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Inside Retell AI: The Conversational AI Platform Behind The Best AI Phone Systems
April 10, 2025
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Retell AI is an conversational AI platform made to build and deploy AI phone systems that automate repetitive and time consuming business and enterprise calls, chats, and texts through.

At Retell AI, we believe that conversations are the engines of business and innovation, with what started as a bold vision, has grown into an enterprise conversational AI platform trusted by thousands of businesses to drive sales, support, and service over the phone.  

Retell isn’t just another AI vendor. It’s a conversational AI platform designed with the purpose of bringing speed, accuracy, and human-like understanding to every business phone call. Whether you’re fielding inbound questions or running high-volume outbound campaigns, Retell AI offers the infrastructure to automate, personalize, and scale your operations without compromising on quality.

In this deep dive, we’ll walk through what makes Retell different, seen in our:

  • Product Philosophy 
  • Industry Use Cases
  • Feature Set 
  • Customer Impact

If you’re evaluating AI phone systems or comparing enterprise conversational AI platforms, this guide is designed to show you what modern automation should look like, and how to make it a reality inside your organization.

Discover the leading all-in-one conversational AI platform that can supercharge your inbound and outbound call operations today!

Our Story

Retell AI didn’t start as a flashy prototype, it started with a problem: businesses were still spending millions on outdated phone systems and scripted IVRs that customers hated. Meanwhile, advances in voice technology and large language models were reshaping how we interact with machines, but no one had truly cracked real time AI phone calls with the speed, nuance, and reliability that modern businesses demand.

So we built it.

Our team set out to create something radically better: an AI phone system that doesn’t just make calls but one that holds real conversations. From the first line of code, Retell AI was designed to operate like your best human rep, but faster, smarter, and infinitely scalable. That meant investing in live call concurrency, building real integrations, and architecting a platform that could adapt to any business workflow, not just a demo script.

We didn’t stop there.

We work hand-in-hand with our customers, embedding feedback loops, refining agent behavior, and shipping updates weekly. From startups to enterprises, the organizations using Retell AI are doing more than automating calls, they’re transforming what automated phone operations can do for their business.

Our north star?

Transforming and innovating how businesses and customers connect. We see a future where AI agent conversations break barriers, making support more accessible, interactions more seamless, and businesses more responsive than ever before. At Retell AI, we’re not just automating calls…

Built by founders with expertise from Google, Meta, TikTok, and ByteDance, and backed by Alt Capital, Y combinator, 13 top industry leaders, Retell AI is pushing to build a world where every voice is heard

Solutions For Every Industry

While most platforms offer basic AI agents, Retell AI is purpose-built to meet the performance, compliance, and scalability demands of enterprise use cases across many industries. It’s not just a demo-ready tool—it’s a full AI phone system designed to replace your existing call center solution with hyper scalable AI voice agents.

To build a world where every voice is heard, the answer is to listen. We are always intaking user feedback and requests for expanding our product to always keep Retell up to speed with your business’ dynamic needs. This effort has let us help businesses in many industries unlock hyper efficiency and major revenue boosts with call automation. 

The proof is in the pudding:

Healthcare

In healthcare, every second on hold is a second too long. For providers, operational bottlenecks don’t just impact efficiency, they delay care and strain teams already pushed to the limit. Retell AI modernizes healthcare communications by bringing real-time voice automation to the front lines of patient interaction.

Unlike traditional call center tools, Retell’s conversational AI platform is purpose built to handle high call volumes without sacrificing accuracy or compliance, allowing our voice agents to operate 24/7, provide instant access to patient-facing information, and integrate with existing systems to keep operations lean but responsive. 

Whether you’re running a local clinic or a large multispecialty group, our AI phone agents will reduce workload and improve service quality without adding staff.

What Retell AI automates in healthcare:

Patient Scheduling & Intake: Book new and returning appointments, confirm eligibility, and ask intake questions in real time.

Front Desk Overflow Management: Answer inbound calls and collect patient details while your in-person staff handles higher-priority needs.

