AI calling agent
An AI calling agent that answers and dials.
An AI calling agent is software that holds a phone conversation on its own. Inbound, it answers your line, works out what the caller needs, and resolves or routes the call. Outbound, it dials your list, talks to each person about their own details and records what they said.
On VocalLabs one agent does both. You write the prompt, pick the models and add tools without code, connect your own carrier account, and the same published agent answers inbound calls and places outbound ones, one at a time or as a scheduled batch.
Inbound & outbound · Twilio, Plivo, Exotel, Vobiz · 20+ languages · Dashboard or API · 454,908 calls in one civic campaign
- AI agent00:00
Hello, this is the AI assistant from Metro Motors service. Am I speaking with Priya?
- Caller00:04
Yes, speaking.
- AI agent00:06
I am calling about your car’s service, booked for Friday at 10. Does that still suit you?
- Caller00:11
Can we do Saturday instead? And how much was the brake pad replacement you quoted?
- AI agent00:16
Saturday at 11 is free, so I have moved it. Your advisor has the quote, so I am putting you through to him now.
- System00:22
Booking moved to Sat 11:00 · CRM updated · warm transfer to service advisor with transcript
- Human00:28
Hi Priya, Arjun here. I can see Saturday at 11, and your question about the brake pads.
Inbound and outbound AI calling agents.
The conversation is the same skill in both directions. What changes is who starts the call, what triggers it and which rules apply.
| Inbound calling agent | Outbound calling agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Who dials | The customer calls your number | The agent calls the customer |
| What starts it | A call to a number assigned to the agent | A list, a schedule, or an API call from your CRM or website |
| Typical jobs | Enquiries, bookings, order status, routing to the right team | Lead follow-up, reminders, renewals, confirmations, surveys |
| Volume | Many callers at once, with no queue | One call at a time, or a scheduled batch |
| Handoff | Warm transfer to a person or to another agent | The same, once the person is ready to talk to your team |
| Rules to know | Telling callers it is an AI; local privacy rules | Consent, calling hours and do-not-call registries, by country |
On VocalLabs, both directions run from the same published agent.
What happens inside one AI call.
An AI calling agent is more than a voice. Between hello and goodbye it listens, decides, looks things up and writes the result somewhere your team will see it.
- 01TriggerAn inbound call, a scheduled batch or an API request.
- 02Your carrierTwilio, Plivo, Exotel or Vobiz connects the call.
- 03ConversationSpeech-to-text, LLM and text-to-speech, or one realtime model.
- 04ToolsHTTP lookups, calendars, MCP servers, handoffs.
- 05OutcomeRecording, transcript, captured fields, post-call analysis.
- 06Your systemsSigned webhooks and CRM write-back.
- Your keys, your rates
- Connect your own OpenAI, Gemini, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Sarvam and other provider accounts. They bill you directly; VocalLabs never resells tokens or minutes.
- Tools without code
- HTTP requests, conditions, MCP servers and handoffs composed as a tree in the editor, with a code step for the cases that genuinely need one.
- Every call on the record
- Recording, transcript, tool calls and captured fields for every session, test runs included.
- Built your way
- Edit the agent in the dashboard, with the Copilot, or over MCP from Claude Code or Codex.
An AI telecaller, a human one, or a recorded broadcast.
Most teams do not replace their callers. They move the repeatable calls to an agent and keep people on the conversations that need judgement.
| Human telecaller | Recorded voice broadcast | AI calling agent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calls at once | One per person | Many | Thousands of concurrent calls |
| Two-way conversation | Yes | No | Yes, from your script and information |
| Languages | Whoever is on shift | One per recording | 20+ languages, with switching mid-sentence |
| Consistency | Varies by person and hour | Identical, but cannot answer back | The same script and rules on every call |
| Judgement and negotiation | Yes | No | Hands the call to a person |
| After the call | Notes typed by hand | Delivered or not | Transcript, fields and outcome in your CRM |
Category-level comparison. Teams and products vary.
An AI calling agent at civic scale.
