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AI Voice Agents - The Complete Guide to Voice Chat (2025)
Learn everything about an AI voice agents, its benefits, implementation tips, and the AI voice chat applications for business success.
Longer wait times, high call volumes, and language barriers in call centers often frustrate customers. Complex interactive voice response (IVR) menus only add to the problem, leading to customer dissatisfaction. That’s why companies are adopting smarter self-service solutions like artificial intelligence (AI) voice agents. In fact, experts predict the voice bot market will reach $98.2 billion by 2027, showing a clear trend toward smarter solutions to improving customer experience.
AI voice agents technology combines Natural Language Processing (NLP), machine learning, and voice recognition to transform customer interactions. It provides quicker, more efficient service and improves the overall customer experience.
In this guide, we'll explore what AI voice agents are, their key features, practical use cases, and tips on how to implement a voice agent in your business.
What is an AI voice agent?
An AI voice agent is a two-way conversational tool that communicates with the customer. It automates inbound and outbound calls without human intervention and transfers calls to a human agent when needed.
The biggest advantage? Callers can navigate an IVR by speaking naturally, without listening to long, complex menus or pressing numbers on a keypad.
Popular AI voice agent examples include Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon's Alexa. These tools simplify interactions, provide instant answers, and automate tasks. In contrast, advanced bots like IBM’s Watson Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana handle customer support, sales inquiries, and internal communications.
Types of AI voice agents
Here’s a breakdown of the four main types of AI voice agents and how they can benefit your business:
Rule-based AI voice agent
Rule-based voice agent use predefined sets of questions and rules to offer answers or perform tasks. Such voice agents handle routine tasks and customer FAQs. They answer all queries that fall under the if-this-then-that logic.
For example, an e-commerce site using a bot to guide customers in checking their order status or a banking site handling routine inquiries like balance checks, bill payments, transaction histories, etc.
AI-assisted voice agent
AI-assisted voice agents use machine learning and natural language to interpret conversations so they can analyze the context and grasp what the speaker means. This makes them far more capable and user-friendly than the conventional, rule-based voice agents.
Let’s suppose a user asks Alexa, 'What's the weather tomorrow?' and then follows up with, 'How about next week?' it remembers the context. This adaptability means customers don’t have to repeat themselves, creating a more contextual customer experience.
Conversational AI voice agent
Conversational voice agents make conversations using natural language. They’re more nuanced than AI-assisted voice agents as they can handle complex conversations using everyday language to create more personalized interactions.
Google Duplex, and IBM Watson Assistant, are examples of conversational voice agents. They can make phone calls, make reservations, and handle natural conversations with a human-like tone.
Voice-activated voice agent
These bots use voice commands to answer practical questions and perform routine tasks. They are more flexible than personal voice agents that adapt to speakers and perform customized tasks.
Such bots serve as digital assistants to AI-assisted bots like Siri.
How does an AI voice agent improve customer engagement?
A customer calling your sales team wants to feel valued and understood. An AI voice agent does that. It puts the customer at the center, creating a better experience and driving business benefits as a result. Let’s understand it with a few use cases.
Use case: Get a quick update on order status, 24/7
Assuming the AI voice agent is integrated into your CRM, it greets the customer by name. Instead of navigating through a branched IVR to get their order status, the customer can simply say ‘order status’ and the voice bot pulls out the order details from the CRM and gives the user a real-time update within seconds.
Sheraz Ali, the Founder of HARO Links Builder states that their voice agent managed over 30% of customer interactions in one of their company projects and drastically reduced wait times.
“It also improved our response efficiency and led to a 20% increase in customer satisfaction scores and a reduction in operational costs within three months.”
Benefits:
- Decreased waiting time.
- Limited IVR menu navigation.
- No human intervention is required.
- Quick response times.
- Reduced business costs.
- Tangible increase in customer satisfaction.
Use case: Improve language learning for students
A language learning platform uses a voice agent to provide real-time translations and personalized tutoring. So the voice agent instantly supports students in any subject by translating and clarifying complex terms in their preferred language.
Benefits:
- Reduced requirement for multilingual staff.
- Increases inclusivity as the bot answers in the user’s preferred language.
- Language barriers are removed.
Use case: Improve patient outcomes in healthcare
It's easy to miss appointments or forget to deliver prescriptions to the patient’s home timely. A healthcare service can employ a voice agent to deliver personalized care and offer preliminary health assessments, medication reminders, and easy appointment scheduling, all according to the individual patient's needs.
Benefits:
- Saves time by streamlining appointment bookings.
- Ensures medication adherence with timely reminders.
- Reduces workload for healthcare providers with automated support.
Use case: Streamline routine financial services
Once integrated with the banking system, the voice agent automates routine financial tasks, provides instant account information, processes transactions, and delivers personalized financial advice around the clock.
Benefits:
- 24/7 access to financial services without wait times.
- Improves customer experience with quick, accurate responses.
- Automates routine tasks, freeing up staff for complex queries.
- Provides personalized advice to improve financial decision-making.
Use case: Get personal shopping assistance
An e-commerce platform can use a voice agent to assist customers with product selection, provide personalized recommendations, and automate the sales process from start to finish.
Benefits:
- Delivers a personalized shopping experience 24/7.
- Boosts sales with customized recommendations.
- Reduces cart abandonment by guiding customers to checkout.
- Improves customer satisfaction with fast, accurate service.
Features of an AI voice agent
To understand why voice agents are so effective, let’s look at the key features that improve the overall customer service experience while streamlining business operations.
The best voice agents for businesses come equipped with:
Natural language understanding (NLU)
An AI voice agent understands user queries by converting speech into text using AI and NLP. It then forms an appropriate response and converts it back into speech using text-to-speech (TTS) technology. This ability to understand and respond in natural, conversational language sets AI voice agents apart from traditional IVR systems, which rely on rigid, menu-based responses.
Personalization capabilities
Customers want quick, personalized responses to their queries, unlike complex IVR systems that frustrate them with lengthy menus. An AI voice agent offers contextual conversations, adapting to the user’s intent. It detects speech cues, skips irrelevant interactions, and also transfers calls to the right agent.
Hence, when comparing voice agents to IVRs, the bot's ability to offer personalized interactions like a human outshines communication systems that follow even the best IVR practices.
Multi-language support
AI voice agents break down language barriers, supporting multiple languages to provide a more inclusive and accessible customer experience. Businesses can easily connect with diverse customer bases across the globe.
For instance, Plivo supports speech recognition in 27 languages and their regional variants.
