Autessa Phone & Texting · business phone system
One business line. You and AI both pick up.
Autessa Phone & Texting is a business phone system for people and AI. Get US business phone numbers, call and text from your browser as yourself, route calls with business hours, IVR menus and ring groups, and let AI voice agents answer calls, place calls and reply to texts on the very same numbers. It is included with every Autessa account for unlimited users; you pay only for AI tasks and the calls and texts you make. It works out of the box, and you shape every call flow, greeting and agent to how your business runs.
- Business phone system
- Business phone numbers
- Browser softphone
- Business texting (SMS)
- AI voice agents
- IVR and call routing
- Voicemail transcription
- A2P 10DLC
- SMS consent
Calling from (425) 555-0142
Dana Whitfield
+1 (206) 555-0187
Caller: Hi, can I move my Thursday appointment?
Agent: Of course. I can see Thursday at 10. Would Friday at 2 work?
✓ text sent: confirmation for Fri 2:00 PM
Unlimited users · Included
Included for your whole company: everyone on your team, no per-seat fees.
Phone & Texting comes with every Autessa account. Give every person on your team the browser phone and the shared text inbox at no extra cost. You pay only for AI tasks and the calls and texts you make.
The short answer
What is Autessa Phone & Texting?
Autessa Phone & Texting is the business phone and SMS system built into every Autessa account. It gives your company phone numbers, a browser phone and a shared text inbox for the people on your team, and the same numbers can be answered by AI voice agents that talk, transfer, take voicemails and text.
Most companies end up with a phone system for people and a separate voice AI product for agents, wired together with forwarding rules. Here they are the same thing. A number can ring your front desk during business hours and an AI agent after hours. An agent can answer, realize the caller needs a person, and transfer with a whisper. A text can be answered by an agent, then picked up by a teammate in the inbox, and the thread shows who wrote what.
Texting is held to carrier rules from the start: A2P 10DLC registration runs inside the app, a consent registry decides who can be texted, and STOP always wins.
Everything, by area
Every area, every capability
Each area has its own page, and every capability has a deep-dive.
Both sides of the line
Can people and AI agents use the same phone numbers?
Yes, and that is the point. Every number in Autessa works for a person in the browser and for an AI voice agent at the same time. Here is what each side does.
You, calling and texting as yourself
A browser phone and shared inbox for everyone whose role can use agents. No desk phone, no app to install.
AI voice agents, on the same numbers
Agents you build in Autessa answer, call, text and hand off to people.
- Answer every call on a number, or only after hours
- Place outbound calls with retries and calling hours
- Transfer a caller to a person, or take a voicemail
- Reply to texts in a continuing conversation
- Take card digits on the keypad, out of its own hearing
- Speak English or Spanish, in a voice you choose
What makes it different
A phone system where AI is a first-class caller
Where Autessa goes beyond a typical business phone system. These are the capabilities teams notice first.
Put an AI voice agent on any number, or any step of a call flow
Agents that transfer, take voicemails and press through phone menus
Card digits go on the keypad, never through the AI
Consent is recorded, and STOP always wins
Bring your own Twilio account
Link your own Twilio account and use its numbers in Autessa for calls, texts and AI agents, with your credentials encrypted and your settings restored if you unlink.
For AI agentsOutbound AI calls
Agents, workflows and scripts can place phone calls that hold an AI conversation, play a message and collect a key press, or ring your staff once the person picks up.
For AI agentsNatural turn-taking
Tune how your agent listens and talks: when callers can interrupt, how long it waits before replying, how it handles a noisy room, and what it says while it looks something up.
For AI agentsEnglish and Spanish voice agents
One voice agent can speak English and Spanish, each with its own voice, greeting and phrases, and the call switches the moment the caller starts speaking the other language.
People + AIAI text replies
An AI agent can answer a number's texts with one ongoing conversation per sender, or texts can wait in the inbox with an auto-reply, with keyword replies and text hours on top.