Smart Routing: Route calls by department (billing, records, providers), language, or intent—all without touch-tone menus.

Post-Visit Follow-Up & Surveys: Trigger reminders, check-ins, or satisfaction surveys automatically after appointments.

Pharmacy Refill Requests: Capture refill requests and push them to your EHR or ticketing system instantly.

Built for healthcare! Retell AI integrates directly with scheduling tools, EHRs, and internal knowledge bases, so your agents always have the right info, and your patients always get clear, accurate responses.


Finance
 

Speed, accuracy, and compliance are the foundations of trust in Finance, exactly what Retell was built for

Whether it’s qualifying loan applicants, managing customer inquiries, or collecting on past-due accounts, financial operations rely on timely, precise communication. Retell AI is designed to meet these demands with voice agents that can handle conversations as securely and intelligently as a trained human rep.

For lenders, Retell’s AI phone system dramatically reduces the time between inquiry and action. For collections teams, it scales outreach while maintaining professionalism and consistency. And for customer support, it eliminates long queues and helps route critical calls to licensed reps in seconds.

What Retell AI automates in finance:

Loan Prequalification: Capture lead information, assess eligibility, and route qualified borrowers to loan officers in real time.

Customer Support: Handle inbound calls about billing, account status, payment issues, and FAQs—all without hold times.

Collections & Payment Reminders: Automate self-pay reminders, re-engage aged leads, and offer payment plan options through clear, empathetic scripts.

Smart Routing: Direct high-priority or escalated inquiries to licensed staff based on call context and intent.

Compliance Aware Call Flows: Ensure voice agents adhere to regional and federal regulations around disclosure, consent, and documentation.

Scalable & Secure! Retell integrates directly with CRMs, loan origination systems, and payment portals — with SOC 2-compliant infrastructure and customizable compliance safeguards baked in.

Travel & Hospitality

In hospitality, guest experience is everything, but scaling that experience across time zones, languages, and high call volumes isn’t easy. Hospitality teams have only become leaner post-COVID with the workflow still remaining the same. This is where Retell AI steps in to supercharge hospitality businesses with AI phone systems.

Retell AI voice agents offer real-time responsiveness without sacrificing the personal touch guests expect. Whether it’s off-hours booking support or managing the morning rush at check-in, Retell automates key workflows with precision and polish. 

The result? Happier guests, no missed calls, and a front desk that can actually focus on in-person service.

What Retell AI handles in hospitality:

Reservation Management: Process new bookings, reschedule existing ones, and answer availability questions instantly.

Front Desk Overflow: Handle high call volumes during check-in/out periods or when staff is helping guests face-to-face.

24/7 Concierge Support: Offer room service, spa scheduling, amenity requests, or late check-out…even when no one’s at the desk.

Upsell Opportunities: Promote premium room options, upgrades, or in-house dining at the perfect moment.

Guest Surveys & Feedback Collection: Follow up post-stay with automated satisfaction surveys while the experience is still fresh.

Built for peak season! Whether your busiest season is summer, ski, or holiday travel Retell’s conversational AI platform for hospitality ensures you never miss a call or a chance to impress.


Insurance

In insurance, precision and persistence are key,every missed call could mean a lost policy, and every unqualified lead wastes time. With this in mind Retell AI has created an automation solution that helps insurance teams automate high-stakes, high-volume workflows with AI voice agents that are accurate, fast, and trained to handle sensitive conversations.

With built-in logic, warm transfer capabilities, and real-time CRM syncing, Retell’s AI phone agents in insurance keeps both sales and service pipelines moving — whether it’s qualifying a new lead, confirming policy details, or fielding questions after hours. It’s like having a front desk that never sleeps and a sales team that never misses a follow-up.

What Retell AI handles in insurance:

Cold & Warm Lead Outreach: Automatically dial leads from your CRM, qualify interest, and pass high-potential prospects to licensed agents.

Quote Follow-Ups & Nurture: Re-engage previous quote requests, walk prospects through next steps, or answer FAQs using structured flows.

