> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getsmartalex.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is AI cold calling?

> AI cold calling uses an AI voice agent to place outbound outreach calls at scale. Learn how automated cold calling with AI works, where it is compliant, and how SmartAlex runs it responsibly through outbound campaigns.

**AI cold calling is the use of an AI voice agent to place outbound phone calls to people your business has not spoken with before**, such as new leads, list contacts, or prospects who requested more information. Instead of a human dialing one number at a time, the agent works a contact list, holds a natural spoken conversation, answers questions, qualifies interest, and books, transfers, or logs the result.

The phrase covers a spectrum. On one end, automated cold calling with AI can be spammy and non-consensual, which is exactly the behavior regulators and carriers work to stop. On the other end, it is a compliant outreach channel: calling people who opted in, disclosing who is calling, respecting do-not-call requests, and staying inside legal calling hours. This page is about that second, legitimate use, and how SmartAlex is built for it.

<Info>
  Cold calling means the contact is new to you. It does not mean the call is unwanted or unsolicited. The difference is consent, disclosure, and restraint, all of which you control.
</Info>

***

## How AI cold calling works

An AI cold call is a full spoken conversation, not a recorded message that plays at you. The agent listens, understands intent, responds in real time, and can take actions such as booking a meeting or sending a follow-up.

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
  A[Upload and segment your contact list] --> B[Set calling window and time zone]
  B --> C[Screen against do-not-call and suppression lists]
  C --> D[Agent dials during allowed hours]
  D --> E{Person answers?}
  E -->|Yes| F[Agent identifies the business and states its purpose]
  F --> G[Qualify, answer questions, honor any opt-out]
  G --> H[Book, transfer, or log the outcome]
  E -->|No| I[Leave voicemail or schedule a retry]
```

### Under the hood

SmartAlex runs its own voice engine built on curated, high-accuracy speech, language, and voice models, kept abstracted so the experience stays fast and natural regardless of which components run behind it. The agent hears the caller, decides what to say and do next, and speaks back with low latency, so the conversation feels like a real person rather than a menu tree.

Actions on the call come from the same [agent tools](/essentials/agent-tools) your inbound agents use: it can create a lead in your CRM, schedule a callback, transfer to a human, and send an SMS or email follow-up. That means a cold call does not dead-end. It moves the person to the next step.

***

## Where AI cold calling works

Automated cold calling with AI earns its place when the outreach is consented, repetitive, and time-sensitive. Common patterns include:

* **Speed to lead.** Call inbound web leads within seconds of a form submission, while intent is high, instead of hours later.
* **List re-engagement.** Reactivate aged leads or past customers who opted in to hear from you.
* **Appointment setting.** Qualify interest and book a slot straight into a connected calendar.
* **Waitlist and event outreach.** Confirm attendance, offer times, and route the ready-to-talk contacts to a person.
* **Follow-up sequences.** Multi-step campaigns that call, wait, and try again on a schedule you define.

<Tip>
  The best results come from pairing outbound with your inbound agent. When a cold call sparks interest, the return call, the [callback](/essentials/callbacks), and the web chat all land with an agent that already knows the context.
</Tip>

***

## Calling responsibly: consent, disclosure, and the rules

Compliant outreach is not an afterthought. It is the whole game. While specific requirements differ by country, region, and industry, responsible AI cold calling almost always rests on four pillars:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Consent" icon="user-check">
    Call people who have a lawful basis to be contacted, such as an opt-in, an existing relationship, or a request for information. Many jurisdictions require prior express consent for automated or AI-assisted calls.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Disclosure" icon="comment">
    Identify the business and make clear the caller is an automated assistant when required. No pretending to be human where the law or good practice says otherwise.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Do-not-call" icon="ban">
    Screen against national do-not-call registries and your own suppression list, and honor any opt-out immediately and permanently.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Calling hours" icon="clock">
    Respect local calling windows and the recipient's time zone. No early-morning or late-night dials.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Note>
