Duckbill
POST /v1/callsLive

AI can make phone calls now. People still hang up.

Your users keep asking your agent to call someone. Now it can. One request puts a quality person on the line where the call needs one, AI where it reliably finishes, and you never build the operation behind it. 30M+ real-world actions taught us which is which.

Who makes the call

REST API with webhooks, or the Duckbill MCP server. Priced per task.

duckbill · POST /v1/calls

We’ve made this call before.

30M+ real-world actions taught us when businesses answer, how they route you, what triggers a callback, and where calls go sideways. That data goes to work before the first dial tone. For any call, we already know:

01

When and how to make it.

The timing, positioning, and routing that maximize first-attempt success.

02

What it will actually take.

Every call gets the cheapest model, or person, that can complete it reliably. Nothing more.

03

How it’s likely to fail.

Prevention built in. Troubleshooting ready when the unexpected happens anyway.

04

How to win the callback.

Maximize the odds one arrives. Handle it cleanly when it does.

Human where it matters. AI where it finishes.

Plenty of AI voice APIs hold their own on a booking. None of them is who you want on the line with Aetna.

Make, change, or cancel a booking

AI aloneHolds its own.
A personHolds its own.

Ask a question

AI aloneReaches the right person half as often.
A person2 to 3x more likely to get the full answer.

Get a quote, negotiate, anything with back and forth

AI aloneRarely comes away with anything.
A personAbout 5x more likely to come away with something.

Leave a voicemail

AI aloneReturned less often.
A personReturned about 50% more often.
1 in 7
calls AI finishes working alone
7 in 10
calls a person finishes, or redoes after the business hung up on AI

A call center scales people. This scales quality.

The call is the easy part.

Before the dial

Validate the number, the hours, and who to ask for. Pick the hour this kind of business answers. Write the brief. Route it: a person where it matters, AI where it finishes.

On the call

Live monitoring. The caller can ask your agent a question mid-call. Personal data is scoped to what the call needs.

After

The outcome is verified before your webhook fires. Every call is quality-scored. No answer? We already know whether to retry at 2, text, or leave the voicemail that gets returned.

duckbill · brief

What the caller gets before dialing

BRIEF · Dr. Patel Dermatology · new-patient appointmentCall after: 1:30pm. The front desk picks up then. Mornings go to voicemail.Ask for: new-patient scheduling. Lead with: Aetna PPO, weekday afternoons.If voicemail: name, callback number, "new patient." They return these.If no slots: ask for the cancellation list. Don’t push.Confirm back: date, time, what to bring, confirmation number.

Why not just…

Why not just …plug in an AI voice API?

For bookings, fine. It holds its own. Everywhere else, the person on the other end hangs up before it says why it’s calling. Nobody says no. They just hang up.

Why not just …hire a call center?

You get people. You don’t get the timing, the routing, the brief, the QA, or the learning loop. Those are the product. Headcount isn’t.

Why not just …build it ourselves?

You could. You’d be hiring, training, scripting, routing, monitoring, and running QA for a workforce. That’s a services company. We’ve already made every one of those mistakes across 30M+ actions. Ping the API.

Calls we make all day.

The goal your agent sends, and who made the call. Flip for the outcome.

“Get the refund United owes for the 4-hour delay.”

Person
$847 refunded

Approved on the call. Back on the card in 5 to 7 days.

“Book a new-patient visit with a dermatologist who takes Aetna.”

Person
Booked Thursday 2:30pm

Second attempt, after 1:30. Confirmation APT-88213.

“Find out why Cigna denied claim CLM-44821. Appeal it.”

Person
Coding error. Appealed.

Resubmitted on the call. Approved six days later.

“Cancel the Comcast plan without the retention fee.”

Person
Cancelled. No fee.

Retention pitch declined. Confirmation number emailed.

“Confirm the caterer can do 40 people, nut-free, by Saturday.”

Person
Confirmed for 40

Deposit due Thursday. Menu attached.

“Get on the cancellation list at Dr. Lin’s office.”

Person
Moved up three weeks

Callback next morning. A person picked up.

“Move Saturday’s reservation at Marea to 8pm, party of five.”

AI
Moved to 8pm

First dial. New confirmation read back.

“Find a plumber who can come today for a kitchen leak.”

