Definition
AI voice agent
An AI voice agent is an AI that makes and answers real phone calls — holding a natural, full-duplex conversation, qualifying the caller, booking meetings, detecting voicemail, and following up — rather than playing a recorded menu.
A production AI voice agent handles both inbound and outbound calls over the phone network, speaks and listens in real time (including handling interruptions), and can transfer to a human when needed. The most useful ones also book on a calendar during the call and update the CRM afterward.
A key decision is whether you want a developer voice API you build on, or a voice agent that lives inside a CRM with the automation and follow-up already connected. Ooperon takes the latter approach.