Tilicho Labs
Universities, schools, tuition and language centres, edtech

Voice agents for education in Southeast Asia

AI agents that call every admissions enquiry within minutes, help applicants finish the form and pay the fee, and answer students and parents at any hour, in Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, English, Mandarin and more than 25 languages in all. They work from the enquiry, the application and the student record, and finish the task during the call: book the counselling session, send the upload or payment link, raise the request. Tilicho builds and runs them inside your own Google Cloud project, starting from accelerators for 24 education use cases.

Enquiry from Jakarta for a degree in Kuala LumpurBahasa Indonesia
Sample call
AgentCustomerSystems
Web enquiry 5 minutes ago: Dimas Pratama, 18, Jakarta. BSc Computer Science, September 2027 intake
AgentSelamat siang, apakah saya berbicara dengan Dimas Pratama?
CustomerIya, saya sendiri.
Student confirmed, 18
AgentSaya asisten AI dari ABC University, Kuala Lumpur. Panggilan ini direkam. Dimas tadi mengisi formulir untuk Computer Science. Ada waktu dua menit?
CustomerAda. Biayanya berapa, dan perlu IELTS?
Read from the 2027 prospectus: RM 32,000 a year; IELTS 6.0, or the university's English test
AgentBiaya kuliahnya RM 32,000 per tahun. Syarat bahasa Inggrisnya IELTS 6.0, atau tes bahasa Inggris dari kampus. Mau saya jadwalkan sesi video dengan konselor yang bisa berbahasa Indonesia? Orang tua juga bisa ikut.
CustomerBoleh, Sabtu pagi. Sama papa saya.
Video counselling booked: Sat, 10 am WIB, with an Indonesian-speaking counsellor. CRM stage: qualified, Indonesia
WhatsApp sent: video link, fee sheet, entry requirements
Application FDN-2027-0218: Le Minh Anh, 17, Foundation in Business, Singapore. Transcript not uploaded, application fee S$100 unpaid. Parent: Le Van Thanh
AgentXin chào, tôi có đang nói chuyện với anh Lê Văn Thành không?
CustomerVâng, tôi đây.
Parent confirmed. Student is under 18, so the call stays with the parent
AgentTôi là trợ lý AI của ABC University, Singapore. Cuộc gọi này được ghi âm. Hồ sơ của bạn Minh Anh đã lưu nhưng chưa nộp. Còn thiếu bảng điểm và phí hồ sơ S$100. Hạn chót là 30 tháng 11.
CustomerTrường chưa cấp bảng điểm học kỳ này.
AgentAnh có thể nộp bảng điểm học kỳ trước, rồi bổ sung sau. Tôi gửi đường link tải lên và link thanh toán qua WhatsApp nhé?
CustomerĐược, cảm ơn.
WhatsApp sent: upload link and fee link, S$100
Follow-up call scheduled: 2 days, if the application is still incomplete
Caller number matched: parent of Aiman, Year 7, ABC International School. Term 2 fee RM 8,500 due 15 Nov. Bus route 7
AgentHello, ABC International School helpline. Saya AI assistant, dan call ini direkodkan. Ini pasal Aiman, kan?
CustomerYa. Term 2 fee berapa, dan due bila?
AgentTerm 2 fee RM 8,500, due 15 November. Boleh bayar dalam dua instalment. Nak saya hantar payment link kat WhatsApp?
CustomerOkay, hantar. Satu lagi, kami dah pindah rumah. Nak tukar bus stop.
Transport record read: route 7. New address is on route 4, stop at Bangsar South
AgentAlamat baru tu dalam route 4, stop Bangsar South. Lepas transport team approve, baru boleh tukar. Saya buat request sekarang?
CustomerYa, please.
Transport request raised: route 7 to route 4, for approval
WhatsApp sent: fee link RM 8,500 with the instalment option, transport request number
Names, amounts and dates are examples.
In production in
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See the use cases
Where to start

Three agents on one student record

The enquiry, the application and the enrolled student, each with its own agent. All three read and write the same student record, so one integration supports all three.

Outbound

Admissions enquiry follow-up

The agent calls every enquiry within minutes of the form, in the student's language. It confirms the programme, the intake and the budget, answers from your prospectus, and books a counselling session or a campus visit.

  1. Enquiry called within minutes, the parent if the student is under 18
  2. Programme, intake, country and budget confirmed
  3. Fees, entry and English requirements answered
  4. Counselling session or campus visit booked on WhatsApp or SMS
Measured byTime to first call, enquiries to counselling sessions
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Outbound

Application and fee completion

The agent calls applicants who stopped midway. It states what is pending, the form, a document or the fee, helps with what is stopping them, and sends the link before the deadline.

  1. Saved but unsubmitted applications picked up daily
  2. Pending step stated: form, documents or fee
  3. Questions answered, such as a result not yet out
  4. Upload or payment link on WhatsApp or SMS, follow-up until done
Measured byApplications completed before the deadline
See the call
Inbound

Student and parent helpline

Students and parents call about fees, the timetable, results, the hostel or the bus. The agent answers from your records at any hour, in the caller's language, and raises a request when your staff are needed.

