When someone needs to know, Ask The Bridge.
The most capable thing we build. One assistant for your whole business. It knows what your business knows, and it works inside the tools your business runs on: your CRM, your accounts, your calendar, your project board and your contracts. Ask it anything, or ask it to do the whole job. A named person says yes before it acts, and it starts your other automations too.
Starts when
- Someone asks
- An automation asks
- Each week
The Bridge
Checks who is asking. Works only where they may.
- A person says yes
- The weekly gap list
Your tools and knowledge
- Documents and policies
- Contracts and signing
- CRM and customers
- Calendar and project board
- Accounts and invoices
Your automations
- Invoicing
- Onboarding clients
- Voice receptionist
Why it is the big one.
One assistant for the whole business
Sales, finance, people, support and the leadership team all use the same one.
It works in your tools, not beside them
It reads and acts in your CRM, accounts, calendar, project board and contracts, with only the access of the person asking.
It sets your other automations going
Invoicing, onboarding and the voice receptionist can all start from one request.
It does the job.
Not a search box. Sales, finance, people, support and the leadership team all use the same one, and it does whole jobs across the tools you already use. Pick a job to see which tools and automations it works in, and where a person says yes. The jobs and tools here are examples.
A new client has said yes. It sets up everything your business does for a new client, across every system, and the account lead has the last word.
It reads how you set up a client
Your own steps, from your own documents.
It reads the signed contract
And what the CRM already holds on them.
It prepares the rest
The project board, a kickoff slot and the first invoice, as drafts.
The account lead says yes
Nothing is done in your tools until they do.
- Then three things happen at once:
Adds them to the CRM
And starts your client onboarding automation.
Books the kickoff
In the team calendar.
Sends the first invoice
From the accounts package.
The month has ended. It does the collecting, matching and checking that finance does by hand, and finance signs it off.
It reads your month-end checklist
And last month's pack.
It pulls the figures
Receipts, invoices and sales, from the accounts package and the CRM.
It matches them
And lists what does not agree.
Finance says yes
To the figures, line by line.
- Then three things happen at once:
Saves the pack
Ready for the review.
Chases overdue invoices
Through your own automation.
Tells the team
In the chat tool they already use.
Someone joins on Monday. Today that is many small jobs in many tools. It does them in one go, and the right people say yes first.
It reads the onboarding checklist
For that role.
It reads their role and team
In the HR system.
It lists what they need
Accounts, a laptop and a place in the team chat.
Their manager and the IT lead say yes
To their access.
- Then three things happen at once:
Creates their accounts
In the sign-in directory.
Orders their laptop
And joins them to the team chat.
Books their first week
And sends the policies to sign.
A contract ends next month. It reads it, flags what needs a decision, and drafts the renewal, and the account lead decides.
It reads your renewal rules
And your discount rules.
It reads the contract
The CRM record and the support history.
It drafts the renewal
And flags the clauses that matter.
The account lead says yes
Or changes the offer first.
- Then two things happen:
Sends it for signature
From your contracts tool.
Updates the CRM and the accounts
Once it is signed.
The leadership team meets every Monday. It pulls every number from every tool, writes the summary, and gives each follow-up an owner.
It reads last week's summary
And your targets.
It pulls the numbers
From the CRM, accounts, project board and support inbox.
It writes the summary
And flags what does not add up between tools.
The owner reads it and says yes
Before anyone else sees it.
- Then two things happen:
Sends it out
To the leadership team.
Gives each follow-up an owner
On the project board.
A client sends a long form about how you protect their data. It answers from your own policies and contracts, and shows where each answer came from.
It reads your policies
And your past answers.
It checks the facts
The contract, and who has access in the sign-in directory.
It drafts every answer
With its source, and lists what it could not answer.
Whoever owns compliance says yes
Before the form goes back.
- Then two things happen:
Saves the final answers
So the next form starts from them.
Sends the form back
To the client who asked.
What it reaches
- Documents and policiesUsedNot used
- ContractsUsedNot used
- CRM and customer recordsUsedNot used
- Support inboxUsedNot used
- Accounts packageUsedNot used
- Project boardUsedNot used
- Team calendarUsedNot used
- HR systemUsedNot used
- Sign-in directoryUsedNot used
- Your other automationsUsedNot used
The Bridge
Doing: set up a new clientDoing: close the monthDoing: onboard a new starterDoing: renew a contractDoing: run the Monday reviewDoing: answer a security form
It joins up the rest.
Any other automation we build for you connects to The Bridge, in both directions. Each one has its own profile, like a person, so it sees only what it needs. Pick a direction.
Ask for a job that one of your automations already does. The Bridge hands it over, after the right person says yes, and tells you when it is done.
Someone asks in plain words
For a job one of your automations already does.
It reads the rules for that job
From your knowledge.
The right person says yes
Nothing starts until they do.
It starts the automation that does the job
Invoicing, onboarding, posting or follow-up.
- Then two things happen:
It tells them
When the job is done.
It shows on the dashboard
So you can see it.
Examples of what someone might ask
- Send this month's invoices Admin and invoicing
- Start onboarding for the client who just signed Onboarding clients
- Post this on our channels Social media posting
- Follow up yesterday's enquiries Enquiry follow-up
Your other automations can ask The Bridge too. They answer from the same knowledge, and they keep to the same rules about who sees what.
An automation needs a fact
For example, your payment terms.
