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When a call is initiated, whether inbound or outbound, Simple AI follows a sequence of steps before, during, and after the conversation. This page walks through that flow and explains where your workflows can hook in.

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1. Pre-call workflow

Before a call starts, Simple AI can run a pre-call workflow that prepares the agent with context about the caller. This is not just a simple HTTP ping — it is an opportunity to run a full sequence of lookups, business logic, and data enrichment so the agent starts the conversation fully informed. If an agent has the pre_call_webhook_url configured and pre_call_webhook_enabled set to true, Simple AI triggers the workflow before the call is created. The payload includes information about the call and the agent: 
{
  "call": {
    "from_number": "+15551234567",
    "to_number": "+15557654321",
    "direction": "inbound",
    "timestamp": "2024-01-01T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "agent": {
    "id": "agent-uuid",
    "name": "Support Agent"
  }
}
Your workflow can look up the caller in your CRM, check for open support tickets, load account details, apply routing rules, or run any other logic you need. It responds with a parameters object, and those parameters are merged into the call before it begins. If pre_call_webhook_auth_token is present, it is sent in the Authorization header as a bearer token. The workflow times out after pre_call_webhook_timeout seconds (default is 5). Errors or timeouts are ignored and the call proceeds normally. See Workflows for detailed examples and setup guidance.

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2. Call created

After the optional pre-call workflow, Simple AI creates the call record and connects the caller to the agent. At this point your application receives the call.started webhook (see Webhooks).

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3. Call in progress

During the conversation, Simple AI can send call.transcript_update webhooks with incremental transcript data. These allow your application to react in real time — displaying a live transcript, monitoring for keywords, or triggering mid-call actions.

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4. Call completed

When the call ends, Simple AI sends a call.completed webhook. This is the trigger for your post-call workflow — a full journey of follow-up actions like syncing to your CRM, sending follow-up messages, updating tickets, notifying your team, or feeding data into your analytics pipeline. Post-call workflows can be as simple as a single API call or as complex as a multi-step orchestration that branches based on the call outcome, analyzer results, or tags. See Workflows for examples.

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Summary

StepWhat HappensYour Hook
Pre-callAgent prepares for the conversationPre-call workflow — enrich context, run business rules, load caller data
Call startedCall is created and connectedcall.started webhook
In progressConversation is happeningcall.transcript_update webhooks for real-time monitoring
Call completedCall ends, recording and transcript finalizedcall.completed webhook — trigger your post-call workflow