Voice & calls

Overview

Signals includes built-in voice calling. Calls flow through WebRTC (in-browser softphone) and PSTN (traditional phone network) so your team can answer from anywhere: browser, PWA, or forwarded to a cell phone.

Voice is available on all plans (Core, Pro, Enterprise).

Phone number types

Numbers are provisioned through the Phone Setup wizard or by your account admin. Each tenant can have one primary inbound number.

Call flow

Here's what happens when someone calls your number:

Caller dials your number
  → Welcome greeting plays
  → Recording consent (if enabled)
  → Ring group agents ring (based on routing strategy)
  → Agent answers → whisper announcement plays → call bridges
  → If no answer → voicemail (if enabled)
  → If no answer + no voicemail → overflow actions trigger

Whisper announcement: Before the call connects, the agent hears a short message: "Call for [Business Name]." This tells the agent which business line the call is for, especially useful if agents handle multiple accounts.

Routing strategies

Configure your strategy in Voice & Channels → Phone → Routing.

Ring groups

A ring group is the set of people who receive incoming calls.

Members can be:

• WebRTC agents: answer in the browser softphone (added by email, must have a Signals account)
• Phone members: forward to an external number (cell, desk phone, answering service)

Max legs: The system rings up to the configured number of agents simultaneously (default varies by routing strategy).

Agent presence

Agents control their availability:

Status is visible in the ring group member list and updates in real-time.

Voicemail

When voicemail is enabled and no one answers:

1. The voicemail greeting plays (TTS with your chosen voice)
2. A beep sounds (configurable)
3. The caller records their message (up to the max duration you set)
4. The recording is saved and encrypted

Auto-transcription: When enabled, voicemails are transcribed to text. The transcription appears in the Work Queue alongside the audio recording. Transcriptions also feed into the routing pipeline, where AI can classify voicemail intent and score the lead.

Call recording

• Automatic: all calls are recorded by default when recording is enabled
• Consent-based: if recording consent is enabled, a message plays at the start of the call. Callers who don't consent are connected but not recorded.
• Encrypted: recordings are stored in S3 with KMS encryption at rest
• Playback: recordings play via presigned URLs in the Call History page and conversation timeline
• HIPAA compliant: for HIPAA tenants, recordings are encrypted with tenant-specific keys and access is audited

Call history

The Call History page shows a complete log of all calls.

Filters:

• Date range: today, this week, this month, all time, or custom range
• Disposition: completed, missed, voicemail, transferred

Each call record shows:

• Date, time, and duration
• Caller name and number (if known)
• Direction (inbound/outbound)
• Disposition
• Recording playback button
• Transcription (for voicemails)

Missed call handling

When a call goes unanswered and voicemail isn't left (or voicemail is disabled):

• Auto-SMS: send an automatic text to the caller: "Sorry we missed your call."
• Auto-callback task: create a follow-up task in the Work Queue
• Routing rules: missed calls generate a missed_call signal that flows through your routing pipeline. You can build rules that trigger specific actions for missed calls.

All three can be enabled simultaneously in Voice & Channels → Phone → Overflow.

After-hours and holiday calls

Calls outside business hours follow your after-hours configuration:

• After-hours greeting: plays instead of the standard welcome greeting
• Direct to voicemail: skip ringing agents and go straight to voicemail
• Routing rules: the _is_after_hours condition lets you build rules that fire only for after-hours calls

Business hours are configured in Settings → Business Hours. See Business Hours for details.

Caller ID

When calls forward to an agent's cell phone, the caller ID shows the original caller's number, not the Signals business number. This lets agents see who's calling and return calls directly.

Softphone

The softphone is a built-in browser phone. See Use the Softphone for the full guide.

Related guides

• Set up phone & voice: initial phone setup wizard
• Use the softphone: in-browser calling controls
• Manage notifications: configure call alerts
• Routing Rules: build rules that trigger on missed calls, voicemails, and after-hours calls