What is a Variable?

A Variable is a piece of data that can be stored and retrieved during a call. Variables are used to keep track of information, such as the caller’s name, phone number, or a AI-generated value.

Reference a Variable

To reference a Variable in your Voice Agent, you can use {{variable_name}} in the text of a Node and your Voice Agent will replace it with the value of the Variable during the call.

On Speak Nodes, the content of the Variable will be spoken to the caller. On Integration Nodes, the content of the Variable will be sent to the Integration.

Types of Variables

When building your Voice Agent, there are a few types of Variables:

System Variables

System Variables are predefined by Thoughtly and are used to store information about the call, such as the caller’s phone number or the current time. System Variables are read-only and cannot be modified during a call.

Participants

Participants are the parties involved in the call. There are two participants in a phone call:

  • From: The party that initiated the call
  • To: The party that received the call
VariableDescription
{{system.participant.from.phone}}The phone number of the party that initiated the call
{{system.participant.from.country}}The country of the party that initiated the call
{{system.participant.from.state}}The state of the party that initiated the call
{{system.participant.from.city}}The city of the party that initiated the call
{{system.participant.from.zip}}The ZIP code of the party that initiated the call
{{system.participant.to.phone}}The phone number of the party that received the call
{{system.participant.to.country}}The country of the party that received the call
{{system.participant.to.state}}The state of the party that received the call
{{system.participant.to.city}}The city of the party that received the call
{{system.participant.to.zip}}The ZIP code of the party that received the call

Call

Call Variables store information about the call itself, such as the call ID, direction, and duration.

VariableDescription
{{system.call.id}}The unique identifier of the call
{{system.call.direction}}The direction of the call (inbound or outbound)
{{system.call.created_at}}The date and time when the call was created (in UTC)
{{system.call.duration}}The duration of the call at the time the variable is accessed

Other

Other System Variables include:

VariableDescription
{{system.time}}The current time at the time the variable is accessed (in UTC)

Magic Variables

Creating a Magic Variable can be a powerful way to parse information in real-time. During a call, a Magic Variable will be generated based on all of the information provided by the caller up to that point.

You can use Magic Variables to submit information to an Integration Node or to create a dynamic response based on the caller’s input.

This feature is not yet available. Please check back soon for updates.

Integration Variables

Integration Variables are created by an Integration Node and are used to store information returned by an external system.