  1. Caller matched to the student or the parent
  2. Answered from fee, timetable, results, hostel and transport records
  3. Links and documents sent on WhatsApp or SMS
  4. Request raised for anything that needs your staff
Measured byCalls answered without staff, calls answered after office hours
See the call
The enquiry agent books the counselling sessionThe application agent gets the form and the fee inThe helpline supports the student through the year
Comparison

Admissions team and voice agent

Admissions teamVoice agent
Calls in a dayAbout 100 per counsellor50,000+ across enquiries, applications and the helpline
First call to an enquiryThe next working day, often in another time zoneWithin minutes of the form
At the intake peakLong queues before each intake and after resultsEvery call answered on the first ring
LanguagesThe languages your team speaks, often one desk per country25+, switching during the call
Student recordLooked up while the parent waitsRead from the record before the first question
RecordA sample of calls is reviewedRecording, transcript and outcome tag on every call
CapacityAgents and recruiters hired for each intakeAdded in a day, removed after the season
Capabilities

What the agent can do

In conversation

  • Answers and places calls, 50,000+ in a day
  • Speaks 25+ languages and switches when the caller does, such as Malay with English
  • Stops when interrupted and picks up from there
  • Stays clear in a hostel corridor, a tuition centre or on a busy road
  • Takes application numbers, student IDs and grades read aloud
  • Remembers earlier calls and chats with the same family

Actions during the call

  • Reads and updates the enquiry, application and student record
  • Books counselling sessions, campus visits and parent-teacher meetings
  • Sends upload links, fee links and documents on WhatsApp or SMS
  • Sets up instalment plans your fee policy allows
  • Raises hostel, transport and letter requests
  • Answers from your prospectus, fee sheet and rules

Outbound campaigns

  • Campaigns from your admissions CRM or student system
  • Targeting by country, programme, intake, stage, class or fee due date
  • Retries for no-answers and scheduled callbacks
  • Follow-ups until the outcome is reached
  • Answering machines and voicemail detected

After every call

  • Recording and full transcript
  • Summary with the key points and next actions
  • Caller sentiment
  • Outcome tag and stage written to your system
  • Summary message to the family and to your team

With your people

  • Live transfer to a counsellor with the record attached
  • A student in distress goes to a person at once
  • Approval from a supervisor on Slack, such as a fee discount
  • Callback booked for a named counsellor or teacher

Connected to your stack

  • Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, LeadSquared, KaptureCX
  • Twilio, Plivo, Telnyx, Exotel, Genesys, SIP trunks
  • Zendesk, Freshdesk, Google Calendar, Calendly
  • 5,000+ more apps through Zapier
  • Your student information system, LMS and fee system through their APIs
One call

Before, during and after the call

1

Before the ring

The number is matched to the enquiry, the application or the student record: programme, intake, country, stage, pending documents, fees due and past calls. Calling hours in the family's time zone, consent and the student's age are checked before an outbound dial.

2

During the call

The agent confirms who it is speaking to, answers from your prospectus and records, and books the session, sends the upload or payment link or raises the request while the caller is on the line.

3

When a person is needed

A fee discount, a visa question, a complaint about staff or any request for a person goes to your team live, with the record and the summary on screen. A student who sounds distressed or mentions self-harm is handed to a person at once.

4

After hang-up

Stage, outcome tag, transcript and recording are written to your CRM and student system. The reminder, the payment follow-up or the next call is scheduled.

Use cases

24 accelerators for education

Each agent starts from an accelerator, so a use case is on live calls in about one month.

Admissions and enrolment

Live in one month

Ready in the acceleratorDay 1
  • The call flow and prompts for the use case
  • The fixed opening: who is calling, why, AI and recording disclosure
  • Outcome tags and the number it is measured by
  • Integrations for telephony, WhatsApp, SMS, CRM and ticketing
  • A test set of calls for the common situations
Done with youWeeks 1 to 4
  • Your numbers and telephony connected in each country
  • APIs to your admissions CRM, student information system and fee system
  • Your approved script, programmes, fees and languages
  • Information-security sign-off
  • Staging tests on your data, then the first live calls
Live in one month
2 weeks
when your systems are on standard integrations and the script is already approved
1 month
the usual case: one or two system APIs, such as the student system and the fee system
2 months
when a system needs a new API or the security review runs long
Compliance

How every call opens

The opening is fixed in the script. It is the same on every call, in every language and every country.

1

Right person

On an outbound call the agent confirms it is speaking to the student, or to the parent or guardian for a student under 18, before it names the application or the fees.

2

Who is calling and why

Your institution's name and the purpose of the call, in the words your team approved.

3

AI assistant, recorded call

The agent says it is an AI assistant and that the call is recorded.

4

The conversation

Only then does the script move to the programme, the application or the fees.

Calling window
12 am9 am9 pm12 am

Calling hours

Admissions and fee calls are placed only inside the hours you set, for example 9 am to 9 pm in the family's time zone. The helpline answers at any hour.

Consent and Do Not Call

Admissions calls go to people who enquired or applied. For Singapore numbers, the Do Not Call Registry is checked before a marketing call.

