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Inbound and outbound phone guide

Updated this week

The phone functionality on the CollegeVine platform allows your AI agent to receive and initiate calls with students. Once your phone number has been provisioned by your CollegeVine team, setup is done entirely in the platform — no technical configuration required on your end. The same phone number is used for inbound calls, outbound calls, and SMS.

📌 Before you begin: Your dedicated phone number must be provisioned by your CollegeVine team before the steps in this guide apply. If your number is not yet visible in the platform, contact your Success Manager.

Part 1: Inbound phone

Inbound phone is handled through a dedicated Inbound Phone Workflow. When the workflow is set to Live, your agent will automatically answer calls made to your dedicated number, respond to student inquiries, and escalate to partner staff when needed.

📌 Your phone number is shared across inbound calls, outbound calls, and SMS. Once set up, you can publish it on your website, add it to phone trees, and include it in email signatures.

Find your inbound phone workflow

  1. In the left sidebar, click Workflows under your agent.

  2. Find and open your Inbound Phone Workflow. It may be Live or in Draft status.

📌 Don't see an Inbound Phone Workflow? Contact your CollegeVine Success Manager. They will create one and configure your phone number as an inbound channel.

Configure the workflow fields

When you open the workflow, click Edit in the top right to open the Configure workflow form. Review and complete the following fields:

Basic settings

  • Workflow name — Give the workflow a clear, descriptive name (e.g., "AI Recruiter Inbound Phone").

  • Metaprompt — Select from the dropdown. In most cases, keep the default (DefaultMetaPrompt).

  • LLM Model — Select the AI model your agent will use. The default is Anthropic Claude Haiku 4.5.

Audience

  • Who should I be engaging with? — Select the constituent group the workflow should apply to.

  • Auto shutoff date — Optionally set a date when the workflow automatically deactivates.

Inbound communication channels

This section defines which channels your agent listens on. For phone, the critical field is:

  • Phone — Select your provisioned phone number from the dropdown. If this is set to None, the agent will not answer inbound calls.

  • Email — Select the agent's inbound email address if email handling is also active on this workflow.

  • SMS — Select your phone number here as well if you want the agent to handle inbound text messages on the same number.

⚠️ If the Phone channel is set to None, your agent will not answer inbound calls even if the workflow is Live. Always confirm your phone number is selected before activating.

Actions

Under Add any actions I will need to use, confirm the following actions are added (your CollegeVine team can help set these up):

  • email_constituent — sends follow-up emails

  • constituent_knowledge — queries your institution's knowledge base

  • call_constituent — places and manages calls

Trigger events

Under Trigger events, confirm the following are added:

  • Constituent entered — fires when a constituent enters the workflow's audience

  • Phone call result — fires after each phone interaction, allowing the agent to take follow-up actions

Set the workflow to live

  1. Click Save, then click Launch.

  2. Confirm the status shows Live in the Workflows list.

💡 Use the test harness to simulate a call interaction before activating. From the Inbound Phone Workflow page, click Test, select or generate a test constituent, and click Start simulation.

Share your number

Once the workflow is live, your agent is ready to answer inbound calls. Share your dedicated phone number wherever students might need to reach you:

  • Your institution's website (admissions, financial aid, student services pages)

  • Email signatures and auto-replies

  • Existing phone trees or IVR systems

  • Printed materials and event handouts

Part 2: Outbound phone

Outbound phone calls are initiated through workflows. You build a workflow that defines who gets called, when, and what the agent says.

⚠️ Your agent will only place outbound calls to students with AI phone consent = true. Always filter your workflow audience for this before launching.

Create an outbound workflow

  1. In the left sidebar, click Workflows and select + New.

  2. Give the workflow a clear name (e.g., "Fall 2026 Admitted Student Outreach — Phone").

  3. Under Channel, select Phone.

Configure the workflow fields

Once the workflow is created, you'll be taken to the Configure workflow form. Complete the following fields:

Basic settings

  • Workflow name — Give the workflow a name that reflects its purpose and audience (e.g., "Fall 2026 Admitted Student Outreach — Phone").

  • Metaprompt — Select the prompt template for this workflow. For outbound phone, this is typically a phone-specific metaprompt (e.g., V1W: Phone Mission).

  • LLM Model — Select the AI model. The default for outbound phone workflows is Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5.

  • Min days apart — The minimum number of days between calls to the same student (e.g., 1 means at least one day between calls to the same student).

  • Max sends — The maximum number of times the agent will call a student in this workflow. Once reached, the student won't receive additional calls from this workflow.

  • Additional instructions — Add workflow-specific guidance on top of the agent's core prompt. Use this for one-off talking points, event-specific messaging, etc.

  • Agent persona — Defines the personality and tone your agent uses on calls for this workflow. Pre-set by your CollegeVine team but can be adjusted on request.

Configure audience, content, and schedule

  1. Build your Audience using the segment filters. Always include a filter for AI phone consent = true.

  2. Write or review the message content. This guides the agent's conversation with each student.

  3. Set your Schedule — choose a send date and time, or configure a recurring cadence.

💡 You can configure the agent to call a student up to once per day, though most partners opt for around once per week to avoid over-communicating. The agent will always respect the call hours window set in your Phone Setup.

Launch and monitor

  1. Review all settings, then click Launch to activate the workflow.

  2. The agent will begin placing calls at the next available window within your configured call hours.

Track the workflow's progress from the Workflows list. Click into any active workflow to see how many calls have been placed, completion and response rates, and individual call transcripts and summaries.

Testing

Inbound

Call your dedicated phone number directly from your mobile phone. Your agent should answer within a few rings and respond naturally to questions.

You can also use the in-platform test harness:

  1. Open the Inbound Phone Workflow and click Test in the top-right corner.

  2. Search for a specific constituent or generate a random test constituent.

  3. Click Start simulation to run through the interaction.

Outbound

Before launching a workflow to your full audience, place a test call to yourself by adding your own number as a test constituent and triggering the workflow.

You can also test outbound phone call actions directly in the agent test harness. The test harness supports two modes:

  • Call your phone — the agent places a call to your real phone number.

  • Web call — the call runs directly in the browser, no phone required.

In both modes, the test harness treats you as the test constituent and runs the call using the instructions of the specific phone call action being tested.

📌 Current limitation: Call transcripts are not returned to the test harness after the call ends. Review call recordings or logs separately to evaluate the interaction.

Frequently asked questions

What countries can my agent call?

The agent can place outbound calls to US, Canada, and India phone numbers.

Can the agent call a student immediately when they're uploaded?

Not immediately. If the student meets your workflow's audience criteria, the agent will schedule a call at the next available window within your configured call hours. Scheduling this way prevents calls from being placed at off-hours.

How often will the agent call a student?

Call frequency depends on your workflow's frequency settings. The agent can call up to once per day, but most partners configure a cadence of around once per week to avoid over-communicating.

Can I customize how the agent pronounces certain words?

Yes — you can add custom pronunciation instructions to the agent's prompt. Note that like people, the agent may occasionally mispronounce a word even with instructions. Contact your Success Manager to make pronunciation adjustments.

What happens when the agent doesn't know the answer to a question?

The agent will attempt to transfer the caller based on your configured transfer paths. If live transfer hours are active, the call is forwarded to your designated number. Outside those hours, the agent sends a summary email to your designated escalation address.

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