A tool is a structured way to interact with entities outside a conversation. This is similar to the definition structure of a tool in the Model Context Protocol.

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Types of tools

In a conversation, imagine the first party is you, the builder of the agent, conversing with the second party, the conversational agent itself. A third party is an external system controlled neither by you nor the conversational agent.

  • First-party custom API integrations: Bring your own APIs or MCP servers to connect to your internal databases, services, and business systems with full authentication and state management support.
  • Second-party platform tools: Built-in conversation capabilities like call transfers, DTMF tone handling, sending SMS during calls, and voicemail detection.
  • Third-party integrations: One-click connections to common business tools including Google Calendar, Salesforce, Zendesk, Notion, and other CRM systems.

For simple use cases, platform tools and pre-built integrations are typically sufficient. Complex business scenarios, however, will require custom API integrations to access internal customer data, case management systems, or specialized business logic.

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Using tools

1

Set up your tools

Use the web interface to set up first-party APIs and third-party integrations.

2

Enable specific tools for your conversational agent

All tools are disabled by default. You must manually enable the specific tools you want to use for each agent from the Tools tab. This limitation helps keep the agent focused when it autonomously selects from available tools to solve problems. Having too many tools can lead to higher error rates and hallucinations.

3

Reference specific tools in the prompt

You can instruct the agent to use a specific tool by referencing it in the prompt using @tool_name. This improves accuracy by reducing unintended tool calls. Additionally, since the tool is known in advance, we also inline instructions to help improve data collection and validation.