AI Voice Agent Guide

The AI Voice Agent puts a configurable AI persona right on the phone line. It holds a real conversation with the caller, looks them up in your CRM, books callbacks, sends an SMS while the call is still live, and hands off to a live agent the moment a person is needed. You build the persona once, then drop it into any IVR flow and run it across outbound, inbound, and permanent campaigns. It comes built into the Service Provider Edition.

How the AI Voice Agent Works

Every call runs through a real-time pipeline. The caller’s speech is transcribed to text, the AI model decides what to say and which action to take, and the reply is spoken back in a natural voice. The whole loop happens fast enough to feel like a normal conversation.

• Speech to text converts what the caller says into text the model can read.
• The AI model follows your persona’s instructions, answers questions, and calls tools when it needs to act.
• Text to speech speaks the reply back in the voice you picked for that persona.

Creating an AI Persona

1. Go to AI Voice Agent > Personas
2. Click New Persona (top right)
3. Give the persona a name, for example “Sales Qualifier” or “Support Triage”
4. Write the system prompt — this is where you set the personality, the goal of the call, and the rules the agent must follow
5. Pick a voice and language for text to speech
6. Turn on the tools you want the agent to use (see the table below)
7. Set the guardrails, then click Save

Tools the Agent Can Use

Tools let the agent do real work during the call instead of just talking. Turn on only the ones a given persona needs.

Tool	What It Does
CRM Lookup	Finds the caller’s record so the agent knows who it is talking to
CRM Update	Writes notes, tags, or field changes back to the contact record
Schedule Callback	Books a follow-up call at a time the caller asks for
Send SMS	Texts a link, quote, or confirmation while the call is still live
Mark Do-Not-Call	Flags the number so it is never dialed again
Write Disposition	Logs the outcome of the call, for example “Qualified” or “Not interested”
Transfer to Agent	Warm hands off to a live agent when a person is needed

Adding the AI Agent to an IVR Flow

The AI Voice Agent is a node in the IVR Builder, so you can place it anywhere in a menu. A common setup plays a greeting, then routes the caller into the AI node instead of a keypad menu.

1. Go to Messages > IVR and open or create an IVR
2. Drag the AI Voice Agent node onto the canvas
3. Open the node and pick the persona you built
4. Connect the node to the rest of your flow, including a transfer path for handoffs
5. Save the IVR and attach it to a campaign or DID

Running the Agent Across Campaigns

Once a persona is attached to an IVR, you can use it in three ways:

• Outbound — the agent places calls and qualifies leads, then transfers hot ones to your team
• Inbound — the agent answers, handles common questions, and routes the rest
• Permanent — the agent stays on to cover a line around the clock

Guardrails You Should Set

Guardrails keep calls safe, on topic, and short. Set these on every persona before it goes live.

• Max call duration ends a call that runs too long so it never loops forever
• Silence timeout ends or transfers a call when the caller stops responding
• Barge-in lets the caller interrupt the agent instead of waiting for it to finish
• Handoff rules tell the agent when to pass the call to a human

Tips for a Good AI Persona

• Give the persona one clear job. A focused agent beats a do-everything agent.
• Spell out what it should say when it does not know an answer.
• Always give it a path to a live agent so callers are never stuck.
• Test the persona with the demo extension before you attach it to a live campaign.
• Review call dispositions each week and refine the prompt from what you learn.

Related: AI Voice Agent Overview | IVR Builder Guide | Full User Guide