AI Assist in Exotel Platform

welcome! this guide will walk you through setting up ai assist on exotel, from creating your first assistant to deploying it in live contact center flows overview ai assist is a real time ai powered panel that integrates with exotel's contact center platform to help agents handle calls more effectively it provides live transcription real time transcription of agent customer conversations smart replies ai generated suggested responses to help agents respond faster real time sentiment automatic detection of customer sentiment during calls key benefits reduce average handle time (aht) by ≥10% reduce wrap up time by ≥30% improve agent productivity with knowledge base suggestions enhanced customer experience with faster, more accurate responses prerequisites before you begin, ensure you have admin access to exolite (your exotel contact center platform) access to my in exotel com or my exotel com tenant admin role with flow management permissions platform requirements exotel account with exophone flow engine enabled contact your exotel support team to enable ai assist features understanding of basic concepts exophone flows stream applet (part of exotel platform) call routing and flow configuration step 1 create an ai assist assistant 1 1 access the assistant creation module log in to your exotel account at my in exotel com or my exotel com click create new assistant navigate to platform integration → ai assist or assistants 1 2 configure assistant settings true 216,216,216left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left 1 1 unhandled content type left 1 1 unhandled content type left 1 1 unhandled content type left 1 1 unhandled content type left 1 1 unhandled content type left 1 1 unhandled content type 1 3 configure ai features live transcript settings enable toggle on to activate real time transcription format pcm audio (standard for call audio) latency target ≤2 seconds (p95) smart replies settings enable toggle on to activate ai generated suggested responses latency target ≤1 5 seconds (p95) source select knowledge base or enable generic suggestions real time sentiment settings enable toggle on to activate sentiment analysis update frequency updates periodically during active calls display sentiment indicator in the assist panel 1 4 review and generate assistant url click save to create the assistant you'll see a confirmation message "assistant created successfully" navigate to the deployment page copy the generated assistant url (you'll need this in step 2) review the help documentation url for flow configuration details example assistant url https //assist exotel com/v1/assistant/abc123xyz789 step 2 configure the flow mapping (app bazaar) this is the critical activation step ai assist only works when the stream applet in your exophone flow contains the valid assistant url 2 1 access exotel app flow builder (app bazaar) log in to exotel platform navigate to app bazaar select an existing flow or create a new one click edit to open the app bazaar editor 2 2 add the stream applet what is the stream applet? the stream applet is a specialized component that forks the agent customer bridge audio initiates websocket streaming to the ai platform is non blocking (does not interfere with call flow) enables real time processing of call audio steps to add stream applet in the flow editor, locate the applets panel search for or scroll to find stream applet drag the stream applet into your flow placement before the call connects to an agent 2 3 configure the stream applet with assistant url click on the stream applet in your flow to open its configuration panel look for the field labeled "where do you want to send the audio stream?" paste the assistant url you copied from step 1 4 verify the url format matches https //assist exotel com/v1/assistant/\[your assistant id] 2 4 configure optional stream applet settings true 216,216,216left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type 2 5 publish the flow click publish or save & deploy to activate the flow confirm the flow deployment you'll see a success message "flow published successfully" important once the flow is published, any calls routed through this flow will automatically activate ai assist step 3 agent experience during live calls 3 1 call activation when an inbound call arrives and is routed through the flow containing the stream applet with a valid assistant url call connects → agent sees the call on the dashboard call state becomes active → automatic actions trigger stream applet forks agent customer audio websocket streaming session opens assist panel auto expands on the agent's screen (right side) real time transcript begins streaming knowledge base suggestions appear sentiment indicator updates 3 2 assist panel features the assist panel provides three main sections live transcript real time word for word transcription of the conversation color coded by speaker (agent / customer) updated with ≤2 second latency scrollable for reviewing earlier parts of conversation smart replies ai generated suggested responses appear in real time based on customer query and knowledge base agent can click to insert a suggestion into the call updated with ≤1 5 second latency real time sentiment visual indicator of customer mood/sentiment updates periodically during call helps agent gauge customer satisfaction in real time color coded green (positive) → yellow (neutral) → red (negative) 3 3 manual control of assist panel auto expand on call when call state changes to active, panel auto expands this is automatic and requires no agent action manual toggle button location top right corner of the call screen click to toggle opens/closes the assist panel if minimized or closed minimize click the minimize icon to reduce panel to save screen space 3 4 using smart replies view suggestions in the assist panel click any suggestion to insert it into your response edit if needed before sending to customer agent retains full control over what is sent troubleshooting guide ai assist panel not appearing issue panel doesn't auto expand when call connects possible causes & solutions stream applet not in flow verify the stream applet is added to the flow check that it's in the correct position (after agent pickup) re publish the flow invalid or missing assistant url verify the assistant url in stream applet configuration ensure url matches exactly (no extra spaces or characters) copy paste the url directly from the deployment page flow not published check that the flow has been published look for "published" status next to the flow name if in draft state, click publish call not routing through correct flow verify the