Inbound Intake & Data Capture: Intake caller information, verify identity, and log critical data in your CRM or ticketing system.

Overflow & After-Hours Support: Ensure customers always get a response—even when your team is busy or offline.

Smart Routing: Route calls based on policy type, urgency, or geographic region, using custom call flows and real-time APIs.

Tip! Many insurance providers that work with Retell set up their AI agents to handle first-touch calls, collecting details, booking appointments, and handing off to licensed reps only when needed. This helps teams stay compliant, fast, and focused.

Retail

Retail brands know that great service doesn’t end when the purchase is made, it’s built in every call, every follow-up, and every interaction that comes after. From large consumer brands to franchise networks and eCommerce storefronts, Retell AI helps retailers deliver fast, consistent, and scalable phone experiences with AI voice agents trained to speak the customer’s language (literally and figuratively).

Retell in your retail call ops provides automation power that completes simple to complex tasks in real time, so your team can stay focused on in-store, fulfillment, or sales while AI handles the phones.

What Retell AI enables in retail:

Phone-In Ordering: Let customers place, confirm, or adjust orders without waiting on hold—perfect for cannabis retail, phone-based stores, and franchises.

Order Status & Delivery Issues: Agents can check order numbers, provide shipping updates, or flag delivery problems using CRM and logistics integrations.

RTO (Return-to-Origin) Prevention: Proactively call customers when deliveries fail—reducing unnecessary returns and improving delivery success rates.

Post-Purchase Support: Automate thank-you calls, survey collection, and returns coordination with natural, brand-aligned AI voices.

Outbound Sales Campaigns: Run seasonal campaigns or product promos at scale with batch calling, verified numbers, and branded caller ID.

Tip! Many Retell users combine call automation with in-store POS data to personalize outbound campaigns that turn one-time buyers into repeat customers with perfectly timed follow-ups.

Home Services

In home services missed calls could mean missed jobs. Retell AI in home services was built for hyper responsiveness giving HVAC, solar, plumbing, pest control, and other field service providers the ability to automate phone operations without sacrificing the personal touch that keeps jobs coming.

With AI voice agents that understand urgency, route calls with context, and schedule service appointments in real time, your team can stay focused on doing the work — not chasing it.

What Retell AI unlocks for home service providers:

24/7 Emergency Call Handling: Keep coverage active for “no heat,” “no water,” or leak emergencies—even after hours or during peak seasons.

Live Scheduling Support: Book appointments and service windows in real time with scheduling tool integrations like Cal.com or custom calendars.

Lead Capture & Qualification: Ditch the voicemails let weekend leads slip away, let Retell capture caller info, qualify needs, and send hot leads to your CRM.

Overflow Call Support: When things get busy, AI voice agents pick up the slack, reducing hold times and abandoned calls.

Service Updates & Intake: Agents can collect key job details, confirm arrival windows, and update dispatchers — all while sounding like part of your in-house team.

Tip! Many Retell users in home services use AI voice agents as hybrid dispatchers and sales assistants, improving first-call resolution and increasing conversion rates from inbound marketing at the same time.

Logistics

Understanding that speed, precision, and volume are the lifeblood of logistics companies, Retell AI was built with freight, storage, and dispatch operations in mind. Retell’s AI phone system in logistics gives your team the infrastructure to scale voice operations without adding headcount.

With real-time call routing, CRM and TMS integrations, and agents trained on your specific lanes and pricing rules, Retell enables freight operators, brokers, and SaaS platforms to move faster and communicate more clearly across the supply chain.

What Retell AI enables in logistics and transportation:

Dispatch & Load Booking: Retell agents handle high-volume outbound booking calls, gather load details, and confirm availability—all without manual input.

Brokerage Support: Source carriers, confirm shipments, and follow up on aged leads using persistent outbound call logic and CRM syncing.

Live Rate Negotiations: Agents negotiate with brokers based on predefined pricing thresholds, ensuring no money is left on the table during fast-moving bids.

