AI Agents
Introduction
What if you could hire an employee who never takes a break, never has a bad day, handles every call with perfect consistency, and can be cloned as many times as you need? That is the promise of AI Agents in AgentTech Dialer.
AI Agents are intelligent, voice-powered assistants that can answer calls, greet callers, ask qualifying questions, collect information, and route calls to the right destination — all without human intervention. Whether you need a receptionist to handle incoming calls after hours, a transfer agent to qualify leads before passing them to your sales team, or a custom agent with a unique workflow, AI Agents give you the power to automate and optimize your call handling.
This comprehensive guide walks you through everything: understanding agent types, creating and configuring AI Agents step by step, managing your agents, monitoring their performance, and tips for getting the best results.
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What Are AI Agents?
AI Agents are automated call handlers that live inside your AgentTech Dialer platform. When a call is routed to an AI Agent, the agent:
- Answers the call with a customizable greeting.
- Engages the caller in a conversation using natural-sounding speech.
- Asks questions from a configurable Q&A flow.
- Processes responses and makes decisions based on the caller's answers.
- Routes the call to the appropriate destination (a queue, a phone number, voicemail, or simply ends the call).
AI Agents sound natural and conversational. Callers interact with them by speaking normally — there are no rigid menus or "press 1 for sales" prompts. The AI understands natural language and responds accordingly.
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AI Agent Types
AgentTech Dialer offers three types of AI Agents, each designed for different use cases:
Receptionist
The Receptionist type is designed to be the first point of contact for incoming calls. A Receptionist AI Agent:
- Greets callers with a warm, professional welcome.
- Determines the reason for the call by asking open-ended or guided questions.
- Routes the caller to the appropriate department, queue, or team member.
- Handles basic inquiries like business hours, location, and general information.
Best for: Businesses that receive a high volume of inbound calls and want to ensure every caller is greeted promptly and routed correctly — even outside of business hours.
Transfer Agent
The Transfer Agent type is designed to qualify callers before transferring them to a human agent. A Transfer Agent AI Agent:
- Greets the caller and explains the purpose of the qualification process.
- Asks a series of qualifying questions to determine if the caller is a good fit.
- Collects essential information (name, needs, eligibility, etc.).
- Transfers qualified callers to the appropriate human agent or queue.
- Handles unqualified callers gracefully with an appropriate message and routing.
Best for: Sales teams that want to ensure human agents only speak with qualified leads, improving efficiency and close rates.
Custom
The Custom type gives you complete flexibility to design your own AI Agent workflow from scratch. With a Custom agent, you:
- Define your own greeting and conversation flow.
- Create any combination of questions and response types.
- Build custom routing logic based on caller responses.
- Handle specialized use cases that do not fit the Receptionist or Transfer Agent patterns.
Best for: Agencies with unique workflows, specialized intake processes, or any use case that requires a tailored approach.
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Accessing the AI Agents Page
To manage your AI Agents, navigate to the AI Agents page from the main navigation menu. Here is what you will see:
Page Header
- Agency Selector: If you manage multiple agencies, use this dropdown to select which agency's AI Agents you want to view and manage.
- Agent Count Badge: A badge showing the total number of AI Agents configured for the selected agency.
- Create AI Agent Button: A prominent button to start creating a new AI Agent.
Filter Toolbar
Below the header, a toolbar provides filtering and display options:
- Search: A search field to find agents by name or description.
- Type Filter: Filter agents by type — All, Receptionist, Transfer Agent, or Custom.
- Status Filter: Filter agents by status — All, Active, or Inactive.
- Grid/List Toggle: Switch between a grid layout (visual cards) and a list layout (compact rows) for displaying your agents.
Agent Cards
Each AI Agent is displayed as a card (in grid view) or a row (in list view) with the following information:
- Status Badge: Shows whether the agent is Active (currently handling calls) or Inactive (paused and not receiving calls).
- Type Badge: Indicates the agent type — Receptionist, Transfer Agent, or Custom.
- Description: A brief description of what the agent does.
- Stats: Key performance metrics including:
- Calls Today: How many calls the agent has handled today.
- Avg Duration: The average duration of calls handled by this agent.
- Flow Preview: A quick snapshot of the agent's configuration showing:
- Routes Count: How many routing destinations are configured.
- Action Buttons: Quick actions including Edit, Clone, Stats, and Delete.
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Creating an AI Agent: Step-by-Step
Click the Create AI Agent button to open the creation modal. This is a large modal with five tabs, each controlling a different aspect of your agent's configuration. Let us walk through each tab in detail.
Tab 1: Basic Settings
The Basic Settings tab is where you define your agent's identity and fundamental configuration.
#### Name
Give your AI Agent a clear, descriptive name that helps you and your team identify it. Examples: "After Hours Receptionist," "Medicare Lead Qualifier," "Spanish Language Greeter."