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Integration with other platforms and services
AI voice agents easily integrate with platforms like customer relationship management (CRM) systems, Enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools, and ticketing software. They access and update customer data in real time to ensure accuracy.
These bots also pull relevant details, automate follow-up actions, and sync with communication channels like email or chat. This creates a personalized and consistent customer experience across all touchpoints.
Benefits of voice agents
Let’s now look at the benefits of AI voice agents.
Enhanced user experience
Many businesses have concerns over the quality of a voice agent for customer service. However, a voice agent answers queries quickly regardless of the time of the day. Speedy, reliable answers are important to providing excellent service, making voice agents an invaluable tool for businesses looking to improve customer satisfaction.
Additionally, businesses can:
- Handle routine queries and common tasks faster than human agents.
- Remove the need for users to navigate complex IVR menus.
- Manage high-volume calls without errors.
Better cost efficiency
An AI voice agent doesn’t just save time, it also saves money. It boosts user satisfaction and reduces support times by automating repetitive queries. This frees up staff for higher-value tasks, and interacting with customers after hours has improved lead conversion.
The direct benefits to businesses are:
- Reduces the need for a larger customer support team.
- Allows human agents to focus on complex, high-value inquiries.
- Engages users outside business hours to boost marketing return on investment (ROI).
- Lowers training costs and minimizes the risk of providing incorrect information.
Accessibility for users with disabilities
With over one billion people living with disabilities worldwide, voice agents make services more inclusive. They enable hands-free, accessible interactions, allowing customers with visual, motor, or cognitive impairments to engage with the business easily. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also broadens the company’s reach to a more diverse audience.
Data collection and analysis for improved services
Voice agents don’t just serve customers — they also gather insights. Use this data to analyze data and improve services, personalize marketing efforts, and make more informed business decisions.
24/7 availability
Unlike human agents, voice agents are always accessible. They ensure customers get help whenever they need it, contributing to a more consistent and reliable customer experience.
Future of AI voice technology
As IBM's data engineer, Chris Hay puts it, "We're entering an era where every mom-and-pop shop can have the same level of customer service as an enterprise." This statement captures the transformative potential of voice recognition technology.
AI voice chat applications benefit businesses of all sizes by delivering top-tier customer experiences. Tech giants are already paving the way. Microsoft has updated its Copilot AI with advanced voice capabilities, allowing it to handle complex queries with natural language reasoning, while Meta has introduced voice AI to its messaging apps.
AI voice assistants will move beyond smartphones, integrating into wearable devices like the recently unveiled Meta Orion augmented reality glasses. For businesses handling sensitive client relationships, this could mean smarter, empathetic bots that mirror the tone and approach of a human assistant.
Key upcoming trends:
- Hyper-personalization: Customized voices and targeted recommendations.
- Advanced problem-solving: Managing complex queries using natural language.
- Real-time analytics: Analyzing customer tone for deeper insights.
Yet, challenges remain. Arvind Rongala, the founder of a skill-management solution provider, shares, “There are still issues, especially with data privacy and ensuring interactions are human-like. In addition to resolving problems with bias in training data and regulatory compliance, businesses must strike a balance between automation and personalization. For example, adhering to GDPR regarding the storage of voice data can be challenging, but doing so is essential to fostering trust.”
Ultimately, businesses need to prioritize data security, explore multi-device integration options, and develop stronger contextual understanding for natural interactions.
Launch an AI voice agent with Plivo
Any scaling business needs a voice agent that's easy to integrate, globally accessible, and cost-effective without sacrificing quality.
Plivo checks all these boxes, offering seamless integration, seven global points of presence for low-latency interactions, and competitive rates starting at just $0.0040 per minute. It's ideal for businesses willing to scale while keeping operational costs in check.
In fact, Plivo can reduce operational costs by up to 40%.
Moreover, its commitment to reliability is backed by a 99.99% uptime guarantee, with failover capabilities that switch within two seconds if any disruptions occur.
You can launch voice agents with Plivo using just a few lines of code.
- Log in to your OpenAI Account: Secure your API key and RealTime API access.
- Log in to your Plivo Account: Sign up and get a voice-enabled number.
With integration options for leading speech-to-text (STT) and TTS providers like Deepgram and ElevenLabs, you can launch AI voice agents in multiple regions, including India, using local numbers.
Use Plivo-powered voice agents for:
- Personal shopping assistance: Offer personalized recommendations, go through product selections, and close sales.
- Healthcare automation: Improve patient outcomes with medication reminders, and appointment scheduling, and offer preliminary health assessments.
- Inclusivity in education: Break language barriers in learning with real-time translations and personalized tutoring across multiple subjects.
- Routine financial services automation: Provide instant account information, personalized financial advice, transaction processing status, etc. to customers.
With a 24/7 AI voice agent, your business can handle these tasks around the clock, ensuring that customers are never left waiting. Want to improve customer experience with Plivo? Contact us today.
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RCS Marketing 101: Your Complete Guide
Discover how RCS marketing delivers rich, branded messages that drive engagement for your business.
SMS marketing works, but let’s be honest: it feels a bit outdated compared to modern apps.
But what if you could send rich, interactive messages with branded content, images, buttons, and carousels straight to your customers’ native messaging apps?
Rich communication services (RCS) makes that possible.
If you’re ready to explore how RCS marketing can transform your engagement strategy, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know. Let’s get started.
What is RCS marketing?
RCS marketing uses rich communication services to send interactive, branded messages through a customer’s default messaging app. It’s a modern upgrade to SMS that lets businesses share images, buttons, carousels, and more — all without needing third-party apps.
A user on Reddit summed up this perfectly:
RCS lets you send messages that are visually branded with logos and colors while remaining interactive. This turns static updates into an app-like experience inside a message.
This shift is part of a broader industry move, led by Google and backed by major mobile carriers, to upgrade messaging infrastructure and make RCS the default standard on Android devices.
As support continues to grow, businesses are adopting RCS as part of their customer engagement strategy. Platforms like Plivo make that adoption easier with a reliable, enterprise-grade gateway to deliver rich, reliable RCS campaigns at scale.
RCS vs. SMS marketing: A quick comparison
Marketers today are looking for ways to deliver more interactive and visual communication, and RCS is clearly leading the way.
While SMS still works well for simple alerts, it lacks the creativity and engagement that RCS marketing offers.
Let’s take a quick look at RCS vs. SMS marketing.
4 key benefits of RCS marketing
RCS marketing makes messaging feel more natural for both you and your customers. And since you can see what’s working and what’s not, it’s easier to pivot your strategy and get better results.