  This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules for outbound calling, automated dialing, AI disclosure, and consent vary by jurisdiction and change over time. You are responsible for how you use outbound calling. Confirm your obligations with qualified legal counsel before running any campaign.
</Note>

***

## How SmartAlex runs outbound campaigns

Outbound AI calling in SmartAlex lives in [campaigns](/essentials/campaigns), available as the Outbound Campaigns add-on. The workflow is built so that the compliant path is the default path.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Build and segment your list">
    Import contacts and split them into targeted segments in [Contacts](/essentials/contacts). Clean lists and clear intent beat volume every time.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set calling windows and time zones">
    Define the hours and days the campaign is allowed to dial, per the recipient's local time, so calls only go out inside acceptable windows.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Screen against do-not-call and suppression lists">
    Keep opted-out and suppressed contacts out of the dialing pool, and let the agent honor a fresh opt-out mid-call and never call that person again.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Disclose and qualify on the call">
    Your system prompt tells the agent to identify the business, state its purpose, and disclose that it is an automated assistant where required, then qualify interest naturally.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Act on the outcome">
    The agent books a meeting, warm-transfers a hot lead to a person, creates a lead in your CRM, or schedules a retry. Nothing is left hanging.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review analytics and improve">
    Track connect rates, outcomes, and recordings in [Analytics](/essentials/analytics) and [Call Logs](/essentials/call-logs), then refine the list, timing, and prompt.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Campaigns support multi-step sequences with automatic follow-ups, so a contact who does not answer can be retried later inside the same rules. For teams that want to trigger or manage campaigns from their own systems, SmartAlex exposes programmatic control through the [MCP server](/mcp/overview) and [Custom HTTP Tools](/guides/http-tools/overview). A public REST API and TypeScript SDK are in private beta; contact support for early access.

***

## What it costs

Outbound Campaigns is an add-on: \$49/month on the Professional plan, and bundled on Enterprise and the Real Estate plan. Call minutes are billed from your usage wallet on top of any included minutes, at a blended average of \$0.05/min. You will also need at least one [phone number](/essentials/phone-numbers). For current tiers and exact figures, see [pricing](/pricing) and [add-ons](/essentials/add-ons).

***

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is AI cold calling legal?">
    It can be, when done with consent, disclosure, do-not-call screening, and correct calling hours. Legality depends on your jurisdiction, industry, and how you source and contact your list. SmartAlex gives you the controls to run compliantly, but the responsibility for lawful use is yours. This is not legal advice.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does the agent have to say it is an AI?">
    In a growing number of places, yes, and it is good practice everywhere. Your system prompt can instruct the agent to disclose that it is an automated assistant and to identify the business at the start of the call.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does SmartAlex handle do-not-call and opt-outs?">
    You screen your list against do-not-call registries and your own suppression list before dialing, and the agent honors an in-call opt-out immediately. Suppressed contacts stay out of every future campaign.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I control the calling hours?">
    Yes. Each campaign has calling windows tied to the recipient's time zone, so dials only happen inside the hours you allow.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How is this different from robocalling or spam?">
    Robocalling blasts a recorded message to numbers without regard for consent. Responsible AI cold calling is a real, two-way conversation with people who have a lawful basis to be contacted, with disclosure and an instant, respected opt-out.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Outbound campaigns" icon="phone-volume" href="/essentials/campaigns">
    Set up sequences, calling windows, and follow-ups for outbound calling.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Contacts and lists" icon="address-book" href="/essentials/contacts">
    Import, segment, and manage the lists your campaigns dial.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Add-ons and pricing" icon="puzzle-piece" href="/essentials/add-ons">
    See what the Outbound Campaigns add-on includes and how usage is billed.
  </Card>

  <Card title="What is an AI calling platform?" icon="tower-broadcast" href="/guides/what-is-ai-calling-platform">
    How inbound and outbound AI calling fit together in one platform.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>