly
Sona trials automatically convert to paid subscriptions after 7 days unless cancelled. Cancel through Settings → Plan & Billing if you don’t want to continue.