Channels
Voice: inbound and outbound calls
How the agent answers your customers' calls, how it places calls to them, and the checks it makes before it dials.
On this page
The agent answers calls to the numbers your customers already dial, at any hour, and places calls to customers on your behalf: reminders, follow-ups and campaigns. Every call is handled by the same agent that runs your other channels, with the customer's history in front of it, so an outbound call picks up where the last conversation ended. This page explains how a call sounds from start to finish, what the agent does on inbound and outbound calls, and the checks it makes before it dials.
How a call sounds, step by step
A call with the agent follows the rhythm of a good conversation with a well-prepared colleague. This is what happens on a typical inbound call.
- The greeting. The agent answers in the language you set for the line, usually Arabic and English. It says it is an AI agent speaking for your organisation, and asks for the caller's consent to record the call. See Call recording and consent.
- The caller speaks. Speech recognition (the technology that turns spoken words into text) runs as the caller speaks, so a live transcript builds during the call. Noise from cars, streets and building sites is filtered out of the incoming audio before it is understood.
- The agent waits for the right moment. It listens for the natural pause at the end of what the caller is saying, rather than waiting for a long silence, so it neither cuts in nor leaves the caller hanging.
- The agent replies. It starts forming its reply while the caller is finishing their sentence, which keeps the conversation natural rather than delayed. It speaks in short sentences, in the voice you chose for your deployment.
- The caller interrupts. If the caller starts speaking while the agent is talking, the agent stops and listens. Nobody has to wait for the end of a sentence they did not want to hear.
- The agent looks things up. While the caller is on the line, it retrieves what it needs from your systems: the unit, the reservation, the policy. Figures such as amounts and dates are inserted directly from your records, not retyped by the AI.
- The work gets done, or the call goes to a person. The agent completes the request within your limits, or transfers the call to your team with a written brief. See Transfers, callbacks and overflow.
- The call closes. The agent confirms what was done and what happens next. A summary, the outcome and any actions are added to the customer's record.
The technical detail
Calls reach the agent over SIP (the standard protocol business phone systems use to set up and connect calls), on a SIP trunk (a virtual phone line that connects two phone systems over a network) from your carrier or phone system. Call audio is encrypted with SRTP (Secure Real-time Transport Protocol, which encrypts voice as it travels) by default. Speech recognition, the language model (the AI component that interprets the conversation and composes the reply) and voice synthesis (the technology that turns the reply into speech) all run in the region you choose for your deployment.
The agent does not wait for the caller to finish before it starts working. Transcription, understanding and reply preparation overlap, which is what keeps the pauses short. See Models and providers and Voice: connecting your telephony over SIP.
Inbound calls: answering your customers
The agent answers the calls your phone system routes to it and holds a full conversation with the caller. You decide which calls those are: a dedicated line, calls outside your team's hours, calls that overflow from a busy queue, or one option in your existing menu.
It handles many calls at the same time. When call volume rises, callers routed to the agent do not wait for it to become free. The number of simultaneous calls for your deployment is agreed during implementation, alongside the capacity of your trunk.
| Industry | A typical inbound call the agent takes |
|---|---|
| Property | "What do I owe next, and when?" from a buyer, answered from the payment schedule for their unit |
| Travel and hospitality | A guest changing the dates of a stay on a flexible rate, at 1am |
| Insurance | A policyholder reporting a motor accident outside office hours, with the right questions asked in the right order |
Outbound calls: reaching your customers
The agent places the call, waits for a person to answer, and begins the conversation. Calls leave through your own trunk and show your own number. See Voice: connecting your telephony over SIP.
| Type of call | What it is for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled calls | Calls placed at times you define | A call the afternoon before a handover appointment |
| Appointment reminders | Confirming an appointment, and rescheduling it in the same call if the customer needs to | A viewing on Saturday morning, moved to Sunday during the reminder call |
| Campaigns | Calls across a contact list you choose, each personalised from your systems | Renewal reminders to motor policyholders whose cover ends next month |
| Callbacks | A call at a time the customer chose | See Transfers, callbacks and overflow |
How the agent tries again when a customer does not answer is configured during implementation: how many attempts, how far apart, and at what times the customer is more likely to pick up. The aim is to reach the customer without calling repeatedly. When an answering machine picks up, the agent can recognise it and act on your instructions. See Keypad input, voicemail detection and caller ID.
Every outbound call continues a conversation
An outbound call from the agent is not a cold call. Before it dials, the agent has the customer's record: what they asked last time, what was promised, and what is still open. When a customer answers a reminder call and raises something from last week, the agent already knows about it.
On every outbound call, the agent says at the start that it is an AI agent, which organisation it is calling for, and why it is calling. It asks for consent to record in the same way as on an inbound call.
The checks the agent makes before it dials
Before any outbound call, the agent checks:
| Check | What it means |
|---|---|
| Do-not-contact | The customer has not asked you to stop contacting them, and is not on your suppression lists. Opt-outs are applied before any further call |
| Calling hours | The call falls within the hours you have set, inside the hours the rules permit |
| Registry screening | Where you need it, the number is checked against the relevant do-not-call register before the call. This is configured during implementation |
| Retry limits | The call fits the number and spacing of attempts you have set for that customer |
Rules on calling hours, do-not-call registers and how people may be contacted apply to outbound calls in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, particularly marketing calls. You set the hours, the lists and the rules for your deployment, and the agent applies them before it dials. See Contact rules for outbound messages and calls.
The agent applies the rules you set. Deciding which rules apply to each kind of call, and taking legal advice where needed, stays with your organisation.
In practice
A Dubai property developer uses the agent for reminder calls before handover appointments.
- The handover system shows that Yousef's appointment for unit T2-1507 is on Sunday at 10am. The developer has set reminder calls for the day before, between 10am and 6pm.
- On Saturday at 11am, the agent checks that Yousef has not opted out and that the time is within the developer's calling hours. It places the call through the developer's trunk, showing the developer's number.
- Yousef answers. The agent says it is an AI agent calling from the developer about his handover appointment, and asks for consent to record. He agrees.
- He asks to move the appointment to Monday. The agent checks the handover calendar, offers 2pm, books it, and sends a WhatsApp confirmation.
- He mentions the balcony door he reported last week. The agent sees the report in his record and tells him it is scheduled to be fixed before handover.
- The call summary, the new appointment and the confirmation are added to Yousef's record, where the handover team can see them.
What your team controls
- Which calls route to the agent, and when, in your own phone system.
- The greeting, the languages and the voice on each line.
- Which outbound calls the agent places, to whom and at what times.
- The calling hours, suppression lists and retry rules.
- The number that outbound calls show.
Related
- Voice: connecting your telephony over SIPChannels
- Voice: transfers, callbacks and overflowChannels
- Voice: call recording and consentChannels
- Voice: keypad input, voicemail detection and caller IDChannels
- Contact rules for outbound messages and callsLegal and compliance
Product names and logos are trademarks of their owners. Their mention shows systems Telonic connects to and does not imply partnership or endorsement.