Note: this feature is only useful on outbound calls, which are disabled by default. Please contact us through Discord or at support@vocode.dev to discuss enabling outbound calls for your account! The Vocode API has many tools for agents to interact with IVRs (interactive voice responses) - navigating phone trees is one of the primary use-cases of the API.

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IVR navigation mode

When starting an outbound call, set ivr_navigation_mode to default - this allows the bot to stay silent while on hold. Vocode bots also automatically end the call after the conversation has been idle (i.e. no words on both sides) for 30 seconds: setting ivr_navigation_mode to default increases this threshold to 10 minutes. 
vocode_client.calls.create_call(
    from_number="<YOUR VOCODE NUMBER>",
    to_number="15555555555",
    agent=CreateCallAgentParams(
        ...,
        ivr_navigation_mode="default"
    ),
)

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DTMF action

The DTMF action allows the bot to hit dial tones (e.g. to navigate phone tree nodes where an IVR says “Press 1 for …”). 
vocode_client.calls.create_call(
    from_number="<YOUR VOCODE NUMBER>",
    to_number="15555555555",
    agent=CreateCallAgentParams(
        actions=[DtmfActionParams(type="action_dtmf")],
        ...
    ),
)

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Transfer call action

The Transfer call action allows the bot to transfer to a human agent. 
vocode_client.calls.create_call(
    from_number="<YOUR VOCODE NUMBER>",
    to_number="15555555555",
    agent=CreateCallAgentParams(
        actions=[TransferCallActionParams(type="action_transfer_call", config=TransferCallConfig(
            phone_number="11234567890"
        ))],
        ...
    ),
)

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On the horizon

We plan to introduce more dials here, for example:
  • More configurability around allowed idle time of the conversation
  • Human detection - i.e. behavior when a human picks up the phone after the bot navigates the phone tree