Bengaluru West City Corporation used a VocalLabs AI calling agent to reach property owners with pending tax across 64 wards. It called in Kannada, told each owner their own dues and explained how to pay online.
- Calls made
- 454,908
Automated calls between March and June.
- Property owners reached
- 59,604
Each spoken to in Kannada about their own dues.
- Owners who committed to pay
- 26,962
About 45% of the owners reached, with ₹35.11 crore in dues between them.
Figures as reported in the press, as of Nov 2026. The percentage is arithmetic on them. · Source: The Bengaluru Live
Calling rules for AI calling agents, by country.
Outbound AI calls sit under the same rules as other automated calls, and those rules differ by country. This is a planning summary for three large markets, not legal advice. Check your campaigns with counsel.
| What the rule says | What it means for an AI calling agent | |
|---|---|---|
| United States: AI voices | The FCC confirmed in February 2024 that AI-generated voices are “artificial” voices under the TCPA. Telemarketing calls with them to mobile numbers and residential lines need prior express written consent. | Load only contacts who have given consent, and keep the consent record in your CRM. |
| United States: hours and registry | No telephone solicitation before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the called party’s location, and none to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, with limited exceptions. | Set calling windows per region, and check numbers against the registry and your own suppression list before dialling. |
| India: number series | TRAI has mandated 140-series numbers for promotional calls, from callers registered with their telecom provider under the TCCCPR, and 1600-series numbers for service and transaction calls by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA-regulated entities and by government. | Run promotional campaigns from your registered 140-series numbers, and service calls from 1600-series numbers if you are a regulated entity. |
| India: DND | Customers can block promotional calls by sector on the DND registry. A blocked sector receives no calls from 140-series numbers. | Respect DND preferences, and honour a spoken opt-out in every later campaign. |
| United Kingdom | The ICO requires specific consent for automated marketing calls that play a recorded message, and bars live marketing calls to numbers on the TPS without consent. Its guidance does not yet address AI voices directly. | Treat AI marketing calls as automated calls: call only people who have specifically agreed, and screen against the TPS and your own do-not-call list. |
US: FCC Declaratory Ruling 24-17 (released 8 February 2024) and 47 CFR § 64.1200. India: TRAI Press Release No. 91/2026 (10 July 2026). UK: ICO guidance on telephone marketing under PECR. All as of Nov 2026. Not legal advice. · Source: FCC Declaratory Ruling 24-17
What AI calling agents handle every day.
- 01Inbound
Inbound enquiries
Answer the main line, resolve routine questions and route the rest with the reason attached.
- 02Outbound
Lead follow-up
Call new web leads within seconds of the form, qualify them and book a meeting.
- 03Outbound
Reminders and renewals
Due dates, renewals and appointments, each call with the person’s own details, and a payment link by WhatsApp or SMS.
- 04Outbound
Order confirmation
Confirm cash-on-delivery orders, addresses and delivery slots before dispatch.
- 05Outbound
Surveys and feedback
A few questions in the listener’s language, with answers stored as fields, not audio.
- 06Inbound
Overflow and after-hours
Take the calls your team cannot, and hand urgent ones to whoever is on call.
Launch an AI calling agent in five steps.
- 01
Connect your carrier
Connect your Twilio, Plivo, Exotel or Vobiz account under Phone Numbers and import your DIDs. Call charges stay with your carrier. If a contact-centre platform already holds your numbers, it can stream call audio to the agent instead.
- 02
Write the agent
The prompt, the models, the FAQs it answers and the tools it may use, in the dashboard, with the Copilot or over MCP. No code needed.
- 03
Test it in the browser
Run voice test sessions from the dashboard, then read the transcript, tool calls and captured fields before anything goes live.
- 04
Assign numbers and lists
Point inbound calls at the published agent. For outbound, place calls one at a time or as a scheduled batch, from the dashboard or the API.
- 05
Start small, then scale
Run a small batch with your team listening, adjust the script, then open the full list.
Questions buyers ask first.
One agent. Calls in both directions.
Tell us which calls you take, which you make, in which languages and on which carrier. We will build the agent, run it on a small batch with you listening, and only then open it up.
