Exotel Setup

Looking for the technical reference instead? See the Exotel Integration page for WebSocket message formats, audio specifications, and API details. This page is the customer setup guide.

This guide walks you through connecting an Exotel phone number to Edesy so your AI voice agent can answer inbound calls and make outbound calls — end-to-end, with screenshots, in about 15 minutes of clicking. The only step that's not under your control is asking Exotel support to enable the Voicebot Applet on your account, which typically takes one business day.

Exotel is a great fit when:

• You need an Indian virtual number (Exotel's coverage and TRAI / NDNC compliance are best-in-class for India)
• You already have an Exotel account and want to plug it into Edesy without changing providers
• You want a single-vendor billing relationship (Exotel handles voice minutes; Edesy handles AI usage)

If you don't yet have an Exotel account, sign up at my.exotel.com and provision a Direct Inward Dial (DID) before you start.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Admin access to your Exotel dashboard at my.exotel.com
• Admin access to your Edesy workspace with at least one voice agent configured. If you haven't built an agent yet, see Creating an Agent
• An Exotel DID (virtual number) provisioned on your account
• Sufficient prepaid balance on your Exotel wallet (Exotel is prepaid; calls stop when the wallet hits zero)

Plan around the wait. Step 3 below requires Exotel support to enable the Voicebot Applet — that's a manual flag on their side and typically takes one business day. Steps 1, 2, and 4 can all be done in parallel while you wait — only Step 5 (assigning the App to your DID) is gated on the Voicebot Applet being live.

Step 1: Find your Exotel credentials

Log in to my.exotel.com, click your profile icon (top-right), and open API Settings. You'll find four values you need to copy.

Exotel routes API traffic by subdomain, and the subdomain depends on which region your account is in:

Important — copy the subdomain Exotel shows you exactly. Using the wrong subdomain causes outbound calls to fail with confusing 401 / 404 errors. Edesy's default is api.in.exotel.com (Mumbai) since most of our customers are India-based. If your Exotel account is in Singapore or US, enter the matching subdomain in the credential form's Subdomain field.

Step 2: Add Exotel to Edesy

In your Edesy dashboard, go to Phone Numbers and click Add Phone. Select Exotel as the provider and fill in the form with the values you copied in Step 1.

You must complete Step 4 before this credential is usable for outbound. Save the credential without an App ID first if you only want inbound for now — outbound will fail until you fill it in. Inbound works without an App ID only if you have an existing Custom App on your DID; for a fresh DID, you need Step 4 either way.

Click Save. Edesy validates the credentials against Exotel's API before saving — if validation fails, you'll see an inline error. The most common cause is a Subdomain mismatch (Step 1) or a typo in the API Token.

Tip — what happens after Save? Edesy shows a "Next steps" panel pointing at the three remaining actions: link an agent, configure the webhook on Exotel, and run a test call. The same actions are also accessible from the Phone Numbers list afterwards.

Step 3: Enable the Voicebot Applet on your Exotel account

The Voicebot Applet is what allows Exotel to stream live call audio to Edesy over a WebSocket. It's the core of the integration — but it's not enabled by default on every Exotel account.

To request enablement:

1. Email Exotel support at [email protected]

2. Use this template:

   Subject: Enable Voicebot Applet on account [Your Account SID]

   Hello team, please enable the Voicebot Applet on our account for voice streaming. We're integrating with an AI voice agent platform via WebSocket. Account SID: [Your Account SID].

3. Exotel typically enables it within one business day and replies on the same email thread

Already enabled? You can check by going to App Bazaar → Create Custom App and looking for a Voicebot component in the applets sidebar. If it's there, skip the support request and continue to Step 4.

While you wait for Exotel support, you can already complete Step 4 (creating the Custom App) — it just won't accept a Voicebot Applet until the flag is on.

Step 4: Create a Custom App with the Voicebot Applet

In the Exotel dashboard, go to App Bazaar → Create Custom App and give it a recognisable name (e.g., "Edesy Voice Agent"). Drag the Voicebot applet onto the call flow and configure it.

Substitute <WORKSPACE_ID> with your Edesy workspace ID. See Finding Your Workspace ID, or copy it from the Workspace ID badge at the top of the Phone Numbers page.

Example after substitution:

wss://voice-agent.edesy.in/ws/exotel?workspace_id=cm12abcd0001

One App, all agents. The URL contains only workspace_id — no agent_id. This single Voicebot Applet handles every agent in your workspace because Edesy passes the per-call agent ID via Exotel's CustomField parameter. For inbound calls (no per-call data), Edesy auto-routes to whichever agent you assigned to the DID in Phone Numbers → your DID → Configure inbound webhook. You do not need a separate App per agent.

