Voice Alerts in AI Agents Simplified

Voice Alerts in AI Agents Simplified

by | Jan 8, 2025 | AI Agents

Significant development has been made in the field of AI Agents. However, having an AI Agent make phone calls can be challenging. EmailToVoice.Net addresses the requirement of alert phone call messages from an AI by simply using a standard email interface.

Automated Outreach and Alert Systems

AI-driven platforms are used for personalized notifications and alerts. These applications need to place phone calls to disseminate important information swiftly and automatically. Examples include:

  • AI in Healthcare
    • Healthcare providers are leveraging AI to make appointment reminders, follow-up calls, and patient check-ins.
  • Disaster Response and Public Safety
    • AI Agents are being developed to assist in disaster response by automating communication outreach to authorities and the public. These systems need to provide real-time updates regarding the coordination of rescue efforts.
  • Personalized Communication
    • AI can tailor phone calls based on individual preferences and behaviors. This personalization enhances the effectiveness of business communications, courtesy reminders, or critical alerts from monitoring software.

Integration with Existing Platforms

Using EmailToVoice.net, you can easily integrate AI Agents with existing communication platforms and CRM systems by merely using an email interface. If the application can send an email, then the application can make a phone call when using EmailToVoice.net. This interoperability ensures businesses can enhance their current workflows without significant integration efforts.

Implications for Your Business 

EmailToVoice.Net specializes in alert communications.

Communication remains at the heart of success. Communications require critical alerts to be voice calls. Email alerts do not get people’s attention. The communication mode that gets attention is still a ringing phone. Phone calls get people’s attention when you need them to act on a critical event. When you send an email, it just does not get the necessary level of attention for critical time-sensitive alerts.

How EmailToVoice.Net Works

All you have to do is subscribe to the EmailToVoice.net service and then add an email destination to your alert monitoring service that looks something like 5551234567@tts.message-service.org

The recipient will receive a call on their phone. The text in the email is converted to a nice-sounding voice. If the recipient answers, they will hear the message right away. If they do not answer, the message will be left on their voicemail system. You can even leave a different message if the call goes to voice mail! There are many mission-critical features in the service, such as escalation lists, message parsing, and more. We also can convert the email content to an SMS message if required.

Let us know what your critical communication requirements are so we can provide you with assistance. Or just go ahead and subscribe to our service. Test us in a production environment for free – no credit card is required until you use your USD 5.00 free usage.

Conclusion

AI Agents can make phone calls by merely using an email interface with EmailToVoice.Net. This presents opportunities for businesses to improve efficiency and provide more reliable communication solutions.

Author

 

Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications. LinkedIn
Enable AI Agents to Make Phone Calls with EmailToVoice.net

Enable AI Agents to Make Phone Calls with EmailToVoice.net

by | Oct 23, 2024 | AI Agents, Disruptive Technologies

 

In the advancement of artificial intelligence, AI Agents are, now, the next big thing. These intelligent agents are poised to revolutionize how organizations handle tasks, streamline workflows, and enhance communication.

As AI Agents become integral to operational strategies, the need for effective and immediate communication methods becomes paramount. This is where EmailToVoice.net steps in, offering a seamless solution that empowers AI Agents to make phone calls and send SMS messages effortlessly. Let’s explore how EmailToVoice.net can enhance agentic workflows and why it’s an indispensable tool for technicians managing complex processes.

The Challenge: Emails Don’t Get Anyone’s Attention

In many organizations, agents rely heavily on email to communicate with team members, clients, and stakeholders. However, the sheer volume of emails can lead to important messages being buried in inboxes, often going unnoticed or unanswered. While emails are versatile and can convey detailed information, they lack the immediacy and personal touch of a phone call. This is where AI agents fall short—they can send emails efficiently but cannot initiate phone conversations, which are oftentimes necessary to resolve issues swiftly and ensure tasks are completed on time.