#### Type
Select the agent type from the dropdown:
- Receptionist — For greeting and routing callers.
- Transfer Agent — For qualifying and transferring callers.
- Custom — For building your own unique workflow.
The type you choose may affect the default templates and suggestions offered in other tabs, but you can always customize everything regardless of type.
#### Description
Write a brief description of what this agent does. This appears on the agent card and helps your team understand the agent's purpose at a glance. Example: "Handles all after-hours inbound calls, asks about the reason for calling, and routes to the appropriate voicemail or on-call queue."
#### Voice Model
Choose the voice your AI Agent will use when speaking to callers. AgentTech Dialer offers five distinct voice options:
- Ara — A warm, professional female voice with a friendly tone. Great for welcoming receptionists and customer service roles.
- Rex — A confident, authoritative male voice. Well-suited for formal or business-oriented interactions.
- Sal — A calm, reassuring male voice with a conversational style. Ideal for qualification calls and sensitive topics.
- Eve — An energetic, upbeat female voice with an enthusiastic tone. Perfect for sales-oriented agents and promotional calls.
- Leo — A clear, neutral male voice with a balanced delivery. Versatile and appropriate for any use case.
Each voice has a preview button so you can listen to a sample before making your selection. Choose a voice that matches the personality and purpose of your AI Agent.
#### Language
Select the primary language your AI Agent will use for conversations. This determines the language of speech recognition and the agent's spoken responses.
#### Max Interaction Time
Set the maximum duration (in seconds or minutes) that the AI Agent will interact with a caller before automatically routing or ending the call. This prevents calls from running indefinitely if a caller is unresponsive or the conversation goes off track.
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Tab 2: Greetings
The Greetings tab controls the messages your AI Agent uses at key moments during a call. Each greeting is entered in a text area where you can write natural, conversational messages.
#### Initial Greeting
This is the first thing the AI Agent says when it answers a call. Make it warm, professional, and informative. The caller should immediately understand who they are speaking with and what to expect.
Example: "Hello, and thank you for calling Bright Star Insurance. My name is Ara, and I am here to help you today. How can I assist you?"
#### Retry Message
When the AI Agent does not understand the caller's response (due to unclear speech, background noise, or an unexpected answer), it uses the Retry Message to ask the caller to repeat themselves.
Example: "I am sorry, I did not quite catch that. Could you please repeat your answer?"
#### Timeout Message
If the caller does not respond within a set period, the AI Agent uses the Timeout Message to prompt them.
Example: "I have not heard a response. Are you still there? Please go ahead whenever you are ready."
#### Error Message
If something unexpected happens during the interaction, the Error Message provides a graceful fallback.
Example: "I apologize, but I am having trouble processing your request. Let me transfer you to a team member who can help."
Tips for writing greetings:
- Keep them natural and conversational — avoid robotic or overly formal language.
- Include the company name in the Initial Greeting so callers know they reached the right place.
- Keep Retry and Timeout messages short and patient — the caller may be frustrated, so a calm tone helps.
- Always provide a path forward in the Error Message (e.g., transferring to a human agent).
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Tab 3: Q&A Flow
The Q&A Flow tab is where you build the conversation your AI Agent will have with callers. This is the heart of your agent's functionality.
#### Building Your Question Flow
Click the Add Question button to add a new question to the flow. You can add as many questions as you need. Questions are displayed in a list that supports drag-and-drop ordering — simply drag a question up or down to change the order in which the AI asks them.
#### Configuring Each Question
Each question in the flow has the following settings:
Question Text: The actual question the AI will ask the caller. Write it in natural language, the way a human agent would ask it.
Example questions:
- "What is your first and last name?"
- "Are you currently enrolled in a Medicare plan?"
- "Which of the following best describes your situation: new enrollment, plan change, or general inquiry?"
- "What is your zip code?"
Response Type: How you want the AI to process the caller's answer. Choose from:
- Free Text — The caller can give any open-ended answer. Use this for names, descriptions, open-ended questions, or any response that does not fit a fixed format. The AI will capture whatever the caller says.
- Yes-No — The caller's response is interpreted as either yes or no. Use this for binary questions like "Are you currently enrolled?" or "Would you like more information?"
- Multiple Choice — The caller selects from a predefined set of options. You define the options (e.g., "New enrollment, plan change, or general inquiry"), and the AI matches the caller's spoken response to the closest option.
- Numeric — The caller provides a number. Use this for zip codes, ages, phone numbers, quantities, or any numeric input.
Response Rules: Configure routing logic based on the caller's answer. For example, if the caller answers "No" to "Are you over 65?", you might route them to a different path or skip certain questions. Response Rules allow your Q&A flow to be dynamic and adaptive rather than a rigid sequence.
