# Set up the phone

A working line needs three things: a number from a carrier, a voice channel set to something other than `off`, and a decision about which engine answers — the turn-based carrier path, or the realtime speech-to-speech engine a workspace opts into. Everything else, including what the line says and how it sounds, is tuning you can do after the first call connects.

- **Status:** Available
- **Audience:** both
- **Channels:** phone
- **In the app:** #/calls, #/phone-advanced, #/autonomy
- **Last verified:** 2026-09-10
- **Canonical:** https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/getting-started/set-up-the-phone/

## The two engines

|  | Carrier path | Realtime engine |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Turn-based: the caller speaks, the turn is processed, Connect answers | Speech to speech over a live session |
| What carries the call | A carrier's PSTN leg | SIP into the realtime worker, on top of the same PSTN leg |
| Feels like | A capable automated line | A conversation, including being interrupted mid-sentence |
| Chosen by | The default path | A workspace opting in |

Both engines answer real calls today, and both put the transcript and a summary on the call record afterwards. The realtime engine is the one that supports barge-in — talking over Connect while it is speaking — which is the single biggest difference a caller notices.

## Getting a line answering

1. Obtain a number from a carrier and configure it to reach Connect. This part happens in the carrier's own console, not in Connect.
   - Result: Inbound calls to that number arrive at Connect's voice endpoint instead of ringing nowhere.
2. On `#/calls`, confirm the line appears and check its health.
   - Result: Line health is reported continuously, and a line that is not ready escalates into Needs You by itself rather than waiting for somebody to notice a silent number.
3. Set the `voice` channel's autonomy on `#/autonomy`.
   - Result: The line knows whether it may answer and act, or whether outbound calls need a person's yes first. Autonomy on voice follows the same four modes and four scopes as every other channel.
4. Set what the line should say it is — who is answering, and for what business — and give the workspace some Knowledge if it has none.
   - Result: The first call is answered by something that knows where it works. Grounding on a call is tightly budgeted, so a few precise facts beat a long document.
5. Ring the number yourself before anybody else does.
   - Result: You have a call record, a transcript and a summary to read — see [Make a test call](/docs/getting-started/make-a-test-call/).

## What will not work yet, stated plainly

**Call recording** — Foundation only. The capability exists in the telephony layer; it is not enabled on the live carrier, so do not plan a workflow around retrieving audio. The transcript and summary are what you get.
**Handing a call to a person** — Foundation only. A supervisor can queue a transfer, but completing one depends on a provider capability that is gated. Design the call flow to take a message and raise a follow-up instead.
**Outbound SMS from the same number** — The live carrier carries no SMS. Inbound handling, STOP and suppression work; outbound needs a provider that carries SMS, and in India a DLT registration.
**A softphone replacing your desk phone** — The browser softphone is available and is a person's own line, registered over SIP. It is a line for a human, not a second robot.

> **Careful** A call is capped at thirty minutes. That is a safety ceiling rather than a target: a call approaching it is almost always one that should have become a follow-up or a message for a person much earlier.

## Before you publish the number

- Ring it from a phone that is not in your workspace, so the caller is resolved the way a stranger would be.
- Ask it something you know it cannot answer, and listen for whether it says so or invents something.
- Ask for something that should become a commitment — a call back, a quote — and check that a follow-up appears afterwards.
- Check the line's entry in Needs You drains by itself once the cause clears; entries there are meant to disappear when the problem does, not to be dismissed by hand.

If any of that goes badly, the voice channel can be set to `off` on its own without touching email or WhatsApp, and the runtime switch stops everything at once if you would rather stop first and diagnose afterwards.

## Questions

### Do I need the realtime engine?

No. The carrier path answers calls, transcribes them and summarises them. The realtime engine is worth opting into when the difference between an automated line and a conversation matters to your callers — most obviously when they interrupt, which the realtime path handles and the turn-based one does not.

### Can I use a different voice on a second line?

Yes. Voice settings are per line rather than per workspace, which is what makes a sales number and a support number sound like different departments. [Use a different voice for each line](/docs/how-to/use-a-different-voice-per-line/) covers it.

### What happens to a call Connect cannot handle?

It takes what it can — the caller, the reason, anything specific — and turns the loose end into a follow-up or an item in Needs You, which is the honest outcome given that a completed transfer to a person is not available on the live carrier.

## Related

- [Phone and voice in Connect](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/phone/)
- [Make a test call](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/getting-started/make-a-test-call/)
- [Check a phone number before you go live](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/how-to/check-a-number-before-going-live/)
- [Change how Connect sounds on the phone](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/how-to/change-the-voice/)
- [Use a different voice for each line](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/how-to/use-a-different-voice-per-line/)
- [Decide what Connect may do](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/getting-started/set-what-connect-may-do/)

## What this page is based on

- Connect capability registry (docs-source/facts.py) — CHANNELS.phone, call_recording, call_transfer
- docs-source/sources/GENERAL.md §5 — line health escalating into Needs You
- docs-source/sources/GENERAL.md §11 — measured voice numbers