Set your bot's name, language, tone and reply style

The bot-identity section of the Handbook controls how your customer-facing bot introduces itself and talks. It also holds advanced settings for reply timing, buttons and emoji reactions.

How it works

These settings apply to the workspace, not just to the person editing them. Voice & tone and Grammatical gender (for gendered languages) also shape how the Coach speaks. They are not separate personal Coach preferences.

Identity settings do not change your business facts, grant permission to issue refunds or book appointments, or change the title and greeting in website chat. Confirm the business name and description separately in Setup with Confirm, or use Edit there to open the Business profile in Workspace settings. That confirmation does not rename the bot or choose a customer language.

Changes save automatically. Most text fields save after a short pause or when you leave the field. Allowed reaction emojis saves when you leave the field, not after a typing pause. Selecting an option or changing a switch saves immediately. There is no separate form-wide Save button. The top bar shows Saving… and then Saved.

In new setup lists, omotto fills an unset customer language and time zone from your website, or from your browser once website reading has finished. If a website is on file but has not been read yet, browser defaults wait. The Coach tells you the choices once; ask to change them or use the settings. Saved choices are never replaced. If you clear or undo an automatic choice, it is not filled again during this setup. Phone country is never saved automatically. Its review card waits until a customer line is connected, even when language and time zone are already set. Older setup lists keep the review-first behavior.

During setup, your browser language or supported language detected on your website can suggest a customer-language fallback. The suggestion does not change your personal interface language or existing customers’ languages. Before your first launch, a Time zone and customer language card may appear in your setup conversation. It shows a source for each suggested value. You can edit the three choices, then select Save to save them together. Website suggestions take priority over browser hints. A phone region from the time zone is suggested only when that zone belongs to one country; otherwise choose it yourself. Reading or editing the card does not change your settings. Location details remain a separate setup item. If you change one of these settings elsewhere, including with the browser time-zone button, the old card is withdrawn. If time zone or customer language (or phone country in new setup lists) is still unset before your first launch, a replacement can appear when Setup checks again. It keeps your saved choices and suggests values only for the remaining blanks. A new hint for a still-blank field may produce another card, but a value already offered for that field in this setup is not offered again, including values you edited or dismissed. Some older setup lists keep the earlier one-off behavior when previous offer details are no longer available; use the settings below if no new card appears.

Where to find it

Open Settings → Bot → Handbook → Who [bot name] is. The heading uses your bot’s name. Click a bold value in a sentence to open its editor. The default customer language lives here; time zone and phone country live under Knows → Business → Region & language in the same Handbook.

Set it up

Open the bot-identity section using the path above.
Change one setting.
Leave the field if you edited text.
Wait for Saved in the top bar.
Start a rehearsal.
Try a normal customer question and a complaint.
Check the name, tone, language and how strongly the bot pursues your objective.
If you changed presentation settings, also check how replies look on the relevant line.

Choose Show advanced options to reveal the additional controls described below. Hide advanced options collapses them without undoing their values. These controls change only your view; the bot settings themselves apply to the workspace. A non-default advanced value remains visible even when advanced options are hidden. Goal-driven appears only while Motivation has text; hiding it does not erase its saved value.

Settings

Defaults below mean the built-in starting values. Your workspace may already have different saved values.

Assistant name and Assistant name (Hebrew)

Setting	What it controls	When left blank
Assistant name	The name used when a customer asks who the bot is; also used in omotto’s staff interface.	Uses omotto.
Assistant name (Hebrew)	The bot’s name in Hebrew conversations and Hebrew interface labels.	Uses Assistant name; if both are blank, uses omotto.

If the Hebrew-name field is absent, open Assistant name and choose Add a name in Hebrew. For a complete rename, check both fields. Changing Assistant name does not replace a separately saved Hebrew name. Neither field chooses the customer’s language or renames the sender account shown by your messaging channel.

Language: a fallback, not a forced language

Default customer language supplies a fallback when the customer has no established language and their message gives no clear language signal—for example, a number or a name. In website chat, the conversation’s opening language takes priority over this fallback when available. See website-chat language settings. A clearly written customer message establishes the reply language. An existing customer’s language continues to apply unless their own latest message clearly switches languages.

Organization Language is the inherited choice. It follows the workspace language, or the platform default when the workspace has no language set.
Choosing a specific language gives the bot its own fallback instead of inheriting that choice.
Changing this setting does not force every customer into that language or overwrite every customer’s stored language.

The available choices are Hebrew, English, Arabic, Russian, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Turkish, Greek, Amharic and Bengali, plus Organization Language.

For example, an English fallback does not make a customer writing clearly in Hebrew receive English replies. Writing your tone instructions in English also does not make customer replies English.

