Exotel

Exotel is a cloud telephony platform widely used across India and Southeast Asia, offering programmable voice and messaging APIs. Rapida integrates with Exotel to enable AI-powered phone conversations using Exotel’s media streaming capabilities.

Exotel is particularly well-suited for businesses operating in India and SEA, offering local virtual numbers, regulatory compliance, and reliable connectivity in those regions.

How It Works

Prerequisites

Exotel Account

An active Exotel account with at least one virtual number and an Exotel App (applet)

Rapida Account

An active Rapida account with a configured voice assistant

You will need your Account SID, Client ID, and Client Secret, which you can find in the Exotel Dashboard.

Step 1: Set Up Provider Credentials

Store your Exotel API credentials in Rapida so the platform can authenticate with Exotel for outbound calls and webhook handling.

Navigate to External Integrations

Go to Integration > Tools in the Rapida dashboard. You will see a grid of available external integrations.

Select Exotel

Find the Exotel card and click “Setup Credential”.

Enter Your Exotel Credentials

A modal will appear. Fill in the following fields:

Field	Description	Where to Find
Key Name	A friendly name for this credential (e.g., “Production Exotel”)	Your choice
Account SID	Your Exotel Account SID	Exotel Dashboard → Settings → API
Client ID	Your Exotel API Client ID	Exotel Dashboard → Settings → API Credentials
Client Secret	Your Exotel API Client Secret	Exotel Dashboard → Settings → API Credentials

Click “Configure” to save.

Keep your Client Secret secure. It is used for API authentication and should not be shared publicly.

Verify Connection

After saving, the Exotel card should display “Connected”. Click on it to see credential details, last updated time, and management options.

Step 2: Configure Phone Deployment

With credentials saved, configure your assistant’s phone deployment to use Exotel.

Open Your Assistant

Navigate to Assistants and select the assistant you want to deploy via phone.

Go to Phone Deployment

Click “Deploy” → “Phone” to open the phone deployment configuration page.

Select Exotel as Telephony Provider

In the Telephony section:

Select Exotel from the telephony provider dropdown
Choose the Exotel credential you created in Step 1 from the Credential dropdown
Enter your Phone number — the Exotel virtual number for inbound calls and outbound caller ID
Enter the App ID — your Exotel applet identifier that routes calls to Rapida

The App ID is the Exotel applet (flow) identifier. You create this in the Exotel dashboard and configure it to forward calls to Rapida’s webhook URL.

Configure Experience Settings

Set up the conversation experience:

Setting	Description	Default
Greeting	The first message the AI speaks when answering	(optional)
Error Message	Message spoken when an error occurs	(optional)
Idle Timeout	Seconds before prompting an idle caller	`30`
Idle Message	Message spoken when caller is idle	`"Are you there?"`
Idle Timeout Retries	How many times to retry before ending call	`2`
Max Call Duration	Maximum call length in seconds	`300`

Configure Audio Providers

Select your Speech-to-Text (STT) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) providers. These determine how audio is transcribed and synthesized during the call.

Save Deployment

Click “Deploy” to save. Your assistant is now ready to handle phone calls via Exotel.

Step 3: Configure Your Exotel App

Point your Exotel app (applet) to Rapida so incoming calls are routed to your AI assistant.

Open Exotel Dashboard

Go to the Exotel Dashboard and navigate to App Bazaar or Flows.

Create or Edit an App

Create a new app or edit an existing one. Configure the app to connect incoming calls to an external URL.Set the webhook URL to:

https://websocket-01.in.rapida.ai/v1/talk/exotel/call/{your-assistant-id}?x-api-key={your-api-key}

Replace {your-assistant-id} with your Rapida assistant ID.

Link Phone Number

Assign your Exotel virtual number to this app so inbound calls are routed through it.

Save

Save the app configuration. Your Exotel number is now connected to Rapida.

