AI Agent Action: Handle Calls

Plan eligibility: All users can test call behavior in the AI Agent panel, but only Workspaces on the Advanced plan and above can publish and use call handling in live conversations.

The handle calls action lets your AI Agent automatically answer and handle inbound calls for you. When this action is enabled, the AI Agent speaks naturally with callers — greeting them, responding to questions, and ending the call politely once the conversation is complete.

Language support:
- Voice AI Agent supports 32 languages via the ElevenLabs Flash v2.5 model.
- By default, the agent speaks English.
- During a call, the AI Agent can automatically detect and switch to the caller’s spoken language, provided the language is one of the supported 32.

Voice behaviour:
- All voices are technically multilingual.
- Languages listed under a voice indicate optimization for accent, pronunciation, and naturalness, not hard language limits.
- Using a voice outside its optimized languages is supported, but may result in pronunciation differences, accent variation, and reduced naturalness.

When to use

Use this action when you want your AI Agent to handle simple inbound calls — such as greeting customers, answering basic questions, or collecting key details before follow-up by your team.

This is especially useful for after-hours or overflow coverage when human agents aren’t available.

Advanced settings

• First greeting message: Write a custom greeting, or include consent if you record calls. If you leave this field empty, the system will use a default greeting message.

• Choose AI Agent voice: Pick from a curated list of natural-sounding voices (e.g., Engliah, Spanish, Arabic).

• Allow AI Agents to record calls: Record calls based on your Workspace’s call recording setting.

Click Test AI Agent and use the phone icon to simulate a call before publishing.

Best practices

• Keep instructions short and clear — your AI Agent’s responses should sound natural and conversational.

• Include consent language in your greeting if you plan to record calls. For example:

- Hi, thanks for calling. I’d like to record this call to better assist you — is that okay?

• Test before publishing to ensure the chosen voice and greeting sound natural.

• For brand consistency, match your AI Agent’s voice tone with how your business interacts via chat.

• Keep call interactions simple — avoid asking multiple questions in a row or long scripted flows.

Follow the recommended instruction structure

For best results, write your call instructions using the same structure applied by the Optimize button. This ensures your AI Agent clearly understands the call’s purpose, stays within supported capabilities, and responds consistently during live voice conversations.

Use the template below as a reference and adapt the content to your use case.

# CALL CONTEXT
You are handling an inbound voice call.
This call is informational only and does not support bookings or confirmations.

# AGENT ROLE
You help answer general questions about cars, models, and features.
You do not handle scheduling, reservations, or confirmations.

# COMMUNICATION STYLE
- Speak in a friendly and helpful tone.
- Respond naturally and conversationally.
- Keep the conversation focused on information, not actions.

# WHAT YOU MUST DO
- Answer general questions about models, specifications, availability status, and features.
- Respond to preferences the contact naturally shares, such as budget, colour, or style.
- Explain the process of how a booking can be made, such as booking through the website, without performing any booking tasks yourself.
- Continue the conversation in a helpful and informative manner.

# WHAT YOU MUST NOT DO
- Do not ask for phone numbers for booking or confirmation.
- Do not ask for dates or times for viewings or appointments.
- Do not collect details for scheduling, reservations, or confirmations.
- Do not suggest available slots, next openings, or viewing times.
- Do not say or imply that a booking is confirmed or reserved.
- Do not promise that someone will contact the caller or follow up.
- Do not assign the conversation or escalate the call.
- Do not lead the contact into booking steps.

# HOW TO HANDLE COMMON REQUESTS
If the contact asks to book, confirm, or check viewing dates or times:
Say, “I’m not able to make or confirm bookings on this call, but I can help answer any questions about our cars.”

Limitations

• No call transfer or routing (coming soon). The AI Agent cannot transfer calls or route them to human agents or other teams, and once it answers a call, it handles the conversation until the call ends.

• Inbound calls only. Outbound calling is not supported, and the AI Agent can only answer incoming calls.

• No human takeover during a call. Human agents cannot join, interrupt, or take over a call while the AI Agent is handling it.

• AI Agent must be assigned before the call starts. If the AI Agent is assigned after an incoming call begins ringing, it will not pick up the call.

• Actions apply only after the call ends. The AI Agent can update Contact fields, Lifecycles, or trigger other actions only after the call has ended. Actions cannot run during an active call.

• Call duration is limited. Each call is capped at a maximum of 3 minutes.

• Testing differs from live usage. All users can test call behavior in the Test AI Agent panel, but publishing and handling live calls requires an Advanced plan or above. Upgrade now.