Introducing EmailToVoice.net: Bridging the Communication Gap

EmailToVoice.net offers a simple yet powerful solution to this problem. By leveraging the familiar email interface, EmailToVoice.net enables AI agents to place phone calls seamlessly. According to their How Email to Voice Works page, the process is straightforward:

  1. Compose an Email: Agents can compose a standard email with the necessary details.
  2. Send to a Specific Address: Instead of sending the email to a recipient’s inbox, it is sent to a designated EmailToVoice.net address that contains the recipient’s phone number. Escalation Lists can even be implemented.
  3. Automated Phone Call: EmailToVoice.net converts the email content into a voice message and places a phone call to the specified recipient.

This method ensures that the message is delivered directly and personally, increasing the likelihood of engagement and prompt responses. Additionally, EmailToVoice.net supports sending SMS messages, further enhancing its versatility as outlined in their How to Send an SMS Using Email guide. This dual capability allows agents to choose the most effective communication method based on the situation, ensuring that critical information is always received and acknowledged.

Enhancing Agent Platforms with EmailToVoice.net

As the landscape of agent platforms evolves, with major players like Asana, Microsoft, and Salesforce.com launching advanced solutions, the integration of tools like EmailToVoice.net becomes increasingly valuable. These platforms are designed to streamline workflows, manage tasks, and facilitate collaboration among teams. However, to maximize their potential, effective communication channels are essential. By incorporating EmailToVoice.net, technicians can enhance these agent platforms with the ability to make phone calls and send SMS messages directly from the workflow process.

For instance, when using Asana’s project management tools, agents can trigger phone calls to team members for urgent updates or clarifications, ensuring that no critical information is missed. Similarly, Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools can be augmented with EmailToVoice.net’s voice call capabilities, allowing for more dynamic and interactive communication within the team. Salesforce.com users can benefit from automated phone calls for follow-ups with clients, improving customer relationship management and satisfaction.

Benefits of Using EmailToVoice.net for AI Agents

1. Increased Engagement: Phone calls and SMS messages have higher engagement rates compared to emails. By utilizing EmailToVoice.net, agents can ensure that their messages are not only received but also acted upon promptly.

2. Personal Touch: Voice communication adds a personal element that can strengthen relationships with clients and team members, fostering trust and collaboration.

3. Efficiency: Automating phone calls and SMS messages saves time and resources, allowing agents to focus on more strategic tasks rather than manual communication efforts.

4. Versatility: The ability to use email, phone calls, and SMS messages provides flexibility in how agents communicate, catering to different preferences of communications and urgencies.

5. Seamless Integration: EmailToVoice.net easily integrates with existing agent platforms  that can send emails, ensuring that adding voice phone calls and SMS capabilities enhances current workflows.

Real-World Applications

Consider a scenario where an AI agent needs to notify a technician about an urgent issue in the workflow. Sending an email might result in delays if the technician does not check their inbox promptly. However, with EmailToVoice.net, the agent can place a phone call to ensure the technician receives the notification immediately. Similarly, for follow-up actions or confirmations, SMS messages can be sent to provide quick and concise updates, reducing the back-and-forth typically associated with email communication.

Getting Started with EmailToVoice.net

Implementing EmailToVoice.net in your agentic workflows is straightforward. Wherever an email is triggered, merely add the destination in the format of EmailToVoice, such as 5551231234@tts.message-service.org. The cloud-service provides comprehensive documentation and a Customer Portal for support to help technicians integrate its capabilities seamlessly. By leveraging the power of EmailToVoice.net, you can transform how your AI agents communicate, ensuring that important messages are delivered effectively and efficiently.

Conclusion: Elevate Your Communication Strategy Today

In an era where effective communication is crucial for operational success, EmailToVoice.net stands out as a vital tool for enhancing agentic processes. By enabling AI agents to make phone calls and send SMS messages, EmailToVoice.net addresses the limitations of email and ensures that your workflows remain smooth and responsive. As agent platforms continue to evolve, integrating EmailToVoice.net will provide your team with the communication capabilities needed to stay ahead.

