An AI telemarketing bot for outbound sales built on a traditional VoIP/PBX infrastructure like Asterisk. It uses ElevenLabs for high-quality voice and the OpenAI GPT API for real-time, natural conversations to capture leads in specialized industries like energy comparison.
Businesses that already run call centres on Asterisk or similar PBX systems, such as energy comparison brokers, face high costs per qualified lead. Human agents spend most of their shift dialling, reaching voicemail and having short conversations with people who are not interested. Hosted AI calling platforms exist, but they bypass the existing phone infrastructure, carrier arrangements and call recording setup the business has already invested in.
Outbound calling is also one of the most tightly regulated forms of marketing in Australia, and energy sales carry additional rules. Consumers are wary of unsolicited calls, and poorly run programs attract complaints and regulator attention. Any automation needs to fit into the existing PBX, sound natural enough to hold a conversation, capture interest accurately and hand over to licensed human staff, all while respecting consent, calling hours and opt-outs from the first second of the call.
Call lists are washed against the Do Not Call Register and internal opt-out lists, and restricted to contacts with a documented consent or permitted basis for calling.
Asterisk places calls within permitted hours and streams audio through a media bridge to speech-to-text and an LLM that manages the conversation.
Replies are voiced by ElevenLabs; the bot identifies the business, states that it is an automated assistant and gives the reason for the call up front.
It asks a few questions about the current energy provider and interest in reviewing their plan, and honours any request to stop or not be called again immediately.
Interested people are offered a callback from a human agent, who handles any plan comparison or switch; outcomes and recordings are logged for compliance review.
An energy brokerage firm uses an Asterisk-based AI bot to make outbound calls. The bot engages homeowners in a human-like conversation about their current electricity provider, captures their interest in switching, and schedules a callback from a human sales agent, leveraging existing PBX infrastructure.
Asterisk, ElevenLabs, OpenAI GPT models, TTS/STT APIs, VoIP
The Do Not Call Register Act 2006 generally prohibits telemarketing calls to registered numbers without consent, and the telemarketing industry standard sets calling hours and requires callers to identify the business and the purpose of the call. Selling energy is further regulated by the National Energy Retail Law, overseen by the Australian Energy Regulator, and by state rules such as Victoria's Energy Retail Code of Practice, including explicit informed consent rules for any contract, so leave sales and switching to trained people. Announce call recording to meet state listening devices laws. Presenting the bot as a human could be misleading under the Australian Consumer Law.
This solution requires careful evaluation of cost-benefit ratio. Consider implementation only after thorough analysis and risk assessment.
Automated calling is not banned outright, but it is subject to the same rules as human telemarketing, including the Do Not Call Register, calling hours and identification, plus sector rules such as energy marketing obligations. The practical safe path is calling only people with a clear consent basis, disclosing that the caller is automated and handing sales to humans.
Businesses with existing Asterisk infrastructure can keep their carrier rates, number ranges, recording and reporting in one place. The trade-off is engineering effort: bridging real-time audio to AI services and managing latency is harder than using a hosted platform, which is why this is a high-complexity, high-cost build.
It should not. Energy contracts require explicit informed consent and specific disclosures that are best handled by trained, accountable staff. The bot's role is limited to confirming interest and booking a callback, so any recommendation or switch happens in a conversation with a person who follows the retailer's compliance process.
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