Telephonist privacy

Business details

Business details and call synopses are shared with the Telephonist team.

When you enter a business website or complete the manual essentials form, we send the Telephonist team an email report containing the submitted business information. This can include your business name, website, services and published contact details.

Preview call reports

After a browser demo, an inbound demo call or a callback from your Telephonist, we use the conversation transcript to prepare a synopsis and email it to the Telephonist team. Reports can include what was discussed, requested follow-up, product feedback and call information such as its direction, duration and outcome.

The team uses these reports to operate and support the service, investigate issues and review the preview experience. A private preview is personalised to your business; it does not mean the conversation is visible only to you.

Interview audio is recorded only when you choose it. Browser interviews use an unticked recording option; phone interviews ask you to press 1 to agree, or press 2 or wait to continue without recording. A written recap does not require audio recording. Voice and telephone providers process the audio needed to deliver the conversation. Avoid sharing sensitive customer details, passwords or payment-card information during a preview.

Public research during a demo

If you request public research or a calculation, Telephonist can send the necessary task details to OpenAI web search or an isolated OpenAI-hosted workspace. Do not include passwords, personal customer information or other sensitive details. This connection does not give the agent access to your accounts or permission to send emails, make bookings or make purchases.

We retain cloud-task details and checked results for up to 24 hours. We request deletion of the OpenAI session after completion or cancellation and retry if cleanup is pending. OpenAI’s Agents API currently processes and stores session data in the United States and is not eligible for Zero Data Retention. See OpenAI’s data controls for its retention policies.

Questions and requests

Read the full Benaiah privacy notice for the wider service’s privacy information. For questions about your business details or call reports, or to request access, correction or deletion, email privacy@telephonist.ai.

Optional interview audio emails

If you agree to recording, we email a playable audio attachment to your verified interview email and a separate copy to the Telephonist team through Resend. Phone audio is an MP3; browser audio is WebM, M4A or Ogg depending on your browser. The written synopsis is sent separately so it need not wait for audio processing. Browser recording captures your microphone and the telephonist’s playback; keep the page open after ending the interview while the audio uploads. No attachment is created if you decline recording.

We temporarily store consented browser audio privately and phone audio with authenticated Twilio access. We delete hosted interview audio after both email copies are accepted, or request deletion within 24 hours, retrying provider failures. Email delivery references are kept for up to 30 days. Emailed copies remain in recipients’ mailboxes until they delete them. Only share recordings where appropriate and avoid recording sensitive information.

Your connected teammates

If you enable human transfers during a phone interview, we store the teammates you add, their roles, verified mobile numbers and available hours with your private setup for up to 24 hours. Each number must be verified and the teammate must agree to receive calls. Before connecting a caller, we ring the selected teammate, play a brief introduction and require them to press 1. The caller is connected only after acceptance. Transfer legs are not recorded. Your phone provider processes the numbers, call routing and introduction needed to complete the call.

If a teammate cannot take the call, the caller can agree to save a message or callback request in your connected team inbox. This may include their name, preferred contact details and request. Messages and transfer outcomes are kept for up to 24 hours and removed on the next daily cleanup; access is through the same private setup. This does not send an email or text, guarantee a callback or activate a business phone line. Remove or disable a teammate to prevent new transfers. An already connected call may continue until someone ends it.

Your connected business mailbox

If you choose to connect a Google or Microsoft mailbox, we request sending permission and basic account identity, not permission to read your inbox. The connection is separate from Telephonist’s operator-reporting email service. During this limited test, a caller can ask the telephonist to prepare an email; the connected mailbox owner must review the recipient and message and choose Send before it is submitted to the provider.

We process the mailbox address and encrypted access credentials to maintain an interview connection for up to 30 days. For a permanent customer account, the connection remains until disconnected or access is revoked. Disconnecting removes our stored access credentials; you can also revoke the app in your Google or Microsoft account settings. Draft recipients, subjects, messages and send status are retained for up to seven days, with expired records removed on the next daily cleanup. Sent emails remain in your mailbox under your provider’s retention settings. The voice provider processes the conversation details needed to prepare the draft; mailbox credentials are never shared with the voice agent or cloud workspace.

