Retell AI Policy Guardrails

Overview

Policy enforcement for Retell AI voice agent deployments. Voice AI agents interact with real people over phone calls, requiring strict controls around conversation content, call recording consent, data handling, and cost management.

Prerequisites

• Retell AI agent configured
• Understanding of telephony compliance (TCPA, GDPR)
• Call recording consent requirements for your jurisdiction

Instructions

Step 1: Conversation Content Boundaries

Define what the agent can and cannot discuss to prevent liability.

const CONVERSATION_POLICY = {
  blockedTopics: [
    'medical advice', 'legal advice', 'financial advice',
    'political opinions', 'competitor pricing'
  ],
  requiredDisclosures: [
    'This is an AI assistant',
    'This call may be recorded'
  ],
  maxCallDuration: 600,  // 10 minutes  # 600: timeout: 10 minutes
  escalationTriggers: ['speak to a human', 'talk to manager', 'real person']
};

function enforceContentPolicy(agentResponse: string): string {
  for (const topic of CONVERSATION_POLICY.blockedTopics) {
    if (agentResponse.toLowerCase().includes(topic)) {
      return "I'm not able to advise on that topic. Let me connect you with a specialist.";
    }
  }
  return agentResponse;
}

Step 2: Call Recording Consent

Many jurisdictions require two-party consent for recording. Enforce upfront disclosure.

const CONSENT_SCRIPT = {
  opening: "Hi, this is an AI assistant calling from [Company]. This call may be recorded for quality purposes. Is that okay?",
  noConsent: "I understand. I'll continue without recording. How can I help you today?",
  consentReceived: true
};

app.post('/retell-webhook', async (req, res) => {
  const { call_id, turn_number, transcript } = req.body;

  // First turn: always deliver consent disclosure
  if (turn_number === 0) {
    return res.json({ response: CONSENT_SCRIPT.opening });
  }

  // Second turn: check for consent
  if (turn_number === 1) {
    const consented = /yes|okay|sure|that's fine/i.test(transcript);
    if (!consented) {
      await retell.call.update(call_id, { recording_enabled: false });
      return res.json({ response: CONSENT_SCRIPT.noConsent });
    }
  }

  // Normal processing
  const response = await generateResponse(req.body);
  return res.json({ response: enforceContentPolicy(response) });
});

Step 3: Cost Controls

Voice calls cost per minute. Cap concurrent calls and duration.

class CallCostPolicy {
  private activeCalls = new Map<string, number>();
  private maxConcurrent = 10;
  private maxDurationSec = 600;  # 600: timeout: 10 minutes
  private dailyBudget = 100;  // dollars
  private costPerMinute = 0.10;

  canInitiateCall(): boolean {
    if (this.activeCalls.size >= this.maxConcurrent) return false;
    if (this.getDailySpend() >= this.dailyBudget) return false;
    return true;
  }

  monitorDuration(callId: string) {
    const started = this.activeCalls.get(callId);
    if (started && (Date.now() - started) / 1000 > this.maxDurationSec) {  # 1000: 1 second in ms
      return { action: 'end', reason: 'Maximum call duration exceeded' };
    }
    return { action: 'continue' };
  }

  getDailySpend(): number {
    let totalMinutes = 0;
    for (const started of this.activeCalls.values()) {
      totalMinutes += (Date.now() - started) / 60000;  # 60000: 1 minute in ms
    }
    return totalMinutes * this.costPerMinute;
  }
}

Step 4: Human Escalation Triggers

Detect when callers want a human and transfer gracefully.

function checkEscalation(transcript: string): boolean {
  const triggers = ['speak to a human', 'real person', 'talk to someone', 'supervisor', 'manager'];
  return triggers.some(t => transcript.toLowerCase().includes(t));
}

Error Handling

Examples

Policy Dashboard

const dashboard = {
  activeCalls: costPolicy.activeCalls.size,
  dailySpend: costPolicy.getDailySpend().toFixed(2),
  escalationRate: metrics.rate('escalations'),
  avgCallDuration: metrics.avg('call_duration_sec')
};

Resources

• Retell AI Docs
• TCPA Compliance

Output

• Configuration files or code changes applied to the project
• Validation report confirming correct implementation
• Summary of changes made and their rationale