When you set up Voice AI, it helps to understand how the inbound call flow works so you can get the most out of your AI agent. There are a few different scenarios that determine when your Voice AI agent joins a phone call. You can have the agent pick up every call immediately, or have it step in only when a call has reached your voicemail or timed out.
Your setup depends on one main question: do you forward your inbound calls to an office line or cell phone, or not? This article walks through both options so your Voice AI agent answers calls exactly when you want it to.
Note on PHI: Don't enter protected health information (PHI) into Voice AI. AI features aren't approved for processing PHI — use them for productivity, communication, scheduling, and engagement, not to store or process medical records. See the HIPAA Compliance guide for details.
Before you decide how your call flow should behave, it helps to know where the call forwarding setting lives. You'll find it in the configuration for each of your phone numbers.
Click Settings in your account.
Open the Phone Numbers tab.
The list of available numbers for your account appears under the Manage Numbers tab.
Click the three dots beside the number you want to configure.
Click Edit Configuration in the pop-up.
In the configuration window, you'll see the Forward Calls To option. This is where call forwarding is turned on or off for that number.
Sending your inbound calls directly to your Voice AI agent can be a great fit — the most common reason is simply that you're too busy to answer the phone all day. In that case, your Voice AI agent acts like a dedicated front-desk employee: answering calls, capturing leads, and collecting caller contact details so you can follow up later.
Important: If you do NOT use call forwarding and you're using Voice AI agents, the Voice AI agent will ALWAYS pick up the call — unless the phone number assigned to the AI agent is your DEFAULT account phone number.
To set up your call flow so your AI agent always picks up the inbound call:
Do NOT assign your default account phone number to your AI agent.
Do NOT assign call forwarding to the phone number assigned to your AI agent.
If you forward inbound calls to your office or cell phone, you'll need to adjust your setup slightly so your Voice AI agent still answers when you're unavailable.
To set up your call flow so your AI agent picks up missed calls, use one of the following:
Assign your default account phone number to your AI agent.
Assign call forwarding to the phone number assigned to your AI agent.
Important: No matter which option you choose, we recommend reducing the Inbound Call Timeout period so the inbound caller never reaches your local voicemail. If the caller reaches your local voicemail, the call is marked as "completed" and your Voice AI agent will not answer it.
Call forwarding controls which calls reach your Voice AI agent. Working hours add a second layer on top of that: they control when the agent is allowed to answer at all, regardless of how the number is routed. Working hours are configured per agent, so different agents (a front-desk line versus an after-hours line, for example) can each run on their own schedule.
You have two options:
All Hours: the agent stays available around the clock.
Custom Schedule: the agent only answers during the specific days and time ranges you define. A custom schedule can extend through midnight.
To set working hours for a Voice AI agent:
Go to AI Agents > Voice AI.
Create a new Voice AI agent or edit an existing one.
Click the Deploy tab.
Locate Working Hours.
Select All Hours or Custom Schedule.
If you choose Custom Schedule, use the day chips to select the active days, then set a start and end time for each one. Use the copy option to apply one day's hours to other active days, or the bin icon to clear a day.
Click Save.
If a call comes in outside the agent's working hours, it follows whatever fallback you've set up for that number, such as your local voicemail or another forwarding destination, so it's worth reviewing your call forwarding setup above alongside any custom schedule you create.
When does my Voice AI agent answer a call?
It depends on your setup. Without call forwarding, the agent answers immediately on any number that isn't your default account number. With call forwarding, the agent answers the calls you miss — so make sure the call doesn't roll to your local voicemail first.
Why isn't my Voice AI agent picking up missed calls?
The most common reason is that the caller is reaching your local voicemail before the agent can step in. Once a call hits your voicemail, it's marked as "completed" and the agent won't answer. Lower the Inbound Call Timeout so the call routes to your AI agent instead of your voicemail.
Can my Voice AI agent answer on my default account number?
If you want the agent to answer immediately, do not use your default account number for it. The default number behaves differently and will prevent the agent from always picking up. Use a non-default number for an always-answer setup, or assign call forwarding when you want the agent to catch missed calls.
Can I limit when my Voice AI agent is available to answer calls?
Yes. Each Voice AI agent has its own Working Hours setting on the Deploy tab. Choose All Hours to keep it available at all times, or Custom Schedule to set specific active days and time ranges. This is separate from call forwarding, so review both settings together to control your full call flow.
Can different Voice AI agents have different working hours?
Yes. Working hours are set per agent, so you can give a front-desk agent one schedule and an after-hours or overflow agent a different one.