Your connected booking calendar

Calendar access is optional and requires separate Google or Microsoft consent. We use the list of calendars to let you choose a booking calendar, read event times to check availability, and create or change appointments in that selected calendar. Other event titles and attendee details are not passed to the voice agent. You choose appointment length, hours and whether real actions are enabled. Changes through Telephonist require the caller’s private booking reference and are limited to appointments created through Telephonist. Calendar access does not grant inbox access. Calendar access alone does not send booking emails or texts. Optional booking texts on activated business lines are described below.

For interviews, account identity and encrypted access credentials are retained for up to 30 days. For permanent customer accounts they remain until disconnected or access is revoked. Booking references, provider event identifiers and action results are retained for up to 120 days; expired records are removed on daily cleanup. Uncertain action records are retained for investigation to prevent duplicate changes. Disconnecting removes our stored credentials; appointments already created remain in your calendar. You can also revoke access in your provider’s account settings. Calendar credentials are never sent to the voice agent or cloud workspace.

Voice setup on the homepage

If you choose voice setup, your microphone audio is streamed to OpenAI to hold the conversation. Your spoken business name and location may be used for a public web search to find your website. We ask you to confirm the proposed business before preparing your interview. We do not create an audio recording or email recap of this setup conversation. Temporary setup identifiers and usage records expire within 24 hours. Business details you confirm then follow the private interview retention described above. During voice setup we collect your name, email address and chosen telephonist name, read them back for confirmation and send a verification code to that email. You can read the code aloud to verify it. If you choose a phone interview, we also collect your UK mobile number, read it back, and send an SMS verification code with your permission. You can read that code aloud too. We only request a callback after you confirm the verified number and the time; you can choose a browser interview without providing a number. Verified phone details follow your private interview’s retention. Founder testing uses a separate email-verified, revocable browser session lasting up to 30 days. Pending verification and the private handover expire after 10 minutes; verified details carry into your interview under the retention period described below. Temporary browser copies expire after 15 minutes. You can start or stop voice setup using either the orb or the composer button.

Activated business phone lines

For an activated business line, we keep the business profile, job description, chosen voice, account email and connected teammates to operate the service. We verify account ownership using the checkout email. Each business manages its own settings, callers and integration permissions. We do not reuse a private interview number as a customer's permanent number.

Callers are told they are speaking to an AI telephonist and that a written summary is shared with the business. Captured conversation text and call summaries are available privately to the account owner for up to 30 days. We email a synopsis to that business's verified account email through Resend. Call-routing and usage records are retained for up to 120 days; billing records follow the Benaiah privacy notice. The Telephonist team may access necessary information to support the service, investigate failures and prevent abuse. Automated transcripts and summaries can be incomplete or inaccurate.

Permanent-account teammates remain connected until removed or disabled. Each must consent and verify their number. A transferred caller is connected only after the teammate presses 1. Messages and callback requests in the permanent account remain for up to 30 days; transfer status records remain for up to 24 hours. Saving a callback request does not guarantee a callback time.

Booking texts

When a business enables booking texts, callers can choose to receive a confirmation and one reminder 24 hours before an appointment. We send texts through Twilio only after a confirmed calendar action, subject to the business's message allowance. Bookings less than 24 hours ahead receive a confirmation only. We check for changes and cancellation before sending reminders. Delivery can fail, so a confirmed appointment does not guarantee a delivered text.

We process the recipient mobile number, appointment time, business name, booking reference and message delivery status. Reply STOP to stop booking messages from that business; reply START to resume. These are service messages, not marketing subscriptions. Delivery records and opt-out preferences are kept to operate the service and honour opt-outs. Contact us to request access or deletion.

Optional business call recordings

Audio recording is off by default. If an activated business enables it, callers hear a notice and can press 1 to agree, or press 2 or wait to continue without recording. Recording begins only after that choice and a beep. Recording stops before a transfer to a human; the human leg is not recorded and recording does not restart if the call returns to the AI.

Twilio stores the recording with authenticated access. The account owner can play or delete it through their private Telephonist account. They can also enable recording emails for future consented calls, or request an email copy of an existing consented recording. MP3 attachments go only to that business’s verified account email through Resend, separately from the written summary. Emailed copies remain in the recipient’s mailbox and are not removed when a hosted recording is deleted. We request provider deletion after 30 days and retry failures. A deletion request may take time to complete. Businesses must explain their use of recordings to their callers. Do not share payment-card details, passwords or other sensitive information during a call.