Shipment Status Updates: Provide instant answers to “Where’s my load?” inquiries and proactively alert customers to delays or reroutes.

Voice-Enabled SaaS Integration: Use Retell to power voice workflows in your logistics software—from RTO notifications to inbound carrier screening.

Insight for logistics leaders! Many of our logistics clients reduce call handling time by over 60% by integrating Retell with their freight management systems that turn high-volume phone tasks into structured, automated workflows that run 24/7.

Debt Collection

Debt collection demands a balance of professionalism, persistence, and compliance all while handling large call volumes. Retell AI gives debt collections teams a powerful edge by automating these conversations with voice agents that follow protocol, stay polite, and never forget to follow up.

With customizable scripting, compliance guardrails, and real-time CRM syncing, Retell AI voice agents in debt collections help you scale outbound collections without sacrificing quality or putting your business at legal risk.

What Retell AI enables for debt collection teams:

Automated Collection Calls: Agents initiate payment reminder calls at scale, reducing lag time between billing cycles and follow-up.

Self-Pay Guidance: Walk debtors through next steps, repayment options, and provide self-service options for making payments.

Compliance-First Conversations: Retell AI adheres to regulations like the FCC’s one-to-one consent rule and includes clear disclosure options for call recording and agent identity.

Payment Plan Negotiation: Agents can qualify financial status and escalate repayment conversations to human reps when needed.

Post-Call Logging: Every call is summarized, logged, and tagged in your CRM with outcome-based data — ready for your team to act on immediately.

Note for collections professionals! Many agencies using Retell have replaced manual follow-ups entirely with scheduled, multi-touch outbound cadences, facilitated by AI phone agents, increasing contact rates and recovery without added headcount.

Telecommunications

Telecom companies operate at massive scale, servicing millions of customers, thousands of daily service requests, and the constant need for fast, accurate call resolution. With a notorious reliance on outsourced call centers that leave customers less than satisfied, Retell provides an automation solution that leaves customers more than satisfied at scale.

Retell AI in telecom helps providers automate high-volume phone workflows with voice agents designed to triage calls, handle support inquiries, and integrate with backend systems for real-time resolution. This leaves room for highly skilled support and sales staff for bottom of funnel support and closing.

What Retell AI unlocks for telecom teams:

Smart Call Triage: Automatically detect caller location and service issue category, like billing, technical support, etc. before routing to the correct team.

Network Diagnostics: Trigger backend scripts to verify outages or reset services without a human agent on the line.

Overflow Management: Handle surges in inbound calls during service outages or marketing campaigns without blowing up your queue.

Customer Self-Service: Agents guide callers through bill explanations, plan upgrades, or account changes via voice—no waiting for a portal login.

Backend Optimization: Call summaries and diagnostic tags are pushed into your ticketing and network monitoring systems in real time for faster resolution.

Telecom insight! Retell’s integration with SIP trunking ensures compatibility with modern telecom infrastructure making AI call automation fit seamlessly into your existing call stack.

Real Estate

Real estate doesn’t run on emails, it runs on phone calls. From buyer inquiries and property showings to agent follow-ups and lead qualification, every missed call is a missed opportunity.

That’s where Retell AI comes in. Our AI voice agents help real estate firms capture and qualify leads instantly, even during all hours of the day. No more juggling inbound interest or losing deals because your team couldn’t get to the phone fast enough. With AI agents managing call flows, real estate teams can scale client engagement without sacrificing responsiveness or personal touch.

What Retell AI enables for real estate teams:

Lead Capture on Autopilot: Automatically answer inbound calls from Zillow, RVM campaigns, or signs and capture contact/property info on the spot.

Buyer Qualification: Ask pre-screening questions like budget, location, and property type — and log high-intent leads for agent follow-up.

24/7 Call Handling: Ensure every prospect call is answered, logged, and routed, even outside business hours or during back-to-back showings.

Appointment Scheduling: Sync with agent calendars to instantly book consultations or showing appointments without back-and-forth.

CRM-Ready Call Logs: Push structured call data into CRMs like Follow Up Boss or Salesforce, reducing agent admin work.

