Custom AI voice agents for Canadian businesses
Nucleus builds voice and chat agents for businesses that take a lot of calls and cannot afford to drop them. Your agent answers, books, triages and files requests in your systems, and hands off to your people when a person is needed. We are a team in Waterloo, Ontario.
Book a DemoWho this is for
Custom builds suit organisations with real call or chat volume and a process that has rules: a support desk, a clinic with several practitioners, a trades company with after-hours calls, a property manager with tenants who phone at 2 AM. If you need the agent to book into your diary, text your caller, open a ticket in your helpdesk, or follow your own escalation rules, that is a custom build.
If you run a smaller business and want a receptionist answering calls today with no integrations, start with the self-serve AI receptionist. It has a free plan; see our pricing page.
We have built agents for telecom and internet support, HVAC and other trades, clinics and dental offices, auto service, and property management.
What gets built
Each agent is designed around your call types. Typical parts:
Answers
The agent answers from your own information: hours, services, policies and the pricing you approve. It stays inside the boundaries you set.
Booking
It checks your diary, offers real times and books. For a dental office, that can include rules such as sending a new patient to a new-patient exam first.
Triage and routing
It works out what the caller needs and sends it to the right place: sales, billing, technical support or an on-call person. It checks whether your team is open before it transfers a call.
Requests and tickets
It files structured requests in your helpdesk or by email, such as a callback, a sales request, a change request or a promise to pay, so your staff act on a complete record instead of a voicemail.
Handoff to people
It can transfer the call to a person, or take a message and send it on. When a person has to confirm something, the ticket says so.
Voice and chat
The same business rules can run on the phone and in a web chat widget. Chat replies in the language the customer writes in; French was about 15% of one client's chats in a 30-day sample.
Reporting
Calls are logged, and chat results can be summarised in a private report page for your team.
How an engagement runs
- 1
Discovery and design
We map your call types, rules, hours and systems, and agree what the agent will and will not do.
- 2
Build
We write the agent's instructions and connect your systems. Your approved wording and policies go in, and anything the agent should never say or do is written down as a rule.
- 3
Test
We run scripted test calls against the agent before it takes real calls, and again after every change.
- 4
Launch
The agent goes live on your number or on a new Canadian number.
- 5
Optimise
We review real calls and chats, fix what they show, and re-test. Nothing is changed in production without a test first.
Builds take weeks, and larger integrated builds can take months. The timeline depends mostly on how many of your systems the agent has to connect to. Pricing is a custom quote after discovery.
Integrations
We connect agents to the systems where your work already lives. Systems we have connected agents to include helpdesks (Zendesk), field-service software (Zuper), calendars, practice and booking diaries, email, SMS, and web chat. If your system has an API, we can usually connect to it; we confirm during discovery.
Built in Canada
Nucleus AI is based in Waterloo, Ontario. Our team builds and runs voice and chat agents for Canadian customers. We can provide Canadian phone numbers for your agent, so callers see a local number.
Security and reliability, stated plainly
SOC 2, GDPR and HIPAA compliance are targeted for the end of 2027. They are not in place today. A 99% uptime SLA is planned to launch in Q1 2027. If your procurement needs something specific, ask us early and we will tell you where we stand.
Frequently asked questions
What is a custom AI voice agent?
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A custom AI voice agent is a phone agent built around your business rules, your information and your systems. It answers calls in natural speech, completes tasks such as booking or filing a ticket, and transfers to a person when your rules say so. It is different from a generic answering service because it works inside your tools.
How is a custom build different from the self-serve AI receptionist?
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The self-serve AI receptionist is set up by you in minutes, answers your calls and takes messages, and has a free plan. A custom build is designed with you and connected to your own systems, so it can book into your diary, text your caller, open tickets in your helpdesk and follow your own escalation rules.
How long does a custom build take?
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Most builds take weeks, and larger integrated builds can take months. The main driver is how many of your systems the agent needs to connect to. We give a firm timeline after discovery.
How much does a custom build cost?
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Every build is a custom quote, because the price depends on the call types, the integrations and the volume. Book a demo and we will scope it with you.
Can the agent pass a call to a real person?
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Yes. The agent can transfer a call to a person, take a message, or file a callback ticket for your team to pick up. It checks whether your team is open before it transfers. During discovery we agree which situations always go to a person.
Is Nucleus SOC 2, HIPAA or GDPR compliant?
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Not yet. We are targeting SOC 2, GDPR and HIPAA compliance by the end of 2027, and a 99% uptime SLA is planned for Q1 2027. We will tell you exactly what is and is not in place when you ask.
Can my agent have a Canadian phone number?
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Yes. We can set the agent up on a new Canadian number, so callers see a local number. Self-serve plans also offer a new US or Canadian number.
Talk to us about your calls
Tell us what your phones and chat look like today, and we will show you what an agent would do with them.
Book a DemoSee also: Enterprise · How we work · Appointment booking · Trades · Healthcare