#### Tips for Building Effective Q&A Flows
- Start with easy questions. Begin with simple, non-threatening questions (like the caller's name) to build rapport before asking more detailed or sensitive questions.
- Keep questions short and clear. The AI will speak the question aloud, so avoid long, complex sentences that are hard to follow by ear.
- Use the right Response Type. Matching the response type to the question improves accuracy. Do not use Free Text when Yes-No or Multiple Choice would work better.
- Test your flow. After building your Q&A flow, test it by calling the AI Agent yourself. Listen to how the questions sound when spoken aloud and adjust the wording if needed.
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Tab 4: Routing
The Routing tab determines where calls go after the AI Agent completes its Q&A flow (or if the flow fails).
#### Success Destination
When the Q&A flow completes successfully (the caller answers the required questions and meets your criteria), the call is routed to the Success Destination. Choose from:
- Queue — Transfer the call to a specific call queue where it will be picked up by the next available human agent.
- Phone — Transfer the call to a specific phone number (e.g., a direct line, a mobile phone, or an external number).
- Voicemail — Send the call to a voicemail box where the caller can leave a message.
- Hang Up — End the call (use this if the AI Agent fully resolved the caller's needs and no transfer is necessary).
#### Success Message
A message the AI speaks to the caller before routing to the success destination. Example: "Thank you for providing that information. I am now transferring you to one of our specialists who can help you further. Please hold for just a moment."
#### Failure Destination
When the Q&A flow does not complete successfully (the caller does not meet your criteria, does not answer required questions, or the interaction times out), the call is routed to the Failure Destination. The same options are available: Queue, Phone, Voicemail, or Hang Up.
#### Failure Message
A message the AI speaks to the caller before routing to the failure destination. Example: "I appreciate your time today. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete the qualification process. Let me connect you with a team member who can assist you directly."
Routing best practices:
- Always configure both Success and Failure destinations — never leave callers stranded.
- Use meaningful messages before transfers so the caller knows what is happening.
- Route failure calls to a general queue rather than just hanging up — you may still be able to help the caller.
- Test your routing thoroughly to make sure calls land in the right places.
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Tab 5: Advanced
The Advanced tab provides additional configuration options for fine-tuning your AI Agent's behavior.
#### Temperature Slider
The Temperature slider controls how creative or predictable the AI Agent's responses are:
- Lower temperature (closer to 0) makes the AI more predictable, consistent, and focused. It will stick closely to the scripts, greetings, and expected responses. Best for compliance-sensitive environments where consistency is critical.
- Higher temperature (closer to the maximum) makes the AI more creative, varied, and conversational. It may rephrase questions, add natural filler language, and handle unexpected inputs more flexibly. Best for sales-oriented agents where a natural, human-like conversation is more important than rigid consistency.
Start with a moderate temperature and adjust based on your experience with the agent's performance.
#### Status Dropdown
Set the agent's status:
- Active — The agent is live and will handle calls routed to it.
- Inactive — The agent is paused and will not handle any calls. Use this while building and testing, or to temporarily take an agent offline.
#### Custom Instructions
The Custom Instructions textarea allows you to provide special behavioral guidance to the AI Agent in plain language. This is a powerful feature for fine-tuning behavior that is not covered by the other settings.
Example custom instructions:
- "If the caller mentions they are a returning customer, thank them for their loyalty and prioritize their call."
- "Never discuss pricing details — always transfer the caller to a human agent for pricing questions."
- "If the caller speaks Spanish, switch to Spanish for the conversation."
- "Always confirm the caller's phone number at the end of the interaction."
Custom Instructions are flexible and can cover a wide range of scenarios. Write them in plain, natural language — the AI interprets them as behavioral guidelines.
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Managing Your AI Agents
Once you have created AI Agents, the AI Agents page provides all the tools you need to manage them.
Editing an Agent
Click the Edit button on any agent card to reopen the creation modal with the agent's current settings. Make your changes across any of the five tabs and save. Changes take effect immediately for future calls.
Cloning an Agent
Need a new agent that is similar to an existing one? Click the Clone button to create an exact copy of an agent. The cloned agent will have all the same settings, greetings, Q&A flow, routing, and advanced configuration. You can then edit the clone to make any adjustments.
Cloning is useful for:
- Creating agents for different shifts or time periods with slightly different greetings.
- Building agents for different campaigns that share a similar qualification flow.
- Testing changes on a clone before applying them to your live agent.
- Setting up agents for different languages based on the same underlying flow.
Viewing Analytics
Click the Stats button on an agent card to open the Analytics Modal. This modal displays performance metrics for the selected agent, including:
- Number of calls handled
- Average call duration
- Completion rates for the Q&A flow
- Routing outcome breakdown (how many calls went to success vs. failure destinations)
- Trends over time
Use analytics to understand how well your AI Agent is performing and identify areas for improvement. If the completion rate is low, consider simplifying your Q&A flow or improving your greetings. If many calls route to the failure destination, review your qualification criteria and response rules.
