# On Call Start

**Call Start Trigger** fires when a call is *received* - before the AI speaks. On the canvas the node says **Runs when: When a call is received**, and the outbound edge is **Work Flow Triggered**. Use it to look someone up so the greeting already has a name. The same API mid-call adds a pause the caller hears.

This trigger has no required settings. The work is the nodes after it.

  <ShotPlaceholder
    src="/assets/workflows/on-call-start.png"
    name="wf-start"
    alt="Call Start Trigger on the canvas"
    capture="Workflow builder Call Start Trigger."
  />

## Why this trigger

Anything you already know from the caller ID belongs here: CRM record, open ticket, last order. [During Call](https://docs.voicelogica.ai/workflows/during-call/) is for facts the person has not said yet.

[When Call Connects](https://docs.voicelogica.ai/workflows/when-call-connects/) is later - after someone actually answers. Start still runs on a ring that will become a miss.

## First setup - lookup, then feed the agent

Do this after [Get a workflow running](https://docs.voicelogica.ai/workflows/).

1. **+ Add Trigger - Call Start Trigger** (Phone Triggers).

2. From **Work Flow Triggered**, add **Connect To External Service** (or the lookup node your plan shows).

   Your lookup URL. Call parameters insert the caller number when available. Describe the JSON you get back so later nodes can use the fields.

3. **AI Response to Caller** on the successful path

- **Background Information for AI** — What the agent should know before it speaks. Pull fields from the API node.
- **Do Not Respond to Call** — The AI never answers. The line keeps ringing.
- **Forward Call To** — Another agent id or a number - instead of this agent answering.
- **Add Delay Before Picking Up (seconds)** — Time for a human to grab the line first.

4. **Save & go live**, then attach on **Skills - Tools & Workflows - Business Workflows**, and call the production DID (or **Try this agent**).

     <ShotPlaceholder
       src="/assets/workflows/on-call-start-attach.png"
       name="on-call-start-attach"
       alt="Business Workflows attach toggle"
       capture="Business Workflows attach."
     />

5. Listen. If the greeting is generic, the API failed, the field names do not match, or this agent does not have the workflow on.

Put mapped variables in the agent greeting only after a test call actually filled them.

## What "broken" looks like

- Workflow on, greeting still generic - Start ran but background information is empty, or the API failed.
- Caller hears a long ring then the AI - delay is set, or Do Not Respond is on.
- Graph never runs - not saved with **Save & go live**, or not attached. [Get a workflow running](https://docs.voicelogica.ai/workflows/).

## Troubleshooting

**The greeting starts late**

The lookup is still in flight. Cache, or shrink the Start graph. Do not add a second API "just in case."

**Should I use When Call Connects instead?**

Use Connect when the work must happen *after* answer (a person is there). Use Start when the greeting needs the data.

## Next Steps

[When Call Connects](https://docs.voicelogica.ai/workflows/when-call-connects/) - after answer.  
[During Call](https://docs.voicelogica.ai/workflows/during-call/) - lookups that depend on what they say.  
[Connect To External Service](https://docs.voicelogica.ai/workflow-nodes/api/) - the API node.