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AI Voice & Phone Triage: Routing Calls to the Right Place

  • Understand how AI voice tools can answer and route incoming calls
  • Learn how to set up a simple, real-world call triage system
  • Get tips for keeping the system accurate, human-friendly, and effective

Why AI Voice and Phone Triage?

Missed calls, endless voicemails, and misdirected callers are the norm for many small businesses. But your time shouldn’t be spent playing receptionist. That’s where AI voice & phone triage: routing calls to the right place comes in.

Think of it as a smart, centered receptionist available 24/7. It doesn’t replace your team—it supports them. Even better, you don’t need to be technical to implement it.

“AI voice triage” simply means a computer answers your phone with a plan.

Learn more about AI uses for small business operations.

What Is AI Phone Triage (in Plain English)?

AI phone triage is like a virtual assistant for your phone line. When someone calls, it can:

  • Answer automatically
  • Ask simple questions like “Are you an existing client or a new inquiry?”
  • Route the caller to the best next step—voicemail, calendar link, team member, or CRM

It can work with your existing VoIP solution or even a traditional landline if you use call forwarding. Behind the scenes, it’s just a mix of logic flows and smart voice tools.

Real Outcomes for Small Businesses

Integrating AI voice triage into your phone system brings real, measurable wins:

  • Capture more leads without being pushy
  • Filter out spam, sales reps, and tire-kickers
  • Route VIP clients directly to their contact
  • Reduce distractions so your team can deliver on what matters
  • Log and track call reasons with ease

Explore more outcomes like this on our solutions page

Common Call Types and How to Route Them

Here’s how small businesses typically handle common calls using an AI phone system:

  • New leads: Send a calendar booking link, log to CRM
  • Current clients: Route to their account manager or open a support ticket
  • Billing issues: Forward to your finance inbox or helpdesk system
  • Job applicants: Send an email auto-responder or redirect to your jobs page
  • Cold sales calls: Log and politely end the call
  • Emergencies: Immediate alert or phone forward to your personal line
Helpful Tip: Start by writing down your top 3 most common call types.

Tools Optional—What Powers This Behind the Scenes

Here are some of the common tools used to create an AI voice triage system:

  • Voice AI / IVR: OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Twilio Studio, Voiceflow
  • Automation logic: Zapier, Make.com, Twilio Functions
  • CRM or logging: HubSpot, Airtable, Google Sheets
  • Booking tools: Calendly, Google Calendar
  • Phone systems: Any that support call forwarding (VoIP works best)

How to Build This in Make.com

You can build a simple, AI-powered call routing system using free tools and Make.com. Here’s a step-by-step:

  1. Choose a phone provider: Use Twilio, Google Voice, or another service that supports call forwarding.
  2. Create a webhook in Make.com: This webhook will catch the call event when forwarded.
  3. Set up voice capture + transcription: Use tools like Twilio or ElevenLabs to capture the voice prompt and convert to text.
  4. Connect to a GPT module: Send the transcribed text to OpenAI or Make’s built-in GPT module with the prompt, “What type of caller is this?”
  5. Use a router module: Based on the AI response (“new lead”, “client”, etc.), create paths to:

    • Send booking link via SMS or email
    • Forward message to your team inbox
    • Post summary in team Slack or Airtable
  6. Log the call: Optional step to capture summary in Airtable or CRM for tracking.
  7. Set a fallback: If intent is unclear, ask the caller to leave a message: “Please leave your name, number, and why you’re calling.”

This flow gives you a real-world AI phone system for small business needs—without building from scratch.

QA & Guardrails

Accuracy matters. Here’s how to keep call handling on track:

  • Use pre-recorded fallbacks like “Sorry, can you say that again?”
  • Set default actions for unknown replies
  • Flag low-confidence calls for human review (e.g., if AI is <80% sure)
  • Test weekly with real call scenarios (not just AI prompts)
  • Offer opt-out with “Press 0 to speak with someone”
Pro Tip: Have someone on your team listen to 5 calls each week to spot issues early.

Metrics & ROI

Here’s how to know if your AI call flow is working:

  • Calls successfully routed to the right place
  • Lead booking rate compared to last month
  • Reduced distractions (fewer call-based interruptions)
  • Declining call drop-off or abandonment rate
  • Fewer voicemails and missed calls

What Success Might Look Like in the First 30 Days

Metric Before After
Missed Calls 20/week 3/week
Lead Conversions 2/week 6/week
Staff Interruptions 15/day 5/day

Human Touch Still Wins

No AI system should sound like… a system. Keep it warm and human-friendly:

  • Write a friendly greeting: “Hi, this is [Biz Name]—let’s get you where you need to go.”
  • Include a human fallback: “Press 0 to speak with someone.”
  • Let callers switch to live chat or reply by text
  • Only solve for what’s truly happening—don’t overbuild

Next Steps

Ready to let your phone line work for you—without babysitting another app?

Check out other AI use cases for operations →