Voice
Phone calls in Octocom: the voice AI answers calls, your team answers in the help desk, callers leave voicemail, and campaigns call people for you. Start here for the key facts (the AI only sees a transcript, each number has its own copy of the settings, campaigns use only their own instructions), the terms used in the dashboard and in Copilot, and how to set up a first number.
Octocom handles phone calls alongside your other channels:
- The voice AI answers calls with the same workflows, rules and knowledge as your chat bot. See how the voice AI works.
- Your team answers calls in the browser, in the help desk. See Phone calls in the help desk.
- Callers leave voicemail when nobody can answer.
- Campaigns call people for you, from a list or as events happen in your systems. See Campaigns.
Every call becomes a conversation in the help desk, with its recording and transcript.
Read this first
- The AI only sees a transcript. Spoken emails, order numbers and names often arrive wrong, and the AI can't hear tone. It speaks only when the caller finishes or goes quiet. See how the voice AI works.
- Inbound calls use your support setup; campaigns don't. On an inbound call the AI uses the workflows, bot rules and knowledge enabled for the Phone Call channel. A campaign uses only its own instructions and picked actions.
- Every number, time slot and campaign has its own copy of the voice AI settings. Editing one never changes another, and changes apply from the next call. See Voice AI settings.
- Every action is silence for the caller. Keep actions fast and few. See Voice AI best practices.
- A purchased number is US-only, one per business, and can't run campaigns. See Phone numbers.
Terms
The dashboard and Copilot sometimes name the same thing differently:
| In the dashboard | In Copilot and MCP | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Voice agent | Voice AI settings (voiceAi) | How the voice AI sounds and behaves: language, voice, greeting, transfers |
| Phone number | Phone line | Where Octocom receives calls: a number, a SIP address or a test line |
| Demo number and access code | Shared test number and extension | A way to call a voice AI before it has a number of its own |
| AI voice agent, Human agents, Voicemail | answeredBy: ai, your_team, voicemail | Who answers a line |
| Assistant (on a campaign) | The voice AI settings a campaign copies | The voice and behaviour a campaign starts from |
| Router | Phone line router | Python that decides whether a call continues |
| Phone Call | phone-call | The channel of calls, for workflows, bot rules and assignment rules |
Everything is under Settings -> Voice & SMS in the dashboard: Phone numbers, Phone line routers, Voice agents, Campaigns and Your Twilio accounts.
Set up your first number
- Prepare the AI. Check that the workflows and bot rules the AI should follow on calls are available on the Phone Call channel. Read Voice AI best practices.
- Create a voice agent. In Settings -> Voice & SMS -> Voice agents, click Add Voice Agent. Choose the language, voice and greeting. See Voice AI settings.
- Test it. Call one of the demo numbers and enter the voice agent's access code followed by
#. Try the calls you expect, then open the conversation in the help desk to see the transcript and recording. - Get a number. Buy a US number under Phone numbers -> Purchase number and pick your voice agent to answer it, or bring your own.
- Decide who answers when. Answer with the AI around the clock, or hand calls to your team during business hours. See Call routing.
With Copilot
Ask Copilot to set up a voice AI for a business. It uses these tools:
| Step | Tools |
|---|---|
| Pick a voice | list_recommended_voices |
| Create a test line | create_phone_line without an address, answeredBy: "ai" and voiceAi with language, greeting and voiceId |
| Check how to call it | list_phone_lines |
| Get a number | purchase_phone_number, or create_phone_line with your own number |
| Route calls | update_phone_line, create_phone_line_time_slot |
| Review calls | list_conversations, get_conversation |