Alcova User guide
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Operator

Ask Operator

Ask Operator to prepare for a meeting, draft a follow-up, model a strategy or look into your clients' portfolios. You can ask from the Operator home page or from any other page in Alcova.

Ask from the home page

  1. Select Operator at the top of the sidebar. The Operator home page opens.

  2. Select the prompt box under the greeting, then enter your request. Write it as you would brief a colleague, for example "Who am I seeing this week, and what should I raise with them?"

    The Operator home page with a request typed in the prompt box, the four suggestion topics under it, an Inbox list of two unread conversations and today's two meetings

  3. Press Enter, or select the send button at the bottom right of the prompt box. To start a new line instead, press Shift+Enter.

Your conversation opens and Operator starts to reply.

The home page also shows:

  • Inbox: conversations where Operator has replied since you last opened them. This list shows only when there is something to read. Select a conversation to open it.
  • Today's meetings: your meetings for today. If you have none today, your next few meetings show under Upcoming. Select View all meetings to open your meetings list.

Start from a suggestion

If you are not sure what to ask, start from an example.

  1. Under the prompt box, select a topic: Meeting prep, Meeting follow-up, Strategy modelling or Portfolio insights. Example requests show below the topics.

    The Meeting prep topic selected, with two example requests listed below the four topics

  2. Select an example. Operator receives it straight away and your conversation opens.

To hide the examples, select the same topic again.

Attach files

Attach a document when you want Operator to read it, for example a super statement, a fact find or an insurance quote.

  1. In the prompt box, select Attach files.

  2. Choose one or more files on your computer. Each file shows in the prompt box.

    The prompt box with a request typed in it and a PDF named Calderon super statement 2026.pdf attached

  3. Enter your request, then send it.

You can also drag files from your computer onto the page. When Drop files here shows, release the files to attach them.

To remove a file before you send, select the remove button on the file.

Ask from any other page

  1. Select Ask Operator at the bottom of the page.

    The Ask Operator button, with the keyboard shortcut ⌘K beside it

  2. A prompt box opens at the bottom of the screen. Enter your request.

  3. Press Enter to send it. Your conversation opens.

You can also open the prompt box in these ways:

  • Press ⌘K on a Mac, or Ctrl K on Windows.
  • Select the pencil button, New conversation, next to Conversations in the sidebar.
  • On the Conversations page, select New.

To close the prompt box without sending, press Esc or select outside it. Alcova keeps what you entered, and any files you attached, until you go to another page.

The Ask Operator button does not show on the Operator home page or in a conversation, because both already have a prompt box. It also hides while you are scrolled to the end of a page, so it never covers the last row. Scroll up to see it again.

Ask about the page you are on

When you open the prompt box from a page about one thing, Alcova attaches that thing to your request. Operator then knows what "this meeting" or "this household" means. This works on these pages:

PageWhat Alcova attaches
A meetingThe meeting
A household, on any of its tabsThe household
A contactThe contact
FilesThe folder you are in, or the file you are previewing

The attached item shows above the prompt box.

The prompt box opened from the Nguyen annual review meeting, with the meeting attached above it and a List my todos suggestion inside it

If you do not want Operator to use it, select the remove button on the item before you send.

On a meeting page, the prompt box also offers requests about that meeting. To see them:

  1. Select the suggestion button at the right of the prompt box. It shows a slash and one suggestion at a time.

    The list of meeting suggestions: List my todos, Write follow up email, Summarize key decisions and Schedule follow-up meeting

  2. Select a suggestion. Its request fills the prompt box, so you can change it before you send.

You can also type a slash (/) in the prompt box to open the same list.

A meeting's notes summarise what was said, but you can ask about anything in the conversation. For example, after a review with the Donnelly household, ask "When James asked why the TPD cover was only $2 million, what did I say?" Operator answers from the meeting's transcript and notes, and lists the files it used under Resources. You can keep asking in the same conversation.

Video: Ask Operator about a meeting

What happens next

Your new conversation opens and Operator replies. While it works, it shows the steps it takes. Before it does some things for you, such as drafting an email or changing your calendar, it asks you to approve them. See How Operator works and Approve actions and answer questions.

Each request starts a new conversation. To ask a follow-up about the same topic, reply in the conversation instead. See Find and manage conversations.

If something goes wrong

If Alcova cannot start the conversation, an Error message shows under the prompt box. Your request and attached files stay in the prompt box, so you can send them again.

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