How to set up voice AI agents in Freshdesk using Freshcaller

Phone calls are the one support channel that doesn't scale quietly. An email backlog is invisible to customers; a ringing queue is not. Most support teams know Freshdesk well for handling tickets, but fewer have explored what Freshcaller - the phone channel built into the Freshworks ecosystem - can do with AI now.

This guide walks through exactly how to set up voice AI agents in Freshcaller: a conversational AI that answers inbound calls 24/7, handles common queries end-to-end, and transfers to a live agent with a full summary when it needs to. If you're already using eesel AI to automate ticket replies in Freshdesk, adding a voice AI agent means your entire frontline, calls and tickets, can run autonomously around the clock.

By the end of this guide you'll have a live voice AI agent answering calls on a real phone number.

What is Freshcaller?

Freshcaller is Freshworks' cloud telephony product, also marketed as Freshdesk Contact Center. It handles inbound and outbound calls through a browser widget, without desk phones. It's available as a standalone product or as the built-in phone channel inside Freshdesk Omni plans.

If you're on a standalone Freshdesk plan, Freshcaller is a separate purchase linked through Admin > Channels > Phone. On Freshdesk Omni, Freshcaller is integrated by default with an optional add-on at $15/agent/month for advanced features.

Freshworks reports over 74,000 businesses currently using Freshcaller worldwide.

Two ways to add AI to Freshcaller voice

There are two distinct AI voice features in Freshcaller. Understanding which one does what saves a lot of confusion later.

Voice AI Agent integration (Synthflow or Squawkvoice) is available on any Freshcaller plan and requires installing a third-party app from the Freshcaller Marketplace. This is a full conversational AI agent: it answers calls, holds multi-turn dialogue, creates tickets, and hands off to a human with a summary. It's the primary path for deploying a real voice AI agent.

Speech-Enabled IVR (Freddy AI) is a native Freshcaller feature locked to the Enterprise plan at $69/agent/month. It replaces keypress menus with spoken commands. Callers say what they want and Freddy routes them to the right queue, but it doesn't carry on a multi-turn conversation.

If your goal is an AI that can actually resolve calls, not just route them, the Synthflow path is the right one. This guide covers both, starting with Synthflow.

Setting up a Synthflow voice AI agent (Path A)

This is the setup for deploying a conversational voice AI agent that handles calls end-to-end.

Prerequisites

• A Freshcaller account on any paid plan (or Free)
• Admin access to Freshcaller
• Budget for a Synthflow subscription (Pro plan: $400/month, includes 14-day free trial)
• A phone number already added to Freshcaller, or willingness to buy one (90+ countries available)

One important constraint: you must create a new Synthflow account through the Freshworks Marketplace. Existing Synthflow accounts cannot be linked to a Freshworks account.

Step 1: Install Synthflow from the Freshcaller Marketplace

Log in to Freshcaller as an admin. Navigate to Admin Settings > Marketplace and Integrations > Marketplace Apps and search for "Synthflow." You can also go directly to the Synthflow listing on the Freshworks Marketplace.

Click Install.

Step 2: Get your Freshcaller API key

Before connecting Synthflow, retrieve your API key:

1. Click your profile icon in the top right corner
2. Open Personal Settings / Profile Settings
3. Go to the API tab and complete the captcha
4. Scroll to find API Details for Phone
5. Copy the key

Use the key from "API Details for Phone" specifically. The CRM API key and Chat API key won't work here.

Step 3: Configure the Synthflow app

After installation, open the Synthflow configuration in Freshworks:

1. Click Configure Settings
2. Paste your Freshcaller API key
3. Enter your Freshworks domain (e.g., yourcompany.freshworks.com)
4. Click Verify, then Install

Step 4: Open the Synthflow portal and select a plan

Click Open Synthflow Portal from within the Freshworks settings. Always use this link rather than logging in to synthflow.ai directly. The portal link keeps your account connected to Freshworks.

When prompted, choose a pricing plan. The Pro plan at $400/month includes 2,000 minutes, 25 concurrent calls, and a 14-day free trial. Enterprise pricing is available for higher volumes.

Step 5: Create and train your voice AI agent

Inside the Synthflow portal, navigate to My Agents and click Create New Agent. Configure:

• Agent name - this will appear in Freshcaller's Voice AI Agent dropdown
• Personality and voice - choose from the available voice options
• Knowledge base / instructions - define what the agent knows and how it should respond
• Escalation triggers - when should the agent hand off to a human?
• Contexts/dispositions - label different call outcomes (e.g., "Escalation," "Order Inquiry," "Billing Issue"); these map to Freshcaller handover flows

Each agent automatically gets a SIP URI. You don't need to port or import phone numbers into Synthflow - all phone number management stays in Freshworks.

Every Freshworks-linked Synthflow account comes with five pre-configured custom actions:

Step 6: Configure the Voice AI Agent handover call flow

The handover call flow defines what happens when the AI transfers to a human. In Freshcaller:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Call Workflows

2. Click Voice AI Agent Handover in the right panel
3. Fill in the handover workflow:
   • Handover workflow name - e.g., "Inbound Support Handover"
   • Voice AI Agent - select the Synthflow agent you created in Step 5
4. Map each context to an action:
   • "Escalation" → Call Queue (Tier 2 Support)
   • "Billing Issue" → Call Queue (Billing Team)
   • "Order Inquiry" → Voicemail (for after hours)
5. Set a fallback action for unrecognized contexts
6. Click Save

Context names here must match exactly what you defined in the Synthflow agent. Freshcaller also provides a default Voice AI agent call flow you can use without customization if you want to start simple.