It asks The Bridge
From your knowledge.
The Bridge checks what that automation may see
Each one has its own profile.
It answers, naming the document it came from
Under the same rules about who sees what.
The automation carries on
With the right answer.
Examples of what they might ask
- What are today's opening times? Voice receptionist
- Do we take this kind of job? Lead qualifier
- What are our payment terms? Admin and invoicing
- What is our tone on this channel? Social media posting
One job.
Follow a single request from the moment it is asked. Pick a step to see what happens there, using an invented example.
It is asked.
In plain words, in the chat tool they already use or on a page of their own. Nobody learns a new system.
Example request
Get me ready for tomorrow's call with Northgate.
It checks who is asking.
Each person has a profile, built from the sign-in your business already uses. It says what they may open, in your documents and in your tools. A leaver is cut off when their account closes.
Example profile, invented
- Name
- Sam
- Role
- Account manager
- Reports to
- The account lead
- Works in
- The customer records, the support inbox and the calendar
It looks, only where they may.
The search is limited before it starts. A document or a record they may not open is never read for them, so it cannot find its way into an answer.
Example, for Sam
- Northgate's contract Open
- Northgate's customer record Open
- Northgate's support tickets Open
- Other clients' contracts Shut
- Payroll Shut
It answers, and does the job.
An answer always names where it came from. Before it does anything in your tools, the right person says yes. When it is unsure, it asks a person.
Example answer
Northgate renews next month. They have two open support tickets, and they paid their last invoice late. Their contract only allows a price change at renewal. Shall I book prep time and draft the renewal offer?
- From: the contract
- From: the support inbox
- From: the accounts package
Then, once the account lead says yes
- Prep time booked in the calendar
- Renewal offer drafted in the customer records
It learns what is missing.
A question nobody could answer goes on a list, to be filled in each week. Once someone writes the answer down, the next person gets it.
This week's gap list, invented
- Who may approve a discount on a renewal?Needs an answer
- Where do we keep signed renewals?Needs an answer
Who sees what.
Pick a person in an invented business. The documents they may open stay lit, and the rest stay shut. The same goes for your tools: it can only use what that person's own accounts let them use.
- The handbookOpenShut
- How we do thingsOpenShut
- The sales pipelineOpenShut
- Client contractsOpenShut
- Team reviewsOpenShut
- PayrollOpenShut
The Bridge
Asked by the ownerAsked by a team managerAsked by someone in salesAsked by a new starter
Asked: what does the team earn?It answers, from the payroll file, and shows the file.
Asked: what does the team earn?It says this is not available to them, and offers to ask the owner.
Asked: what does the team earn?It says this is not available to them, and offers to ask the owner.
Asked: what does the team earn?It says this is not available to them, and points to the handbook for what they can ask.
Three kinds of yes.
Who may ask is settled once, when we build it. After that, three things can need a person. Pick one.
Reading is automatic. It looks only in what a person's role allows, in your documents and in your tools, before it writes a word of the answer.
Someone asks
In plain words.
Their role is checked
Before it writes a word.
The yes was said once
When we built it, so reading is automatic.
Only what they may open is read
In your documents and your tools.
- Then two things happen:
They get an answer
In plain words.
It names where it came from
So they can check it.
When it does something for someone in your tools or automations, a named person says yes first. The more it costs, or the harder it is to undo, the higher the yes goes.
Someone asks it to raise a purchase order
In plain words.
It checks the rules and the budget
In your tools.
The budget holder says yes
Nothing is raised until they do.
Their manager says yes too
Above a limit you set.
- Then two things happen:
It raises the order
In the accounts package.
It shows on the dashboard
With who said yes.
Anyone can suggest a correction. The person who owns that part of the business decides whether it stands.
Someone suggests a correction
Anyone can.
It goes to the owner of that area
The person who owns that part of the business.
The owner says yes or no
Whether the correction stands.
- Then one of two things happens:
If yes, everyone gets the new answer
From then on.
If no, they are told why
With a reason.
Better each week.
The questions nobody could answer are the most useful thing it learns. They come back as a short list, to be filled in each week.
- A question nobody could answer
- It goes on the weekly gap list
- A personSomeone who knows writes the answer down
- Next time, it is answered
What you watch.
One dashboard, on our account, for the person who owns it. Filter the feed to see what needs you.
Example dashboard. The events are invented.
- A new starter asked about payroll.Refused
- Someone asked it to raise a purchase order.Waiting for a yes
- Someone asked who may approve a discount. Nobody could say.On the gap list
- The returns policy has not been checked for a while.Stale
- It set up a new client across the CRM, the project board and the calendar, after the account lead said yes.Done
- It closed the month: it matched the receipts to the accounts package, and flagged two lines that did not agree.Done
- It built Monday's review from the CRM, accounts, project board and support inbox, and flagged numbers that did not match.Done
- Someone asked where the handbook is.Answered
Answered
Questions answered, jobs done in your tools and automations, and questions passed to a person.
Waiting
Every yes that is waiting, and who it is waiting on.
Refused
Each time someone asked for something they may not see or do.
Gaps
A weekly list of what nobody could answer.
Stale
Documents nobody has checked for a while.
Time
An estimate of the time saved, worked from your own figures and always labelled an estimate.
We run it,
you watch it.
Everything runs on our side, and you see it on your dashboard, for a monthly fee. When something needs a person, it comes to you.