A Maintenance AI Agent can answer maintenance-related calls, help diagnose common issues, collect important details from residents, and submit maintenance requests automatically. This allows your team to capture requests efficiently while providing residents with immediate assistance.
Before You Begin
To create and use an AI agent, you must first have a Twilio phone line connected.
If you plan to use text messaging with the AI agent, your Twilio number must also be registered for A2P 10DLC.
Important:
- A2P 10DLC registration is only required for texting.
- If your AI agent will only handle calls, registration is not required.
Creating a New AI Agent
To create a new AI agent:
- Navigate to AI Agents.
- Click New Agent at the bottom of the page.
- Configure the agent settings described below.
Agent Profile
The Agent Profile identifies your AI agent in the system. Many of these fields are internal but help your team manage multiple agents.
Fields include:
Setting | Description |
Avatar | Upload an image to easily identify the agent in the agent list. |
Agent Name | The name the AI agent will use when answering calls. |
Title | Internal title describing the agent’s purpose. |
Description | Internal description to help your team understand what the agent handles. |
Outward-Facing Voice Settings
These settings control how the AI agent sounds during calls.
Setting | Description |
Call Voice | Select the voice the AI agent will use. Use the speaker icon to preview available voices. |
Voice Speed | Adjust how fast the agent speaks. This may need to be fine-tuned after listening to real calls. |
Call Responsiveness | Controls how quickly the agent responds after a caller speaks. Options include Patient, Balanced, and Responsive. |
Call Tone and Attitude | Defines how the agent communicates with callers. Options include Professional, Casual, Robotic, and Empathetic. |
Tip: The Responsive option replies quickly but may occasionally interrupt callers.
Email Notifications
You can configure email alerts for certain call situations.
Notification | Description |
Off-Topic Email Notification | Sends an email if a caller asks something unrelated to the agent’s role (for example, a leasing question on a maintenance line). |
Skip Agent Notification | Sends an email if a caller bypasses the AI agent. |
Emergency Call Notifications | Sends an email if the caller says their issue is an emergency. |
Notifications can be sent to:
- Any user in the system
- Any external email address
Agent Limits
Agent limits allow you to control how many calls or minutes an AI agent can handle each month.
Limit Type | Description |
Call Count | Maximum number of calls the AI agent can handle. |
Call Minutes | Maximum total call time the agent can handle. |
Important details:
- Limits reset monthly.
- If both limits are enabled, the first limit reached will stop the agent from answering additional calls.
- If the limit is reached during an active call, the agent will finish the call but will not accept new calls afterward.
When limits are reached, calls will route to the Failover Number configured later.
Agent Metrics
The Agent Metrics section displays performance data for the agent.
Metrics include:
- Number of calls handled
- Total call duration
- Number of Cards created
These metrics are shown for the rolling last 30 days.
Agent Role: Maintenance Operations
When setting up a maintenance AI agent, select the Maintenance Operations role.
This role includes a built-in prompt that instructs the AI agent to:
- Diagnose common maintenance issues
- Ask step-by-step troubleshooting questions
- Submit maintenance requests (when enabled through capabilities)
- Transfer calls to management if transfer capabilities are configured
- Log non-maintenance issues for staff follow-up
The maintenance agent communicates conversationally by:
- Asking one question at a time
- Confirming details with the caller
- Maintaining an empathetic and helpful tone
The role also includes preloaded troubleshooting guidance for common maintenance issues.
Optional Overrides
You can customize how the AI agent introduces itself or behaves.
Override Agent Identity
This allows you to modify the AI agent’s role description or responsibilities.
Use this option if you want the agent to represent your organization differently.
Override Agent Greeting
A default greeting is included with the maintenance role, but you can replace it with a custom message to match your company’s branding or tone.
Example:
“Thank you for calling maintenance at Green Valley Apartments. I can help collect details about your request and assist with troubleshooting.”
Data Collection Settings
The maintenance AI agent automatically collects important details from the caller.
Default collected information includes:
- Contact name
- Phone number
- Unit address
- Incident location
- Preferred service time
- Issue type
- Issue details
- Issue start date
- Whether the issue occurred before
- Troubleshooting steps taken
- Potential damage risk
- Emergency status
- Request priority
- Permission to enter
- Pet information
- Property access instructions
Custom Data Collection
You can enable Custom Data Collection to control which fields the AI agent collects.
Options include:
- Turning default fields on or off
- Selecting the field to map to
- Adding custom data fields
Adding Custom Fields
When creating a custom field, you must provide:
Field | Description |
Field Label | The name of the field |
Question | The question the AI agent asks the caller |
Description | Information explaining the field’s purpose |
If the board where cards are created already has a field with the same name, the collected data will populate that field.
If the field does not exist, the system will automatically create a new field on the card.
Knowledge
The Knowledge section allows you to provide additional information the AI agent can reference during calls.
Relevant Locations
You can optionally add information about specific properties or units.
Only locations marked as published for rent in listing settings will appear as options here.
This allows the AI agent to reference property-specific information when assisting callers.
- Allows you the option to create multiple agents to service specific locations or properties (this is a rare instance, best practice is to have one agent handle all of your properties)
Agent Knowledge
This information should help the AI agent answer questions about your organization.
