Ciao separates setup from use. You build assistants, connect phone numbers, and add knowledge bases in the Ciao console. Calls and chats then start from a phone, from the console, from your website, or from your own software through the public API, and the results come back to you without manual work.
What starts a Ciao conversation
| When this happens | Where it starts | What Ciao does |
|---|---|---|
| Someone calls one of your numbers | Your carrier | The assistant assigned to that number answers. |
| You start a call or a batch | The Ciao console | Ciao calls each person with the assistant you chose. |
| Your server requests a call or a batch | The public API | Ciao places the calls and sends each result to the webhook URL you supply. |
| A visitor clicks a call button or opens the widget | Your website | The visitor talks or chats with your assistant, with no phone number involved. |
| Your product starts a chat | The public API | Your assistant replies in text, from the same knowledge base and rules it uses on calls. |
Results Ciao sends back
| Ciao event | Goes to | What arrives |
|---|---|---|
| A call ends with a conversation | Your webhook URL | A signed call result (call.completed) with the status, outcome, summary, transcript, collected answers, and recording status. |
| A call status changes, if you asked for updates | Your webhook URL | A status update (call.initiated, call.ringing, call.answered, or call.failed) with no conversation content. |
| A call is not answered | Your webhook URL | Only call.failed, and only if you subscribed to it. An unanswered call sends no call result. |
| A chat ends | The API response | The chat's summary, returned when you end it. Chats do not use webhooks. |
| You need the conversation later | The API | The transcript of any call, after it ends or live while it happens. |
Every call result is also saved in the Ciao console, whether or not a webhook URL was set.
Build a custom automation
To connect Ciao to another system, use the public API to start calls and chats, and webhooks to receive results when calls end. See Ciao integrations for authentication, endpoints, and webhook verification.