Take Action Now: Don’t let your agents miss out on critical communication opportunities. Visit EmailToVoice.net today and explore the comprehensive documentation to learn how you can integrate phone call and SMS capabilities into your workflows. Empower your AI agents to communicate more effectively and keep your processes running seamlessly.

Sending Two-Way SMS Alerts From Monitoring Software

Sending Two-Way SMS Alerts From Monitoring Software

by | Aug 10, 2024 | Enterprise SMS, How To, SMS

EmailToVoice.Net can send Two-Way SMS messages in either simple text or rich content by just using Email.

Business applications and monitoring software may need to send critical alerts and rich communications through SMS. Often, a response from the recipient of the SMS is required to ensure the recipient received the message. A particular response can even trigger a workflow process. This process of sending an SMS from an application and then receiving a response is referred to as “Two-Way SMS”. EmailToVoice.Net supports Two-Way SMS.

When the recipient replies to the SMS, the replied message is sent back to the Customer Portal and, also, to a designated email address. The replies can then be viewed on the Customer Portal or in the designated email mailbox, which is collecting the replies. 

SMS Reply Handling

Because the replies are collected in a designated email mailbox, no code solutions such as Microsoft Power Automate (Flow) or Zapier can be used to evaluate the replies and act upon them accordingly.

Microsoft Power Automate and EmailToVoice.Net work well together. Microsoft Automate has email connectors that enhance business flows. These email connectors can easily act upon emails being sent from EmailToVoice.Net, such as the replies from two-way SMS messages. EmailToVoice.Net and products such as Power Automate integrate SMS communications with enterprise business flows. When Microsoft Power Automate detects an email message arriving in the designated email address, it will trigger an action such as a database update and/or an email to be sent back through to EmailToVoice.Net which will then generate a phone call or SMS to other recipients.

Upon request, SMS Delivery Reports and SMS Replies received can also be sent to a URL via a webhook for deeper integration. This callback system does not require any coding and can send a standard html POST request with the content type application/x-www-form-urlencoded. If you do not want a POST request, we can modify the callback to a standard GET request.

Setup Two-Way SMS

The SMS can be set to 2-Way by adding the tag “<TwoWay>” anywhere in the email. If this is set, then the user can reply to the SMS, and an email with the reply contents will be sent to the email address set in the customer’s account profile. The email address to receive the replies can be set in the Customer Portal / My Details.

Alternatively, the tag “<TwoWayReplyAddress>” can be put in the email message when the SMS is sent through EmailToVoice.Net to set a designated email address to receive the replies for this specific event. To use this function, ensure that the email address is contained within a closing tag, for example: <TwoWayReplyAddress>smtp@example.com</TwoWayReplyAddress>

Setup the Sender ID

For One-way SMS, you will see the predictable Sender IDs each time an SMS is received through EmailToVoice.Net. In the case of a Two-Way SMS, the Sender ID number will be chosen from a pool of long-code numbers so that we can track the replies. However, you have the option to purchase a LongCode for a nominal monthly fee that is added to your monthly charges. Then the Sender ID number will be unique to your organization.

Text or Rich Communications

EmailToVoice.Net can send either a simple SMS text message from any email interface or a Rich Communications SMS message as a link to a hosted web page automatically inserted into the SMS by EmailToVoice.Net.

Sending formatted text messages for industrial communications can be done easily with just a simple email interface using EmailToVoice.Net. SMS Messaging is a reliable means to get important information to employees or business partners immediately. However, the limitations of SMS text messaging often keep it from being used in mission-critical business processes. Text messaging is limited by the lack of formatting and low text character limit, which is necessary to convey detailed information. MMS and RCS attempt to address this issue. However, they too have limitations that cause barriers to wide adoption for mission-critical applications.