Important — the URL must start with wss://, not https://. The Voicebot Applet expects a WebSocket URL directly. Pasting an https:// URL is a common mistake and produces "application error" on inbound calls.

(Recommended) Drag a Hangup applet at the end of the flow so calls terminate cleanly:

Call Start → [Voicebot Applet] → [Hangup Applet]

Click Save.

Copy the App ID from the URL bar after saving. The URL will look like:

https://my.exotel.com/cloudexpertsindia1m/admin/Apps/42231
                                                       ↑
                                                  App ID = 42231

Paste this number into the App ID field on Edesy's credential form (Step 2 above).

Why the App ID matters for outbound calls: Exotel's /Calls/connect API requires a Url= parameter that points at an Exotel-hosted call flow. Edesy templates this as http://my.exotel.com/<sid>/exoml/start_voice/<app_id>, which routes the outbound call through your Voicebot Applet App and bridges audio over the WebSocket. Without an App ID, Edesy can't construct that URL — the call will be issued by Exotel but won't ring the destination, and after ~34 seconds it'll fail with no-answer.

Tip — copy the URL from Edesy instead of typing it. Open Phone Numbers → your DID → Configure inbound webhook in the Edesy dashboard, link an agent, and the URL appears with a copy button. That avoids transcription errors in the long workspace ID.

Step 5: Assign the App to your phone number (inbound only)

This step is only required if you want to receive inbound calls to your Exotel DID. Outbound calls work without this — Edesy invokes your App directly via API for each outbound call (using the App ID from Step 4).

In the Exotel dashboard, go to ExoPhones, click the edit (pencil) icon next to your DID, and select the Custom App you created in Step 4 under the App dropdown.

Save. From this point on, every inbound call to your DID will connect directly to your Edesy voice agent over the WebSocket.

Want to skip this step? Edesy has an optional Auto-assign DID via API button that does exactly this for you — you'll need your Exotel Inbound App ID and ExoPhone SID (both visible in the Exotel dashboard URLs). Open Phone Numbers → your DID → Auto-assign DID via API and paste them in. This is a one-click alternative to manual assignment, useful if you manage multiple DIDs.

Step 6: Configure outbound calls (optional)

Outbound calls are initiated from the Edesy dashboard or via the API — there's no extra Exotel-side flow setup required. There are two account-level items worth checking:

IP whitelisting (some Exotel accounts)

Some Exotel accounts require Edesy's outbound IP to be whitelisted before outbound calls succeed.

1. Email [email protected] requesting IP whitelisting
2. Edesy support will share the outbound IP at the time of activation
3. Confirm with Exotel once it's added

If unsure, skip this and only revisit if outbound calls fail with authorization errors.

NDNC (National Do Not Call) compliance — India only

For Indian phone numbers, Edesy automatically marks outbound calls as transactional (CallType=trans) to comply with TRAI's NDNC registry. Make sure NDNC scrubbing is enabled on your Exotel account so registered numbers are filtered automatically — otherwise outbound to a registered number will be rejected.

Testing your integration

Once Steps 1-5 are complete, run two quick tests to verify the setup end-to-end.

Inbound test

Dial your Exotel DID from any phone. You should:

• Hear your agent's configured greeting within ~2 seconds of the call connecting
• See the call appear in Call Logs on the Edesy dashboard within 30 seconds, with disposition Completed
• See the First inbound call received milestone flip to ✓ on the Phone Numbers page
• Receive a "Your first Exotel call connected" email from Edesy

Outbound test

1. In the Edesy dashboard, open the agent matching the <AGENT_ID> you used in Step 4
2. Click Test Call, enter a destination phone number, and start the call
3. The call should originate from your Exotel DID and connect the destination phone to your AI agent

Tip — automated inbound test. On the Phone Numbers page, click Test inbound call next to your DID. Edesy shows a live "Waiting for inbound call…" dialog and confirms the moment your call hits the webhook. You don't have to dig through call logs to verify.

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Email [email protected] or message us on WhatsApp (10 AM – 7 PM IST) with your Exotel SID and the approximate timestamp of a failed call. We have full WebSocket logs and can trace exactly what happened.

Going to production

A few things worth doing before pointing real traffic at the integration.

Enable call recording

In the Voicebot Applet (Step 4), enable the Record option. Recordings are stored on Exotel's storage and the URL is forwarded to Edesy — they appear inline in your Call Logs. Retention follows Exotel's account policy (typically 90 days; check your contract).