Watch our in-depth guide on building outbound AI voice agents on Retell AI for mortgage leads to learn more!

On-Demand Services 

On-demand platforms can never sacrifice speed, and whether you’re managing food delivery, rideshare logistics, or gig worker coordination, your customers expect updates in real time, not when your team gets around to checking voicemails.

Retell AI’s voice agents help on-demand businesses stay responsive without scaling headcount. From resolving missed deliveries to coordinating drivers, AI calls become a real-time operational layer that keeps your service moving and your users satisfied.

What Retell AI enables for on-demand platforms:

Real-Time Issue Resolution: Automatically handle order inquiries, missed delivery callbacks, and time-sensitive service updates.

Overflow & After-Hours Coverage: Keep support running 24/7 — no human staff needed on standby during nights or peak demand.

Dispatch Assistance: Coordinate drivers and field workers, confirm assignments, and log updates in your backend systems.

Customer Update Calls: Proactively notify users about delays, arrivals, or reschedules using real-time triggers from your platform.

High-Volume Inbound Handling: Handle surges in support calls without crashing response times or requiring extra agents.

Tip! Many platforms are already using chatbots, but by adding AI voice agents, you don’t miss the 40–60% of users who still prefer calling—especially for urgent or high-stakes issues.

Your All-In-One AI Call Platform

Retell AI leads the way in AI voice automation by offering advanced features that innovate and streamline call operations while maintaining a human-like experience. Designed for modern teams that need performance, flexibility, and scale, Retell delivers a conversational AI platform that simplifies complexity without compromising power.

Whether you’re handling one support line or a nationwide outbound campaign, Retell AI makes it easy to deploy voice agents that are fast, reliable, and deeply integrated into your workflows. From prompt configuration to real-time data routing, Retell AI delivers the all-in-one solution building every feature to keep your business moving at the speed of conversation.

Retell AI Platform Features Overview Table

Features Pricing

Retell AI Pricing Table

Security & Reliability

Retell AI Security and Reliability Overview Table

Industry-Proven Features, Built In

We’ve baked in every feature your business expects from a modern conversational AI platform, but refined them for real-world scale. 

From real-time call routing to multilingual fluency, Retell’s voice agents don’t just match industry standards, they sharpen them. Whether you’re launching support agents or outbound campaigns, every capability is built to be fast, accurate, and frictionless out of the box.

Complex Conversation Flow & Personalization

Retell AI’s Efficient AI voice agents rely on sophisticated prompting capabilities to create dynamic, interactive, and advanced conversation flows for calling operations. Conversational AI platforms with agents that lack the capabilities to handle complex tasks and transitions will hurt efficiency and customer trust overtime.

Multilingual 

AI voice agents should never be limited by language. In today’s global economy, multilingual communication is a must have for your agents. Retell AI has comprehensive  multilingual support allowing. businesses to serve diverse audiences in over 19 languages.

Call Forwarding and Routing

Retell AI’s call forwarding abilities ensure that calls are directed to the right person or department without unnecessary delays. 

Unlike traditional IVR systems, Retell’s AI call routing analyzes intent in real time, directing calls based on customer needs, past interactions, or urgency. Our AI voice agents know when to hand off the phone ensuring that customers are connected to the right department, agent, or resolution path instantly. This reduces wait times, misrouted calls, and customer frustration, ultimately improving call efficiency and satisfaction.

SIP Trunking and Modern Telephony Systems

For businesses relying on VoIP, PBX systems, and modern telephony solutions, Retell AI enables seamless connection with SIP trunking and telephony infrastructures. This ensures high-quality call routing, scalability, and reduced latency. Find out how integrating AI with SIP trunking optimizes AI-powered calling.

Call Recovery

Retell’s AI voice agents are equipped with call recovery detection to ensure that dropped calls don’t mean lost opportunities. When a call unexpectedly disconnects, sophisticated agents can detect the drop, log the event, and initiate a follow-up attempt to re-engage the customer. 