EmailToVoice.Net allows sending formatted data to a cell phone using SMS from monitoring software or business applications. Messages with the formatting requirements of an HTML Web Page can be automatically sent to just about any cell phone in the world as easily as sending an email. EmailToVoice.Net uses the LinkInSMS service to provide Enterprise SMS to its customers. Enterprise SMS is a feature of EmailToVoice.Net, which creates a custom HTML Web page from your business email alert and then delivers it as a simple SMS message. For each SMS recipient, a custom web page is created and inserted in their SMS text message, allowing viewing of the page of HTML with a simple tap. This allows a single text message to communicate large amounts of formatted data.

To send an Enterprise Text message,

  1. the TO field merely needs to have the recipient’s phone number and specific email domain provided by EmailToVoice.Net.
  2. Our cloud-based messaging service will convert the email content into a custom web page and insert the automatically created Web page link into the text message.
  3. The recipient can then tap the link in the text message and see the entire email content formatted as a Web Page on their smartphone.

The Email Fields would look like this:

TO: 5551231234@linkinsms.message-service.org       (The recipient’s cell phone – no preregistration required)
FROM: emailaddress@yourcompanydomain.com   

SUBJECT: Anything (Used as a job name for reporting purposes)

The content of the email is converted to an HTML Web page. The Web page of data is hosted by our service and a link to the Web page is substituted into the outgoing SMS text message so that the recipient can easily view the data with a tap.

Features of Enterprise SMS

Enterprise SMS provided by EmailToVoice.Net is rich in features to meet any business requirement. Below are some examples of these features that can be set up in the Customer Details in the Customer Portal.

  • You can add a Header and a Footer that will be used in all text messages from your account. For example, you can add a logo, an introductory message, disclaimers, and links using HTML
  • You can specify a specific SMS Sender ID so the recipient can recognize the sender of the text message.
  • You can enter a default email address for SMS replies. So, if the recipient replies to the text message, the reply will go to this email address. You can then alternatively use Microsoft Power Automate to continue a complex business workflow process without any coding. (Contact us for assistance in developing workflow processes)

The CTIA Principles and Best Practices can help entities operating in wireless messaging, as well as inform consumers about wireless messaging services.

There are many more features of the Enterprise SMS Messaging feature in EmailToVoice.Net. Let us know if you would like to learn more. Contact us. We love to share our experience in industrial communications, workflow, and alerts.

Phone Alerts Because of Cyber Attacks Are Needed More Than Ever Before

Phone Alerts Because of Cyber Attacks Are Needed More Than Ever Before

by | Jul 24, 2024 | Emergency Alerts

Does it seem that Cyber Attacks are on the rise? This may be because the types of Cyber Attacks have increased.

Expanded Types of Attacks

Ransomware is not new and remains a major threat. However, the goals of the ransomware attack have broadened. The attackers may not be just after money, but also recognition for themselves or the destruction of the victim’s reputation. Ransomware attackers can use shame sites to publicly reveal who their victims are, turning ransomware into a broad weapon for cybercriminals.

Artificial Intelligence has also opened the door to more types of hacks. For instance Deepfakes, Disinformation campagns and Social Engineering.

We are also seeing an increase in hacks being used by activists. The cybercriminal can be driven by political or social issues  Hacking may also be used by governments as a way to attack adversary countries indirectly.

These new methods of Cyber Attacks throw a wide net. Your company may not even be aware that they are a target for these types of expanded hacks. But they can be caught up in political or adversarial causes that are completely off their risk charts.

Checkpoint has published its 2024 Cyber Security Report which goes well beyond Ransomware and other common hacks. The Main Highlights of their report are:

  • Ransomware Evolution: Explore major ransomware attacks exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities, highlighting the economic considerations behind these attacks.
  • Expanding Attack Surface: Learn about the increased risk from edge devices, targeted by both nation-state APTs and sophisticated cybercriminals.
  • State-Affiliated Hacktivism and Wipers: Uncover the shift towards government-involved hacktivism, employing disruptive wipers for political motives.
  • Cloud’s Achilles Heel: Understand the challenges in token security, crucial for remote access and authentication in cloud environments.
  • Software Repositories Under Siege: Discover the rise in malicious software packages within open-source repositories, posing significant risks to software supply chains.
  • AI: The cutting-edge defender in today’s cybersecurity battle: In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing the way we prevent, protect against, and respond to cyber threats.

