Glossary: AI receptionist, voice AI and WhatsApp terms for India

IVR (interactive voice response)

A recorded phone menu that asks callers to press or say an option (“press 1 for sales”) and routes the call accordingly.

IVR routes calls but rarely completes a task by itself. If nobody is free at the end of the menu, the caller still waits or hangs up. An AI receptionist replaces the menu with a conversation.

Read more: Hinglish Voice AI vs IVR

DTMF

The tones a phone keypad sends when a caller presses a number, which IVR systems use to read menu choices or PINs.

A voice agent can still accept DTMF, for example when a caller prefers to key in an order number rather than say it.

Call forwarding (unconditional, busy, no answer, not reachable)

An operator setting that sends calls from your number to another number, either always or only when you are busy, do not answer, or are unreachable.

Jio and Airtel both describe these four types. For an AI receptionist, most businesses start with “no answer” and “busy” so staff still pick up first. DoT ordered operators to discontinue USSD-based call forwarding (the *401# style codes) from 15 April 2024 because it was being misused, so activation now goes through the handset settings, operator app or other methods your operator supports.

Read more: How calls reach a virtual receptionist · Source: DoT

Virtual number (DID)

A phone number that is not tied to one SIM or handset; calls to it are delivered over the internet or a telecom trunk to whichever phones, teams or software you choose.

Cloud telephony providers issue virtual numbers so that one published number can ring several people or hand over to a voice agent.

SIP trunk (and PRI)

A digital connection that carries many simultaneous calls between your phone system and the operator; PRI is the older line-based equivalent.

Larger offices and hospitals often run their numbers on SIP or PRI. An AI receptionist is connected as a step in that call flow rather than through mobile forwarding.

Toll-free number

A number (in India, usually starting 1800) where the business, not the caller, pays for the call.

CLI (caller line identification)

The calling number shown to the person you call.

TRAI points to the CLI as the way people can tell a promotional call (140 series) from a service or transactional call (1600 series).

Read more: Why a business number shows as spam · Source: PIB

CNAP (Calling Name Presentation)

A network service that shows the caller’s registered name, not just the number, on the receiving phone.

DoT’s Circular 01/Licensing Policy/2026, dated 13 October 2026, makes CNAP live from 1 November 2026 on 4G and above; 2G, 3G and fixed-line networks will be considered separately. Until it is common, start every callback by saying your business name.

Read more: CNAP explained: caller name display in India · Source: DoT

AI receptionist

Software that answers a business’s phone calls with a natural-sounding voice, handles routine questions and bookings, and passes anything else to a person.

In India that usually means answering in English, Hindi or Hinglish, confirming on WhatsApp, and writing a short note to the CRM.

Read more: AI receptionist for dental clinics · AI receptionist for CA firms · AI receptionist in India: complete guide · Vocora AI receptionist

Voice AI agent (voicebot)

An AI system that holds a spoken conversation on a phone call and can take actions such as booking a slot or updating a record.

An AI receptionist is one kind of voice agent (mostly inbound). Others make outbound calls: reminders, lead qualification, verification.

Read more: Voice AI vs IVR · Voice AI

ASR / speech-to-text

The part of a voice agent that turns the caller’s speech into text.

Accuracy is usually measured as word error rate (WER). Test it on your own callers: accents, background noise and product names matter more than a general benchmark.

TTS / text-to-speech

The part of a voice agent that turns its reply into spoken audio.

LLM (large language model)

The language model that decides what the voice agent says next, following the script, facts and rules it has been given.

Barge-in and latency

Barge-in lets a caller interrupt the agent mid-sentence; latency is the pause between the caller finishing and the agent replying.

Both decide whether a call feels like a conversation. Long pauses make callers repeat themselves or hang up.

Code-switching (Hinglish)

Moving between languages inside one conversation or one sentence, such as Hindi and English.

Census 2011 data quoted by the Ministry of Home Affairs puts Hindi as the mother tongue of 43.63% of people, with 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule, so a desk serving the whole country needs a plan for more than one language.

Read more: Hinglish Voice AI vs IVR · Source: Ministry of Home Affairs

Warm transfer (human handoff)

Passing a live call to a person along with a summary, so the caller does not have to repeat everything.

Good scripts list exactly which situations go to a person: complaints, emergencies, pricing exceptions, anything the agent is unsure of.

Call disposition and CRM write-back

The outcome recorded at the end of a call (booked, callback, not interested, wrong number) and saved to your CRM or sheet.

Vocora writes a hot / warm / cold note so the team knows who to call first.

Concurrency

How many calls a system can handle at the same moment.

A human desk handles one call per person. Ask any provider what happens on your busiest hour, not on an average one.

TCCCPR, 2018

TRAI’s Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, the rulebook for commercial calls and SMS in India.

The February 2025 amendments tightened complaint handling, require an opt-out option in promotional messages, stop senders from seeking consent again for 90 days after an opt-out, and limit consent given for an ongoing transaction to 7 days.

Source: PIB

UCC (unsolicited commercial communication)

Commercial calls or messages a person did not consent to receive, commonly called spam calls or SMS.

Read more: AI telecaller rules in India · Source: PIB

DLT (distributed ledger technology) registration

The blockchain-based registry operators use under TCCCPR to record who is sending commercial SMS and calls, with which headers and content templates.