Person
Mike’s Plumbing, 2 to 4pm

$95 service fee confirmed up front.

“Transfer the prescription to the CVS on Boylston.”

Person
Transferred

Ready after 4pm. Copay confirmed at $12.

Never a shrug.

The office is closed for a week. The number is disconnected. The policy really does require the account holder. You get what we tried, the alternatives, and a backup plan, as data your agent can act on.

duckbill · result

Result · when the goal can’t be reached

{  "status": "completed",  "outcome": "not_achievable",  "handled_by": "person",  "reason": "Office closed through Oct 6. Voicemail full.",  "tried": ["10:02am, main line", "2:15pm, main line", "After-hours line"],  "alternatives": ["Dr. Ahmed, 1.2 mi, takes Aetna, next opening Oct 3"],  "next_step": "Retry Oct 7 at 9am, or book Dr. Ahmed"}

Reliable and cost effective come from the same place.

Reliability

The call gets done cleanly, in a way you’d put your name on. When it can’t, you get an answer, not a shrug.

Cost

No compute burned on doomed attempts. No person on a call AI finishes. The data that makes us reliable is what makes us cost effective.

Integrate in an afternoon.

You’re adding a tool your agent can call. Duckbill runs everything behind it.

01 · Send the goal

A goal in plain language.

Who to call, who it’s for, what done looks like. No scripts, no call flows.

02 · Watch it run

Status while it happens.

Attempted, connected, resolved. Your agent can add context mid-task.

03 · Get the outcome

Structured, not a vibe.

What happened, who handled it, confirmations, amounts, next step. On your webhook.

What partners ask first.

Are Duckbill's phone calls made by people or by AI?

By people wherever it matters, which is most calls. AI takes the ones it reliably finishes, mostly making, changing, or cancelling a booking. The routing decision comes from 30M+ real-world actions, and your agent never has to make it.

Why not just use an AI voice API?

For bookings, you can. For questions, quotes, and anything with back and forth, the person on the other end hangs up before the AI explains why it's calling, more than half the time. Duckbill puts a person on those calls, which is why the work actually gets finished.

Why not hire a call center or BPO?

A call center gives you people. It doesn't know when a given business answers, when to retry, what to say, or when to stop. Duckbill's validation, routing, briefs, live monitoring, QA, and learning loop are the product. That is what scales quality, and it is not something a call center can sell you.

Why not build this ourselves?

You could, and you would be hiring, training, scripting, routing, monitoring, and running QA for a workforce. That makes you a services company. Duckbill has made those mistakes already, across 30M+ actions. Ping the API and stay a software company.

How does Duckbill keep quality up as volume grows?

Every call runs through the same system: validation before the dial, a brief the caller can act on, routing to the right caller at the right time, live monitoring, a verified outcome, and a quality score. More volume means more data, and the data makes the next call better.

What happens if the call fails?

You get a definitive answer, never a shrug: what was tried, why it did not work, alternatives, and a backup plan, all as structured data on your webhook.

Who handles the callback?

We do. A callback routes to the same task and a person picks up with the context of the first call. Winning the callback is half the job, and the timing and voicemail are chosen to make one more likely.

We already have people. Can they run on Duckbill's system?

Sometimes. If you have a workforce you trust, talk to us about running Duckbill's routing, briefs, and QA on top of it.

How do you handle security and personal data?

The person on the call sees only what that call needs. Security review, data handling, and compliance specifics are covered during partner scoping.

How much does it cost?

A simple per-task fee. Tell us your expected call volume and we will send pricing.

More capabilities

All of Duckbill
POST /v1/paymentsEarly access

Payments

For every payment agentic checkout can’t reach: the vendor who only takes checks, the card read over the phone, the site that blocks bots.

See payments
POST /v1/errandsEarly access

Errands & services

Someone has to show up. Pickups, drop-offs, returns, waiting for the plumber, and the services your users will ask for next.

See errands & services
POST /v1/tasksLive

Concierge

Haven’t built an agent? Use ours. Your users ask for anything. Duckbill plans it, runs it end to end, and reports back under your brand.

See concierge

Give your agent a phone.

Tell us what your agent needs to call about. We’ll get you set up.

Or email partnerships@getduckbill.com