Admin dashboard guide

Start here

Use this guide for the Answer Perfect admin dashboard and the operating process around it. Some account-changing features remain test-only; a documented feature is not permission to activate live billing.

Open Customers to manage accounts. Overview summarizes usage and alerts; Service requests holds customer conversations; Billing activity and Sync health cover processing.

Onboard a customer

1. In Customers, choose Start / resume onboarding. Find the marketing contact by ID, contact URL, email or phone. Review the information before saving a setup record.
2. Manually create a dedicated service subaccount and load the approved snapshot. Review business details, hours, services, transfer behavior and calendar rules.
3. Enter the service location and its private integration token in the secure connection form. Tokens are stored in Vault; never put tokens in notes, support requests or this guide.
4. Provision the business number, connect Voice AI, and complete a controlled call. Record the setup checks honestly; a checkbox does not verify routing.
5. Verify the subaccount, review the management CRM information, and create or link its contact. Operational information stays in the service subaccount.
6. Use Add customer to verify and link the existing CRM contact, service subaccount and supported Stripe sandbox subscription. Review the account identities before connecting.
7. Arrange portal access for the authorized customer login through the access setup process. Linking a billing customer does not itself grant portal access.
8. Run the readiness checks and complete acceptance tests before customer rollout.

Creating subaccounts and installing snapshots remain manual. Pre-subscription preparation and the connected customer’s onboarding progress are separate records. The current connection flow does not automatically create a trial or a live subscription.

Track onboarding progress

Open a customer’s detail page and use Onboarding progress. Choose Not started, Setup in progress, Awaiting customer, Ready for trial, or Onboarding complete. Add the next action, optional follow-up date and a note, then Save progress.

Stages track your work; Stripe remains authoritative for trialing, active, past-due and cancelled status. Changing a stage does not start a trial, charge a card, send a message or activate features.

Use directory filters for incomplete onboarding, a particular stage, or follow-ups due. Due includes today and earlier dates in your browser’s local date; completed onboarding is excluded. Clear a date when no further follow-up is scheduled.

Progress history shows the latest 50 saved changes and notes. Existing customers start at Not started until updated. If another edit was saved or the result is uncertain, reload saved progress before retrying; reloading discards unsaved edits.

Check customer readiness

In customer details, select Check readiness above Communication setup. Results are checked on request and remain in the current view.

• Ready: the specific evidence described passed; it is not blanket launch approval.
• Needs setup: configuration is missing, conflicting or disabled.
• Not verified: access, delivery or a prerequisite has not been established.
• Test-only: pilot restrictions remain.

API checks cover the service location, required field definitions, notification configuration and calendar reads. Empty appointment results are valid. Owner-recorded routing and SMS confirmations are identified separately. Read checks do not prove write permission, workflow execution, caller-ID behavior or successful delivery.

Set up communications and notifications

Communication setup separates a saved draft from active callback routing. Review recipient, business number, workflow and keypress settings. Verify connection checks provider configuration; it does not place a call. Applying routing disables callbacks until enabled and can invalidate older contact links. Use the displayed explanation before applying.

SMS readiness records brand/campaign approval, number linkage and controlled delivery/reply checks. Recording readiness does not itself enable sending. Deployment flags, account settings and contact restrictions also apply.

Owner alerts and caller appointment messages are separate. Caller workflows use ongoing contact preferences: SMS updates/reminders default on unless declined; email defaults off unless enabled. DND remains authoritative. Avoid overlapping native calendar notifications when installing replacement workflows.

Before rollout, test spoken preferences before booking, pending/approved/rescheduled/cancelled notifications, natural reminder timing and two appointments for one contact. Preserve opt-outs; do not clear DND just to make a test pass.

Daily operating routine

1. Review Overview alerts and customer usage.
2. Filter Customers for onboarding follow-ups due and update the next action after contact.
3. Review unread Service requests and reply or update their status.
4. Check Sync health for failures or stale source data before interpreting low activity.
5. Review billing issues and unlinked trial sign-ups. Verify account identity before linking.

Alert notes and handled status record your follow-up; they do not repair routing, change subscriptions or erase usage. Inactivity is a reason to investigate, not proof that the customer has stopped receiving calls.

Refresh versus Sync now

Refresh reloads the view. Sync now runs the owner maintenance pipeline. Neither makes every provider instantly consistent. Check source timestamps, job results and coverage labels.

Automatic maintenance is currently daily. Some contact views perform provider reads when opened or explicitly refreshed. Do not promise minute-by-minute updates or interpret incomplete coverage as zero activity.

Usage and billing review

Standard includes 150 minutes, Pro 300 minutes, and Unlimited has no included-minute ceiling for receptionist usage. The configured monthly prices are $79, $149 and $249. Overage is $0.50 per minute, tracked in seconds; 20 extra minutes is $10.

Usage periods follow Stripe subscription periods. A call belongs entirely to the period in which it starts. Review plan changes and calculated allowance before settling overage; an upgraded allowance can reduce or eliminate overage in the affected period.

Estimated overage is not an invoice total. Stripe invoices can include subscription charges, adjustments, credits and taxes. Use the billing review tools and Stripe records to verify actual amounts. Test clocks simulate billing time, not real GHL call time. Live collection remains gated by the billing rollout process.

Seasonal pauses must preserve the customer’s service configuration. An onboarding stage is not a subscription pause or cancellation.

Handle service requests

Open Service requests to review, reply and set Open, In progress, Waiting on customer or Resolved. You can create a request on a customer’s behalf and record email, text or phone as its source.

Requests, replies and status changes are customer-visible. Use onboarding notes for internal onboarding context. Do not put secrets or unrelated private staff notes in a service request. Mailbox intake is not automatic, and service requests currently do not send email/SMS notifications.

Reports and retention

Use customer reports and activity collection health together. Calendar-month reports and weekly reports are separate from billing-period usage. Weekly email reports are scheduled for Mondays and monthly reports after the calendar month ends; worker timing and coverage can affect delivery.

Reports describe recorded calls, texts and appointments. Imported/synced external calendar events are excluded where identified. Do not describe every appointment as AI-booked or claim revenue without supporting evidence. Incomplete periods are labeled; investigate collection issues before interpreting a decline.

Troubleshooting and release checks

• Access denied: confirm the correct service location, token and required scopes; recheck readiness.
• Unknown save result: inspect the saved record before retrying, to avoid duplicate work.
• No customer portal access: verify the app login and explicit business membership; provider-console access is separate.
• No message received: inspect preferences, DND, registration, workflow execution and delivery status.
• Missing activity: check sync timestamps and collection coverage before concluding no activity occurred.

Complete a full onboarding rehearsal and billing acceptance checks before real customer rollout. The repository’s owner action list retains the detailed verification work; this public guide intentionally omits credentials and customer-specific setup.