Here are its four key benefits.
1. Improved user interaction
One of the biggest advantages of RCS marketing is how seamless it makes the experience for your customers. Instead of typing out replies or clicking a link to open a website, users can just tap a button right inside the message.
Want them to book a demo, check order status, or browse products? It’s all possible with just a tap.
Fewer steps mean less effort, and that leads to more people following through. In fact, individuals spend up to 37 seconds engaging with RCS messages, which is a lot longer than most other types of mobile messaging.
That extra time and interaction can make all the difference when you’re trying to convert interest into action.
2. Consistent brand experience
RCS marketing doesn’t just tell people who you are — it shows them.
Verified business profiles help people know they’re getting messages from the real brand. Every message shows your brand’s logo, name, colors, and a checkmark. These small details make it clear that the message is coming from a genuine source.
This consistency matters because 88% of people are more likely to buy from a brand they trust.
3. In-depth analytics
With RCS marketing, you can track open rates, button clicks, and how people interact with each part of your message.
You get clear visibility into what’s working and where users are dropping off.
This makes it much easier to measure the return on investment (ROI) and fine-tune your campaigns. The more you understand how people engage, the better you can shape your messaging for results.
4. Higher conversion potential
RCS marketing makes it easier for customers to take action — whether that’s browsing products, booking a service, or making a purchase — all within the message itself.
With fewer clicks and no need to switch apps, the path to conversion feels effortless. And when it’s that easy, more people follow through.
For example, EaseMyTrip used RCS to run a post-COVID travel survey. They added quick-tap answer options and followed up with a thank-you coupon. The campaign saw a 4x higher click-through rate than email, 10x more survey completions, and a 2.7% increase in conversion rate.
5 major use cases of RCS marketing
Here are five major use cases showing how brands are using RCS marketing effectively.
1. Product promotions
RCS makes product promotions feel more like browsing a store than reading a message. Brands can send image carousels that customers can swipe through to explore new arrivals, check product details, and see what’s available without leaving their messaging app.
2. Abandoned cart reminders
The average cart abandonment rate is over 70%, which means most shoppers never make it to the finish line. RCS marketing can help bring them back by making the reminder more engaging and easier to act on.
You can send a message that shows exactly what they left behind, along with a clear button to complete the purchase. It’s visual, straightforward, and the entire experience stays within their messaging app.
3. Appointment confirmations and reminders
A PhD thesis from Manchester Metropolitan University found that forgetfulness is the most common reason people skip their appointments.
RCS makes it easier for both businesses and customers to stay on the same page. You can send a message that shows the appointment details along with a simple calendar view. Add buttons to confirm, reschedule, or cancel — all within the chat.
4. Customer surveys and feedback
Getting feedback is important, but most customers lack the time or patience to complete lengthy forms. RCS marketing makes it easier by allowing brands to ask short, targeted questions and receive quick responses.
Plus, the rich features of RCS let you include images, ratings, or multiple-choice options, making feedback feel more like a conversation.
5. Customer support follow-ups
After a support request is resolved, following up shows customers you care and helps close the loop on their experience. But if the follow-up message gets buried in an email inbox or goes unnoticed, that opportunity to connect is lost.
With RCS marketing, you can send a quick message to check if everything’s working fine. You can include helpful buttons like “Change Password,” “Manage Account,” or “Talk to Support.”
RCS marketing myths and realities
Despite RCS marketing’s growing adoption and proven results, some common misconceptions still hold businesses back from trying it. Let’s look at a few of the biggest myths and what’s actually true.
Myth 1: RCS marketing is too expensive
At first glance, RCS business messaging can seem like a pricey upgrade. Rich visuals, tap-to-action buttons, and branded layouts look premium, so it’s easy to assume they come with a hefty cost.
But cost alone doesn’t tell the full story.
What you get in return matters more. RCS drives significantly stronger engagement with higher click-through rates, increased interactions, and better overall outcomes.
Take Club Comex, the loyalty program of North American paint brand Comex. They sent two rich and interactive RCS campaigns to their members and saw a 10x higher click-through rate, which helped increase revenue by 115%.
That’s the value side of the equation. Better targeting and richer content mean more people click, engage, and convert.
Myth 2: RCS marketing doesn’t reach enough users to be worth it
This concern made sense in the early days of RCS, when adoption was still catching up. But the landscape looks very different now.
In June 2024, the 12-month growth of RCS users reached 36.3%, showing faster uptake than other messaging channels. More Android devices support RCS by default, and it’s being rolled out across more networks globally. Even Apple has announced support, which means RCS is on track to reach a massive number of smartphone users worldwide.
With that kind of growth and widespread support, the hesitation around RCS is starting to fade. Brands can confidently invest in RCS marketing knowing it will connect with more customers than ever before.
Myth 3: RCS gets treated like spam and ends up ignored just like emails
Unlike email, RCS messages appear directly in the user’s primary messaging app alongside personal conversations. They include rich media and interactive elements, making them more engaging and less likely to be ignored.
This creates a more natural, conversational experience that drives higher open and response rates than traditional marketing channels.
Why choose Plivo for your RCS marketing needs
With RCS, you can turn simple messages into rich, branded conversations that feel more like chatting than broadcasting.
Plivo gives you the tools to make that shift without the hassle. From verified messaging to smart automation, everything works together to help you connect better and respond faster.
When combined with AI Agents and a unified customer data platform, RCS becomes more than just messaging. You can deliver personalized experiences at scale, automate everyday interactions, and keep conversations flowing without lifting a finger.
Here’s what you get with Plivo’s RCS API:
- Real-time personalization: AI Agents tailor conversations using customer profiles and behavior triggers to improve engagement and conversions.
- Multi-channel fallback: If RCS isn’t supported, messages automatically switch to SMS to ensure delivery and maintain consistent communication.
- Conversational automation: AI Agents handle FAQs, process orders, schedule deliveries, and route complex queries within RCS.
- All-in-one messaging platform: Manage RCS, SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, and more from a single dashboard.
- Reliable performance: 99.99% uptime and global infrastructure keep your campaigns running smoothly.
With Plivo’s no-code tools, you can quickly launch AI-powered RCS messaging across channels and deliver a consistent customer experience from day one.
See how you can launch your first RCS marketing campaign with Plivo by requesting a demo today!
WhatsApp Agent Setup: How to Launch AI-Powered Conversations at Scale
Learn how WhatsApp agent setup works using Plivo to launch AI-powered, no-code agents that handle support, sales, and engagement at scale.
