Glossary
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
Plain-English definitions of the terms you'll encounter in Mylla and voice AI in general.
Agent
Your AI phone receptionist. Each agent has its own name, voice, language, greeting, instructions, and knowledge base. One business can run many agents (e.g., a front-desk agent and an after-hours agent).
AI assistant / Mylla Assistant
The chat panel inside the Mylla dashboard — distinct from the phone agent. It helps you (the operator) manage requests, customers, calls, agents, and setup questions, not customers calling in.
BYON (Bring Your Own Numbers)
Linking phone numbers you already own through another provider to Mylla via SIP — so Mylla can answer calls on those numbers without you buying new ones. See Numbers.
Call forwarding
A carrier feature that redirects calls from one number to another. Used to point your existing business number at a Mylla number without porting.
CSP (Content Security Policy)
A set of rules on your website that restrict which external scripts are allowed to load. Matters when embedding the Mylla website widget — see Widget.
DID (Direct Inward Dial)
A phone number that routes directly to a specific line. In Mylla context, each of your phone numbers is a DID.
E.164
The international standard for writing phone numbers. Always a +, country code, and the subscriber number — no spaces or dashes. Example: +14155551234. Mylla requires E.164 everywhere.
Escalation
When the agent hands off a caller to a human — usually by transferring to your Transfer Number. Triggered when the caller explicitly asks or when the agent determines it can't help.
HMAC signature
A cryptographic signature Mylla adds to webhook payloads so you can verify the request really came from Mylla. Only present if you set a webhook secret. See Webhooks.
ISV (Independent Software Vendor) model
How Mylla owns phone numbers under the hood — all numbers sit under Mylla's single Twilio account, but you see only the numbers that belong to your business. You don't need a Twilio account yourself.
Knowledge base
The documents you upload so your agent can answer caller questions accurately. See Knowledge Base.
Lead
A legacy compatibility term for captured caller interest. In the dashboard, the current entities are Customers for caller identity and Requests for follow-up work.
Request
A follow-up item captured from a call. Requests have status, priority, assignee, notes, and links back to the customer and call.
LiveKit
The real-time voice infrastructure Mylla runs on. You don't need to know anything about it beyond the name — it's what makes the agent's voice low-latency and natural.
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
An open standard for connecting external tools and data to AI agents. Mylla supports MCP connectors so your agent can access your internal systems. See the MCP Connector in Integrations.
Overage
Usage beyond the minutes included in a paid plan. The Free plan requires an upgrade after its welcome credit ends.
PBX (Private Branch Exchange)
A phone system that routes calls within a business. If you have a PBX, you can link its DIDs to Mylla via SIP trunking.
Port / Porting
Moving a phone number from one carrier to another. Porting your existing number to Mylla takes 5–10 business days — use forwarding in the meantime.
Recording
The audio file of a call. Stored per call according to the retention policy shown in Settings → Data & Retention. Contact support to discuss a different policy for your business.
Role
A team member's permission level in Mylla:
- Super Admin — full control, including billing
- Admin — day-to-day operations
- Member — focused on assigned requests and visible customer/call history
See Team.
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
The underlying protocol telephone providers use to route voice calls over the internet. Mylla uses SIP to accept calls from your existing trunk.
SIP trunk
A virtual "line" over which your phone provider sends call traffic. Mylla can receive calls on your SIP trunk so you can keep your existing provider.
SIP Hostname
The address you point your SIP provider at so calls reach Mylla. Shown after SIP import — usually sip.mylla.ai.
STT (Speech-to-Text)
Converting spoken audio into text. Mylla's active voice pipeline uses Gemini Live, which handles realtime audio understanding inside the same session that generates the response.
Transcript
A written record of a call, turn by turn, with speaker labels and timestamps.
TTS (Text-to-Speech)
Converting a response into natural-sounding voice. Mylla's active voice pipeline uses Gemini Live native voices.
Usage-based billing
On paid plans, you pay a base subscription plus usage after the included minutes are exhausted. The Free plan requires an upgrade after its welcome credit ends. See Billing.
Voicemail
A recorded message a caller leaves. Mylla captures voicemails outside business hours (or anytime, if the agent determines follow-up is needed).
Webhook
An HTTP POST Mylla sends to your server when something happens. Some webhook event names still use lead.* for compatibility. See Webhooks.
Widget
The floating button you embed on your website so visitors can talk to your agent without dialing a phone. See Widget.