VoiceOI gives Asterisk and FreePBX systems a hosted, no-code AI voice bot for outbound calling. Bots connect to Asterisk and FreePBX-based setups over SIP, and on VICIdial, which runs on Asterisk, they join your campaigns as remote agents. You build the script without code; VoiceOI runs the speech, voice and language model for you.
The bot side is the same whichever system dials: a hosted VoiceOI bot takes the call over SIP, runs the conversation, and either ends the call or transfers it to a closer. What changes is who dials.
VICIdial dials
Your campaign dials the list through your carrier.
Remote agent
Answered calls go to a bot's remote-agent seat.
Bot
Machine check, your script, DNC handling.
Transfer or end
Qualified leads go live to a closer over SIP.
Disposition
The outcome is written back to VICIdial.
Lead list
Upload a CSV; set pacing and calling windows.
SIP carrier
The bot dials through the carrier you added.
Bot
Machine check, your script, DNC handling.
Transfer or end
Qualified calls are handed to a closer with AI notes.
Call log
Disposition, recording and transcript saved.
Running Asterisk or FreePBX without VICIdial? Both connect to VoiceOI over SIP; FreePBX runs on Asterisk, so a FreePBX AI integration takes the same SIP route. Transfers to closers go over SIP with AI-written notes; the bot hands the call over rather than staying on the line to introduce the caller.
The built-in dialer runs the campaign, and your SIP carrier is added as a carrier entry. These are the steps.
Gather the SIP server, authentication, caller-ID numbers and number format of the carrier your Asterisk or FreePBX system already uses; the SIP trunk for AI voice agents page lists what to ask. Twilio and Telnyx have their own guides: Twilio SIP trunk and Telnyx SIP trunk.
Paste the carrier's sip.conf or pjsip.conf block into VoiceOI's Carrier Manager and save it.
Create the script in the no-code voice bot builder and run it in the simulator before any real call.
Upload a CSV holding only your own number, set up the campaign to dial through the carrier you added and check the call. If your dialplan routes calls in a way that is specific to your PBX, tell sales how before you go live.
VICIdial runs on Asterisk, and it is where many outbound floors already keep their lists. VoiceOI bots join VICIdial as remote agents, so VICIdial keeps your campaigns, lists, recycling and reports, and each call's outcome is written back as a disposition.
Setup details are on the VICIdial AI integration page, and the VICIdial AI voice bot page covers how bots work on a VICIdial floor. Unsure how VICIdial, ViciBox, GoAutoDial, FreePBX and Issabel relate to Asterisk? See the open-source dialer comparison.
Building an AI voice bot on Asterisk yourself is a real engineering project. Here is what it involves, and what VoiceOI handles instead.
A do-it-yourself build has to get call audio out of Asterisk in real time, send it to a speech-to-text service, pass the words to a language model, turn the reply back into speech, and keep that loop fast enough that people don't talk over the bot. Outbound calling then adds machine detection, opt-out handling, transfers, logging and servers that stay up under load.
| Job | Build it yourself | With VoiceOI |
|---|---|---|
| Connect to Asterisk | Set up a media interface and dialplan logic for your agent | Connect over SIP, or add bots to VICIdial as remote agents |
| Speech-to-text, LLM and text-to-speech | Pick providers or host models, then manage keys, latency and usage bills | Run on VoiceOI's infrastructure by default, with no per-minute AI fee |
| Call logic | Write and maintain code | No-code script builder: recorded-voice bots or AI agents inside your rules, drafted from a call transcript or started from a template |
| Testing | Build your own test harness | Simulator, plus recordings and transcripts of real calls |
| Machines and opt-outs | Write detection and opt-out logic | Answering-machine detection and spoken DNC handling, with phrase lists you can edit, import and export |
| Transfers | Script SIP transfers and pass context to the closer | Transfers to closers over SIP with AI-written notes and routing rules |
| Running it | Your servers, updates and monitoring | Hosted by VoiceOI and billed per bot |
In VoiceOI's testing, replies took about a second per turn. Conversations are English-first. See the no-code voice bot builder for how scripts are put together.
Many teams looking for an Asterisk AI voice bot start with open-source projects they run themselves, such as AVA and Agent Voice Response. They suit some teams well. This comparison stays general and is based on those projects' own pages.
| Area | Self-hosted open-source agent | VoiceOI |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your own servers or cloud; the projects we reviewed ship as Docker containers | Hosted by VoiceOI |
| How it connects to Asterisk | Through a media interface such as AudioSocket, added to your dialplan | Over SIP, or as VICIdial remote agents |
| Speech, LLM and voice | Your choice of cloud providers or local models, paid to those providers or run on your own hardware | Run on VoiceOI's infrastructure by default; no per-minute AI fee |
| Software cost | Free and open source | Per bot per month, from $25 list on the VICIdial / Asterisk tiers |
| Customization | Full access to the code | No-code builder; no public API yet |
| Who keeps it running | Your team | VoiceOI |
| Call direction | AVA's README documents inbound routing and outbound campaigns; AVR's site focuses on inbound. Check each project's docs | Outbound campaigns |
| Languages | Depends on the project and the speech models you connect; check its docs | English-first |
The open-source projects cover outbound calling too: AVA's README documents outbound campaigns (marked alpha), machine detection and transfers, and AVR's site lists VICIdial among the systems it drops into. The difference is hosted and no-code versus self-hosted and code-first, with VoiceOI focused on outbound fronter and closer floors.