As identified in the Checkpoint report, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasing role in Cyber Attacks in 2024.

However, AI is also playing a key role in predicting threats before they happen or recognizing a threat before it becomes systemic. This may be another example of the answer being in the problem. ISC2 – the world’s leading nonprofit member organization for cybersecurity professionals, announced findings regarding AI from its latest study,

 AI in Cyber 2024: Is the Cybersecurity Profession Ready?, revealing the real-world impacts that artificial intelligence (AI) has had on cybersecurity. With responses from more than 1,100 cybersecurity professionals, 88% of respondents believe that AI will significantly impact their jobs, now or in the near future, and 35% have already witnessed its effects. While there is considerable positivity about the role of AI in dealing with cyberattacks, these findings also recognize the urgent demand from professionals for industry preparedness to mitigate cyber risks and safeguard the entire ecosystem.

Effective Alerts and Communications are Key

While the counter-offensive by cybersecurity professionals will prevail over the cyber-criminals, communications remain at the heart of success. Communications begin with critical alerts. Those alerts that get people’s attention are not emails. The communication mode that gets attention is still a ringing phone. Phone calls get people’s attention when you need them to act on a critical event. When you send an email, it just does not get the necessary level of attention for critical time-sensitive alerts.

How EmailToVoice.Net Works

All you have to do is subscribe to the EmailToVoice.Net service and then add an email destination to your alert monitoring service that looks something like 5551234567@tts.message-service.org

The recipient will receive a call on their phone. The text in the email is converted to a nice-sounding voice. If the recipient answers, they will hear the message right away. If they do not answer, the message will be left on their voicemail system. You can even leave a different message if the call goes to voice mail! There are many mission-critical features in the service, such as escalation lists, message parsing, and more. We also can convert the email content to an SMS message if required.

Let us know what your critical communication requirements are so we can provide you with assistance. Or just go ahead and subscribe to our service. Test us in a production environment for free – no credit card is required until you use your USD 5.00 free usage.

Escalation List Tips

Escalation List Tips

by | Jun 21, 2024 | Escalation Lists, How To, List Management

Our customers use Escalation Lists for many business-critical processes. So, we wanted to summarize some great tips on the workings of EmailToVoice.Net Escalation Lists.

Create the Escalation List

To summarize some high points when creating an escalation list:
  • Create a list in the Customer Portal / Manage Personal Lists
  • Make sure the list name is small letters and no special characters. So the name of the list should be just one small word, such as ‘alerts’
  • Check the box that says this is an escalation list
  • When you create the list, the calls will be in the order of the Reference field. So make the reference field unique and simple, such as ref1, ref2, ref3, etc.
  • You can have the same recipient’s phone number repeated in the list. Just remember to always have unique reference names.
  • If the name of the list is ‘alerts’ you can send a message to that escalation list that would have the TO field look something like:

What is a Received Call

 
Regarding what denotes a received call, the default is that the recipient must listen to the message for 10 seconds. So if the recipient just picks it up and hangs up right away or the call goes to voicemail, then the next person on the list is called. Otherwise, the calls stop.
 
The amount of time the call needs to be listened to can be changed in the Customer Portal / My Details. So if you want that amount of time to be reduced, you can change the default.
 
Change Defalult escalation pickup time
 

 

Conclusion

There are many advanced features of EmailToVoice.Net. We love to share our many years of experience in this industry and provide easy delivery solutions for your workflow communications needs. Do not hesitate to Contact Us.

Author

 
Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications. LinkedIn