Your customers are on WhatsApp but are your agents?
If you’re still relying on manual replies, scripted chatbots, or email follow-ups, you’re leaving response time and revenue on the table.
The smarter path? AI-powered WhatsApp agents. They’re full-service, no-code agents that can resolve issues, qualify leads, and send personalized offers 24/7.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through WhatsApp agent setup using Plivo and understand how these agents help you automate conversations that convert.
What is a WhatsApp AI agent?
A WhatsApp AI agent is an automation designed to operate over the WhatsApp Business API. Unlike scripted bots, agents are built to understand intent, pull in context from your internal systems, and complete business tasks like answering account-specific questions or initiating transactions.
Plivo’s WhatsApp AI agents can be trained to use your brand voice, integrated with your CRM or helpdesk, and customized to handle specific use cases, such as subscription renewals, cart recovery, refund processing, or customer onboarding.
They are accessible through a no-code interface and support a multilingual, omnichannel customer experience across WhatsApp, SMS, RCS, and voice.
What you need before setting up your agent
To go live with a WhatsApp agent, you need:
- A verified Meta Business Account
- An active WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) tied to a phone number
- Pre-approved message templates for outbound communication
- WhatsApp Business API access through a business solution provider (BSP) (Plivo offers this natively)
- A platform to design, train, and manage agents (Plivo Agent Studio)
Also read: How to Create WhatsApp Message Templates: A Complete Guide
Optional but recommended integrations:
- CRM (like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho)
- Helpdesk (like Zendesk or Freshdesk)
- E-commerce or billing tools (Shopify, Stripe, etc.)
Step-by-step: How to set up a WhatsApp agent with Plivo
Follow this step-by-step guide for a smooth WhatsApp agent setup with Plivo.
Step #1: Choose your primary use case and define agent scope
Don’t build a generic bot. Start with why you’re automating. This could be handling support queries, sending order updates, re-engaging inactive customers, or managing subscription renewals.
Plivo provides a library of prebuilt AI agents for common use cases like cart recovery, lead qualification, appointment reminders, and product recommendations. You can choose to use one as-is or customize it to fit your business process. Each agent is compatible with WhatsApp and designed to operate across channels as needed.
Step #2: Build the agent using Plivo’s no-code platform
Since your API access is already set up, you can begin building your agent in Plivo’s Agent Studio. This is a visual, drag-and-drop builder where you create conversation flows using blocks that represent actions, responses, conditions, and triggers.
You can structure your flow to respond to specific keywords, match customer intent, route inquiries to different departments, or escalate to a live agent when needed. Each step in the journey can include media-rich responses like buttons, product carousels, quick replies, and file attachments.
Beyond logic design, you can also configure fallback rules for when the agent is unsure, and add human handoff conditions to ensure escalations happen smoothly with full context transferred to the live agent.
This step allows you to fully customize the agent’s tone, workflow, and logic to reflect how your brand communicates.4
Step #3: Train your agent with AI
Plivo supports integration with internal systems like your CRM, order management platform, inventory tools, or helpdesk. This means your agent can access real-time customer data, past orders, preferences, and policies to deliver personalized responses.
You can also connect your knowledge base, including FAQs, SOPs, product documentation, or policy articles. These resources train the agent to respond accurately and contextually, without needing scripted answers.
For natural language understanding, Plivo gives you the flexibility to choose the AI model that powers your agent.
Step #4: Test, launch, and monitor your agent
Once your flow is built and trained, run controlled tests:
- Check for flow accuracy and intent matching
- Review how it handles incomplete or unclear inputs
- Test human handoff and see if the agent transfers the full context
Plivo’s real-time dashboard lets you:
- Monitor delivery, engagement, and satisfaction metrics
- Track where users drop off in conversations
- Identify areas to improve agent logic or content
- Compare campaign and agent performance across channels
After launch, your agent keeps learning. As more customers interact, you’ll gather insight to improve how it responds or what paths it offers.
Plivo is purpose-built for WhatsApp AI agent deployment
Plivo’s platform is designed to help you move from idea to live AI-powered engagement without requiring engineering support or external consultants. When you use Plivo for WhatsApp agent setup, you get:
- Access to prebuilt agents for sales, support, and engagement
- Intuitive no-code builder (Agent Studio) that puts you in control
- Deep integration with your business systems for real-time, contextual replies
- Support for the best LLMs on the market, so your agent is trained with intelligence
- Built-in compliance with WhatsApp’s policies and global data laws
- Unified interface to manage messaging across WhatsApp, SMS, RCS, and Voice
- Enterprise-grade infrastructure with 99.99% uptime and expert onboarding support
Automate outcomes with WhatsApp agent setup in Plivo
Smart WhatsApp automation starts with smart setup. With Plivo's no-code platform, you can automate customer conversations, boost sales, and scale support — all without a development team.
Plivo offers the tools to build agents that reflect your brand, the infrastructure to scale securely, and the intelligence to adapt with your customer needs.
Whether you're trying to cut support wait times, recover abandoned carts, or drive upsells through personalized outreach, a well-built WhatsApp agent can make it happen, and Plivo makes it achievable.
Ready to get started? Request a free trial today!
The Definitive Guide to Automating WhatsApp for Business
Learn how WhatsApp automation can simplify customer communication and scale operations. Know about its key benefits and use cases. Get started today.
Remember when WhatsApp was just a simple messaging app? Launched in 2009, it was a tool for friends and family to stay in touch.
Fast-forward to today, and WhatsApp has become a global powerhouse with over 3 billion monthly active users. Businesses worldwide leverage WhatsApp to connect with customers, share updates, and provide support.
Many businesses struggle to keep up with the growing volume of customer messages on WhatsApp. Manually handling inquiries, sending updates, or following up on leads can quickly become overwhelming and inefficient.
This is where WhatsApp automation steps in.
By automating repetitive messaging tasks, businesses can reduce manual workload, respond faster, and deliver more personalized, timely communication.
In this article, we'll explore what WhatsApp automation is, why it's essential for modern businesses, and how you can implement it to improve customer engagement and operational workflows.
What is WhatsApp automation?
WhatsApp automation is the use of technology to automatically send and manage messages on the platform, especially for business and customer engagement purposes.
It doesn’t require human intervention for every interaction. As a result, businesses can handle customer inquiries, deliver updates, and engage with prospects efficiently.
With WhatsApp business automation, you can:
- Auto-respond to FAQs and reduce ticket volume.
- Reduce customer support load with proactive messaging.