Additionally, voicemail detection allows AI to recognize when a call goes unanswered and leave a customized, context-aware message, ensuring that key information is delivered.

Knowledge base integration 

Retell AI makes it easy to upload and integrate your custom knowledge base with your AI voice agents. Coming with 10 free knowledge bases, Retell’s agents are able to intake websites, pdfs, and custom input that update in real time, taking your AI phone conversations to a new level of intelligence and support. Explore more about Retell AI’s Knowledge Base Feature to enhance your AI call operations in minutes. 

Custom LLM  

Retell AI enables businesses to integrate their own custom LLMs, offering unmatched flexibility in AI voice agent development and optimization. This allows companies to leverage industry-specific training data, fine-tuned models, and proprietary AI advancements while still benefiting from Retell’s scalable infrastructure and tools for advanced conversation flow management. To learn more about Retell’s custom LLM feature and custom LLM best practices, visit our docs.

Real-Time Data Actions

With webhook integrations, Retell’s AI voice agents can interact with external databases and CRM systems in real time, providing the most up to date information during customer calls, every time. 

Call Analysis & Insights

Retell’s AI voice agents can easily transform call conversations into actionable data, enabling businesses to analyze trends, improve customer service, and optimize sales calls, if the AI voice agent platform has the analytics suite to support it. 

Security & Compliance

Security should be top priority for businesses deploying AI call solutions with Retell AI ensuring compliance with data protection regulations, encryption protocols, and fraud prevention measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. Learn more about Retell AI's enterprise security to ensure your AI call operations maintain industry security standards.

Only Capable With Retell AI

Where most platforms stop, Retell accelerates. Our proprietary features, from unlimited call concurrency to advanced testing and branded calling, give you an edge in every interaction. 

These aren’t just add-ons, they’re power tools designed to push your AI phone system further. When you need performance that scales, compliance that sticks, and innovation that moves the needle, Retell is the platform that delivers.

Advanced Agent Testing and Optimization 

Spend less time and money testing and improving AI voice agents with Retell’s advanced testing capabilities, allowing you to automatically create and test customer prompts to optimize the capabilities of your agent’s LLM, conversation, and audio performance. Retell’s cutting edge simulation and batch testing feature, available for conversation flow agents, is a suite dedicated to easily simulate, test, record, and improve your agents conversational ability.

Read more about Retell’s testing capabilities in our AI Agent testing overview.

Watch our tutorial on the conversation flow testing suite to witness the power of Retell AI simulation testing.

Unlimited Call Concurrency 

AI voice agents thrive in automating large scale outbound and inbound call operations, but can be limited by the conversational AI platform’s call concurrency restrictions. Some platforms support unlimited concurrent calls for a singular agent, while others limit the function to 5-10 concurrent calls. 

Some platforms take it a step further and offer a crucial batch calling feature, streamlining how businesses build, track, and execute on large volume outbound call campaigns. Understanding your businesses call volume needs will ensure your agents aren’t limited to strict call concurrency platforms.

Warm Transfer & Human Handoffs

AI should enhance human interactions, not replace them. With Retell AI’s warm transfer feature, AI voice agents seamlessly hand off calls to live agents when necessary, ensuring smooth customer experiences. Check out Retell’s warm transfer feature overview to learn more about the mechanics and impact of this necessary capability. 

Branded Calls & Verified Phone Numbers  

Spam labeling will have a severe negative impact on call campaign performance and customer relations, but with Retell AI’s Branded Caller IDs and Verified Phone Numbers, we help you significantly reduce the risk of spam labeling while improving answer rates and customer engagement. Deep dive into the impact of spam labeling and how Retell AI’s Branded Caller IDs and Verified Phone Numbers mitigate it.

Industry-Ready AI Voice Agents for Every Business

Retell AI is built to serve businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. Whether a company is looking to automate a handful of customer interactions or scale its call center operations to thousands of concurrent calls, Retell AI provides the infrastructure and capabilities to support growth at every stage.

