Build a Voice AI Agent to Handle Your After-Hours Logistics Calls
The best voice AI solution for a logistics SMB is a custom agent that answers calls 24/7. It uses conversational AI to provide quotes, track shipments, and book moving jobs after hours.
The system's complexity depends on integrating with your existing software. Connecting to a simple Google Sheet for pricing is straightforward. Connecting to a legacy Transportation Management System (TMS) with a limited API requires more custom development.
We built a voice agent for a 15-person regional moving company that was missing 30% of its after-hours calls. The agent now handles 90% of these calls automatically, booking an average of 4 extra jobs per week and capturing leads that previously went to competitors.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Logistics companies often start with a standard business phone system like RingCentral or Nextiva. These include basic Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for call routing, but they cannot handle a real conversation. A customer asking, "I need a quote to move a 2-bedroom apartment next month," gets stuck in a menu and hangs up. The system can only forward calls; it cannot solve customer problems.
To add intelligence, some try platforms like Voiceflow. These tools are powerful for designing conversations but require a developer to connect them to your backend systems. A 12-person moving company does not have an engineer to build and maintain the API integration between Voiceflow and their Movegistics CRM. The result is a conversational front-end that cannot access the real-time pricing and scheduling data needed to be useful.
This leaves you with a critical gap. A potential customer calls at 8 PM, ready to book a job. Your IVR fails them, and the call goes to a voicemail box that will not be checked for 12 hours. By the time your office manager calls back at 9 AM, that customer has already booked with a competitor who answered the phone.
How Does It Work?
We start by connecting to your phone number through a service like Twilio, which gives us programmatic control over calls. We then map the business logic you use for quoting and scheduling by accessing your pricing spreadsheets, CRM, or TMS. We use Python and the httpx library to make test calls to your existing system APIs, confirming we can pull the necessary data.
Next, we build the core agent as a FastAPI application. When a call comes in, Twilio forwards the audio to our service, which transcribes it and sends the text to the Claude API for natural language understanding. This allows the agent to handle complex, unscripted queries. It understands context, asks clarifying questions, and extracts key details like addresses, dates, and inventory lists from the conversation.
This FastAPI service is deployed on AWS Lambda, ensuring it scales to handle call volume spikes without you managing servers. To generate a quote, the agent queries your pricing data from a Supabase database or directly from a Google Sheet. It checks availability by hitting your scheduling software's API. A typical call costs less than $0.25 in total cloud and API fees, with a response latency under 800ms to maintain a natural conversational flow.
Every call is logged using structlog, capturing the full transcript, AI decisions, and any errors. If the agent cannot handle a request after two attempts, it gracefully transfers the call to a human or takes a message. The full transcript and audio recording are immediately sent to your team via a Slack notification, ensuring no lead is ever lost.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Answer Calls in 2 Rings, Not 12 Hours
Capture leads the moment they call, 24/7. Our system provides quotes in under 60 seconds and books jobs while your competitors are still asleep.
Stop Paying Per-Agent, Pay Per-Call
Avoid the high fixed cost of a call center or per-seat SaaS fees. A custom agent has a one-time build cost and runs for pennies per call on AWS Lambda.
You Own The AI That Runs Your Business
We deliver the complete Python source code to your private GitHub repository. You are never locked into our service and have a permanent business asset.
Know Exactly Why a Call Failed
If the AI cannot answer, you get an instant Slack alert with the full transcript. This allows you to call the customer back within minutes and save the lead.
Works With Your Existing TMS and CRM
The agent connects directly to your logistics software, whether it is Movegistics, Rose Rocket, or a custom-built FileMaker database. No manual data entry.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Discovery and System Mapping (Week 1)
You provide read-only access to your CRM, pricing models, and scheduling tools. We map your current call handling process and define the agent's exact tasks and responses.
Core Agent Development (Week 2)
We build the conversational logic in Python using the Claude API and FastAPI. You receive a dedicated test phone number to interact with the first version of the agent.
Integration and Deployment (Week 3)
We connect the agent to your live systems and deploy it on AWS Lambda. We then port your main business number to a compatible service like Twilio with zero downtime.
Monitoring and Handoff (Week 4+)
For 30 days post-launch, we monitor every call and fine-tune the agent’s logic. You receive the final source code, full documentation, and a runbook for maintenance.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What factors determine the cost and timeline for a voice AI agent?
- Cost is based on the number of systems we need to integrate with and the complexity of your business logic. A quote-and-book agent using Google Sheets for pricing is a 2-week build. Integrating with a proprietary TMS with a poorly documented API might take 4 weeks. We provide a fixed-price quote after our discovery call.
- What happens when the AI misunderstands a customer?
- The agent is designed to fail gracefully. If it cannot understand a request after two attempts, it says, 'I am having trouble, let me get your name and number, and a human will call you back shortly.' It then sends the call recording and transcript to your team via email or Slack. This prevents customer frustration and captures the lead.
- How is this different from a service like Smith.ai or a virtual receptionist?
- Virtual receptionists are humans following a script. They are great for simple booking but cannot provide dynamic quotes from your pricing logic or check real-time truck availability in your TMS. Our AI agent integrates directly with your core systems to perform complex, data-driven tasks instantly and at a fraction of the cost.
- Can the agent handle different accents or languages?
- The underlying transcription models are excellent with a wide range of English accents. We can build multi-lingual agents for languages like Spanish, but this adds to the project scope and timeline. We typically scope the initial build for English only and can add other languages as a follow-on project.
- Do I have to change my business phone number?
- No, you keep your existing number. We port it to a carrier like Twilio that provides the necessary programming hooks for the AI. The porting process is seamless with zero downtime. Your customers will continue to call the same number they have always used.
- How is customer information handled securely?
- The system is deployed within your own AWS account, giving you full control over the infrastructure. We do not store any personally identifiable information on Syntora's systems. All data, including call transcripts and customer details, resides in your secure cloud environment and is logged to your private databases.
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