- Route complex support queries to live agents only when needed.
- Send order confirmations and delivery updates automatically.
- Share return instructions based on customer actions.
- Run re-engagement campaigns with smart timing.
- Integrate with Shopify, Magento, and more for real-time updates.
- Trigger workflows from CRMs or e-commerce platforms.
- Keep messaging compliant with auto opt-outs and logs.
Here’s a breakdown of the three main types of automated messaging on WhatsApp:
Key benefits of WhatsApp automation
By automating routine tasks, WhatsApp can help your business stay responsive and consistent across customer touchpoints. Here’s how it can benefit your business:
Reduce manual workloads and response times
When you automate WhatsApp interactions, every department, from marketing to customer service, runs more smoothly.
By automating routine tasks like order updates, FAQs, and customer inquiries, businesses can significantly reduce the manual effort required.
This means your team spends less time on repetitive tasks and more time focusing on high-priority interactions.
Increases the scalability of customer interactions
As your business grows, the number of customer interactions increases. Automation allows you to scale communication efforts without hiring additional staff or losing the personal touch.
Whether you're dealing with 50 or 5,000 customers, automated responses ensure that each inquiry is handled swiftly and consistently.
Enhances customer experience through personalization
Automated WhatsApp messages can be personalized based on customer data, creating a more relevant and tailored experience.
From addressing customers by name to offering product recommendations based on past purchases, personalization makes customers feel valued. This leads to higher engagement rates and improved loyalty.
Cost-effectiveness compared to manual processes
WhatsApp automation eliminates the need for large customer support teams and reduces the time spent on repetitive tasks.
This saves on operational costs and also leads to a more efficient allocation of resources.
5 popular use cases of WhatsApp automation across industries
Businesses everywhere are finding new ways to use WhatsApp automation. Here are five popular examples:
1. Customer support
Automating common FAQs and routine inquiries on WhatsApp helps customers get instant answers anytime. This reduces the number of tickets support teams have to handle, letting them focus on more complex problems.
2. E-commerce operations
Order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications keep customers informed every step of the way. Automating returns and collecting feedback via WhatsApp speeds up these processes and improves customer satisfaction.
3.Marketing and lead nurturing
Automated lead follow-ups ensure timely, consistent engagement with prospects, boosting conversion chances. Also, you can use personalized re-engagement campaigns to help bring back inactive customers with offers or updates tailored to their interests.
4.Event management and invitations
Automated WhatsApp invites, updates, and follow-ups keep your audience informed and engaged, boosting the attendance rate. This helps you stay connected and make every event a success.
5.Appointment scheduling and reminders
Timely reminders help customers remember appointments, reducing cancellations and improving the overall experience. Automation makes scheduling easier and more efficient for both businesses and customers.
Step-by-step guide to implement WhatsApp automation for your business
To successfully implement WhatsApp automation, follow these key steps that cover planning, setup, and optimization.
Step 1: Define your use cases and goals
Start by identifying which business functions, such as order updates, customer support, or lead follow-ups, will benefit most from automation.
Set clear, measurable goals like:
- Reducing response times
- Lowering manual workload
- Boosting customer engagement
This will guide your automation strategy and help you track success.
Also, ensure compliance from the start. WhatsApp requires businesses to obtain explicit customer opt-in before sending messages. To stay compliant:
- Use clear, transparent language when requesting consent.
- Collect opt-ins through channels like website forms, checkout flows, or click-to-chat ads.
- Log and manage consent within your systems for audit readiness.
Data privacy and compliance are essential for building trust and maintaining long-term customer relationships.
Step 2: Choose the right WhatsApp business API provider
Select a platform that fits your specific needs. Look for features like:
- Robust CRM integrations
- Audience segmentation
- Flexible automation workflows
These capabilities simplify your communication and scale your efforts efficiently.
Make segmentation a priority, use tagging and grouping strategies to target the right customers with the right messages.
With smart tagging and grouping, you can:
- Deliver personalized messages
- Engage the right people at the right time
- Improve conversion and retention
Step 3: Set up your WhatsApp business account
You must set up a verified WhatsApp Business account to use WhatsApp for automated messaging. This includes:
- Registering your business name and details.
- Verifying a dedicated phone number.
- Getting approval from Meta to use the WhatsApp Business API.
This ensures that your business is recognized as a legitimate sender.
Your WhatsApp API provider will typically assist with onboarding, including submitting documentation and setting up the technical aspects.
Some platforms also offer pre-built tools to help you manage mobile number registration, display name approval, and message template submissions.
Step 4: Create and submit message templates
Start by designing message templates for everyday customer interactions, such as:
- Promotional messages (e.g., limited-time offers)
- Transactional updates (e.g., order confirmations, delivery alerts)
- Support messages (e.g., ticket updates or issue resolution)
Each template must follow WhatsApp’s formatting and content policies.
Once your templates are ready, submit them through your WhatsApp API provider for Meta’s approval. Only approved templates can be used for proactive messaging.
Step 5: Build automation workflows
Now that your account and templates are ready, it’s time to connect WhatsApp with the rest of your tech stack. Integrate with:
- CRM systems (to access customer data)
- Support tools (for query management)
- E-commerce platforms (to track orders and actions)
Use event-based triggers, like a new order, a cart abandonment, or a support ticket, to automatically send relevant messages.
Additionally, plan for human fallback. Automation can’t handle everything. Build intelligent workflows that escalate to a human agent when:
- A customer requests help
- The query is too complex
- Sentiment detection flags a negative experience
This keeps your support experience smooth, responsive, and frustration-free.
Step 6: Test, launch, and optimize
Start with a pilot campaign to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Track key metrics:
- Response time
- Open rate
- Conversion rate
Use these insights to refine your workflows, improve message content, and adjust targeting.
Best practices for WhatsApp automation
Following some proven best practices is essential to get the most out of WhatsApp automation. Here’s what you need to know:
Tips for optimizing messaging frequency and timing
To keep your audience interested, it's vital to message thoughtfully and strategically. Here are some quick tips:
- Avoid over-messaging to prevent unsubscribes.
- Use analytics to identify when your audience is most active and receptive.
- Space out messages to keep it natural.
- Monitor response rates and adjust based on customer behavior and feedback.
Leverage data analytics for campaign performance
By tracking metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and response times, you gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t. Use this data to refine your messaging, target relevant audience segments, and optimize timing.
Regularly reviewing analytics helps you make informed decisions that boost engagement and drive better results over time.
