24/7 AI Phone Agent
How we built an AI system that answers real business calls, extracts structured data, and delivers it instantly — all without human intervention.
The Challenge
Shukla Surgical Support's Pay Per Surgery (PPS) department receives dozens of inbound calls daily from sales reps across the country. Each call involves one of six different request types, and every request requires specific structured data — surgeon name, facility, tray types, surgery dates, and more. Missed calls meant missed revenue. Manual data entry was slow, inconsistent, and error-prone. And with patient-adjacent data flowing through the system, HIPAA compliance was non-negotiable.
The Solution
We built an AI-powered phone agent using Anthropic's Claude API integrated with Twilio's ConversationRelay platform. When a sales rep calls, they speak naturally — no phone trees, no "press 1 for...". The AI conducts a conversational interview, intelligently collecting all required data fields based on the request type. Structured data is extracted using Claude's tool_use capability (not free-text parsing), ensuring highly reliable output. Results are delivered simultaneously via email, Google Chat notification, and monthly CSV export.
Technical Details
Async Python (FastAPI) backend handling concurrent WebSocket streams for real-time speech processing
Configurable STT/TTS providers — Google, Deepgram Nova-3, ElevenLabs, Amazon Polly — switchable via environment variables with zero code changes
Claude tool_use for structured data extraction across 6 request types, each with different required fields
Triple-channel delivery: Gmail API, Google Chat webhooks, and CSV export running in parallel
Exponential backoff retry on all external service calls with structured JSON logging
Health check and error history API endpoints for production monitoring
Docker containerization with one-command provider switching via Makefile profiles
PHI (Protected Health Information) protection built into AI instructions and verified by automated tests
Human escalation support — callers can press 0 at any time to transfer to a live person
The Results
24/7 Coverage
Every call answered instantly, zero hold time, nights and weekends included
Seconds, Not Hours
Structured data delivered to email, chat, and spreadsheet within seconds of call completion
HIPAA Compliant
Patient health information never enters the system — compliance by design, verified by tests
Fraction of the Cost
Operating cost of $110–$230/month vs. salary for a full-time receptionist
Services Delivered
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