> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brilo.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How Brilo works

> The five ideas behind Brilo, agents, calls, knowledge, actions, and campaigns, explained in plain language for people who have never set one up.

Brilo answers your calls, texts, and email with an agent you set up and teach. There are five
ideas to understand, and once you have them the whole product makes sense: your agent, the
conversations it handles, what it knows, what it can do, and reaching out first.

## The five pieces

| Piece                  | In one line                                                           |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Your agent**         | The thing that talks to your customers                                |
| **Calls and messages** | The ways people reach it: phone, text, email, and your website        |
| **Knowledge**          | What your agent knows about your business                             |
| **Actions**            | The work your agent can do while talking, like booking an appointment |
| **Campaigns**          | When your agent reaches out first, rather than waiting to be called   |

## Your agent, the part that talks

Your agent is the thing your customers speak to. It has a voice, a language, and a set of
instructions you write telling it who it is answering for and how to behave.

You can have more than one agent. Most businesses start with one that answers everything, then add
a second when they want something genuinely different, like a quieter after hours agent or one for
a separate location. See [What is an agent](/agents/what-is-an-agent).

## Knowledge, what your agent knows

Knowledge is the material your agent answers from: your price list, your opening hours, your
services, your FAQs, your website. You upload it once and your agent uses it on every call.

Knowledge and instructions are different things, and mixing them up is the most common early
mistake. Your instructions are how your agent behaves. Knowledge is what it knows. Your prices
belong in knowledge, where you can change them without rewriting anything. See
[What your agent can learn](/knowledge/what-your-agent-can-learn).

## Actions, what your agent can do

An action is a piece of real work your agent performs during a conversation: booking into your
calendar, passing the call to a person, sending a text, updating your CRM.

Without actions your agent can only talk. With them it can finish the job, which is the difference
between "I will pass your message on" and an appointment in your calendar before the caller hangs
up. See [What are actions](/actions/what-are-actions).

## Calls and messages, how people reach your agent

Your agent answers a phone number, and it can also answer texts, email, and calls from a button on
your website. You attach a number to your agent, either one you buy from Brilo or one you already
own.

One number can carry several conversations at once, so you do not need extra numbers to handle a
busy period. See [Limits](/supported/limits).

## Campaigns, when you reach out first

Everything above waits for a customer to make contact. A campaign is the reverse: you give Brilo a
list of contacts and your agent works through it, calling or texting each one. It is the same agent
and the same knowledge, pointed outward. See [What is a campaign](/campaigns/what-is-a-campaign).

## How the pieces fit together on one call

A customer calls your number at 8pm.

1. The **number** you attached sends the call to your **agent**.
2. Your agent answers with the greeting in its **instructions**.
3. The caller asks what a service costs. Your agent answers from your **knowledge**.
4. The caller wants to book. Your agent runs the calendar **action**, checks what is free, and
   books it.
5. The call ends. Brilo writes a summary, scores the call, and can send both to your systems.

Nobody on your team was involved, and in the morning you have a booking and a record of why it
happened.

## What Brilo is not

* **It is not a phone system.** Brilo answers numbers you point at it. It does not replace desk
  phones, extensions, or your internal call flow.
* **It does not improve on its own.** Your agent does what you wrote and knows what you uploaded.
  Listening to real calls in the first week is what makes it good.
* **It is not a chatbot bolted to a phone line.** Your agent holds a spoken conversation, can be
  interrupted, and does real work mid call.

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is the difference between an agent and an action?">
    Your agent is the thing that talks. An action is a piece of work it can do while talking, like
    booking an appointment or transferring the call. One agent can have several actions, and an
    agent with none can only hold a conversation.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is the difference between knowledge and instructions?">
    Instructions are how your agent behaves: its greeting, its tone, what it should never promise.
    Knowledge is what it knows: prices, hours, services, policies. Put facts in knowledge so you can
    update them without rewriting your agent.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need more than one agent?">
    Usually not at first. One agent can answer calls, texts, and email, and handle several jobs. Add
    a second when the behaviour should genuinely differ, for example a different language, a
    different location, or a quieter after hours style.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can two agents share one phone number?">
    Yes, in one specific way: calls to a number can go to one agent while texts to the same number
    go to another. Two agents cannot both answer calls on the same number. See
    [Assign a number to an agent](/phone-numbers/assign-a-number-to-an-agent).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Brilo replace my phone system?">
    No. Brilo answers the numbers you point at it, whether you buy them from Brilo or forward your
    existing ones. Your desk phones and internal extensions carry on as they are, and your agent
    can transfer callers to them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a person take over a call from my agent?">
    Your agent can hand a call to a person by transferring it, either straight through or after
    explaining what the call is about. A colleague cannot silently join a call in progress. See
    [Pass the call to a person](/actions/pass-the-call-to-a-person).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does my agent learn from its calls on its own?">
    No. Your agent does not change itself. It gets better when you listen to calls and improve your
    instructions and your knowledge, which is why the first week matters more than the first hour.
    See [Your first week](/start/your-first-week).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

* [Answer your first call](/quickstart) to build one and hear it
* [What is an agent](/agents/what-is-an-agent) for the piece everything hangs off
* [What are actions](/actions/what-are-actions) for the work it can do mid call
* [What your agent can do](/supported/what-your-agent-can-do) for the honest capability list
* [Glossary](/glossary) for any word on this page you want defined