Troubleshooting: the real causes, in the right order

Start by opening Conversations: if the call is there, your assistant did answer and the problem lies elsewhere. If it is not, work down this list in order.

One special case: right after subscribing, the Overview may show an activation screen. It resolves on its own within about twenty seconds.

• Call forwarding: in the Phone numbers tab, the Status column shows Active, Verification in progress or Not connected. Until it is active with your carrier, your calls do not reach Tinos.
• The number is not attached to any assistant: in Assistants, the Phone number column then shows No number assigned. Attach it from the assistant page.
• Your minutes are used up: if you turned off automatic minute packs, the service pauses until the next cycle and numbers stop answering. Turn them back on in Billing, change plan, or wait for the new cycle.
• A payment failed: your account is suspended right away and your assistant stops answering. The dashboard shows a payment window. Only payment restores the service.

If non-payment continues, your numbers, already detached from their assistants, are released permanently after 30 days. An e-mail warns you a week ahead.

A released number cannot be recovered: it goes back to the carrier. That is the one situation where waiting genuinely costs something.

Check the Tinos Calendar tab first, not your personal calendar. An appointment booked by your assistant carries the note Booked by the assistant.

If it is in Tinos but missing from your Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar, that is normal for a while: the subscription link refreshes at your application rate, not instantly.

If your assistant offers no slot on the phone, look at appointment types: no active type, or a minimum booking notice that rules out the next few hours, produces exactly that effect. Also check your availability and the option stating that your business does not take appointments.

Five causes, in order of frequency.

The most common is the plan limit: 1 active rule on Solo, 3 on Team, 5 on Scale. A rule beyond that stays visible but carries a Not in plan badge, and your assistant does not use it.

Next, the number not confirmed yet: as long as its owner has not pressed 1 during the confirmation call, your assistant does not transfer to it. The rule says so under the number, with the button to call again.

Then come the rule simply switched off, a time window that does not match the moment of the call, and a recipient who does not answer or does not press 1. In that last case, your assistant takes the call back and takes a message: that is the intended behaviour, and the call summary says so. If their phone silences unknown numbers, save your Tinos number in it.

There is no Save button in the dashboard any more: everything uses automatic saving. The discreet indicator shows Saving then Saved, and a banner with a Retry button appears on failure.

If a field refuses your text, read the message placed under the field: text containing an instruction that tries to hijack your assistant is refused, and the caps of 40 information entries and 25 instructions are announced the same way.

Finally, your role may be the cause. A viewer reads without editing, and some actions such as billing or buying a number are reserved for the account holder. The message says so explicitly rather than failing the save silently.

Notifications are sent by e-mail. First check that the E-mail card is switched on in the Notifications panel and that its field holds the right address, then your spam folder, then the When should we notify you? setting, which may limit sending to opening hours or to outside them.

The number of recipients is limited by the plan, 1 on Solo, 3 on Team, 5 on Scale. An e-mail field left empty sends to your account address.

The Statistics temporarily unavailable banner on the Overview does not mean your assistant stopped. Your calls still arrive and are still stored: only reading the figures failed. Reload the page a little later.

If none of the above applies, write to us from the contact page. Three items speed up resolution a great deal.

For a billing question, go straight through contact: we can see your subscription on our side.

• The date and time of the call concerned, and the calling number if you have it.
• The conversation link, which can be copied from the conversation menu.
• What you expected and what happened instead, one sentence each.