For peopleHosted consent site
Autessa builds and hosts a texting consent site for you, with the sign-up page, privacy policy, terms and call script carriers look for, and records every sign-up.
People + AIRecording, transcripts and redaction
Choose per number whether to keep transcripts and recordings, for how long, with an announcement, and have Call Redaction remove card numbers and personal details before anything is saved.
For AI agentsCustom voices
Record or upload about ten seconds of a voice you have the right to use, and your AI agents can speak with it on every call.
For AI agentsSpeech vocabulary
A company-wide speech vocabulary teaches every agent and phone call your product names, people and terms, and corrections fix the words it tends to mishear.
People + AICall and text data
Every call and text is a row in your own Phone calls and Text messages tables, so you can search them, query them, trigger automations from them and manage it all from the CLI.
Product tour
Every screen in the Phone app
Phone & Texting lives at Phone in your Autessa account. People see Calls, People, Texts and Keypad; company admins also see numbers, call flows, texting setup and speech vocabulary.
Calls
People + AIEvery call in and out of your numbers and between teammates: who, type, when, length, line and who handled it, with a Missed filter and a drawer for the recording, transcript and voicemail.
People
For peopleTeammates who can take calls. Tap one to ring their browser phone, no phone number needed.
Texts
People + AIOne conversation list across every number, a thread view labeled by who sent each message, a reply box and a New text composer.
Keypad
For peoplePick the line to call from, dial any number and talk. The person you call sees the business number.
Numbers & call flows
People + AIAdmin home for numbers, texting setup and who you can text, with status badges for every line.
Number detail
People + AIWho answers, call settings, call tools for agents, recent calls, texting, who answers texts and quick automations.
Call flow editor
People + AIGreeting, business hours and closed dates, keypad menus, ring people, AI agents, voicemail, ask-to-text and hang up.
Who answers texts
For AI agentsAn AI agent or the inbox, auto-replies, keyword replies and separate text hours.
Add a phone number
For peopleGet a free number, choose by area code, use your Twilio account, or text from your existing number.
Texting setup
For peopleA2P 10DLC registration, its timeline, the carrier's feedback and fix-and-resubmit.
Who you can text
For peopleEveryone who agreed and who opted out, number lookup, and adding consent with evidence.
Consent site editor
For peopleBrand, program description, frequency, support details, privacy policy, terms and call script for your hosted consent site.
Speech vocabulary
For AI agentsCompany-wide words and corrections shared by every agent, phone call and Call Redaction.
Custom voices
For AI agentsRecord or upload a sample and make an instant voice clone for your agents.
How it works
How do you set up a business line in Autessa?
- STEP 1
Get a number
Take a free US number in one click or choose an area code. Or link numbers from your Twilio account, or text from the number you already have.
For people - STEP 2
Decide who answers
Point the number at an AI agent, a group of people, a keypad menu or a full call flow with business hours. Do the same for texts.
People + AI - STEP 3
Call and text
Your team answers and dials from the browser and texts from the shared inbox. Agents answer, call out and reply on the same numbers.
People + AI - STEP 4
Stay compliant
Register for A2P 10DLC in the app, let the consent registry decide who can be texted, and choose how calls are recorded and redacted.
For people
Use cases
Front desks, sales, support, clinics and home services
How each role and industry uses calling, texting and voice agents together.
Integrations
Twilio, AI Agents, calendars and your own automations
What Phone & Texting connects to, and how calls and texts flow into the rest of Autessa.
Security
Consent, recording choices, redaction and encryption
Who can do what, how sensitive digits stay out of the AI, and what is stored.
Ready-made on top of Phone & Texting
Want an AI receptionist without building one?
Autessa AI Receptionist runs on Phone & Texting. It answers your main line, takes messages, screens before transferring to a teammate, blocks spam and sends urgent alerts, with an inbox and a morning summary for your team.
