Automation and AI content is full of jargon that assumes you already know what it means. This is a running reference for the terms that come up most — short, honest, no-fluff definitions you can actually use in a conversation with a vendor or partner. We're building this out gradually alongside our guides, so some entries below are live and some are marked coming soon.
A workflow is the specific sequence of steps a task follows from start to finish — who does what, in what order, and what happens next depending on the outcome. "A new lead fills out a form, gets added to the CRM, gets a welcome email, and gets assigned to a salesperson" is a workflow. Automating a workflow just means software carries out those same steps instead of a person doing each one by hand.
An API (application programming interface) is the mechanism two pieces of software use to talk to each other directly — for example, letting your scheduling tool automatically create an entry in your accounting software the moment an appointment is booked, with no one manually copying information between the two. An "API integration" is simply that connection being set up and working. It's the plumbing behind most automation: without it, someone has to move information between systems by hand.
A trigger is the event that starts an automated process — a form submission, an incoming email, a new row in a spreadsheet, a specific time of day. Every automation needs one: something has to happen first to tell the system "run now." Understanding your triggers is often the fastest way to understand what an automation actually does.
Software that understands spoken language and answers in a natural voice, so you can talk to it instead of typing. In business, voice AI lets an owner give instructions out loud, for example “invoice the Miller job and follow up on Tuesday’s quote”, and have the work done. Unmanually’s Coordinator is a voice AI assistant: you run your office by talking to it from your phone, hands-free between jobs.
An AI that answers a business’s phone calls, answers common questions, takes messages and books appointments, 24 hours a day. An AI receptionist covers the phone. An AI assistant such as Unmanually’s Coordinator answers calls too, and then does the office work that follows: quotes, invoices, follow-ups, supplier orders, and updates to the owner.
An open standard that lets AI tools connect to other software and data in a consistent way. With MCP, an AI assistant can use your existing tools, and you can connect your own AI tools to it. On Unmanually, MCP connections come with the Growth and Scale plans.
An AI that handles the work a human executive assistant would: managing calls, email, calendar and follow-ups, keeping track of what’s due, and briefing you on what happened. Unmanually’s Coordinator is an AI executive assistant for business owners. You run it by voice from your phone, it works 24/7, and it asks for your OK on anything that matters.
When a customer’s call goes unanswered, the business automatically follows up within minutes by text or by an AI call back from the business’s own number, so the customer doesn’t call a competitor. Unmanually can call back missed callers in its AI voice, during business hours, and it says plainly that it’s an AI.
A setup where an AI does the work but a person approves the important steps before they happen, such as sending an invoice, a quote or a discount. With Unmanually you choose what needs your OK, and outbound emails, texts and invoices wait in an undo window first.
Coming soon. We'll cover what these tools are, how they differ from custom-built software, and where their limits are for a growing business.