Phone Calling
Overview
Free Vapi phone numbers use US area codes, and only inbound calls are supported. To make outbound calls, import a number from Twilio, Telnyx, or DIDWW. You get one free Vapi number, which you can request without adding a payment method, and your Success Package may include more. See Pricing and Success Packages.
You can create and configure phone numbers with Vapi to place and receive calls. Vapi provides free US phone numbers for inbound calls. For outbound, international, or custom use, import your own numbers from a provider.
If you’re configuring a phone number with an AI coding assistant, the create-phone-number skill helps you plan, provision, import, and route it.
Setting up a phone number
You can set up a phone number to place and receive calls in two ways:
-
Create a free US phone number:
- Use the Vapi dashboard or the
/phone-numbersendpoint. - With free numbers, only inbound calls are supported. See Free Vapi numbers.
- Use the Vapi dashboard or the
-
Import your own number (for international or custom use):
- Use the dashboard or the Phone Numbers API.
- Follow the guide for your provider: Twilio, Telnyx, DIDWW, or a SIP trunk.
Outbound calls
You can place an outbound call from one of your phone numbers using the /call endpoint.
- If the system message will be different with every call, specify a temporary assistant in the
assistantfield. - To reuse an assistant, specify its ID in the
assistantIdfield. - Read more about outbound calls
- Outbound calls aren’t supported on free Vapi numbers. Use an imported number.
Inbound calls
You can provide an assistantId to a phone number, and it will use that assistant for inbound calls.
- To specify the assistant based on the caller’s phone number, leave the
assistantIdblank. Vapi will attempt to retrieve the assistant from your server using your Server URL.