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Phone Call Flow

Call Norns on the phone for hands-free AI assistance.

Overview​

Call +1 (737) 214-3330 to interact with Norns via natural conversation. Perfect for driving, cooking, or when away from your computer.

How It Works​

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         PHONE CALL FLOW                               │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                       │
│  ┌─────────┐    ┌─────────┐    ┌───────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐  │
│  │  Your   │───►│ Twilio  │───►│ Telephony │───►│    Deepgram     │  │
│  │  Phone  │    │  PSTN   │    │ (Pipecat) │    │ (Speech-to-Text)│  │
│  └─────────┘    └─────────┘    └───────────┘    └────────┬────────┘  │
│       ▲                                                   │          │
│       │                                                   ▼          │
│       │                                          ┌─────────────────┐ │
│       │                                          │   GPT-4o-mini   │ │
│       │                                          │    (Router)     │ │
│       │                                          └────────┬────────┘ │
│       │                                                   │          │
│       │                                                   ▼          │
│       │         ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────┐    ┌─────────────┐   │
│       └─────────│ ElevenLabs  │◄───│ Norns   │◄───│  Bifrost    │   │
│                 │    (TTS)    │    │  Agent  │    │   Tools     │   │
│                 └─────────────┘    └─────────┘    └─────────────┘   │
│                                                                       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Making a Call​

Step 1: Dial​

Call +1 (737) 214-3330 from any phone.

Step 2: Wait for Greeting​

Norns answers: "Hello! How can I help you today?"

Step 3: Speak Naturally​

Just talk like you would to a person:

  • "What is on my schedule today?"
  • "Add buy groceries to my todo list"
  • "How long will it take to get to the airport?"

Step 4: Listen and Respond​

Norns responds with synthesized speech. You can have a natural back-and-forth conversation.

Step 5: End Call​

Just hang up when done. The conversation is saved to your memory.

Caller Identification​

The system identifies you by your phone number.

First Time Callers​

If your phone number is not registered, Norns uses a default context. To register:

-- Run on PostgreSQL
UPDATE users
SET phone_number = +1XXXXXXXXXX
WHERE email = your@email.com;

Identification Flow​

Incoming Call → Twilio provides caller ANI
    → Telephony calls GET /api/users/by-phone/{phone}
    → Norns looks up user by phone_number
    → User context loaded for conversation

Example Conversations​

Morning Briefing​

You: "Good morning, what do I have going on today?"

Norns: "Good morning! You have 2 meetings today. At 10 AM you have a team standup, and at 2 PM you have a one-on-one with Sarah. You also have 3 tasks due today: finish the code review, submit the expense report, and pick up dry cleaning."

Quick Task Add​

You: "Remind me to call the dentist tomorrow"

Norns: "Got it. I have added call the dentist to your tasks, due tomorrow January 4th."

Home Control​

You: "Did I leave any lights on at home?"

Norns: "Let me check... The living room light and kitchen light are currently on. Would you like me to turn them off?"

You: "Yes please"

Norns: "Done. I have turned off both lights."

You: "How long to get to the office right now?"

Norns: "Based on current traffic, it will take about 25 minutes to reach your office. There is moderate traffic on Highway 183."

Voice Quality Tips​

For Best Recognition​

  • Speak clearly at a moderate pace
  • Minimize background noise (car, wind)
  • Use a headset if available
  • Wait for Norns to finish before speaking

If Misunderstood​

  • Rephrase your request
  • Spell out unusual names
  • Use simpler language

Technical Details​

Cloud Services Used​

ServicePurposeLatency
TwilioPSTN to WebSocket~100ms
DeepgramSpeech-to-text~200ms
GPT-4o-miniRequest routing~300ms
Norns/BifrostTool execution~500ms
ElevenLabsText-to-speech~200ms

Total round-trip: ~1.3 seconds typical

Why Cloud STT/TTS?​

Phone audio quality (8kHz) works better with cloud services optimized for telephony. The web interface uses local Whisper/Piper for lower latency.

Troubleshooting​

Call Does Not Connect​

  • Verify phone number: +1 (737) 214-3330
  • Check Twilio account status
  • Verify telephony container is running

No Audio Response​

# Check telephony service
docker logs telephony --tail=50

# Verify ElevenLabs API key
docker exec telephony env | grep ELEVENLABS

Wrong User Context​

Verify phone number is registered:

SELECT user_id, display_name, phone_number
FROM users
WHERE phone_number = +1XXXXXXXXXX;

See Also​

  • [[Voice-Task-Management]] - Task commands
  • [[Voice-Calendar]] - Calendar commands
  • [[../Voice-Platform/Telephony]] - Technical setup