Set up the AI Phone Agent

With the AI Phone Agent, an AI agent calls new leads within minutes after they sent your form and agreed to the call. It asks your questions and writes the result and the answers to the entry. This guide takes you once through the whole setup, from the ElevenLabs account to the first real call. Plan about 20 minutes if your Twilio number is already active.

Requirements

• Funnelforms Pro. This feature is not included in Funnelforms Free.
• Funnelforms Pro 5.0.8 or newer.
• You have the right to change the settings. Only then do you see the menu item AI Phone Agent.
• An ElevenLabs account with credit for conversations with agents. ElevenLabs gives the agent its voice and makes the calls.
• A Twilio account with a phone number that has "Voice". ElevenLabs does not sell numbers, Twilio does.
• Twilio allows calls to the countries of your leads (Voice → Geo permissions).
• A form with a contact step and a phone field. Funnelforms adds the consent box for the call with one click.
• Under Settings → General in WordPress, the title and time zone of your website are correct. The agent names the title at the start of every call, and the call hours apply in this time zone unless you choose another one on the agent.

Where to find it

Funnelforms → AI Phone Agent. At the top is the card Set up in four steps, below it the list Agents and the section What happens with a new lead. The ElevenLabs tile under Funnelforms → Integrations also leads to this page.

You link the agent to a form in the editor: click the contact step, then the After sending tab on the right, and under Actions choose AI Phone Agent in Add an action.

Features at a glance

• Connect ElevenLabs: only an API key. Funnelforms creates the agents in your ElevenLabs account itself and keeps them up to date.
• Add the phone number the agent calls from: Funnelforms reads the numbers of your Twilio account and connects the one you choose to ElevenLabs.
• Create an agent: goal, language, voice, greeting, up to 8 questions, call hours, retries and what happens after the call.
• Test call: the agent calls you right away and then shows what would be written to the entry.
• Link it in a form: choose the agent, set the phone field and consent box, decide what the agent learns from the form.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Prepare your ElevenLabs and Twilio accounts

1. Create an ElevenLabs account if you do not have one yet, and choose a plan there with credit for conversations with agents.
2. Create a Twilio account. In the Twilio console open Phone Numbers → Buy a number and buy a number with "Voice" checked. For German numbers Twilio asks for your address and company details first; this can take a while.
3. In Twilio open Voice → Settings → Geo permissions and allow the countries the agent should call, for example Germany. Otherwise Twilio refuses the calls.
4. Keep the Account SID and the Auth Token from the start page of the Twilio console (Account Info) at hand.

Step 2: Connect ElevenLabs

1. Open Funnelforms → AI Phone Agent.
2. In the step Connect ElevenLabs, click Open API keys. ElevenLabs opens in a new tab at Developers → API keys.
3. In ElevenLabs click "Create key". Allow "ElevenLabs Agents" (write) and "Voices" (read), or leave all access on.
4. Copy the key, paste it into ElevenLabs API key and click Connect.
5. Check that the step gets a tick and says: "Connected. Funnelforms sets up your agents in your ElevenLabs account; you do not have to do anything there."

Step 3: Add the phone number

1. In the step Add the phone number the agent calls from, click Add number from Twilio.
2. Enter the Account SID (starts with AC) and the Auth Token. If you already have a Twilio connection for text messages, choose it in Twilio account instead.
3. Click Show my numbers.
4. Under "Which number should the agent call from?" choose your number and click Use this number.
5. Check that your number appears in the step, with the Twilio badge.

Step 4: Create an agent

1. In the step Create an agent, click Create agent.
2. Under Name and goal, enter a Name, for example "Call back solar requests". Only you see the name.
3. Under What should the call reach? choose a goal, for example Qualify the lead. Greeting and questions follow the goal.
4. Under Language and voice choose the Language of the call and a Voice. With Listen you hear each voice first.
5. Under How the agent introduces itself, check the Company name and the Greeting. Under Prompt notes, write in Notes for the agent what you offer, how the agent should speak and what it must never say.
6. Under What the agent asks, adjust the questions. Each question has a short name for the entry and a line What exactly to find out.
7. Under When it calls, set the Days and the times From and Until.
8. Click Create agent. The agent then appears in the list as Ready, and the test call opens.

