Agent Voice Response vs Cloud IVR

Agent Voice Response is a self-hosted system that turns an Asterisk PBX into a real-time voice AI agent. Callers can interrupt while it speaks through voice-activity detection. Its composable microservices let operators swap automatic speech recognition, language-model, and text-to-speech engines. It supports Asterisk AudioSocket on Asterisk 18 and later, including named systems such as FreePBX, VitalPBX, Vicidial, Elastix, and custom dialplans. Listed integrations include OpenAI, Anthropic, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Google, Ollama, Vosk, Kokoro, Ultravox, OpenRouter, CoquiTTS, and Silero. Noise cancellation and echo suppression are described before audio reaches the model. Local deployments can use Vosk or Silero, Ollama, and CoquiTTS or Kokoro, keeping caller audio on the network according to the maker. Docker microservices can scale horizontally behind a load balancer. AVR is free for personal and commercial use, with no license keys or per-minute charge. Setup requires Docker images, provider configuration, and an Asterisk dialplan extension.

Cloud IVR is a cloud interactive voice response service for incoming calls. Callers can respond by voice or keypad; configured departments can receive routed calls, and the system can collect voice messages. Setup takes place in a web interface without hardware devices, with a visual flow builder, multilingual interface, and reports on incoming calls. Voice prompts are generated from text, so advance recording is unnecessary, and message transcripts are sent by email. The Starter plan includes reporting, automatic voice generation, and work schedules for €99.99 a year. Pro costs €499.99 a year and adds API integration, advanced diagrams, and call-out sessions. Enterprise is billed on demand with custom voices and API integration. A free trial permits testing only from the user’s own phone number. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled; contracts can receive refunds within 14 days.