(Pre-Implementation) New to Sidekick Voice? Start here

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  • Published on May 30, 2025
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ADD-ON FEATURE
Contact [email protected] or your CSM to learn more and get started with Sidekick Voice.

Get ready for a new level of Support sophistication with Sidekick Voice. This page contains general information on how the Gladly team will help you get started with Sidekick Voice and help you prepare Sidekick Voice for success.

The Gladly Team will help provide a more formal implementation plan during the pre-implementation stages of Sidekick Voice.

Initial requirements

You’ll need a Gladly IVR where Sidekick Voice can interact with your Customers when they call. Then:

  • Determine the phone number to be used with Sidekick Voice and confirm which phone number you want Sidekick Voice available in.

  • Determine which IVR to implement Sidekick Voice. Based on the phone number selected for Sidekick Voice, determine which IVR Sidekick Voice will be activated.

  • Configure Entry Points and IVR setup

  • Determine which systems Sidekick Voice will need access to: OMS or MDM.

  • Ensure you have enough Public Answers to answer questions Customer may ask.

  • Configure Guides to teach Sidekick Voice how to behave and respond to Customers. Decide which Guides Sidekick Voice should use for which phone numbers, and tell your Gladly Sidekick Voice implementation contact.

Entry Points and IVR setup

To start, create a layout where Sidekick Voice engages with a Customer in the IVR experience. You can insert multiple Sidekick Voice experiences in the IVR based on the Guides configured.

Entrypoint

IVR

Where in the IVR

Next IVR node after Sidekick Voice

Guide to Use

e.g. 555-555-5555

e.g. Retale-US-Main

e.g., after the “Main menu” node, if the customer presses “3” for order status

e.g., Handoff to “Main_Agent_Queue”

WISMO (Where is My Order)

You’ll be asked to confirm the following:

  • Will you test on the production Entry Point directly with real Customer traffic?

    • If not, confirm that you allow Gladly to set up a new test Entry Point. To allow testing, we will set up Sidekick Voice to that endpoint.

  • If you have a UAT/test environment, confirm whether Gladly can set up the test Entry Point in your UAT/test environment.

    • The Entry Point > Voice Rules are set up as intended, and handoffs from Sidekick Voice will come from the number pointing to the IVR.

Public Answers setup

Ensure you have Public Answers documented for your most frequently asked questions. If you are already using Sidekick Answers, then it’s like you already have these in place.

If Sidekick Voice is your entry into Sidekick capabilities

If you’re not currently using other Sidekick capabilities at the time you implement Sidekick Voice, and if you already have some Public Answers, an analysis of your existing Public Answers must be completed to ensure the best and most useful Public Answers are available for Sidekick Voice based on historical Conversations, Topics applied, and other data points.

Gladly Support can help analyze and suggest Public Answers to be created.

Implementation timeline

Below provides the recommended timeline and expected outcome for Sidekick Voice.

Activity

Timeline

Expected Outcome

IVR and Guide setup and internal testing

Week 1

Sidekick Voice is ready for use

Limited production test (3-4 hours in production)

Week 1

Aim for ~2-10% resolution rate

Production test analysis and Guide optimization

Week 1–2

Sidekick Voice is optimized for launch

Provide Agents with a heads-up on upcoming changes

Week 2

Agents are ready

Go-live

Week 2

Aim for ~10–12% resolution rate

Guide tweaks and next steps planning

Week 2–3

Aim for ~12–20% resolution

Implementation Checklist

Configuration - 15 minutes

  • Determine IVR(s) and phone numbers to configure Sidekick Voice on.

Sidekick on Voice Analysis - 3-4 hours

  • Conduct a Limited Production Test.

  • Read through Gladly’s Sidekick on Voice Analysis results.

Guide Tweaks - 60 minutes

  • Update Guide.

Go-live - 30 minutes

  • Schedule production go-live with Gladly.

  • Send Agents 1-pager on training.

  • Go-live!

Performance Optimization - 30 minutes/week

  • Continue reviewing Sidekick results, modify and add Guides and actions to optimize performance weekly.

Commitment expectations

Success is a shared commitment! In a nutshell, here are the expectations from you and Gladly for a successful Sidekick Voice implementation.

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