The article Create and edit agents explains every setting of an agent.

Step 5: Have the agent call you

1. In the Test call window, enter your mobile number with the country code in Your phone number, for example +49 170 1234567.
2. Click Call me now. Your phone rings within seconds, also outside the call hours.
3. Listen: first comes the sentence "Hello, this is the AI assistant of …" with your company name, then your greeting and the questions.
4. Answer the questions and hang up.
5. Read in the window what would be written to an entry: the result, a summary and your answer to each question.

You can start a test call again at any time with Test call in the list Agents.

Step 6: Link it in a form

1. In the step Link it in a form, click Open forms and open your form in the editor.
2. In the Structure workspace, click the contact step and then the After sending tab on the right.
3. Under Actions, choose AI Phone Agent in Add an action.
4. In Agent, choose your agent. If there is only one, it is already chosen.
5. If the form has no consent box yet, click Add consent box in the note "The form needs a consent box".
6. Click Publish.
7. Send the form yourself once, with your mobile number and the consent box checked. After the set waiting time (default: 2 minutes) the agent calls, provided it is within the call hours.

The article Link the AI Phone Agent in a form explains the settings of the action.

Explanations

What does Funnelforms do in ElevenLabs?

When you save, Funnelforms creates or changes an agent in your ElevenLabs account. Its name starts with "Funnelforms:", followed by the name of your agent, and it carries the tag funnelforms. It includes the questions as data collection, the goal as evaluation, hanging up, voicemail detection and, if set, transferring the call. Funnelforms also adds the Twilio number to ElevenLabs. You do not have to create anything in ElevenLabs. Only change agents in Funnelforms, because the next save sends its settings to ElevenLabs again.

What happens with a new lead?

1. The lead sends the form and checks the consent box.
2. A few minutes later, within the call hours, the agent calls. It says first that it is an AI assistant.
3. It asks your questions, one at a time, and leaves out what the form already answers.
4. After the call the entry shows the call in the section AI Phone Agent with the result, a summary and each answer, plus a note. If nobody answers, the agent tries again later.

What the results look like is shown in Call results in the entry.

What does it cost?

Funnelforms charges nothing per call. The costs arise with your own accounts: at ElevenLabs for the agent's conversation minutes, at Twilio for the number and the calls. The prices are listed by both providers. With Calls per day at most (default: 50) you limit the calls per agent.

What do I need to consider legally?

Only leads who checked the consent box are called, and every call starts by saying that an AI assistant is calling. You cannot switch this off. ElevenLabs processes calls, voice and transcript for you, Twilio the phone connection. Name both services in your privacy policy and conclude a data processing agreement with each. More in Privacy, consent and costs.

Best practices

• Test each agent with Test call first and then once through the real form before leads reach it.
• Start with a few clear questions. Four well-phrased questions give better answers than eight vague ones.
• Set the call hours so that someone in your team is available when a lead wants to be transferred.
• Set Calls per day at most to fit your credit at ElevenLabs and Twilio.

Troubleshooting

More cases are in AI Phone Agent: troubleshooting and FAQ.

Tips

• For leads with German mobile numbers, a German number works best. A US number is usually available at Twilio right away and is enough for first tests.
• Numbers you set up in ElevenLabs as a SIP trunk also appear in the phone number step, with the SIP badge.
• Funnelforms only uses the Twilio credentials to read the numbers and to connect the chosen number to ElevenLabs.

FAQ

Do I have to create an agent or a number in ElevenLabs myself? No. You only paste the API key. Funnelforms sets up agent and number in your ElevenLabs account.

Can I use a number I do not have at Twilio? Yes, if you set it up in ElevenLabs as a SIP trunk. It then appears on the AI Phone Agent page.

How many agents can I create? Funnelforms sets no limit. Each agent can be linked in as many forms as you like.

Does the agent call at night? No. It only calls on the chosen days between From and Until. Leads who send the form at night are called the next morning. Only the test call goes out right away.

Related articles

• Create and edit agents
• Link the AI Phone Agent in a form
• Privacy, consent and costs