We’ll even create and optimize custom solutions with our certified partner program! The Certified Partner Program is a streamlined way to collaborate with Retell AI, offering app development, technology integration, and reseller opportunities. Discover how Retell AI's certified partners work to find out if it's a good fit for your business and desired AI call automation.

Learn how Retell AI is the conversational AI platform that does more than make a phone call!

Pricing For Every Business

One of Retell AI’s biggest differentiators is its pricing model. You don’t need to commit to high annual contracts or hidden platform fees to get started. Retell supports pay-as-you-go usage with clear pricing by LLM, call duration, and concurrency along with premium options for enterprise support and SLAs.

Pay As You Go Plan

For teams and businesses of all sizes.

  • $0 to start. 
  • $10 free credits (equal to 60 mins of agent call)
  • 20 concurrent calls
  • 10 Free Knowledge Bases
  • Free Onboarding Demo Repository 
  • Discord & Community Support

Enterprise Plan

For companies with large volumes (over $3k/month), data or deployment requirements, or support needs.

  • Everything From Pay-As-You-Go
  • Volume Based Discounts
  • Custom Call Concurrency
  • Premium Private Slack Channel Support 

For an in-depth look into Retell’s pricing for LLMs, telephony, and more visit our pricing page.

For more information on conversational AI platform pricing check out our comprehensive guide to make the best decision for your business.

A Peek At Agent Building & Testing

One of the biggest advantages of Retell AI’s platform is how accessible and scalable agent creation really is. Whether you’re a product manager testing a prototype or an enterprise team deploying voice agents across departments, Retell AI meets you where you are. You don’t need to be an engineer to launch something powerful, but if you are one, the customization options run deep.

Creating An Agent

Agent building in Retell AI is streamlined to help you build the exact agent need to complete your AI phone system.

Agent creation starts with a simple question: what kind of call do you want this agent to handle?

Step 1: Choose Your Agent Type

Retell AI offers four types of agents based on the complexity and structure of your call flow:

Conversation Flow Agent: Ideal for multi-step, logic-driven interactions with branching paths and decision trees.

Single Prompt Agent: Perfect for short, one-off interactions like collecting quick information or answering FAQs.

Multi-Prompt Agent: Built for longer, structured conversations that require capturing multiple inputs in sequence.

Custom LLM Agent: Bring your own LLM and deploy agents powered by your proprietary models or fine-tuned configurations.

Step 2: Start from Scratch or Use a Template

Choose to build from a blank slate or select from a growing library of customizable templates tailored for popular business workflows:

  • Patient Screening
  • Real Estate Lead Qualification
  • Appointment Scheduling
  • Medical Receptionist
  • Refund & Support Agents
  • And more…

We provide these templates to give you a strong starting point while remaining fully editable.

Step 3: Build with Nodes (Drag & Drop Interface)

Use Retell’s node-based editor to visually map out your call logic. Add and customize nodes like:

  • Conversation Nodes: Ask questions, capture responses
  • Logic Split Nodes: Branch conversations based on user input
  • Function Nodes: Trigger API calls or backend actions
  • Call Transfer Nodes: Route to a live human agent when needed
  • Press Digit Nodes: Add touch-tone inputs
  • Ending Nodes: Wrap up calls cleanly

This intuitive builder allows for detailed flows that give you control of everything from when your agent knows to transfer a call to scheduling a new appointment and so much more.

Step 4: Set Agent Behavior & Intelligence

Configure your agent’s core settings to match your brand and call goals:

Voice & Language Selection: Choose from 19+ supported languages and AI voices

Global Prompting: Define your agent’s persona, role, and behavioral instructions

LLM Choice: Use GPT-4o, Claude, or attach a custom LLM via API

Step 5: Customize Advanced Settings

Fine-tune your agent’s performance with granular settings across:

Knowledge Base Integration – Add live data sources like help docs, PDFs, or support articles.

Speech Controls – Adjust tone, pacing, or pauses for a more natural experience.

Call Settings – Set parameters for voicemail detection, ring duration, call duration, and more.

