Phone
The AI phone assistant that makes real calls
Arlo is an AI phone assistant that has real phone conversations on your behalf. It places outbound calls — confirming a booking, chasing a vendor, following up on a quote — and you can call it yourself to hand it a task by voice. It keeps the transcript of every call, tells you how it went when you ask, and writes a full audit trace of what it did.
An enormous amount of real work still happens only on the phone. The vendor who never answers email. The clinic that confirms by call. The restaurant with no booking page. Most AI products are excellent at everything that happens in a browser and go completely silent the moment a task requires dialing a number.
Arlo doesn't. The phone is one of its native channels, alongside iMessage and SMS, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. You ask for a call in whichever one you're already in, and you can ask how it went in that same thread.
What it does on a call
- Places outbound calls— “call the venue and confirm Thursday for 12” — states who it is and why it's calling, and holds a real conversation through to an outcome.
- Takes your calls — call your Arlo number yourself and get things done by voice, the same as you would by text.
- Gets through phone menus and waits on hold — calling a company, it presses the keys a menu asks for, waits in the queue, and talks to the agent when one picks up.
- Leaves a voicemail — if nobody picks up, it waits for the beep and leaves one clear message.
- Keeps a record — the transcript of every call, so you can ask how it went and have your calendar, CRM or notes updated to match.
- Leaves a trail — the call, the sources, and every change land in a full audit trace.
AI phone assistant vs. voice assistant vs. phone tree
These three get grouped together constantly and do entirely different jobs. The dividing line is simple: who actually has the conversation?
| Capability | Voice assistant (Siri etc.) | Phone tree / IVR | Arlo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who has the conversation | You | Nobody — menus | Arlo, on your behalf |
| Places outbound calls | Dials for you | No | Yes |
| Answers other people's calls for you | Screens | Yes | No — you can call it yourself |
| Transcript of every call | — | — | Yes |
| Tells you who it's calling and why, before it dials | — | — | Yes |
| Same assistant in your texts and team chat | — | — | Yes |
For how Arlo compares to the other assistants that can genuinely dial — Mitra, Martin, Catch — see AI assistants that can make phone calls, and the definition sits at what is an AI phone assistant.
A call is rarely an isolated event
Because Arlo also lives in your texts and your team's chat, calling connects to the rest of the work instead of sitting off to one side. You text a request from Messages, Arlo calls, and when you ask how it went, the answer is in the same thread — and it can update the calendar to match. A lead can go from a first text to a booked call without you opening anything. The phone-calling executive assistant guide walks the pattern end to end.
What it costs
Call time draws on the same prepaid credits as everything else: 30 credits a minute, roughly 8¢. There is no separate calling plan and no block of call hours to buy up front, so you never pay for minutes you don't use — the same credits also cover texts, Slack, research, and drafting. Full detail on pricing.
Governed, because a call commits you
An assistant that speaks to a stranger for you has to be safe to trust. Arlo tells you who it's calling and why before it dials, introduces itself as your AI assistant, and sticks to the brief you gave it. It can text you a question mid-call when you've told it to check with you, and every call ends up in an audit trace with its transcript.
AI phone assistant — FAQ
What is an AI phone assistant?
An AI phone assistant is an AI that handles real phone calls for you rather than just with you. It dials, speaks with whoever answers, and pursues the task to an outcome. That is different from a voice assistant like Siri, which dials the number but leaves the conversation to you.
Can an AI assistant actually make phone calls for me?
Yes. Arlo places live outbound calls — confirming appointments, chasing a supplier about a missing order, following up on a quote — and handles the back-and-forth itself, getting through phone menus, waiting on hold and leaving a voicemail if nobody picks up. You ask for it by text or in Slack, and you can ask how it went in the same thread.
Can it answer my incoming calls too?
Yes. Not calls from other people. Arlo places calls for you, and you can call your Arlo number yourself to get things done by voice. It doesn't answer or screen other people's calls on your behalf, so it isn't a receptionist.
What happens after the call ends?
This is the part that separates a demo from a dependable assistant. Arlo keeps the transcript, and the whole run lands in an audit trace you can check later. It doesn't text you a recap unprompted — ask how it went and it tells you, and it updates your calendar, CRM or notes to match what was agreed when you ask.
How much does an AI phone call cost?
Call time draws on the same prepaid credits as everything else Arlo does: 30 credits a minute, roughly 8¢. There is no separate calling plan and no bundle of call hours to buy in advance — the credits that pay for a call also pay for texts, Slack, research, and drafting.
Will it commit to things on my behalf without asking?
No. Calls follow the brief you give it. Arlo tells you who it's calling and why before it dials, introduces itself as your AI assistant, and sticks to that brief on the call. It texts you a question mid-call when you've told it to check with you, and every call is written to an audit trail with its transcript.
Do I need an app to use it?
No. You ask for a call the way you'd ask a colleague — by text in iMessage or SMS, in Slack, or in Microsoft Teams — and Arlo makes it. There is nothing to install.