Deleting an Agent
Click the Delete button to remove an AI Agent. You will be asked to confirm before the agent is permanently deleted. Deleting an agent removes it from all assigned queues and stops it from handling calls.
> Caution: Deleting an agent is permanent. If you want to temporarily stop an agent from handling calls, set its status to Inactive in the Advanced tab instead.
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Using Grid and List Views
The AI Agents page offers two display modes:
Grid View
Displays agents as visual cards in a grid layout. Each card shows the agent's name, status badge, type badge, description, stats, flow preview, and action buttons. Grid view is ideal when you have a moderate number of agents and want a visual overview.
List View
Displays agents as compact rows in a table-like layout. List view is ideal when you have many agents and want to scan through them quickly or compare details side by side.
Use the Grid/List toggle in the filter toolbar to switch between views. Your preference is remembered for future visits.
Search and Filters
Use the toolbar's search and filter options to find specific agents:
- Search by agent name or description.
- Type filter to show only Receptionists, Transfer Agents, or Custom agents.
- Status filter to show only Active or Inactive agents.
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Tips for Getting the Best Results with AI Agents
Start with a Receptionist
If you are new to AI Agents, start with a Receptionist type. It is the simplest use case — greeting callers and routing them — and gives you a chance to learn how the system works before building more complex agents.
Test Your Flows Before Going Live
Before setting an agent to Active, test it thoroughly:
- Build your agent and set it to Inactive.
- Assign it to a test queue or route test calls to it.
- Call in and go through the Q&A flow as if you were a real caller.
- Listen to the greetings — do they sound natural? Are they too long? Too short?
- Answer questions correctly and incorrectly to test all routing paths.
- Make adjustments based on your experience.
- When you are satisfied, set the agent to Active.
Write Natural-Sounding Greetings and Questions
Remember that your AI Agent is speaking to callers using these words. Read your greetings and questions out loud. Do they sound like something a friendly, professional person would say? Avoid jargon, abbreviations, and overly technical language.
Monitor Analytics and Iterate
Creating an AI Agent is not a one-time task. Monitor your agent's analytics regularly and iterate:
- If callers frequently trigger the retry or timeout messages, your questions may be confusing.
- If the failure rate is high, your qualification criteria may be too strict.
- If average call duration is longer than expected, your Q&A flow may have too many questions.
Continuous improvement leads to better caller experiences and better outcomes for your agency.
Use Cloning to Experiment
Want to try a different approach without disrupting your live agent? Clone it, make changes to the clone, test it, and then swap the active status once you are confident the new version is better.
Keep Custom Instructions Focused
Custom Instructions are powerful, but do not overload them with too many directives. Focus on the most important behavioral guidelines and keep them clear and concise. If you find yourself writing a novel in Custom Instructions, consider whether some of those guidelines would be better addressed through the Q&A Flow or Routing configuration.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many AI Agents can I create?
A: The number of AI Agents you can create depends on your subscription plan. Check your plan details or contact your account manager for specific limits.
Q: Can an AI Agent transfer to a specific human agent?
A: AI Agents can route calls to queues, phone numbers, or voicemail. To reach a specific human agent, you can route the call to a queue that the specific agent is assigned to, or to their direct phone number.
Q: What happens if no human agents are available when the AI Agent transfers a call?
A: The call follows the standard queue behavior configured for the destination queue. This may include hold music, position announcements, or overflow to voicemail — depending on your queue settings.
Q: Can I use AI Agents for outbound calls?
A: AI Agents are primarily designed for handling inbound calls. Outbound use cases may vary depending on your platform configuration and campaign setup.
Q: Do AI Agents work 24/7?
A: Yes. AI Agents do not need breaks, sleep, or time off. Once set to Active, they handle calls around the clock. This makes them ideal for after-hours coverage, weekend support, and holiday periods.
Q: Can callers tell they are speaking with an AI Agent?
A: AI Agents use natural-sounding voices and conversational language. While some callers may recognize the AI, the experience is designed to be as natural and helpful as possible.
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Summary
AI Agents are a powerful way to automate call handling, improve efficiency, and ensure every caller gets a prompt, professional experience. With three agent types (Receptionist, Transfer Agent, and Custom), five distinct voice models, a flexible Q&A flow builder, configurable routing, and advanced settings, you have complete control over how your AI Agents interact with callers.
Get started by navigating to the AI Agents page, clicking Create AI Agent, and walking through the five-tab configuration process. Start with a simple Receptionist, test it thoroughly, and expand from there as you gain confidence. Monitor your agents' analytics and iterate on their configuration to continuously improve performance.
Last updated: February 23, 2026