Post-Call Analysis – Automatically analyzes customer conversations after they have ended, helping you derive valuable insights from your calls.

Security & Fallback Settings – Add compliance features and fallback values for dynamic variables across all endpoints if they are not provided.

Testing, Simulation & Agent Optimization

Creating an AI voice agent is only the beginning. Retell provides a detailed and expanding agent testing suite that allows you to refine every word before the first call goes live.

Before fully automating your phone system, AI agents require thorough testing, iteration, and fine-tuning, and that’s why Retell AI offers a purpose-built suite for testing and simulation directly within the platform.

You don’t need to wait until deployment to know if your agent is ready. With Retell AI, you can run structured, repeatable tests and simulate customer interactions with total control.


How Retell AI helps you perfect your agent before launch:

Audio Testing (Live Voice Feedback)

Preview how your agent sounds with different voices and speech settings, including accents, tone, and pace. This helps teams ensure brand alignment and build a natural, engaging caller experience.

Manual & Simulated Chat Testing

Use Manual Chat to interact with your agent in a human-to-AI format, great for checking real-time language generation.

Or try 

AI Simulated Chat which lets you define user prompts and simulate end-to-end conversations from the customer’s perspective. It’s ideal for testing edge cases, validating logic, and stress-testing agent behavior across common workflows.

Conversation Simulation Suite

Need to run multiple test cases or perform QA at scale? 

Retell AI’s simulation suite includes the ability to define test cases, success criteria, and monitor batch testing performance. This gives you a clear pass/fail signal on whether your agents are performing to spec, and where improvements need to be made.

Visual Flow Debugging

Every part of the conversation flow is visually traceable, helping teams easily identify which node triggered a mistake or misunderstanding. No more digging through logs or black box behavior.

Take a deeper dive into agent building and agent testing with Retell AI to have a truie and in depth understanding of the true power of our all-in-on conversational AI platform.

Whether you’re shipping to thousands of concurrent callers or launching your first AI receptionist, Retell’s testing capabilities ensure your voice agents are vetted, aligned, and production-ready.

Why Businesses Are Switching To Retell AI

3000+ Happy Customers

When it comes to scaling call automation with precision and performance, leading companies across sectors are turning to Retell AI. Our platform isn’t built for demos, it’s built for deployment. From high-volume outbound campaigns to real-time inbound support, businesses are using Retell to replace outdated phone workflows with fast, intelligent, and fully customizable AI voice agents that perform at scale. See what our over 3000 happy customers are saying about Retell AI to learn how we helped many businesses like yours.

Read Retell’s case study deep dive to see how we work with our customers to understand their needs and continue to improve our platform..

Retell vs The Rest

Choosing the right conversational AI platform makes the difference between achieving the high level optimization of workflows with AI voice agents or causing major roadblocks. Understanding the difference between platform’s coding capabilities, LLM options, call concurrency, etc. will 

Retell AI delivers everything in one. Our platform strikes the balance between low code usability and enterprise level flexibility, allowing teams to build and launch agents quickly with the scalability to handle any amount of call volume. Whether you’re a startup without a dev team or an enterprise integrating with dozens of APIs, Retell gives you the control you need—without the friction.

Explore our comprehensive comparison of the top 10 conversational AI platforms in 2025 to benchmark what matters most—including key details on speed, accuracy, LLM integration, and pricing transparency.

Evaluating Specific Platforms? 

Comparing AI voice platforms side-by-side is essential. From prebuilt flows to customizable logic, call quality to security, there’s a wide range of performance across providers. We’ve made it easier with head-to-head comparisons of:

Looking for more specific alternatives? 

Our guides to the Best Dialogflow Alternatives and Best Voiceflow Alternatives offer detailed breakdowns for businesses needing more advanced voice AI capabilities, integrations, and real-time data handling than legacy options can provide.

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Retell AI delivers a conversational AI platform modern businesses need to replace outdated phone systems with smarter, faster, and more scalable automation. AI phone systems are transforming the way all industries handle call operations, is your business ready to join in?

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