Integrations
Connecting to Bland AI
Outbound phone calls Gini places on your behalf, for the jobs that still need a voice.
Connect Bland AI and Gini can place outbound phone calls on your behalf, for the jobs that are still stuck on the phone because the other side has no API and no intention of getting one.
What it can do
- Place an outbound call to a number you give it, with a purpose you describe.
- Hold a short, factual conversation to get or give a specific piece of information.
- Report back what was said, in the channel.
How to connect
Get a Bland account and API key
You need your own Bland account. Calls are billed by Bland, separately from your Gini credits.
Add the key in Integrations
app.ginicomputer.com → Integrations → Bland AI, and paste the key. It goes straight to the credential vault: it is not logged, and it is not shown back to you afterwards.
Try it on something low-stakes
Call yourself first. It is worth hearing what the other end hears before anyone else does.
What changes anything
| Operation | What it does | Changes anything? |
|---|---|---|
| Place a call | Dials a real person | Yes, and it stops for approval |
| Report the outcome | Posts what was said | No |
A call cannot be unsent
Every call stops for an approval naming the number and what Gini will say. Read both before clicking. Check the law where you are calling as well: disclosure and recording rules for automated calls vary by country and, in the US, by state.
What it's great for
The shape to look for: a short, factual call to someone outside your company that a person would otherwise spend fifteen minutes and a fair amount of reluctance on.
- Confirming a delivery date with a supplier.
- Chasing a document from a firm that only answers the phone.
- Checking availability, then checking it at the next nine places.
- Verifying that a listing, a price or an opening time is still current.
What it is not for
Anything where the person on the other end deserves a person. Difficult customer conversations, negotiations, anything sensitive, anything where the call itself is the relationship.
The test is not whether Gini could do it. It is whether you would be comfortable telling the other party afterwards that it was automated.
Example routine
Chasing a supplier confirmation, which is the archetype:
- When an order has no confirmed ship date two days before the promised week, call the supplier.
- Ask for the ship date and the tracking number if there is one.
- Post the answer in the ops channel.
- Hold for approval before each call, as always.
Good to know
- Say the outcome, not the script. "Call the vendor and find out whether the order ships this week, and get the tracking number if it has shipped" gets a call with a purpose and a clear thing to report. A script gets you a recital.
- Give it the fallback. "If they cannot confirm, ask when they will know." Otherwise a call that does not go as expected ends without the useful question.
- One number at a time is a feature. Twenty calls means twenty approvals, which sounds tedious until the first one goes to the wrong number.
- Billing is separate. Gini charges credits for the run; Bland charges for the call.
Troubleshooting
The call failed to connect
Check the number format, including the country code, and that your Bland account has credit.
The key was rejected
Rotate it in Bland and paste the new one. If you ever pasted a key into a channel rather than the form, rotate it regardless: chat history is not a safe place for a credential.
The call happened but got nothing useful
Nearly always the ask rather than the call. Say what you need to come back with, and what to do if the other side cannot answer.