Comparing options
How does Autessa compare to other business phone and voice AI tools?
Fair, factual comparisons of how Autessa does each job, for teams evaluating these products.
| If you are looking at | Read |
|---|---|
| Quo (formerly OpenPhone) | Autessa Phone & Texting as a Quo (formerly OpenPhone) alternative → |
| Dialpad | Autessa Phone & Texting as a Dialpad alternative → |
| Aircall | Autessa Phone & Texting as a Aircall alternative → |
| RingCentral | Autessa Phone & Texting as a RingCentral alternative → |
| Retell AI | Autessa Phone & Texting as a Retell AI alternative → |
FAQ
Questions about Autessa Phone & Texting
Is Autessa Phone & Texting included with Autessa?
Yes. Autessa Phone & Texting is included with every Autessa account, for unlimited users: everyone on your team can call and text with no per-seat fees. You pay only for AI tasks and the calls and texts you make.
What is Autessa Phone & Texting?
Autessa Phone & Texting is a business phone system for people and AI, built into every Autessa account. You get US business phone numbers, a browser phone to call and text as yourself, call flows with IVR menus and voicemail, and AI voice agents that answer calls, place calls and reply to texts on the same numbers.
Does it work out of the box?
Yes. Get a number and it takes calls the moment it is yours, and your team can call and text from the browser right away. From there you shape it to how your business works in Autessa: your own call flows and hours, greetings, AI agents, texting rules, voices and automations.
Can I make and answer calls myself, not just through AI?
Yes. The Autessa browser phone rings wherever you have Autessa open with "Take calls in this browser" on. You can accept or decline, mute, use the keypad, dial out from the Keypad with your business number as caller ID, call teammates browser to browser, and text from a shared inbox.
Can an AI voice agent answer my business number?
Yes. Connect an AI voice agent or multi-agent to a number directly, or make it a step in a call flow, for example only after hours or when a caller presses 2. The agent knows the caller's number, can transfer to a person, take a voicemail, and text the caller when they have agreed to texts.
Can AI agents place outbound calls?
Yes. The Make Phone Call tool lets agents, workflows and scripts place calls that hold an AI conversation, play a message and collect a key press, or ring your staff once the person answers. Calls can retry on busy or no answer and respect calling hours. You can use it to have an agent call back a missed caller or chase a reply.
How much does a phone number cost?
You can get a US number free, with no card needed, from the Phone app. Texting needs carrier registration, which has pass-through carrier fees, and calls are metered against your company's call minutes. Phone & Texting itself is included for unlimited users; you pay only for AI tasks and the calls and texts you make.
Do I need to register for business texting?
Yes, US carriers require A2P 10DLC registration before businesses text from a local number. Autessa runs the registration inside the app, with templates, checks for common rejection reasons and a status timeline, and it can build the opt-in consent site carriers ask for.
How does Autessa handle STOP and texting consent?
STOP, START and HELP are handled automatically on every number and cannot be overridden. A text only goes out to someone who texted you within the last year or has an approved consent record, and an opt-out always wins.
Can I keep my existing number?
For texting, yes: hosted texting moves only the texting of an existing US or Canadian number to Autessa while calls stay with your carrier. You can also link numbers from your own Twilio account.
Does it have an IVR and call routing?
Yes. Each number has a call flow with a greeting, business hours and closed dates, nestable keypad menus (IVR), ring groups with press 1 to accept, AI agents, voicemail with transcription, an ask-to-text step and blocked callers.
Which countries and languages are supported?
Numbers you buy in Autessa are US numbers, and texts go to US recipients. You can dial international numbers from the Keypad. AI voice agents understand English (US and UK) and Spanish (US and Spain).
Are calls recorded?
Only if you turn it on. Transcripts are on and recording is off by default for each number. You can add a recording announcement, set retention days for each, and turn on Call Redaction to remove card numbers and personal details before anything is saved.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa Phone & Texting fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours