Section 1 · Website AI Salesperson

1.6Voice / phone AI

Designed for Phase 3

No.: 1.6
DMA's reference: Decision Book p.11
Phase: Phase 3
Autonomy: L2 · Prepare, then wait for approval
DMA's decision: Later

◆ Amended in v3 of the book.

What DMA asked for · Decision Book p.11

A prospect can talk to the assistant by phone or voice, not only type.

Why it matters to DMA: Some buyers prefer to talk, and voice could catch phone enquiries the chat misses. DMA's book puts it later because real-time voice carries more risk of mistakes and liability.

In our words, from DMA's Product Decision Book v3, page 11.

How we do it

DMA decided LATER for this one (Phase 3), at autonomy L2: the voice assistant may talk and prepare next steps, but a person confirms anything it would commit DMA to.
The design reuses the website strategist rather than building a second brain: the same approved instructions, knowledge base, checks and escalation rules, with speech-to-text in front and text-to-speech behind.
Every call opens with the AI-assistant disclosure and asks for recording consent before anything is recorded. "Talk to a person" works on a call exactly as it does in the chat: the call is handed to DMA's team.
After the call, the transcript and a short summary are saved, and the booking or follow-up it prepared goes into the approval queue before anything reaches Nutshell.

Already in place

The strategist, its checks and the escalation rules already exist in the chat and would be reused unchanged.
Each conversation already has a place to record call-recording consent, and consent rules block sending in code.
Call transcripts are already turned into summaries, tasks and CRM updates by the Zero-Entry CRM features (section 20), which wait for one-click approval.
The approval queue that an L2 feature needs is built and in use.

What the later phase adds

A phone number and a voice button, with a telephony provider chosen with DMA.
Speech-to-text and text-to-speech around the existing strategist.
A spoken disclosure and consent step at the start of every call.
Live transfer to a person, and a legal review of call recording before launch.

The flow

It plays on its own while it's on screen; hover or use the controls to pause or step through.

Step 1 of 6

A prospect calls

The call is answered by the assistant, which first says it is DMA's AI assistant.

Person
Rule in code
AI
Screen
Routing
Nutshell

Where the data goes

The same six stages on every page. Nothing reaches Nutshell except through the write gate.

1Phone call
Source
The caller's speech, after consent.
2Sync
Copies Nutshell changes into the bridge database
Not involved.
3Bridge database
A copy of the CRM data, plus what the AI works out
The transcript, the consent record and the prepared next step.
4AI
Claude models, only through DMA's own gateway
The same strategist, with speech in and out.
5Write gate
The only way back into Nutshell: checked, approved when needed, sent once
Writes the approved summary and next step.
6Nutshell
The system of record
The call appears on the lead like any other activity.

The tables behind it

Drawn from the POC's database catalogue: structure only, no data.

PK primary keyFK reference the database enforces (solid line)ID reference kept by id (dashed line)

Table	What it holds	Columns
conv.conversations	One row per conversation, including its recording-consent record.	22
conv.messages	The transcript, line by line.	21
ctrl.approvals	The approval queue for anything an L2 feature prepares.	22
ctrl.escalations	Cases handed to a person at DMA, with the reason.	33

How the tables connect (8)

Column	Points to	Kept by
conv.conversations.agent_version_id	agent.agent_versions	The application (by id)
conv.messages.conversation_id	conv.conversations	The database (foreign key)
conv.messages.participant_id	conv.participants	The application (by id)
conv.messages.decision_id	ctrl.decision_log	The application (by id)
conv.messages.agent_version_id	agent.agent_versions	The application (by id)
ctrl.escalations.conversation_id	conv.conversations	The application (by id)
ctrl.escalations.run_id	agent.runs	The application (by id)
ctrl.escalations.decision_id	ctrl.decision_log	The application (by id)

Worked example

Synthetic demo data: every name, business and number is made up.

The handoff a voice call would reuse, as it works in the chat today

1 / 4

What you see

1.The visitor asks for a person

On a call this would be "can I talk to someone?". In the chat it is the "Talk to a person" button, on screen the whole time.

"Talk to a person" in the chat: the handoff a voice call would reuse.

What happens in the system

Tool calldma-public · request_human_handoff
The chat asks for a person through its tool server.
Rule engineHOLDescalation rules
The rule engine decides: the visitor asked for a person (escalation trigger 4). The AI stops replying to this visitor.

Right-hand values come from a real run of the POC on September 25, 2026 (trace tr_muh5to4nxpbl16icb50m, tr_muh5to7f1f7s5ex202akt…). Rows marked “sample” are illustrative.

How one phone enquiry would be handled (synthetic example of the design).

Designed behaviour

Moment	Caller hears	What the system does
Answer	"You're talking to DMA's AI assistant. May I record this call so the team has notes?"	Waits for a yes before recording
Question	One short question at a time about the business and the problem	Keeps the same notes as the chat
Price asked	"A strategist covers pricing; I can book you a call."	Opens a case for DMA's team
Wrap-up	"I've asked the team to confirm a time with you by email."	The prepared booking waits in the approval queue

In the running POC

1 / 3"Talk to a person" in the chat: the handoff a voice call would reuse.

1The visitor asks for a person.
2The AI says someone from DMA is joining, and stops replying.

Website chat · BrightSmile Dental demo site, asking for a person. Captured from the running POC on September 25, 2026; synthetic data.

See it live

Opens the exact screen in the running POC, in a new tab.

Open	Where	What to try
BrightSmile Dental demo site	Demo prospect website	Open the chat and tap "Talk to a person".
Escalations	DMA AI dashboard	The case, its brief and the Take it button.

Status

Designed for Phase 3

Designed for Phase 3. DMA's book schedules this for Phase 3 (decision: later). The design is ready and builds on parts that already run in the POC.