> ## 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.

# Telephony Overview

> Connect SmartAlex to your existing phone system or bring your own numbers. End-to-end setup in under 15 minutes.

SmartAlex plugs into your existing phone system so your AI agent can answer calls, qualify intent, and transfer callers to the right person, all without replacing your PBX, your DIDs, or your carrier.

## How it works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Your PBX or carrier sends the call to SmartAlex">
    Using a standard SIP trunk. Works with any system that speaks SIP, 3CX, Yeastar, FreePBX, Microsoft Teams, Avaya, Mitel, Grandstream, and more.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The AI answers">
    Your configured agent greets the caller, understands intent, consults your knowledge base or external tools, and handles the conversation naturally.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Transfers happen via SIP REFER">
    When the caller needs a human, the AI hands the call back to your PBX so it rings the right extension, queue, or ring group. The AI drops out; your system takes over.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Pick your phone system

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="3CX" href="/telephony/3cx">
    Cloud or on-premise. The most common PBX in South Africa and globally.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Yeastar" href="/telephony/yeastar">
    P-Series and S-Series. Popular with SMB and mid-market.
  </Card>

  <Card title="FreePBX" href="/telephony/freepbx">
    Open-source GUI on top of Asterisk. Favoured by MSPs.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Asterisk" href="/telephony/asterisk">
    Raw Asterisk with pjsip. For technical teams who want full control.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Grandstream UCM" href="/telephony/grandstream">
    Hardware PBX common in SA small business.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Avaya IP Office" href="/telephony/avaya">
    Enterprise on-premise PBX with long deployment history.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Mitel MiVoice" href="/telephony/mitel">
    Enterprise UC platform. MiVoice Business and MiVoice Connect.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Microsoft Teams" href="/telephony/microsoft-teams">
    Via Direct Routing and a Session Border Controller.
  </Card>

  <Card title="RingCentral" href="/telephony/ringcentral">
    Cloud UCaaS via SIP gateway.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Euphoria Telecom" href="/telephony/euphoria-telecom">
    South African hosted PBX. Cape Town based.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Switch Telecom" href="/telephony/switch-telecom">
    South African hosted PBX. Atria.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Generic SIP" href="/telephony/generic-sip">
    Any SIP-compliant system. Use this when your platform is not listed above.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What you need before you start

* Administrative access to your phone system
* Its public hostname or IP (for us to route transfers back)
* A list of extensions the AI should be able to transfer to
* A DID (phone number) for the AI to answer on, either existing or newly provisioned
* A SmartAlex account with wallet credit and at least one agent configured

Typical setup time: **10 to 15 minutes** end to end.

## Already have an IVR?

Most customers arrive with a traditional press-1-for-sales IVR or a live receptionist. SmartAlex replaces both.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Replacing Your IVR" href="/telephony/replacing-ivr">
    How the AI replaces a DTMF tree with a natural conversation, plus measurable before and after.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Conversation Flow Library" href="/telephony/conversation-flows">
    Real industry examples. Medical, automotive, legal, real estate, hospitality, retail.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## The four things every customer asks

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Does this replace my PBX?">
    No. SmartAlex sits alongside your PBX. Your phone system keeps handling queues, ring groups, voicemail, call recording, everything it does today. The AI just handles the first touch and routes the caller to the right place via your existing rules.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do my extensions still work the same way?">
    Yes. When the AI transfers a caller, your PBX receives a standard SIP REFER and rings the extension exactly as if the call came in any other way. Busy, no-answer, voicemail, queue fallback, all handled by your existing configuration.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Will I see this in my call logs and CDRs?">
    Yes. Transfers appear in your PBX call detail records as normal SIP transfers. Reporting, recording, and compliance tooling continue to work.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if the AI cannot help the caller?">
    It transfers to a human, takes a message, books a callback, or sends the caller to voicemail, whichever you configure as the fallback. Callers are never dropped into silence.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Architecture" href="/telephony/architecture">
    How it all fits together at a technical level.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Call Routing & Transfers" href="/telephony/call-routing-transfers">
    Cold, warm, and attended transfers, what we support and how it works on the wire.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>