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Building Smarter Virtual Assistants with SiganlWire's New AI Agent Builder
Creating a smart, responsive voice agent no longer requires complex infrastructure or hours of coding. In this episode of SignalWire in Seconds, Technical Success Manager Nicholas walks through the updated AI Agent Builder, which makes it even easier to create powerful, dynamic AI agents for real-time customer interactions.
What’s New in the AI Agent Builder?
This second iteration builds on the original release by offering a simplified, guided workflow that enables users to:
Define an agent’s name, personality, and tone
Choose from a range of natural-sounding voices powered by Amazon Polly, Google Cloud, or ElevenLabs
Add custom skills and behaviors through fill-in-the-blank modules
Set hours of operation, transfer calls to live reps, and inject custom knowledge (like amenities at a resort)
Design full conversational flows using plain text instructions, formatted with markdown behind the scenes
All of this happens inside the SignalWire dashboard, without the need to manage servers or webhooks.
A Real-World Example: Gustav, the Virtual Concierge
To demonstrate, Nicholas builds “Gustav,” a friendly virtual concierge for a ski resort. Gustav can:
Greet guests in a warm, natural voice
Share lobby hours, resort amenities, and spa offerings
Transfer callers to booking or excursions
Play background music while fetching data
Disconnect idle calls after a customizable timeout
By the end of the video, Gustav is live and ready to help guests enjoy their stay—entirely powered by SignalWire’s AI tooling and real-time APIs.
Check out additional Digital Employee Examples.
What is RCS messaging?
Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the next generation of mobile messaging, designed to replace SMS and MMS. It supports high-quality images and video, verified sender identities, read receipts, typing indicators, and interactive elements like carousels and quick replies, all within the phone's native messaging app.
What is RCS Business Messaging (RBM)?
RCS Business Messaging (RBM) applies RCS capabilities to brand-to-consumer communication. It lets businesses message customers from a verified brand identity instead of a phone number, share rich media and documents, offer quick replies and CTAs, and handle actions like appointment confirmations and payments without the customer leaving the chat.
Is RCS replacing SMS?
RCS is positioned as the successor to SMS, but the transition is gradual. Businesses should adopt RCS where supported while keeping SMS and MMS as fallback channels for devices and networks that don't yet support it.
Does iPhone support RCS?
Yes. Apple added RCS support starting with iOS 18, with RCS Business Messaging support arriving in iOS 18.1. Combined with existing Android support, this brings RCS to the large majority of smartphones in the US.
Is RCS more effective than SMS for customer engagement?
Yes. Nearly 80% of consumers say RCS makes them more likely to engage with a brand, and RCS campaigns can achieve click-through rates up to 7x higher than SMS thanks to rich media, interactivity, and verified sender trust.
ow do businesses start sending RCS messages?
Businesses must first register an RCS agent, an approval process involving Google, aggregators, and mobile operators. From there, they can define use cases like marketing, customer service, or appointment reminders. SignalWire guides businesses through registration and campaign planning.
Which industries benefit most from RCS?
Retail, finance, and healthcare are early leaders. Retailers use RCS for in-chat purchases and product carousels, financial institutions use it for secure verified messaging and account alerts, and healthcare providers use it for appointment scheduling and reminders.
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