Making Outbound Calls

Once your phone deployment is configured, you can initiate outbound calls using the Rapida API or SDKs.

Python
Node.js
cURL

from rapida import Rapida

client = Rapida(api_key="rpd-xxx-your-key")

call = client.calls.create(
    assistant_id=123456789,
    to_number="+919876543210",
    from_number="+911234567890",  # optional, uses deployment default
    metadata={"campaign": "follow-up"},
)

print(f"Call queued: conversation_id={call.conversation.id}")

import { Rapida } from 'rapida';

const client = new Rapida({ apiKey: 'rpd-xxx-your-key' });

const call = await client.calls.create({
  assistantId: 123456789,
  toNumber: '+919876543210',
  fromNumber: '+911234567890',
  metadata: { campaign: 'follow-up' },
});

console.log(`Call queued: ${call.conversation.id}`);

curl -X POST https://api.rapida.ai/v1/talk/call \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer rpd-xxx-your-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "assistant": { "assistant_id": 123456789 },
    "to_number": "+919876543210",
    "from_number": "+911234567890",
    "metadata": { "campaign": "follow-up" }
  }'

Features

Feature	Description
Inbound Calls	Customers call your Exotel number and speak with your AI assistant
Outbound Calls	Initiate calls programmatically via SDK or API
Real-time Streaming	Bidirectional audio via Exotel media streams
Call Recording	Automatic conversation capture for review and compliance
India & SEA Numbers	Local virtual numbers for Indian and Southeast Asian markets
Number Masking	Protect customer and agent phone numbers during calls
Regulatory Compliance	Compliant with TRAI and regional telecom regulations

Troubleshooting

Calls don't reach Rapida

Verify the webhook URL in your Exotel App configuration
Ensure the URL uses https:// and the correct assistant ID
Confirm the phone number is assigned to the correct Exotel App

One-way audio or no audio

Verify your Exotel credential (Account SID, Client ID, Client Secret) is correct in Rapida
Check that your STT and TTS providers are configured in the phone deployment
Ensure the App ID in your phone deployment matches the Exotel app

Outbound calls fail

Verify the Exotel credential is connected in Integration > Tools
Ensure the from_number is a valid Exotel number assigned to your account
Check that the phone deployment is configured and saved with the correct App ID

App ID issues

The App ID should match the Exotel applet/flow identifier exactly
Verify the app is active and not paused in the Exotel dashboard
Ensure the app has the correct webhook URL configured

Create an Assistant

Build your voice AI assistant

Phone Deployment

Overview of phone deployment options

Outbound Call API

API reference for creating calls

Conversation Logs

View call history and transcripts

For more information on Exotel’s platform, visit the Exotel Developer Documentation.

Getting Started

Assistants

Knowledge

LLM Endpoint

Activity and logs

External Integrations

Credentials

Workspace

Governance

Deployment Options

How It Works

Prerequisites

Exotel Account

Rapida Account

Step 1: Set Up Provider Credentials

Step 2: Configure Phone Deployment

Step 3: Configure Your Exotel App

Making Outbound Calls

Features

Troubleshooting

Create an Assistant

Phone Deployment

Outbound Call API

Conversation Logs

Getting Started

Assistants

Knowledge

LLM Endpoint

Activity and logs

External Integrations

Credentials

Workspace

Governance

Deployment Options

​How It Works

​Prerequisites

Exotel Account

Rapida Account

​Step 1: Set Up Provider Credentials

​Step 2: Configure Phone Deployment

​Step 3: Configure Your Exotel App

​Making Outbound Calls

​Features

​Troubleshooting

​Related Resources

Create an Assistant

Phone Deployment

Outbound Call API

Conversation Logs

How It Works

Prerequisites

Step 1: Set Up Provider Credentials

Step 2: Configure Phone Deployment

Step 3: Configure Your Exotel App

Making Outbound Calls

Features

Troubleshooting

Related Resources