Senders, telemarketers, message headers and content templates are all registered, and operators can be penalised for failing their registration obligations. TRAI describes TCCCPR as a blockchain-based regulatory framework for spam control.

Source: PIB

Principal Entity (PE) and Telemarketer (TM)

The PE is the business on whose behalf a commercial message is sent; the TM is the registered company that delivers it.

The 2025 amendments limit the number of intermediaries between the PE and the TM so that every message can be traced.

Source: PIB

Headers and content templates (-P, -S, -T, -G)

The registered sender ID and pre-approved message text used for commercial SMS; a suffix shows whether a message is promotional, service, transactional or government.

Source: PIB

140 series

The number series reserved for promotional voice calls.

Read more: Which calls need the 140 series · Source: PIB

1600 series

The number series for service and transactional calls from banks, financial-services firms, insurers and government bodies.

TRAI has set phase-wise deadlines for entities regulated by RBI, SEBI and PFRDA, and a separate direction for IRDAI-regulated insurers. Ordinary 10-digit numbers should not be used for telemarketing.

Read more: EMI reminder calls and the 1600 series · Source: PIB

WhatsApp Business app vs WhatsApp Business Platform

The app is the free phone app for one business number; the Platform (Cloud API) lets software send and receive messages at scale, with templates, automation and several agents.

Read more: WhatsApp automation for clinics · WhatsApp chatbot for business in India

WABA / Messaging account

The account on Meta’s side that holds your WhatsApp business phone numbers and message templates; Meta’s newer documentation calls it a Messaging account.

Source: Meta for Developers

BSP (Solution Partner, Tech Provider)

A company authorised by Meta to give other businesses access to the WhatsApp Business Platform, usually with an inbox, automation and support on top.

Meta’s current terms are Solution Partner (can extend a credit line and invoice clients for API usage), Tech Provider (clients add their own payment method and Meta bills them) and Tech Partner. “BSP” is the older name most people still use.

Source: Meta for Developers

Template message and template categories

A pre-approved WhatsApp message format, needed to start a conversation; every template is Marketing, Utility or Authentication.

Utility templates follow up on something the customer did or asked for and must not promote anything. Authentication templates carry one-time passcodes. Everything promotional is Marketing. Meta checks the content and can re-categorise a template.

Read more: COD and order updates for D2C brands · 30 WhatsApp template examples · Source: Meta for Developers

Customer service window

The 24 hours after a customer’s last message, during which a business can reply with normal (non-template) messages.

Source: Meta for Developers

Free entry point window

When a customer messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad and you reply, messages in the window that opens are not charged for delivery.

Meta’s pricing page says this window can stay open for up to 7 days.

Source: Meta for Developers

Per-message pricing (and service messages)

Meta charges for each delivered business message, at a rate set by category and the recipient’s country.

Since 1 October 2026 Meta also charges for service messages after a free tier of 1,000 per business phone number per month, and publishes rate changes only on the first day of a quarter. Check Meta’s rate card for India.

Source: Meta for Developers

Messaging limit

The number of unique people a business can message with templates outside a customer service window in a moving 24-hour period.

New business portfolios start at 250 and can scale up as quality stays high and volume grows.

Read more: WhatsApp messaging limit tiers explained · Source: Meta for Developers

Quality rating

Meta’s score for a template or number based on blocks, reports and read rates; low quality can pause or disable a template.

Read more: WhatsApp account restricted: what to do · Source: Meta for Developers

Opt-in

The customer’s permission to receive WhatsApp messages from your business, which Meta requires before you message them.

The opt-in must name your business and make clear the person is agreeing to messages. Offer a clear way to opt out and honour it.

Source: Meta for Developers

Official Business Account (blue tick)

A WhatsApp business number Meta has verified as an authentic business, shown with a blue checkmark.

Meta requires the business portfolio to be verified and the number to have been on the Platform for at least 30 days before applying.

Source: Meta for Developers

Coexistence

Using the same number in the WhatsApp Business app and on the Cloud API at once, with chat history kept in sync.

Read more: WhatsApp coexistence in India: what changes · Source: Meta for Developers

WhatsApp ERP automation

Connecting an ERP or accounting system to WhatsApp so orders, invoices, payment reminders and dispatch updates go out automatically from the records you already keep.

Read more: Tally WhatsApp integration · WhatsApp ERP automation · WhatsApp automation for distributors

PIVC (pre-issuance verification call)

A call a life insurer makes after a proposal is signed and before the policy is issued, to check the customer understands what they bought.

IRDAI’s May 2020 circular encouraged life insurers to conduct PIVC under board-approved guidelines; it was superseded by IRDAI’s September 2024 Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders’ Interests, which requires board-approved measures to curb mis-selling and a customer-feedback mechanism, and insurers run PIVC under their own policies to meet those duties. The call usually also explains the free-look period, which under the 2024 policyholder-protection norms is 30 days for life policies of a year or more and for health policies.

Read more: PIVC with voice AI · PIVC full form and PIVC vs PLVC · Source: IRDAI

DPDP Act and Rules

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Rules notified in November 2025, which govern how call recordings, transcripts and chat data may be collected and used.

The business is the Data Fiduciary and the caller is the Data Principal. The Rules require standalone, plain-language consent notices, give an 18-month phased timeline, and say Consent Managers must be Indian companies.

Read more: DPDP for call recordings and WhatsApp chats · Source: PIB