Your Telephony Roadmap, Already Built | SignalWire
Ship Telephony Features Today
Your Telephony Roadmap, Already Built
Your AI handles conversations. Your backlog is full of telephony features: transfers, recording, hold music, compliance. Each one is a sprint you should not run.
Blind transfers, attended transfers with context, queue routing, and external PSTN handoffs. Each requires SIP re-INVITE expertise you should not need to hire for.
Recording requires more than saving audio
Consent management, encrypted storage, retention policies, role-based access, and audit trails. Compliance infrastructure is not a weekend project.
Conferencing multiplies complexity
Multi-party bridging demands RTP multiplexing, SDP negotiation, and media mixing at scale. Four to eight weeks of telephony engineering for a feature your customers expect on day one.
IVR and DTMF are older than your codebase
Tone detection, in-band vs. RFC 2833 handling, and dialplan routing require domain expertise that has nothing to do with AI.
Build a Voice AI Agent
fromsignalwire_agentsimportAgentBasefromsignalwire_agents.core.function_resultimportSwaigFunctionResultclassSupportAgent(AgentBase):def__init__(self):super().__init__(name="Support Agent",route="/support")self.prompt_add_section("Instructions",body="You are a customer support agent. ""Greet the caller and resolve their issue.")self.add_language("English","en-US","rime.spore:mistv2")@AgentBase.tool(name="check_order")defcheck_order(self,order_id:str):"""Check the status of a customer order. Args: order_id: The order ID to look up """returnSwaigFunctionResult(f"Order {order_id}: shipped, ETA April 2nd")agent=SupportAgent()agent.run()
import{AgentBase,FunctionResult}from'@signalwire/sdk';constagent=newAgentBase({name:'Support Agent',route:'/support',});agent.promptAddSection('Instructions','You are a customer support agent. Greet the caller and resolve their issue.');agent.addLanguage({name:'English',code:'en-US',voice:'rime.spore:mistv2'});agent.defineTool({name:'check_order',description:'Check the status of a customer order',parameters:{type:'object',properties:{order_id:{type:'string',description:'The order ID to look up'},},required:['order_id'],},handler:(args)=>{returnnewFunctionResult(`Order ${args.order_id}: shipped, ETA April 2nd`);},});agent.run();
packagemainimport("fmt""github.com/signalwire/signalwire-go/pkg/agent""github.com/signalwire/signalwire-go/pkg/swaig")funcmain(){a:=agent.NewAgentBase(agent.WithName("Support Agent"),agent.WithRoute("/support"),)a.PromptAddSection("Instructions","You are a customer support agent. Greet the caller and resolve their issue.")a.AddLanguage(map[string]any{"name":"English","code":"en-US","voice":"rime.spore:mistv2",})a.DefineTool(agent.ToolDefinition{Name:"check_order",Description:"Check the status of a customer order",Parameters:map[string]any{"type":"object","properties":map[string]any{"order_id":map[string]any{"type":"string","description":"The order ID to look up",},},"required":[]string{"order_id"},},Handler:func(argsmap[string]any,rawDatamap[string]any)*swaig.FunctionResult{orderID:=args["order_id"]returnswaig.NewFunctionResult(fmt.Sprintf("Order %v: shipped, ETA April 2nd",orderID),)},})a.Run()}
importcom.signalwire.sdk.agent.AgentBase;importcom.signalwire.sdk.swaig.FunctionResult;importjava.util.List;importjava.util.Map;publicclassSupportAgent{publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args)throwsException{varagent=AgentBase.builder().name("Support Agent").route("/support").build();agent.promptAddSection("Instructions","You are a customer support agent. "+"Greet the caller and resolve their issue.");agent.addLanguage("English","en-US","rime.spore:mistv2");agent.defineTool("check_order","Check the status of a customer order",Map.of("type","object","properties",Map.of("order_id",Map.of("type","string","description","The order ID to look up")),"required",List.of("order_id")),(toolArgs,rawData)->{varorderId=toolArgs.get("order_id");returnnewFunctionResult("Order "+orderId+": shipped, ETA April 2nd");});agent.run();}}
# frozen_string_literal: truerequire'signalwire'agent=SignalWire::AgentBase.new(name:'Support Agent',route:'/support')agent.prompt_add_section('Instructions','You are a customer support agent. Greet the caller and resolve their issue.')agent.add_language(name:'English',code:'en-US',voice:'rime.spore:mistv2')agent.define_tool(name:'check_order',description:'Check the status of a customer order',parameters:{'order_id'=>{'type'=>'string','description'=>'The order ID to look up'}})do|args,_raw|SignalWire::Swaig::FunctionResult.new("Order #{args['order_id']}: shipped, ETA April 2nd")endagent.run
<?phprequire'vendor/autoload.php';useSignalWire\Agent\AgentBase;useSignalWire\SWAIG\FunctionResult;$agent=newAgentBase(['name'=>'Support Agent','route'=>'/support']);$agent->promptAddSection('Instructions','You are a customer support agent. Greet the caller and resolve their issue.');$agent->addLanguage('English','en-US','rime.spore:mistv2');$agent->defineTool(name:'check_order',description:'Check the status of a customer order',parameters:['order_id'=>['type'=>'string','description'=>'The order ID to look up'],],handler:function(array$args):FunctionResult{returnnewFunctionResult("Order {$args['order_id']}: shipped, ETA April 2nd");});$agent->run();