Examples include:
- Maintenance office hours
- Emergency maintenance policies
- Expected repair timelines
- Maintenance request procedures
Important:
The knowledge section is not used to instruct the AI agent how to perform actions. It is only used to provide information the agent can share with callers.
Triggers
Triggers determine how the AI agent answers calls.
For maintenance agents, the trigger is typically:
Inbound Call
To configure the trigger:
- Select the Twilio phone line
- Assign it to the AI Agent
Failover Number
The Failover Number acts as a backup if the AI agent cannot answer a call.
This may occur if:
- Agent limits are reached
- The agent is unavailable
- The system cannot process the call
When this happens, the call will automatically route to the failover phone number you configure.
Other Triggers:
- Single Number: Will bypass your AI Agent and go to an external number.
- Multiple Numbers: Will bypass your AI Agent and ring to multiple external numbers.
- Ring Schedule: Will allow a schedule to be set, for example you can have your AI Leasing Agent answer calls outside of business hours and a live agent answer during business hours.
Capabilities
Capabilities define what actions the AI agent can take during or after a call. While the maintenance agent will always answer and guide callers through troubleshooting and information collection, capabilities determine how that information is used and what the agent can do next.
You can enable one or multiple capabilities depending on your maintenance workflow.
Examples include:
- Creating or updating cards
- Submitting maintenance requests
- Transferring calls to staff
- Logging requests for follow-up
These capabilities define the actions the AI agent takes after collecting information from the caller.
Create or Update Card
This capability allows the AI agent to create a new card or update an existing card based on information collected during the call.
When configuring this capability:
- Select the board where cards should be created.
- Choose the stage where new cards will appear.
For maintenance workflows, this is commonly configured on a Work Orders board, but any board can be selected.
The system will match cards using the contact name and phone number. If a matching card already exists based on the board’s deduplication rules, the card will be updated instead of creating a new one.
Example Use Case
A resident calls to report a leaking sink.
The AI agent collects the maintenance details and automatically creates a work order card in the appropriate stage.
Transfer Call
The Transfer Call capability allows the AI agent to transfer callers to a team member or phone number when certain conditions are met.
Each transfer destination requires its own transfer rule.
For example, if you want the agent to transfer calls to multiple people, you will need to create separate transfer rules for each destination.
Example setup:
Destination | Phone Number |
Maintenance Supervisor | (555) 555-1111 |
Property Manager | (555) 555-2222 |
Emergency Maintenance Line | (555) 555-3333 |
Within each transfer rule, you can configure:
- Conditions that determine when the transfer should occur
- The message the AI agent will say before transferring the call
Example transfer message:
“This issue may require immediate assistance. Let me transfer you to a member of our maintenance team.”
Card Lookup
The Card Lookup capability allows the AI agent to retrieve and share information from an existing card.
This is commonly used for checking the status of maintenance requests.
To configure this capability:
- Enable Card Lookup
- Select the Work Orders board
The system includes a preconfigured conversation model and standard fields designed for maintenance workflows.
If needed, you can customize the configuration by selecting specific fields you want the AI agent to read back to callers.
Example information the agent could provide:
- Work order status
- Scheduled service time
- Assigned technician
- Request details
Example Use Case
A resident calls to check the status of a previously submitted maintenance request.
The AI agent looks up the work order and provides the current status.
End Call
The End Call capability allows the AI agent to end a call when specific conditions occur.
This capability is not commonly used, but it can be helpful in situations where the AI agent and caller become stuck in a conversational loop.
For example:
- The caller attempts to end the conversation.
- The AI agent says goodbye.
- The caller continues asking additional questions.
- The conversation repeats indefinitely.
In these cases, the End Call capability ensures the call is properly closed.
This feature is typically only enabled when troubleshooting looping conversations.
Finalizing Your Agent Setup
Once all settings are configured:
- Review your agent profile
- Confirm voice and behavior settings
- Verify data collection and capabilities
- Click Save
Your maintenance AI agent will then be ready to begin answering calls.
✅ Next Step:
Once your agent profile, triggers, and capabilities are configured, save and activate the agent to begin handling maintenance calls.
Example Maintenance AI Agent Flow
When a resident calls to report a maintenance issue, the AI agent answers the call and begins guiding the resident through the reporting process.
During the conversation, the agent will:
- Collect the resident’s name
- Confirm the property or unit address
- Ask questions to intake details about the issue
- Provide basic troubleshooting guidance when applicable
Once the necessary information has been collected, the AI agent will automatically create a new card on your Work Orders board in the Requested stage.
If desired, you can create a dedicated stage for these requests, such as AI Created Tickets, to make them easier to identify and review.
If you are using Rentvine, you can also create this stage within your PMS so it will sync directly to Aptly.
After the request is submitted, the AI agent can send the resident a confirmation text message (requires a Twilio line registered for A2P 10DLC). The message will include the work order number and confirmation that the request has been received and is being processed.
All related activity—including created cards, call transcripts, and text messages—can be reviewed in the Agent Activity Log under Activities. This allows your team to quickly review the conversation and follow up on the request if needed.
