Technical basics
How a call to bhomy works, which limits apply, what happens when all lines are busy and what you need to know for integrations.
This page explains what happens technically when someone calls your agent, and which limits you should know about when you set it up. You don't need it for day-to-day use.
How a call works
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Answering | The call arrives via the phone network or your SIP connection and is assigned to your agent. Without an assigned agent, it is rejected. |
| 2. Check | bhomy checks whether your subscription is active and a line is free. |
| 3. Context | If an Incoming Webhook is set up, the agent now loads data from your system. |
| 4. Greeting | The agent speaks the greeting. |
| 5. Conversation | Speech recognition, language model and speech output work in real time. The agent uses tools such as the calendar or the knowledge base when needed. |
| 6. End | The caller or the agent ends the call. |
| 7. Follow-up | The transcript, captured data and automations such as email, SMS or webhook run after the call. |
The agent keeps listening while it speaks. If the caller interrupts, it stops and responds.
Limits of a call
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum call duration | adjustable from 1 to 30 minutes, default 20 minutes |
| Check-in after silence | after 15 seconds the agent asks whether the caller is still there |
| Hang up after silence | adjustable from 15 to 300 seconds, default 30 seconds |
You set both values in the Personality tab under Call Settings.
Parallel calls
How many calls your agent handles at the same time depends on your plan:
| Plan | Simultaneous calls |
|---|---|
| Starter | 1 |
| Pro | 3 |
| Individual | 3 |
Incoming calls and audio tests count per agent, outgoing calls count for your whole account.
If all lines are busy when a call comes in, the caller hears a waiting message about every 30 seconds and is connected as soon as a line is free. After 5 minutes of waiting, the agent says goodbye and asks the caller to call again later. The waiting time is part of the call and counts as call time.
An outgoing call above the limit does not start. The Outbound API then responds with the code concurrent_limit_reached and states in the Retry-After header when to try again. Campaigns wait on their own until a line is free.
Numbers and formats
bhomy works with phone numbers in the international E.164 format: plus sign, country code, then the number without the leading zero of the area code, for example +49401234567. Enter numbers in this format wherever the dashboard or the API expects one. bhomy does not guess a missing country code; it rejects the number.
Browser for the audio test
The test with Test Agent runs via WebRTC in the browser and needs access to your microphone. Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari work. If the test runs over a company network with a strict firewall, the connection can fail. In that case, test on a different network.
What you need to know for integrations
| Topic | Note |
|---|---|
| Calls from the agent | The agent calls webhooks and API tools from the cloud. There are no fixed IP addresses. Secure your endpoints with a header, such as Authorization: Bearer …, rather than with an IP allowlist. |
| Response times | During the call, the caller is waiting for your system. Respond in a few seconds. For the Incoming Webhook we recommend a timeout of 3,000 to 5,000 milliseconds. |
| HTTPS | Use HTTPS addresses for webhooks and API tools so that call data is transmitted encrypted. |
| API keys | Call the Outbound API only from a server or an automation tool, never from the browser. |
Data and storage
Calls are not stored as audio. bhomy stores the transcript and the captured data for a limited time. Where the data is processed and when it is deleted is described under Privacy and data.
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