inbound call is using the flow with stream applet check call routing rules and did mappings test with a known number that uses the updated flow resolution steps 1\ log in to exolite 2\ open flow builder 3\ select the flow 4\ confirm stream applet is present 5\ verify assistant url is correct and filled in 6\ click publish 7\ wait 1 2 minutes for deployment 8\ test with a new inbound call transcript not streaming issue live transcript is blank or not updating possible causes & solutions websocket connection failed check browser console for errors (f12 → console tab) verify network connectivity ensure tls 1 2+ is enabled stream applet not forking audio verify call audio is being captured (agent can hear customer) check that call state is active confirm stream applet error logging doesn't show issues asr provider issue verify asr (automatic speech recognition) provider is active check provider credentials are valid contact exotel support if provider is down resolution steps 1\ check browser console for errors (f12) 2\ verify call is in active state 3\ confirm audio is flowing (both parties can hear) 4\ wait 2 3 seconds (transcript has latency) 5\ if still blank, restart call and retry smart replies not appearing issue no ai generated suggestions in the panel possible causes & solutions knowledge base not configured verify knowledge base is selected when creating assistant ensure kb has relevant content check that kb is active and published genai provider issue verify genai provider is active and has quota check that latency is within limits (≤1 5s) confirm api keys are valid no relevant kb matches customer query doesn't match kb content kb may need more relevant articles try different queries resolution steps 1\ go to assistant > deployment page 2\ check "connected services" kb and genai 3\ verify both show "active" status 4\ test with a call using common queries 5\ check kb has recent, relevant content sentiment indicator not updating issue sentiment appears stuck or not changing possible causes & solutions sentiment analysis disabled verify "real time sentiment" is enabled in assistant settings check stream applet configuration allows sentiment processing re save assistant settings insufficient audio data sentiment requires minimum audio duration ensure call duration is sufficient (typically >10 seconds) give time for analysis (updates periodically, not every second) nlp provider issue contact exotel support if sentiment service is unavailable check system status page for incidents resolution steps 1\ assistant > settings > real time sentiment enable 2\ ensure call is at least 10 seconds long 3\ wait for periodic updates (not real time) 4\ check system status at status exotel com error "invalid assistant url" issue stream applet shows error when url is pasted possible causes & solutions url copy errors extra spaces at beginning or end incorrect format or malformed url copy paste from wrong source assistant not created/deleted verify assistant exists in exotel check it hasn't been deleted confirm you have permission to access it tenant mismatch ensure assistant and flow are in same tenant contact admin if you're unsure of tenant resolution steps 1\ go to platform integration > ai assist 2\ verify assistant is listed (status active) 3\ click on assistant > deployment tab 4\ copy the assistant url carefully 5\ paste into stream applet configuration 6\ click save on stream applet 7\ click publish on the flow performance & latency expectations true 216,216,216left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type left unhandled content type factors affecting latency network latency geographic distance from asr/genai providers audio quality clearer audio = faster processing kb size larger knowledge bases may increase response time load high concurrent usage may affect response times optimizing performance knowledge base tuning trim kb to most relevant articles use clear, structured content regularly update with new information network optimization ensure agents have stable internet connection use wired connections when possible minimize other bandwidth heavy activities provider configuration select asr provider closest to your region verify genai provider has sufficient quota monitor provider status security & compliance data isolation & tenant security tenant isolation all data is isolated by tenant no cross tenant access assistants and streams are tenant specific call audio streamed securely between exophone and platform authentication & authorization signed jwt required iframe embedding uses signed tokens role based access rbac fully handled by exolite platform ai assist does not define roles, enforce permissions, or override platform rbac network security tls 1 2+ all connections encrypted websocket secure (wss) encrypted streaming connections non blocking streams media fork doesn't compromise call quality faq q can i use the same assistant across multiple flows? a yes create one assistant and paste its url into the stream applet of multiple flows q what happens if the assistant url is invalid? a the stream applet will log an error but will not block the call calls proceed normally, but ai assist won't activate q can i change the assistant url after publishing a flow? a yes edit the stream applet, update the url, and re publish changes take effect within 1 2 minutes q is a knowledge base required for ai assist to work? a no without a kb, you still get live transcript and sentiment smart replies show generic ai suggestions q can agents minimize or close the assist panel? a yes click the button in the top right corner to toggle it auto expands on new calls but can be minimized q how long does it take for settings to take effect? a most changes take 1 2 minutes restart the browser session if changes don't appear immediately q can multiple agents use the same assistant? a yes any agent answering a call on that flow sees the same assist panel q what languages are supported? a most major languages are supported select the primary language when creating the assistant q does ai assist work with outbound calls? a ai assist currently supports inbound calls outbound support is on the roadmap q can i disable ai assist without removing the stream applet? a yes remove the assistant url from the stream applet configuration and publish glossary aht average handle time asr automatic speech recognition genai generative ai kb knowledge base stream applet component that forks audio for ai processing websocket real time bidirectional communication protocol wss websocket secure jwt json web token p95 95th percentile latency have questions? contact support\@exotel com or visit support exotel com