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Agents Overview

Agents are the AI-powered entities that interact with your users. Crew supports four primary agent types, each optimized for different communication channels and use cases.

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Agent Types

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Voice Agents

Voice agents handle phone calls with natural, low-latency speech. They can:
  • Answer inbound calls 24/7
  • Place outbound calls at scale
  • Transfer calls to humans (warm or cold)
  • Collect information through conversation
  • Trigger actions based on call outcomes
Common use cases:
  • AI receptionist for healthcare, legal, or service businesses
  • Appointment reminders and confirmations
  • Lead qualification and follow-up
  • Customer service triage

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SMS Agents

SMS agents manage two-way text message conversations. They can:
  • Respond to inbound messages
  • Send outbound messages and campaigns
  • Handle multi-turn conversations with context
  • Trigger actions (appointments, notifications)
Common use cases:
  • Appointment scheduling via text
  • Order status and updates
  • Survey collection
  • Two-factor verification flows

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Chat Agents

Chat agents power web-based conversational interfaces. They can:
  • Embed on any website via widget
  • Maintain session context
  • Hand off to live agents
  • Collect leads and route inquiries
Common use cases:
  • Website lead capture
  • Customer support chat
  • Product recommendations
  • Onboarding assistance

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Outbound Agents

Outbound agents initiate contact rather than waiting for inbound requests. They can:
  • Place calls from uploaded lists
  • Send SMS campaigns
  • Execute multi-step outreach sequences
  • Report on campaign performance
Common use cases:
  • Appointment reminder calls
  • Payment collection outreach
  • Survey and feedback collection
  • Re-engagement campaigns

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Agent Capabilities Matrix

CapabilityVoiceSMSChatOutbound
Natural language understanding✓✓✓✓
Knowledge base access✓✓✓✓
Call transfer✓——✓
Appointment booking✓✓✓✓
CRM integration✓✓✓✓
Real-time transcription✓——✓
Bulk campaigns—✓—✓
Widget embedding——✓—

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Creating an Agent

1

Select Agent Type

Choose Voice, SMS, Chat, or Outbound based on your use case
2

Define Persona

Set name, voice (for voice agents), and personality traits
3

Attach Knowledge Base

Link the agent to relevant knowledge sources
4

Configure Behavior

Set guardrails, escalation triggers, and default responses
5

Assign Channel

Connect a phone number or embed code

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Agent Configuration

Each agent has configurable parameters: 
{
  "name": "Sarah",
  "type": "voice",
  "voice": "nova",
  "language": "en-US",
  "persona": "Friendly and professional medical receptionist",
  "knowledge_base_id": "kb_12345",
  "guardrails": {
    "max_call_duration": 600,
    "escalation_keywords": ["emergency", "urgent", "manager"],
    "pii_handling": "redact"
  }
}

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Multi-Agent Crews

A single Crew can contain multiple agents with different roles:
AgentRoleChannel
SarahPrimary receptionistMain phone line
MarcusAfter-hours agentSame line, different hours
EmmaSMS responderSMS channel
Web BotLead captureWebsite widget

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Best Practices

  • Distinct personas — Give each agent a unique name and personality
  • Scoped knowledge — Only attach relevant knowledge to each agent
  • Test thoroughly — Use staging agents before deploying to production
  • Monitor performance — Review transcripts and adjust behavior regularly

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Next Steps