Compliance and customer privacy protection
To protect your customers and stay compliant, focus on these key areas:
Enhance customer communication with Plivo’s AI WhatsApp automation
The growing demand for instant, tailored communication on WhatsApp puts pressure on businesses to respond quickly. Customers expect fast, personalized replies around the clock, and doing this manually often leads to delays, inconsistent service, and missed opportunities.
Finding a way to scale these conversations efficiently is critical for businesses looking to stay competitive.
That’s where Plivo comes in, an industry-leading omnichannel platform that automates and personalizes WhatsApp conversations, delivering timely responses at scale.
By leveraging Plivo’s WhatsApp AI agents, businesses can manage a wide range of customer communication tasks, from pre-sales inquiries to post-purchase support, without increasing their team size.
Here’s how Plivo can enhance your customer communication:
- Brand-aligned AI agents: You can customize the AI agents to reflect your brand’s voice, tone, and style. This makes all customer interactions align with your brand’s identity and deliver a personalized experience.
- AI customer service agent: Plivo’s AI agents work around the clock, ensuring your customers receive timely responses, regardless of the time zone. These agents process orders, resolve support issues, and answer questions.
- Natural, human-like conversations: With AI agents, you can engage in context-aware conversations, mimicking human interactions. They remember customer preferences and history to provide relevant responses like a human agent would.
- Simple, volume-based pricing: Plivo charges a flat fee per conversation rather than per message, making costs predictable and scalable. Volume discounts are available to lower your total spend as your messaging needs grow.
- Built-in compliance: Plivo ensures compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 standards.
- Guaranteed message delivery with fallback options: The platform delivers billions of messages annually and uses SMS and voice fallback channels to ensure your customers always receive important communications.
- 24/7 availability: Plivo's AI agents provide instant, 24/7 assistance, answering questions, processing orders, and resolving customer issues.
- Multilingual support: With support for 70+ languages, Plivo’s AI agents can engage with customers globally and offer a multilingual customer service experience.
- E-commerce platform integrations: Integrate seamlessly with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento to deliver a unified customer experience across all touchpoints.
With Plivo’s vast carrier network spanning over 220 countries, businesses can significantly cut SMS costs by up to 70% while achieving threefold returns on investment.
Many companies using Plivo CX have experienced remarkable results, earning an outstanding $71 for every dollar invested in their SMS marketing efforts.
Book a free demo today and see how Plivo’s AI WhatsApp agents can change your customer communication strategy.
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Announcing Geo Permissions for Outbound Voice Calls
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
Plivo’s new Geo Permissions for outbound voice calls protects you and your customers from telecom fraud — a global menace that costs companies billions of dollars in losses every year. Geo Permissions lets you restrict the list of countries your users can call.
Geo Permissions addresses several problems that could result in unnecessary and unwanted charges for your voice calls:
- Toll fraud: International revenue sharing fraud (IRSF), also known as toll fraud, is a scheme where fraudsters generate a high volume of international calls on premium rate phone numbers.
- Incorrect destination: A misdirected call may be the result of an incorrect destination number format, including dialing the wrong prefix or dropping the international country code. Dialing “1-415**” reaches a destination in California, while “41-5**” reaches a destination in Switzerland.
- Abuse on trial accounts: Anonymous users can sign up for trial accounts and route phone calls to premium destination numbers.
We’ve added two features on our console to combat this menace.
Outbound voice call geo permissions
Let’s say your businesses requires calls in North America only. By disabling calls to all other continents you can minimize the risk of fraud. Similarly, if you’re running an inbound call center or your use case doesn’t involve outbound calls, you can block routes as a precautionary measure.
Manage your geo preferences by visiting the Voice > Geo Permissions page on the console. We’ve written complete instructions on how to manage geo permissions, and answered common questions in our support portal.
Your preferences kick in immediately, and apply to all calls initiated via Plivo APIs and Dial XML.
Calling premium numbers
We recommend blocking calls to premium numbers if your use case doesn’t involve calling them. You can do this from the High Risk Permissions tab of the Geo Permissions page.
Overriding preferences for specific subaccounts
Default preferences apply to all calls initiated from the main account and all subaccounts, but you can you can override geo and premium number preferences at the subaccount level. To specify preferences for a subaccount, select the subaccount from the Accounts drop-down, key in the preferences, and save.
Visibility on calls being blocked by geo permissions
API calls to blocked countries are rejected with HTTP response code 403 and the error message “Calls to this destination country are barred.”
Calls initiated with Dial XML are dropped automatically. The hangup cause in the call detail record for such calls is set to “Destination Country Barred (Code 2030).”
Differences between existing and new Plivo account
For existing customers, we remember and retain your preferences. All countries have been kept open by default. Destinations blocked in the past remain blocked.
New customers have these countries enabled:
- North America: US, Canada, Mexico
- South America: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile
- Asia: India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Israel, UAE, Philippines, Singapore
- Europe: EU nations
- Africa: None
- Oceania: Australia, New Zealand
All other countries are blocked by default, but you can change these preferences.
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Announcing Zentrunk Outbound — Enterprise-Grade SIP Trunking
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
We’re excited to announce the general availability of Zentrunk, Plivo’s enterprise-grade SIP trunking platform.
SIP trunking has been around for many years, but many enterprises that need to connect to the PSTN network from their telecom infrastructure still use old legacy connections or providers. In part, that’s likely because SIP trunking used to involve long manual provisioning times, restricted capacity, limited feature sets, and extended contract negotiations.
Zentrunk is a modern approach to SIP trunking that enables instant provisioning of SIP trunks, virtually infinite cloud scale, and global reach, all powered by an intelligent routing engine on the back end.
If you have your own telecom infrastructure, whether it’s a cloud-based communications platform or on-premises equipment, Zentrunk is for you. Zentrunk enables you to connect your existing telecom infrastructure to the PSTN without any restriction on the number of concurrent calls. Simply put, Zentrunk provides you with PSTN connectivity across 200 countries with zero contracts, pay-per-call pricing, and unlimited capacity.
Unique benefits of Zentrunk
Whether you’re looking to add a high-capacity carrier that can support your growth or just add a reliable cloud-based trunk to backstop your existing setup, Zentrunk gets you started instantly.
Global coverage: You can connect with customers over phone calls without having to deal with individual telecom carriers in 200+ locations.
Scalability: Zentrunk lets you make unlimited concurrent calls, so you can scale your business phone system without worrying about capacity planning or channel limits, and extend your on-premises capabilities to the cloud and keep all your business logic.
High quality: Zentrunk’s intelligent call routing engine ensures that all of your calls are routed using a local carrier based on real-time quality metrics including average call duration (ACD) and answer seizure ratio (ASR). Zentrunk has points of presence (PoP) across seven regions (California, Virginia, Frankfurt, Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, São Paulo) across five continents to ensure that you experience low latency and high voice quality.
Security: Your calls can connect securely with IP authentication and credential-based validation. Zentrunk offers Transport Layer Security (TLS) for signaling encryption and Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) for media encryption.
Transparent pricing: Create trunks with unlimited channels and no minimum commitments. Pay for voice minutes only. Pay by standard billing intervals of six seconds in US and Canada and one second in most countries. Make your billing and reporting simpler, so you have better visibility into what you’re spending on telecom and have fewer vendors to manage.
Getting started with Zentrunk
The biggest benefit of Zentrunk is ease of setup. Zentrunk lets you provision SIP trunks instantly through an intuitive user interface. Our getting started guide shows you how easy it is to connect your IP PBX or SBC to Zentrunk and start making calls.
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Introducing Enhanced Destination Number Validation for SMS
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
We’ve added enhanced destination number validation to the Plivo SMS API platform. Plivo can now identify invalid and non-SMS-enabled destination numbers, and also fix incorrect formats of destination numbers.
This update brings multiple benefits to our customers. Since we won’t accept messages for delivery to invalid destination numbers, we won’t charge for them either, which means cost savings straight away.
Synchronous handling for invalid numbers
SMS API requests to invalid and non-SMS-enabled numbers will be rejected with a 400 Bad Request API response, and developers can propagate the invalidation error upstream easily. To see how this works, consider a one-time password use case:
- User requests OTP on an invalid destination number.
- Application initiates a Send SMS API request.
- Plivo returns 400 Bad Request response synchronously.
- Application displays “invalid number” error to user.
Format correction for phone numbers
Plivo can also reformat incorrectly formatted phone numbers in an intelligent way. For example:
Scenario 1: A user enters the Lithuanian number 370860112345. Plivo reformats it to the E.164 international format +37060112345 before it’s forwarded to downstream carriers. Notice the missing 8 in the formatted number: 8 is only required when dialing a Lithuanian number from inside Lithuania.
Scenario 2: A user enters the Mexican number 520455512345678. Plivo reformats it to the E.164 international format +5215512345678. Notice that 045 has been replaced by 1. The prefix 045 is only to be used when dialing a domestic cell phone from a landline; 521 is the prefix for mobile phone numbers in E.164 format.
Enabling enhanced destination number validation
All new Plivo customers have enhanced destination number validation for SMS enabled by default. Existing customers can enable enhanced destination number validation from the SMS settings page of the Plivo console. We recommend all our customers enable it.
Note: Landlines in the US, Canada, and the UK can be enabled for SMS, so Plivo will not reject SMS messages to landline numbers in these countries.
With Amazon Polly, Plivo Supports 27 Languages and 40+ Text-to-Speech Voices
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
Plivo now supports Amazon Polly, with more than 40 voices, 27 languages, and new APIs to give developers control over synthesized speech output in applications that use text-to-speech. With Amazon Polly, developers can control the volume, pitch, rate, and pronunciation of the voices that interact with their users.
Text-to-speech is an important tool in a developer’s armory. It allows developers to create interactive voice applications by generating speech dynamically, rather than playing prerecorded media files. But with simple text-to-speech, developers can only choose from a basic male or female voice in a subset of languages, without pauses, tonal modulations, or other qualities that a natural speech possesses. The result is often mechanical-sounding speech, in a limited set of languages, without any choice of voice or tones. That doesn’t provide a lifelike experience to customers.
Enter Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML), designed by the W3C to provide an XML-based markup language to assist in generating natural-sounding synthesized speech. Amazon Polly is the world leader in SSML speech synthesis.
For text-to-speech, listening is believing. Listen to the difference between basic text-to-speech vs. Amazon Polly:
With Amazon Polly’s dozens of lifelike voices across a variety of languages, you can now select the ideal voice, adjust speech rate, pitch, loudness, and even emphasis to provide a localized voice experience to your customers.
Integrating advanced text-to-speech in your application with Plivo
To synthesize SSML speech on Plivo, simply specify one of the many Amazon Polly voices in the voice attribute of Plivo’s <Speak> XML. Note that Polly voices must be namespaced with Polly.
For example:
We’ve created a Getting Started with SSML page that documents the SSML tags supported for use in Plivo’s XML and lists the Amazon Polly voices supported for use with Plivo XML. Check it out to see what’s possible SSML and Amazon Polly.
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Dynamically Caching Audio Files for Superior Voice Experience
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
Fetching a resource over the network can be slow and expensive — which makes the ability to cache and reuse previously fetched audio resources a critical tool for optimizing for performance. Plivo has always allowed caching of audio files, but we see very different usage patterns. Some customers use a single audio file for months; others change an audio file every five minutes. A single audio caching philosophy can’t cover such diverse use cases. To address this, we’re introducing user-controlled audio file caching. You can choose to store your audio files on our servers for a duration of your choice.
Modifying the caching behavior of your audio files doesn’t require any changes in the Plivo application. Our implementation is based on standard client-side caching directives for RESTful communication over HTTP. All you need to do is ensure that each server response provides the correct HTTP header directives in the Cache-Control response header to instruct our servers when and for how long to cache the audio resource. You have three options: no-cache, no-store, and max-age.
no-cache indicates that the returned response can’t be used to satisfy a subsequent request to the same URL without first checking with the server to see whether the response has changed. Responding with Cache-Control: no-cache ensures Plivo always checks whether the file has changed.
no-store is simpler — it tells the server and all intermediate caches not to store any version of the returned response. Responding with Cache-Control: no-store ensures Plivo doesn’t maintain a local copy of the file in its cache, and always requests the resource from your web server.
Responding with Cache-Control: max-age=<new max-age value in seconds> tells Plivo to cache the returned audio file for a specified period of time. Plivo will consider its cached copy stale after the specified number of seconds (max-age value) have elapsed.
Validating cached responses with ETags
Suppose that max-age seconds have passed since the initial fetch and Plivo has initiated a new request for the same resource. First, Plivo checks the local cache and finds the previous response, but we can’t use it because the response has now expired. At this point Plivo could dispatch a new request and fetch the new full response, but that would be inefficient because if the resource hasn’t changed, there’s no reason to download the same information that’s already in the cache.
Validation tokens, specified in an ETag header, are designed to address this situation. The ETag value of a resource is typically an MD5 hash or some other fingerprint of the contents of the file.
Plivo sets the If-None-Match request header to the ETag value of the resource in its cache, allowing your web server to respond with a new version or a 304 Not Modified response to instruct Plivo to use its cached version. This enables more efficient resource update checks, as no data is transferred if the resource has not changed.
For optimal voice quality on calls, Plivo uses multiple media servers and accesses the one closest to the physical location of the user to cut latency. Every Plivo media server maintains its own local cache, which means that the first call landing on any new Plivo media server will always result in a cache miss.
Introducing Default Call Queuing, Plus Increased Visibility into Outbound Calls
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
As part of our latest Voice product release, we’re introducing default queuing for outbound calls, as well as two new APIs to provide more visibility into your calls.
Before now, you needed to throttle calls per second (CPS) and queue outbound calls at your end, or you could request that our support team activate throttling and queuing for your account. Now we’re enabling them by default. Your calls will be queued in the calling sequence and initiated per the CPS set for your account.
If you’re a new user or you signed up on or after September 24, 2018, outbound API call queuing is enabled by default, and the default CPS is two calls per second. If you require a higher CPS rate, please contact Plivo support. We can provide higher CPS at a monthly price and based on your use case.
If you’re an existing Plivo customer and don’t have throttling enabled already, contact our customer support team to get started. We haven’t enabled this feature for existing customer accounts to avoid a sudden change in account behavior.
New APIs for queued outbound calls
We’re also introducing two new APIs to provide customers visibility into their queued calls:
Retrieve all queued calls: Overall queue management at any given time
Retrieve a queued call: To fetch details of a particular queued call
Don’t have a Plivo account? Sign up for free.
Plivo Browser SDK Adds Support for Multiple Incoming Calls
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
Today’s latest release of the Plivo Browser SDK includes support for handling multiple incoming calls. This feature gives developers control of calls that arrive on agent endpoints while agents are talking to other customers. The ability to handle multiple incoming calls helps agents manage and answer calls based on priority, caller ID, and context, thereby improving overall customer experience.
As part of this new version, we’re introducing a new call management mode that, when enabled, ensures incoming calls are never silently rejected. Instead, agents are presented with the option to accept, reject, or ignore the incoming call, thus ensuring better call management.
Activating multiple incoming call mode
Before today, incoming calls would be silently rejected if the destination endpoint was engaged in another call. Now, you can set a new configuration parameter, allowMultipleIncomingCalls, to true to enable multiple incoming calls when you initialize the SDK. (The default value is false, to be consistent with past behavior.)
const options = { allowMultipleIncomingCalls: true };
Call center agents may face two scenarios when the multiple incoming call feature is set to true, and a couple of things can happen:
Scenario 1: Agent is already on a call
Scenario 2: Agent is available, but multiple calls are ringing simultaneously
To accept one incoming call and handle others coming in, your application can use this code:
How I Built a Business-Ready Virtual Receptionist using PHLO
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
When clients and prospects ring your phone number, you need to have someone answering their calls. That “someone” could be an auto-attendant phone system — a prerecorded or computer-generated voice that serves as your business’s virtual receptionist. Virtual receptionists are cost-effective, provide a professional impression to customers, and are easy to integrate.
I looked at the most popular business phone systems that include an auto-attendant feature. I found no consistency in terms of the features they offer or the price, other than the more you pay, the more features you get — and if you choose a solution, you’re contractually bound to them and get only the features they offer.
My research inspired me to attempt and build a virtual receptionist using PHLO, Plivo’s visual workflow design studio. I created a call flow based on interactive voice response (IVR) and extension-based call forwarding to meet my needs, and if I need to customize it further, I can do that.
Basic IVR
In my setup, basic IVR greets callers with a welcome message and offers choices for the caller. We’ve written a getting started guide to using PHLO for IVR, which I used as a springing-off point — look to that for the step-by-step setup process.
I entered the text that explains to callers key to press to reach our sales team and which for support. Alternately, you can upload an MP3 file that does the same thing. I connected the IVR menu choices to the next logical action — I dragged Call Forward components to the canvas and connected to them.
Extension-based call forwarding
To implement extension-based call forwarding, I used a third number from the IVR Menu component with a voice prompt to tell callers, “If you know your party’s extension, please press 3.” If the caller does that, we then need to prompt them to enter the extension, then capture the digits they enter. I dragged the Get Input component to the canvas and set up a voice prompt on it.
Get Input captures entered digits and passes on to the next node — in this case a Branch component that compares the input and sets up the next action…
… which here is a Play Audio component prompt to inform the caller where the call is getting forwarded to, followed by a Call Forward component.
I named the PHLO, validated it, and saved it. Finally, following the steps in the guide, I attached the PHLO to a phone number from my Plivo account, and my virtual receptionist was ready to go.
Our auto-attendant worked great — and that was just the start! I built many other features on top of this basic setup, including SMS acknowledgement for callers, voicemail for callback, and time-based routing.
To try PHLO yourself, sign up for a free trial account.
Introducing Authentication for Call Recordings
Plivo's SMS API and Voice API enables businesses to communicate with their customers at global scale. Sign up for free now.
Each call recording on Plivo is stored encrypted with a unique hard-to-guess URL. Users who have the proper access rights to the URL can download and listen to the call recordings. This setup works for most customers that need to share recordings with third-party service providers or applications for post processing, including voice analytics. Some customers, however, need to comply with industry guidelines or regional regulations for data protection, and therefore require a stronger security mechanism for accessing and sharing call recordings. Plivo’s new authentication for call recordings offers an additional layer of security.
When you log in to your Plivo console and navigate to Voice > Recordings, you can see that basic auth for recording URLs is disabled by default. We do this to ensure that we don’t break any of our customers’ console settings by enabling authentication as a default option.
Here are a few code samples to fetch call recordings when auth is disabled:
Enabling authentication for recordings
When you enable basic auth for recordings, Plivo authenticates all API requests for the recording resources hosted on our platform, and you must use your Auth ID and Auth Token to access call recordings. As a best practice, we recommend you enable auth if you don’t have to share your media files publicly. Enabling this feature has other advantages, such as adhering to regulations and compliance for specific regions, providing secure access to authorized personnel, and protecting your media files from public access.
Account admins can enable or disable auth settings at any time.
Here are a few code samples to fetch call recordings once you enable basic auth:
Authentication is applicable only to call recordings made after May 24. Earlier recordings cannot be authenticated.
For more information about call recordings, see our documentation.
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