Voice AI Agent lets your business customers handle inbound calls automatically. AI agents answer calls and respond to caller inquiries based on the configured knowledge base and instructions. With Voice AI Agent, your customers can:
- Replace a traditional IVR with an AI agent that holds a natural conversation with callers – answering questions, collecting information, or directing the call based on the caller’s input.
- Assign different AI agents to different phone numbers or extensions – for example, one agent for sales inquiries and another for appointment scheduling.
Your customers can manage agents in the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal or in your custom portal built using the PortaBilling API.
The AI agents are powered by Apifonica – a voice AI platform with a no-code agent builder. Apifonica supports integrations with back-office systems (for example, to create a CRM record or a calendar event during a call), multiple languages, and outbound call campaigns.
With Voice AI Agent, you become a white-label provider of AI voice bots. You set your own markup on top of the wholesale price from the AI provider (Apifonica) and charge customers per minute or bundle the service into a subscription plan – adding a new revenue stream to your existing business.
Owl Telecom provides Cloud PBX services to business customers. Alongside regular voice calls, Owl Telecom defines a separate charge of $0.20/min for calls handled by AI agents.
ABC Company, a dental clinic, uses an AI agent as a virtual assistant to answer questions about their services and pricing, and to schedule patient appointments. ABC Company admin configures the agent in the Apifonica portal and assigns it to a dedicated extension. The admin also updates the auto-attendant for the main clinic number (34639890397) to route callers to that extension when they dial 9.
John Doe calls 34639890397 to reach ABC Company. He hears the available options and dials 9 to find out about teeth whitening services and book a consultation. The AI agent answers his questions and schedules an appointment. The call lasts 3 minutes.
Owl Telecom charges ABC Company $0.60 for the AI agent call (3 min × $0.20/min), in addition to the regular voice call charge.
Requirements
To use Voice AI Agent, you need:
- PortaSwitch MR120 or later.
- An active Apifonica subscription.
- An active subscription to the Voice AI agent (Apifonica) module in the Add-on Mart.
How it works
- After subscribing to the Voice AI Agent (Apifonica) module, PortaOne Support deploys the Voice AI Gateway, a backend application that routes calls between PortaSIP and the Apifonica platform.
- The service provider’s admin configures the Voice AI Agent (Apifonica) module in Add-on Mart and sets up the AI agent service in PortaBilling: defines a service, sets the rate and tariff for AI-handled calls, and adds it to the relevant products.
- The PBX admin goes to the portal (e.g., CloudPBX Self-Care Portal) and opens the AI agent tab for a specific extension. The system automatically creates a customer record in Apifonica and prepares a single sign-on (SSO) URL.
- The PBX admin enables AI Agent and clicks Configure agents to access the Apifonica portal using the SSO URL, without requiring a separate login.
- After configuration, the PBX admin returns to the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal and saves the newly created agent for the selected extension.
Call flow
- When a caller dials a phone number configured with an AI Agent, PortaBilling authorizes the call, and then PortaSIP delivers the call to the Voice AI Gateway.
- The Voice AI Gateway connects the call to the AI agent that handles the conversation.
- PortaBilling charges the call on both legs – the regular incoming call to a toll-free number and the AI agent usage as a separate service.
Specifics
- To enable the AI agent feature for an account in the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal, the customer must have a country and email address defined.
- Voice AI Gateway supports only UDP as the SIP transport protocol.
What it delivers to your customers
- Reduced call handling costs compared to staffing a team of agents.
- Better customer service, as customers’ calls can be answered 24/7.
- Customers manage AI agents on their own – no technical knowledge required.
What it delivers to you
- Generate additional revenue by offering AI voice services under your own brand and setting your own pricing on top of Apifonica’s wholesale rates. Use the revenue calculator to estimate the additional profit AI voice traffic can bring.
- No additional infrastructure required; the Voice AI Gateway deploys alongside your existing PortaSwitch setup.
- AI agent configuration is fully self-service, reducing the load on your customer service team.