Monitor your Exotel balance

Exotel is prepaid — once the wallet hits zero, calls stop regardless of your Edesy credit balance. Set up low-balance alerts in your Exotel dashboard (Settings → Notifications) so your team is warned before service drops. Edesy doesn't proxy this — Exotel owns the telephony layer's billing.

Multi-DID setup

You can connect multiple Exotel DIDs to the same Edesy workspace. Each DID lives on its own row in Phone Numbers and can be linked to a different agent (e.g., one number for sales, another for support). The credentials in Step 1 are account-wide, so you only repeat Steps 4 and 5 per DID — and one Custom App can be shared across multiple DIDs if they should answer with the same agent.

Switching a DID between agents

Open Phone Numbers, expand the DID's card, and pick a different agent in the Agent dropdown. The change is live on the very next inbound call — no Exotel-side change required.

Cost reference

The total per-minute cost is the sum of the telephony charge (Exotel) and the AI usage charge (Edesy). For a typical Hindi inbound voice agent:

For native-audio agents (Gemini Live 2.5), STT + TTS collapse into a single LLM cost (~₹0.27/min input + ~₹1.08/min output), bringing AI cost closer to ₹1.35/min with significantly better latency.

Exotel rates depend on your contract. Check my.exotel.com → Pricing for your account's actual per-minute rate. The numbers above are typical mid-volume contract rates.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the same Exotel number for inbound and outbound?

Yes. Once you complete Steps 1-5, the same DID handles inbound (via the Voicebot Applet) and acts as the caller ID on outbound calls placed from Edesy.

My Exotel account isn't in Mumbai — does this still work?

Yes. Edesy defaults to Mumbai (api.in.exotel.com) since most of our customers are based in India. If your Exotel account is in Singapore or US, enter the matching subdomain in the Subdomain field on the credential form (api.exotel.com or api.us.exotel.com). Edesy uses your subdomain for every Exotel API call.

Do I need to whitelist Exotel's IPs for inbound calls?

No. Inbound calls flow Exotel → Edesy via WebSocket — no whitelisting needed. Outbound calls go Edesy → Exotel, and some Exotel accounts require Edesy's IP to be whitelisted on their side. If outbound returns 401 errors, contact Exotel support and ask them to whitelist Edesy's IPs.

What happens to in-flight calls if I delete an Exotel credential?

In-flight calls continue to completion — the WebSocket is already established, and deleting the credential row doesn't drop active connections. New inbound calls from that DID will fail until you reconnect the credential or assign the DID to a different App in Exotel.

Can I use the same Exotel credential across multiple Edesy workspaces?

No — credentials are workspace-scoped. If your team has multiple workspaces and you want to use the same Exotel account in each, add the credential separately in each workspace.

Can I switch from the legacy Passthru Applet to the Voicebot Applet without downtime?

Yes. Edit your Custom App in App Bazaar, replace the Passthru applet with a Voicebot applet using the wss:// URL from Step 4, and save. The change takes effect on the next inbound call. (Edesy keeps the legacy HTTP /answer endpoint working for backward compatibility, so existing Passthru setups don't need to migrate immediately.)

Do I need a separate Exotel App for each agent in my workspace?

No. One App handles all your agents. The Voicebot Applet URL contains only your workspace_id (no agent_id); Edesy passes the per-call agent ID via Exotel's CustomField parameter for outbound calls, and uses the agent assignment on the DID (set in Phone Numbers → Configure inbound webhook) for inbound calls. If you have ten agents and one Exotel DID, you still only configure one App.

Should I set the Voicebot Applet's "Sample Rate" to 16 kHz?

No, leave it at the default (8 kHz). Edesy auto-upsamples Exotel's 8 kHz audio to 16 kHz internally — that's the rate our LLMs expect. Setting 16 kHz on the Exotel side works too but provides no quality benefit (the audio is already 8 kHz on the PSTN, so 16 kHz on the wire is just zero-padded). Default is fine.

Why does my outbound call return a SID but never ring the destination?

You haven't filled in the App ID field on Edesy's credential. Without it, Edesy can't construct the Exotel call-flow URL, and Exotel falls through to your DID's auto-provisioned default App (which is empty). The call SID is created but the customer's phone never rings. Complete Step 4, paste the App ID into Edesy → Phone Numbers → Edit Exotel, and outbound will work.

Next steps

• Creating an Agent — set up the agent your Exotel number will route calls to
• System Prompt Configuration — define your agent's personality and behaviour
• BYOP Setup — overview of all bring-your-own-provider integrations
• Telephony Providers Guide — compare Exotel against Twilio and Plivo
• Exotel Integration (technical reference) — WebSocket message format, audio specs, and API details for engineers integrating directly