#!/usr/bin/env perlusestrict;usewarnings;uselib'lib';useSignalWire::Agent::AgentBase;useSignalWire::SWAIG::FunctionResult;my$agent=SignalWire::Agent::AgentBase->new(name=>'Support Agent',route=>'/support',);$agent->prompt_add_section('Instructions','You are a customer support agent. Greet the caller and resolve their issue.');$agent->add_language(name=>'English',code=>'en-US',voice=>'rime.spore:mistv2');$agent->define_tool(name=>'check_order',description=>'Check the status of a customer order',parameters=>{order_id=>{type=>'string',description=>'The order ID to look up'},},handler=>sub{my($args,$raw)=@_;returnSignalWire::SWAIG::FunctionResult->new(response=>"Order $args->{order_id}: shipped, ETA April 2nd");},);$agent->run;
#include<signalwire/agent/agent_base.hpp>usingnamespacesignalwire;usingjson=nlohmann::json;classSupportAgent:publicagent::AgentBase{public:SupportAgent():AgentBase("Support Agent","/support"){prompt_add_section("Instructions","You are a customer support agent. ""Greet the caller and resolve their issue.");add_language({"English","en-US","rime.spore:mistv2"});define_tool({.name="check_order",.description="Check the status of a customer order",.parameters={{"order_id",{{"type","string"},{"description","The order ID to look up"}}}},.handler=[](constjson&args,constjson&){autoorder_id=args.value("order_id","unknown");returnswaig::FunctionResult("Order "+order_id+": shipped, ETA April 2nd");}});}};intmain(){SupportAgent().run();}
usingSignalWire.Agent;usingSignalWire.SWAIG;varagent=newAgentBase(newAgentOptions{Name="Support Agent",Route="/support"});agent.PromptAddSection("Instructions","You are a customer support agent. Greet the caller and resolve their issue.");agent.AddLanguage("English","en-US","rime.spore:mistv2");agent.DefineTool("check_order","Check the status of a customer order",new{type="object",properties=new{order_id=new{type="string",description="The order ID to look up"}},required=new[]{"order_id"}},(args,rawData)=>{varorderId=args.TryGetValue("order_id",outvarid)?id:"unknown";returnnewFunctionResult($"Order {orderId}: shipped, ETA April 2nd");});agent.Run();
usesignalwire::agent::AgentBase;usesignalwire::swaig::FunctionResult;useserde_json::json;fnmain(){letmutagent=AgentBase::builder().name("Support Agent").route("/support").build();agent.prompt_add_section("Instructions","You are a customer support agent. Greet the caller and resolve their issue.",&[]).add_language("English","en-US","rime.spore:mistv2");agent.define_tool("check_order","Check the status of a customer order",json!({"type":"object","properties":{"order_id":{"type":"string","description":"The order ID to look up"}},"required":["order_id"]}),Box::new(|args,_raw|{letorder_id=args.get("order_id").and_then(|v|v.as_str()).unwrap_or("unknown");FunctionResult::with_response(&format!("Order {order_id}: shipped, ETA April 2nd"))}),);agent.run();}
Build It vs. Use It
Build It Yourself
4 to 9 months of telephony engineering
SIP, RTP, and SRTP domain expertise required
Ongoing maintenance for carrier quirks
Separate compliance implementation per feature
Every capability is a new sprint
Ship on SignalWire
One YAML file and one phone number
Every feature is a native platform method
AI triggers telephony through tool calling
Compliance built into the infrastructure layer
Ship production features this afternoon
DIY Build Cost for Each Feature
Feature
Engineering Effort
Ongoing Maintenance
Call transfers
2 to 4 weeks
SIP edge cases, carrier quirks
Call recording
3 to 6 weeks
Storage, encryption, retention policies
Hold music
1 to 2 weeks
Audio format compatibility
Conference bridging
4 to 8 weeks
Scaling, media mixing
IVR routing
2 to 4 weeks
Menu maintenance, routing logic
Voicemail
2 to 3 weeks
Storage, transcription integration
DTMF handling
1 to 2 weeks
In-band vs. RFC 2833 detection
Compliance logging
4 to 8 weeks
Regulatory changes, audit prep
Call transfers. Call recording. Hold music. Conference bridging. IVR routing. Voicemail. You are going to build all of this eventually. Or you could connect to a platform that shipped it 20 years ago.
How a Tool Call Becomes a Telephony Action
1
AI decides
The caller needs billing. The LLM chooses to call the transfer function.
2
Tool call fires
transfer_call(department="billing", reason="disputed charge on March invoice") executes on SignalWire.
3
Platform executes
SIP re-INVITE with context, hold music during the transfer, warm handoff to the receiving agent.
4
Caller connected
The billing agent receives full conversation context. No SIP code written by your team.
SignalWire was founded by the engineers who wrote FreeSWITCH, the open-source telecom engine used by carriers and contact centers for 20 years. Every platform method is backed by that heritage.
FAQ
Do I need to rewrite my AI agent to use these features?
No. Your AI logic stays where it is. Telephony features are exposed as tool calls that your LLM can invoke. The pattern is the same one your agent already uses.
What happens if a transfer fails?
The platform handles SIP-level failover and retry logic. Your agent receives a status callback so it can inform the caller or attempt an alternative route.
How does compliance recording work?
Recording starts when your agent calls the record function, which can include consent tracking. Recordings are encrypted, stored with configurable retention policies, and accessible through audit-ready APIs.
What does it cost?
Voice AI processing starts at $0.16 per minute. Phone numbers and SIP trunking are at carrier rates. No per-feature surcharges for transfers, recording, or conferencing.
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Every feature on your roadmap is a native platform method. One YAML file, one phone number, and your AI handles the rest.