Personal interface language, workspace language and customer language

These are separate choices:

Choice	What it affects
Your personal interface language	The omotto screens you see. It can follow the workspace or use your own Hebrew/English choice. See your account profile.
The workspace language	The shared interface default and public pages. It also supplies the inherited bot-language choice. See workspace settings.
Default customer language in the bot-identity section	The bot’s fallback for an ambiguous message from a customer whose language is not yet established, after any available website-chat opening language.
A customer’s stored language	That customer’s established language, kept with their customer profile. It is separate from the language you use to manage omotto.

Ready-written notices and language-specific versions

Not everything a customer sees is a newly written bot reply. omotto also sends ready-written notices, such as an error notice or a reminder.

For these notices, omotto uses the customer’s stored supported language first. If it is missing or unsupported, it uses the stored bot fallback, then the workspace language, then an explicitly set platform default. If none is available, it uses English. The notice system covers the same 19 languages listed above.

Custom text is not automatically translated. In particular, the ready-written unavailable replies configured with the Support Team settings use this order:

Use your saved version for the customer’s language, if there is one.
Otherwise, use your main custom text if the customer’s language matches your configured default language.
Otherwise, use omotto’s built-in notice in the customer’s language.
If no built-in version is available, fall back to your main custom text.

So a Hebrew-only custom notice does not become a Russian custom notice. Add the language-specific version where that editor offers it. Other message editors have their own fallback rules; website greetings and reminders should be checked in their own settings.

WhatsApp template messages keep the language of the selected approved WhatsApp template. Changing Default customer language does not translate an approved WhatsApp template.

Voice & tone

Choose how replies should sound. The same style guidance also shapes the Coach’s writing. This is written style guidance, not a voice-message or spoken-voice setting.

Option	What it asks for
Friendly (default)	Warm, courteous, short replies that match the customer’s formality. Avoids decorative emojis and exaggerated enthusiasm.
Professional & formal	Calm, respectful full sentences, without slang or emojis. Compact rather than chatty.
Concise & to the point	Lead with the answer. Prefer one or two short sentences when possible, without filler or emojis.
Playful	A lighter, informal tone, with humour or an emoji when appropriate. Tone down the playfulness when the customer is upset, hurried or reporting a problem.
Our own wording	Edit your own style instructions, starting with the currently selected preset’s wording.

To customise a preset:

Select the preset closest to the style you want.
Select Our own wording.
Edit the displayed instructions.
Leave the field and wait for Saved.

The editor shows the preset’s instructions under What this tells the assistant. Choose Show all to read the full text. Choosing a named preset replaces custom wording after you confirm; Keep my wording cancels that replacement. To return to the original overall style, select Friendly (default).

Custom instructions replace the preset wording; they are not an extra sentence added on top. Keep the parts of the preset that you still want. For example: “Keep replies brief and warm. Use simple words. Ask one question at a time.” Instructions may be written in your preferred language; their language does not choose the customer’s reply language.

Areas of expertise

Areas of expertise names topics the bot may discuss using general knowledge beyond your business’s own data. It starts blank. Blank means answers stay within the business’s data and tasks.

For example, a coffee shop might enter “Coffee brewing methods, grind settings and equipment care.” This widens the allowed subject area. It does not supply your menu, prices, stock or policies. Keep those facts in knowledge or the relevant integration. General knowledge must not be presented as a fact about one of your own products or services.

Motivation and Goal-driven

Motivation describes what you want ordinary conversations to work towards. It starts blank, meaning no objective. For example: “Help customers choose the right service and move towards a booking.” Clear the field to remove that objective.

Goal-driven controls how assertively that objective is pursued. It is normally under Show advanced options.

Option	Meaning
Reactive	Act only on the customer’s explicit request; do not initiate or steer towards the objective.
Opportunistic — default	Take a natural opening, without manufacturing one or pushing.
Proactive	Actively guide the conversation towards the objective when the moment fits.
Persistent	Keep returning to the objective throughout the conversation. This may feel aggressive.

The objective is for the ordinary course of a conversation, not a reason to override a complaint, a safety issue or an explicit different request. Changing the level does not create an objective when Motivation is blank.

This is conversational direction, not permission to perform an action. Configure actual authority separately in store actions and approvals or booking rules.

Advanced: Grammatical gender (for gendered languages)

This setting controls how the bot refers to itself in Hebrew, not how it addresses the customer. It also controls the Coach’s Hebrew self-reference.

Neutral — default. Adds no instruction to use a particular grammatical gender. It does not guarantee every sentence will be gender-neutral.
Feminine — use feminine forms for the bot’s self-reference.
Masculine — use masculine forms for the bot’s self-reference.

This row appears when the workspace or the bot’s default language is Hebrew, or when a Hebrew name is saved. Setting a Hebrew bot name does not select one of these options for you.

Advanced: Reply pacing

Reply pacing changes timing, not reply content.

Human-like — default. Adds reading, thinking and typing-style pacing, including pauses between parts of a split text reply.
Instant — sends replies as soon as they are ready, without the added human-like waits. It does not eliminate the time needed to prepare the answer.

There is no seconds-per-reply slider here. Where website chat is showing live text as it is written, those replies do not add human-like pacing on top. See reply buttons and timing and website-chat settings.

Advanced: Progress note on slow replies

Progress note on slow replies is off by default. When enabled, an eligible slow lookup can send one short message in the customer’s language saying the bot is checking, before the answer arrives.

It is not a repeated status update, a promised completion time or an update for every slow answer. It may be skipped when the answer is ready or live reply text is already visible. Turning it off removes these progress notes; it does not make the lookup itself faster.

Advanced: Reply buttons

Both switches start on:

Setting	What changes
Send links as buttons	Present a link as a button instead of a pasted address where supported. When off, use a plain-text link.
Offer answer buttons on closed questions	A question with a small fixed choice, such as “Morning or afternoon?”, may offer two or three short answer buttons. When off, leave the question in text.

Customers can still type their own answer. An enabled switch does not guarantee buttons on every reply: the channel and the reply’s format also matter. If buttons cannot be used, the reply can remain plain text. See how reply buttons work.

Advanced: Emoji reactions and allowed emojis

A reaction is an emoji attached to the customer’s message. It is different from an emoji written inside the bot’s answer. Voice & tone controls the writing style; Emoji reactions controls these attached reactions.

Emoji reactions option	Meaning	Minimum time between bot reactions in the same conversation
Never	Disable bot reactions.	No reactions.
Very sparingly	Only rare, standout moments.	40 minutes.
Not too often — default	Sparingly, for genuinely warm, standout moments.	10 minutes.
Often	Most warm moments, alongside a reply when one is needed.	1 minute.
Excessively	Nearly every positive, friendly or playful message, while still respecting the limits below.	No time restriction.

During the waiting period, omotto skips another bot reaction in that conversation. The interval ending does not trigger or guarantee a reaction to the next message. Even at the highest level, reactions are not for complaints or distressed customers, and never replace an answer the customer still needs. A settled conversation ending with thanks may close with just a reaction or no further message.

Allowed reaction emojis is a space-separated list of the emojis the bot may choose. Separate each emoji with a space, for example 👍 ❤️. A list joined by commas or containing non-emoji text is refused, and the previous palette stays saved. The built-in palette is thumbs-up, red heart, fire, party popper, folded hands, clapping hands, smiling face with hearts and rolling-on-the-floor laughing. Leaving the field blank restores that built-in palette; it does not disable reactions. Use Never to disable them. Choose emojis suitable for your messaging channel.

After editing Allowed reaction emojis, leave the field and wait for Saved before testing. A pause while typing in this field does not save it.

Advanced: Pause on suspected misuse (hours)

This sets the length of an automatic pause for suspected misuse. The default is 12 hours. Enter a whole number from 0 to 72; 0 prevents new automatic pauses; it does not end an existing pause or a manual timeout. For what triggers a pause, how to review it and how to resume, see abuse protection and timeouts.

What happens when…

I change Language, but a website visitor sends only a number

If the visitor has no established language, the conversation’s opening language takes priority over the bot’s fallback when available. Changing Default customer language does not replace it. Check the website-chat language settings linked above. Once the visitor clearly writes in a language, that writing guides the reply language.

I change tone or Hebrew grammatical gender

The change can affect both customer-bot replies and the Coach’s writing. It is shared workspace guidance, not a preference just for your own Coach conversations.

Another suitable message arrives soon after a reaction

The bot skips another reaction until the waiting period for the selected frequency has passed in that conversation. It can still answer a message that needs an answer. Even after the wait, a reaction is not guaranteed.

Troubleshooting

Couldn’t save: correct any field error and choose Try again. If saving keeps failing, contact support.
Fields are read-only: ask your workspace owner to check your permissions to edit bot settings.
Allowed reaction emojis has not saved: separate emojis with spaces, not commas, and remove any non-emoji text. An invalid list leaves the previous palette unchanged. Leave the field, then wait for Saved before testing.
The language seems wrong: check whether the test customer already has an established language. For website chat, also check the conversation’s opening language before changing the bot’s fallback again.
The style seems wrong: check for custom Voice & tone instructions before switching other settings. For a particular unexpected answer, use understanding a bot reply to investigate it rather than changing several settings at once.