Step 7: Assign the voice AI agent to a phone number

1. Go to Admin Settings > Channels > Phone
2. Select or purchase a phone number
3. Click the edit (pencil) icon next to the number
4. Under the Call Actions tab:
   • Set Action During Business Hours to "Send to Voice AI Agent"
   • Select the Synthflow agent and the handover workflow from Step 6

5. Click Save

The number is now live. Every inbound call will be answered by your Synthflow AI agent.

Verification: Call the number from a test phone. Verify the AI answers, resolves a test query, and escalates correctly. Check the Freshcaller Inbox for the post-call transcript and recording.

Setting up speech-enabled IVR (Path B)

This is Freshcaller's native Freddy AI feature, available only on the Enterprise plan at $69/agent/month. It makes your IVR smarter, not conversational - callers speak their intent instead of pressing keys, and Freddy routes the call accordingly.

Setup steps

1. Log in as admin and navigate to Admin > Call Flow > New Speech Enabled IVR
2. Enter a Speech Enabled IVR Name
3. Record or upload a greeting message
4. Under Speech Bot Setup, create a bot by typing a name in the "Search/Create Bot" field and clicking Create
5. Click Manage Intents to add intents:
   • Add intent names (e.g., "Order Status," "Refund Request")
   • For each intent, add example phrases callers might say (e.g., "check my order," "I want a refund")
   • Intents can be bulk-uploaded via CSV
6. Under IVR Setup, map each intent to an action: Send to Call Queue, Send to Voicemail, Send to IVR Menu, or Hangup
7. Configure fallback rules for what happens when the bot doesn't understand or the caller doesn't speak
8. Click Save
9. Assign the Speech-Enabled IVR to a phone number through Admin > Channels > Phone

Keep intents natural and varied. Include how different callers might phrase the same request, since the engine matches on phrasing, not just keywords.

How calls flow through the system

When a voice AI agent is handling calls, this is what happens from the moment a customer dials:

The call either resolves cleanly (AI handles it, call ends, transcript saved) or escalates (AI generates a summary, live agent receives the call with context already loaded). The handoff summary is displayed to the live agent the moment they answer, so the customer doesn't need to repeat themselves.

In Freshcaller's call metrics view, supervisors can see the full voice AI agent summary and exactly when in the call the handover happened.

Freshcaller pricing

Here's the complete plan breakdown. All plans carry per-minute call charges on top of the base seat price.

Voice AI Agent integration via Synthflow is available on all plans and billed separately by Synthflow:

When an AI-handled call is active, both Freshcaller and Synthflow charge independently. Freshcaller charges for the full call duration. Synthflow charges only for the portion the AI handles, not the time a live agent is on the line.

For Freshdesk Omni customers, Freshcaller is available as an add-on at $15/agent/month on top of any Omni plan. The plan tier you receive matches your Omni plan tier.

Common setup mistakes to avoid

Creating a Synthflow account outside of Freshworks. If you sign up at synthflow.ai directly before going through the Freshworks Marketplace, you'll end up with an account that can't be linked to Freshworks, and migration is not supported. Always install from the marketplace first.

Context names that don't match. The context names in your Synthflow agent (e.g., "Escalation") must match exactly what you enter in Freshcaller's handover call flow. A mismatch means calls hit the fallback action instead of the right queue.

Skipping the fallback action. If a caller gives an unusual response and the AI returns an unrecognized context, you need a fallback. Without one, the call may hang or drop. Set a default fallback to your main support queue.

Using the wrong API key. Freshcaller has separate API keys for different product lines. The Synthflow integration requires the key from "API Details for Phone" in your profile settings, not the CRM or Chat API key.

eesel AI for Freshdesk ticket automation

Voice AI handles the phone channel. But when an AI call ends in a Freshdesk ticket, that ticket still needs a reply. eesel AI integrates directly with Freshdesk to handle that side of the queue autonomously.

When Synthflow creates a ticket from a call, eesel picks it up, reads the call context, drafts a reply grounded in your knowledge base, and either sends it directly or queues it for agent review, depending on your confidence settings. The same ticket can be resolved without a human touching it at all.

Teams using eesel on Freshdesk report resolving up to 81% of tickets autonomously in mature deployments, with a typical payback period under two months. It learns from your existing tickets, help center articles, macros, and connected docs like Google Drive and Confluence, so it doesn't need manual training before going live.

eesel also handles escalation rules in plain English. Instructions like "if the refund request is over 30 days, decline and offer store credit" or "always escalate billing disputes to a human" work the same way they would if you were briefing a new team member.

The free trial starts with $50 in credits, no credit card required. At $0.40 per ticket, 100 tickets costs $40.

Try eesel AI

eesel AI works alongside Freshcaller to cover your full Freshdesk support stack. Voice AI handles the phone channel; eesel handles the ticket queue that voice AI creates. Teams on Freshdesk can connect eesel in minutes, test it against past tickets before going live, and expand its scope as confidence builds. Try it free or read more about the Freshdesk integration.