Place calls from an agent

An outbound connection gives an agent a caller ID and a route to the phone network. Without one, call dispatch fails and the Transfer Call tool has no carrier route. For how connections work and where they live, see Connect a phone number. You can share an outbound connection across multiple agents in the same region. Create separate connections when agents need different caller ID pools or carrier routes.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

A SIP trunk with your carrier, and at least one number on it to use as a caller ID, in E.164 format (+15551234567).
The termination host and SIP credentials for that trunk. In Twilio these live under Elastic SIP Trunking.
Admin access to your SLNG organisation. Creating a connection is a dashboard task, and the Telephony section is admin only.
An agent to place the calls. Keep its ID for the API path. If you do not have one, see Create an agent.
An SLNG key for the API path. See How to set up.

Create the connection

Open the Telephony section

In the dashboard sidebar, open Telephony, stay on the Outbound tab, and click Add connection. Pick Twilio for the guided setup or Manual for any other SIP provider.

The Telephony section listing outbound connections with status, caller ID count, and agent count — The Outbound tab of the Telephony section, with each connection's status and agents.

Name the connection and set the route

Fill in four values:

Field	What to enter
Connection name	A name you will recognize in the agent picker, such as `wayne-enterprises-outbound`
Termination host	The carrier host that accepts outbound calls, such as `wayne.pstn.twilio.com`. In Twilio, use the host from the Termination SIP URI
Caller ID pool (rotates)	The E.164 numbers the agent calls from, one per line or comma-separated
Transport	Auto, unless your carrier requires UDP, TCP, or TLS

Step one of the create outbound connection wizard showing the name, termination host, caller ID, and transport fields — The first step of the outbound wizard: name, termination host, caller IDs, and transport.

Set the SIP credentials

Enter the auth username and password your carrier expects. In Twilio mode you can click Generate credentials to have SLNG produce a pair, then add that pair to Twilio in the next step.Passwords must contain at least one uppercase letter, which is a Twilio requirement rather than an SLNG one.

Step two of the create outbound connection wizard showing auth username and password fields with a generate button — The credentials step, with the option to generate a username and password.

Finish the setup on your carrier

In Twilio mode the last step is a checklist to complete in the Twilio console:

Credentials List: add the username and password from the previous step.
Termination: confirm the termination host matches what you entered.
Numbers: confirm your Twilio number is attached to the trunk.

Step three of the create outbound connection wizard showing the Twilio checklist and the Create connection button — The final step lists the Twilio console tasks, then Create connection provisions the trunk.

In Manual mode there is no checklist. Configure the carrier to accept calls authenticated with the credentials you entered.

Wait for the connection to become active

A new connection starts as pending, then becomes active. If it ends in error, the connection shows the reason. You cannot attach a connection to an agent until it is active.

How the caller ID is chosen

An outbound connection can hold more than one number. The caller ID is selected at random from this pool for each call. Edit the connection to add or remove numbers. The caller ID always comes from this pool. A dispatch request sets the destination number, so give a campaign that needs a specific caller ID its own connection.

Attach the connection to an agent

Dashboard
API

Open the project, go to its Telephony section, and pick the connection under Outbound calls. You can pick the same connection for multiple agents in the same region.

The project Telephony section with the outbound connection dropdown open — The project's Telephony section, with the outbound connection picker open.

List the connections available to the agent.

Request

curl https://api.agents.slng.ai/v1/agents/$AGENT_ID/sip-trunk-options \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLNG_API_KEY"

Response

{
  "inbound": [],
  "outbound": [
    {
      "id": "8d2a7c60-19be-4e35-a4f7-0c53f1b9e2d4",
      "name": "wayne-enterprises-outbound",
      "livekit_trunk_id": "ST_a8Jk3mP2wQ9R",
      "numbers": ["+15551234567"],
      "status": "active",
      "selectable": true,
      "is_current": false,
      "unavailable_reason": null
    }
  ]
}

Copy the id of a connection where selectable is true, then set sip_outbound_trunk_id on the agent.

Request

curl -X PATCH https://api.agents.slng.ai/v1/agents/$AGENT_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLNG_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "sip_outbound_trunk_id": "8d2a7c60-19be-4e35-a4f7-0c53f1b9e2d4" }'

A successful response returns the updated agent with sip_outbound_trunk_id set to the connection ID. Sending null detaches the connection.

If a connection shows as (Unavailable) in the picker, it cannot be attached yet. See When a connection cannot be attached.

Verify outbound calls

Use Dispatch outbound calls to call a number you can answer. Confirm that the phone rings, the caller ID belongs to the connection’s pool, and the agent uses outbound_greeting when you have set one. If the call fails, confirm that the connection is active, attached to the agent, and configured with credentials that your carrier accepts.

What an outbound connection is required for

With one attached, the agent can:

Be dispatched on a call. See Dispatch outbound calls.
Use outbound_greeting, so a person the agent called hears a different opening line than someone who dialled in. Directional greetings need at least one connection attached, and the agent fails to save without one.
Use the Transfer Call tool, which places an outbound call to reach a person.

Rotate the credentials

For a Twilio connection, keep the old credentials in Twilio until you verify the new pair:

Generate a new pair

In the Telephony section, open Rotate creds, then click Generate credentials. Copy the new username and password.

Add the pair to Twilio

Add the new pair to the trunk’s Credentials List. Do not remove the old pair yet.

Activate the new credentials

Return to the dashboard and click Activate. The connection starts using the new pair immediately.

Verify and remove the old pair

Place a test call and confirm that it connects. You can then remove the old pair from Twilio.

The Rotate credentials dialog with a generated username, a Generate credentials button, and Activate — Rotate creds generates a new username and password. Update Twilio before you activate it.

For a manual connection, open Edit and update the username and password to match the pair configured by your carrier. Coordinate the change because calls can fail while the two sides use different credentials.

Next steps

Dispatch outbound calls to place the first one.
Receive calls on a number if callers also dial the agent.

Get started

Regions

Execution layer

Agent Builder

Models

Integrate

Prerequisites

Create the connection

How the caller ID is chosen

Attach the connection to an agent

Verify outbound calls

What an outbound connection is required for

Rotate the credentials

Next steps

​Prerequisites

​Create the connection

​How the caller ID is chosen

​Attach the connection to an agent

​Verify outbound calls

​What an outbound connection is required for

​Rotate the credentials

​Next steps

Prerequisites

Create the connection

How the caller ID is chosen

Attach the connection to an agent

Verify outbound calls

What an outbound connection is required for

Rotate the credentials

Next steps