Open-source details from AVA on GitHub and the Agent Voice Response website, reviewed October 2026. Open-source projects change quickly, so check their docs.
VoiceOI's controls for outbound floors: answering-machine detection hangs up when a machine answers and logs the call as AM, spoken do-not-call requests end the call, calls can include an optional TCPA AI-voice disclosure, campaigns use timezone-aware calling windows, and calls are recorded and transcribed for review.
Those are tools, not a guarantee. Since the FCC's February 2024 ruling, telemarketing calls with AI voices need prior express written consent (FCC news release), and your organization stays responsible for compliance. This isn't legal advice. See TCPA controls for AI voice bots, do-not-call (DNC) controls and answering machine detection for call centers.
Bots that connect to your own VICIdial or Asterisk system are billed on the VICIdial / Asterisk tiers: a prepaid price per bot per month, with no per-minute AI fee. Your carrier still bills the minutes. The pricing page shows which tier fits your setup.
| Bot tier | Question limit | Includes | List price | Floor after discounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VICIdial Simple Fronter | Max 3 Questions | Basic filtering, No Closer comments, Live Transfers, Connects to VICIdial / Asterisk | $25 per bot/month | $18 per bot/month |
| VICIdial Good Fronter | Max 5 Questions | Verifies Age/Zip, Leaves comments for Closer, Live Transfers, Connects to VICIdial / Asterisk | $35 per bot/month | $22 per bot/month |
| VICIdial Simple LG | Flexible Question Flow | Generative AI, No Google Sheets export, No Live Transfers, Connects to VICIdial / Asterisk | $50 per bot/month | $30 per bot/month |
| VICIdial Pro LG | Flexible Question Flow | Generative AI, Google Sheets export, No Live Transfers, Connects to VICIdial / Asterisk | $65 per bot/month | $40 per bot/month |
| VICIdial Standard Closer | Up to 12 Questions | Live Transfers, Connects to VICIdial / Asterisk | $100 per bot/month | $65 per bot/month |
| VICIdial Ultimate Closer | Extended Question Flow | Complex branching, Live Transfers, Connects to VICIdial / Asterisk | $135 per bot/month | $85 per bot/month |
Volume discounts: 15% Off (10-49 Seats), 30% Off (50-99 Seats), 45% Off (100-249 Seats), 60% Off (250+ Seats). No tier drops below its floor. If bots dial through VoiceOI's hosted SIP instead, the Hosted SIP tiers apply, listed from $45; see the SIP trunk for AI voice agents guide and AI voice bot pricing.
Add your SIP carrier in the Carrier Manager, or bring the bots into VICIdial as remote agents, then test in the simulator before any lead is dialed.
Common questions about using VoiceOI with Asterisk, FreePBX and VICIdial.
VoiceOI works with Asterisk and FreePBX-based setups over SIP. It doesn't publish a list of supported versions, so if you're unsure whether your system fits, tell us what you run before you go live.
VoiceOI runs the bots, the script builder and the dashboard for you (hosted), and your phone system connects over SIP or through VICIdial remote agents. If you need every component, including the AI models, on servers you run yourself, compare the self-hosted open-source projects above.
VoiceOI connects to Asterisk and FreePBX-based setups over SIP, and to VICIdial as remote agents. AVA, a self-hosted open-source project, documents AudioSocket as its default way to hook into your own Asterisk (source below); that is a different approach from a hosted bot.
No. VICIdial is one path, where bots join your campaigns as remote agents. VoiceOI's built-in dialer can also run bot campaigns on its own, dialing through any SIP carrier you add in the Carrier Manager.
No. VoiceOI is built for outbound campaigns, so it isn't an inbound receptionist and doesn't route callers the way an IVR does.
No. Speech recognition, voices and the language model run on VoiceOI's infrastructure by default, so there are no AI provider keys to manage and no per-minute AI fee. An optional Advanced Voice Engine is listed at 2 Workers Free (then $15/worker).
Conversations are English-first today.
AudioSocket detail from the AVA README on GitHub, reviewed October 2026.
Third-party details on this page come from these pages, reviewed October 2026. Prices, limits and console labels change often, so check the source before you rely on them.