Complete step-by-step guide to creating your first Voice AI agent in HoopAI.
Your Voice AI agent is a virtual phone representative that can answer calls, make outbound calls, book appointments, and handle customer inquiries around the clock. This guide walks you through every step of creating and configuring your first agent.Before you begin, make sure you have access to the AI Agents section in your HoopAI account and at least one phone number available for assignment. If you need to set up a phone number first, see Voice AI phone number setup.
The first decision you will make is whether your agent handles inbound calls, outbound calls, or both. This choice affects the configuration options available to you and how the agent behaves during conversations.
Inbound agents answer calls from customers who dial your business number. Common use cases include reception, customer support, and after-hours answering.
Outbound agents place calls on your behalf. Common use cases include appointment reminders, lead follow-ups, and satisfaction surveys.
Go to AI Agents in the left sidebar of your HoopAI account, then select the Voice AI tab. Click the Create Agent button in the top-right corner to open the agent creation wizard.
Voice AI agent setup with appointment booking capabilities
2
Name your agent and choose a direction
Give your agent a descriptive name that reflects its purpose — for example, “Front Desk Receptionist” or “Appointment Reminder Bot.” Names are internal-only and not spoken to callers.Select the call direction:
Direction
Description
Inbound
Agent answers incoming calls to an assigned phone number
Outbound
Agent places calls to contacts from workflows, bulk actions, or manual triggers
Both
Agent can handle calls in either direction
If you are unsure, start with Inbound. You can always add outbound capabilities later by editing the agent.
3
Select a voice
Choose the voice your agent will use during calls. HoopAI offers a library of natural-sounding AI voices across different genders, accents, and speaking styles.When selecting a voice, consider:
Brand alignment — Pick a voice that matches your brand personality. A law firm may prefer a calm, measured tone, while a fitness studio might choose something more energetic.
Clarity — Some voices perform better for technical or medical terminology. Test a few options with your specific vocabulary.
Speed — Each voice has a natural cadence. You can adjust speaking speed in advanced settings, but starting with a voice that naturally matches your desired pace produces better results.
Click the Play icon next to any voice to hear a sample. You can change the voice at any time without recreating the agent.
4
Choose a language
Select the primary language your agent will use. HoopAI Voice AI supports multiple languages including English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and more.
If your business serves multilingual callers, you can enable automatic language detection in the advanced settings. The agent will detect the caller’s language and respond accordingly, though performance is strongest in the primary language you select here.
5
Assign a phone number
For inbound agents, assign at least one phone number that the agent will answer. You can assign numbers you have already purchased in HoopAI, or purchase a new number directly from this screen.For outbound agents, select the caller ID number that will appear when the agent places calls.If you need to purchase or configure phone numbers, see the phone setup guide for detailed instructions.
6
Write your agent prompt
The prompt is the set of instructions that tells your agent who it is, what it knows, and how to behave. HoopAI offers two prompt modes:
Advanced mode gives you a single freeform text area where you write a complete system prompt. This provides full control over the agent’s personality, conversation flow, decision-making logic, and response style.Advanced mode is recommended when you need:
Send SMS — Text the caller a link, confirmation, or follow-up message.
Add to workflow — Enroll the contact in an automation workflow after the call.
Update contact — Save information collected during the call to CRM custom fields.
Toggle on each action you want and configure its settings. You can add or remove actions later.
Select the Book Appointment action to enable calendar booking during calls
Add the Book Appointment action to your Voice AI agent
Configure appointment booking action with calendar selection and availability rules
Select the calendar for appointment booking
8
Set advanced options
Before saving, review the advanced settings panel:
Call timeout — How long the phone rings before going to voicemail or failover (default: 30 seconds for inbound).
Max call duration — Set a maximum length to prevent unexpectedly long calls (recommended: 10-15 minutes for most use cases).
Silence threshold — How long the agent waits during silence before prompting the caller (default: 5 seconds).
Recording — Enable or disable call recording. Recorded calls are stored in the call logs for review.
Transcription — Enable real-time transcription for all calls (recommended for debugging and quality assurance).
Working hours — Define when the agent is active. Outside of working hours, calls route to voicemail or a fallback action.
If you enable call recording, ensure you comply with your jurisdiction’s consent laws. Many states and countries require two-party consent. You can add a recording disclosure to your agent’s greeting message.
9
Save and test your agent
Click Save to create your agent. Once saved, you are taken to the agent detail page where you can immediately test it.Click the Test Call button to initiate a web-based test call directly in your browser. This lets you have a live conversation with your agent without using phone minutes.During testing, pay attention to:
Does the greeting sound natural?
Does the agent understand your questions?
Does it correctly perform actions (booking, transferring)?
Is the conversation flow logical?
Make adjustments to your prompt and settings, then test again. For a comprehensive testing workflow, see Testing and debugging Voice AI.
Check your call logs daily for the first week. Listen to recordings and read transcripts to identify areas where the agent struggles. Common early adjustments include:
Adding FAQ answers the agent does not yet know
Refining the greeting to set better expectations
Adjusting the prompt to reduce unnecessary verbosity
If your agent books appointments, make sure your calendar integration is properly configured and the correct calendar is selected. See Voice AI appointment booking for setup instructions.
Select the calendar and configure availability for appointment booking
Configure available days, time slots, and gap between appointments
No AI agent can handle every situation. Configure call escalation rules so that complex or sensitive calls are routed to the right human team member. See Call escalation and transfer.
Appointment booking confirmation shown during a live Voice AI call
Do not try to build the perfect agent on day one. Start with a focused use case — such as answering basic questions and booking appointments — and expand capabilities over time as you learn from real call data.
Use realistic test scenarios
When testing, simulate real customer calls. Mumble, pause mid-sentence, ask off-topic questions, and interrupt the agent. Real callers will do all of these things, and you need to know how your agent responds.
Keep your prompt concise
Shorter, clearer prompts generally outperform long, complex ones. Focus on the core instructions and let the AI handle natural conversation flow. If you find yourself writing paragraphs of edge case handling, consider using actions and workflows instead.
Appointment booking action settings showing buffer time and confirmation message options
Update regularly
Review call transcripts weekly and update your agent’s prompt to address recurring issues. Your Voice AI agent should improve continuously based on real interaction data.