Students under 18

For a student under 18 the agent speaks to the parent or guardian on record.

Personal data

PII is masked in transcripts and logs. Access is by role. Consent, retention and access are set for each market's personal-data law: PDPA in Singapore, PDPA 2010 in Malaysia, UU PDP 2022 in Indonesia, PDPA in Thailand, the Data Privacy Act of 2012 in the Philippines, the Personal Data Protection Law of 2025 in Vietnam. The agent never asks for a card number, OTP or password.

Your own cloud project

The agent runs in your Google Cloud project, in the region you choose, such as Singapore or Jakarta. Recordings and student data stay in your storage.

A student in distress

A student who sounds distressed or mentions self-harm is handed to a person at once.

Engineering

How the agent is built

Speech to speechOne model hears and speaks. The fastest replies, and the caller's tone carries through. The default for live calls.
Caller audioGemini 3.8 LiveAgent audio
CascadedThree models in sequence. Each step can be inspected, and the model cost per minute is lower. Used where the script is strict.
Caller audioChirp 3 speech to textGemini 3.8 FlashGemini 3.8 Flash TTSAgent audio

One turn of a call

CallerAgent Speech detected (VAD)A pause, not the endEnd of turnAgent repliesCaller interruptsAgent stopsAgent answers the new point
Voice activity detection (VAD)Separates the caller's speech from line noise and silence. Only speech is sent to the model, so silence is neither processed nor paid for.
End-of-turn detectionTells a pause in the middle of a sentence from the end of it, so the agent does not reply while the caller is still reading out an application number.
Barge-inWhen the caller interrupts, the agent stops speaking at once and the words it did not say are dropped from the conversation.
Answering machine detectionDecided from the audio in the first seconds, before a language model is involved, so voicemail is not counted as a contact.
Noise handlingA hostel corridor, a tuition centre between classes, rain on a tin roof, a motorbike in the street. The agent stays clear without asking the caller to repeat.
Context compressionA live model re-reads the call so far on every turn. Older turns are summarised, so reply time and cost stay flat on long calls.

Reliability

In-region deployment

The agent runs in the Google Cloud region closest to your students. This is fixed before the build, since reply time cannot be tuned afterwards.

Language mirroring

The agent mirrors the caller turn by turn, so it follows the caller's language and not a setting.

Supervisor and task agents

A supervisor routes to small agents that share the state of the call. The script grows by adding agents.

Supervisor
Student lookupBookingPayment

Model fallback

A health-checked fallback model in the same region takes over mid-call, with the state of the call intact.

Warm transfer

Your counsellor sees the record, the transcript summary and the captured details before speaking.

Closing the loop

An analyzer agent keeps each case open until it reaches an end state: enrolled, paid, answered, or handed to your team.

Architecture

Where it sits

Your systemsOwned by you
Admissions CRMEnquiries, applications, agents and stages. Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho or your own. Two-way sync through APIs.
Student and fee systemsStudent records, fees, timetable, results, accommodation and transport, and your LMS.
Telephony and paymentsTwilio, Genesys or SIP trunking on your existing numbers in each country. Your payment gateway links.
Voice layerBuilt and run by Tilicho
Call handlingCall transport, latency control, live call state, prompts and tool calls, PII redaction.
Speech modelsKnows when the caller has finished, hears an interruption, detects a voicemail.
MeasurementResponse time, calls handled without a person, enrolments, and what to fix next.
Google CloudModels and compute
ModelsGemini 3.8 Live speech to speech, or speech to text, Gemini 3.8 Flash and text to speech in sequence.
Agent runtimeGemini Enterprise Agent Platform: the runtime and its security boundaries.
Your projectPer-customer isolation. Recordings and data stay in your storage.
Integrations
TelephonyTwilio, Telnyx, Plivo, Exotel, Genesys, SIP trunks
CRMSalesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, LeadSquared, KaptureCX
SchedulingCal.com, Calendly, Google Calendar
TicketingZendesk, Freshdesk, KaptureCX 360, Re:amaze
Messaging and operationsWhatsApp, SMS, web chat, Slack, Gmail, Zapier
CustomGoogle Sheets, MCP Filesystem, custom REST APIs

Anything not on this list, including your student information system, LMS or fee system, is connected through its API during setup. Tilicho builds and maintains it at no extra cost.

The models

Gemini 3.8 LiveSpeech to speech. One model listens, reasons and speaks in real time. This is the model on the call.
Gemini 3.8 FlashReasoning in the cascaded pipeline, and the analysis after each call.
Chirp 3 and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTSSpeech to text and text to speech for the cascaded pipeline.
Gemini Enterprise Agent PlatformThe agent runtime and its security boundaries, inside your own Google Cloud project.
Questions

Common questions

Which languages does the agent speak?

More than 25 languages. In Southeast Asia: Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino and Taglish, English, Mandarin and Tamil. The agent switches language during the call, which matters when the student speaks English and the parent prefers Vietnamese or Bahasa Indonesia.

We recruit students from several countries. Can one agent call all of them?

Yes. The same agent calls enquiries in each country, with the language, calling hours and time zone set per country, and books counsellors who speak that language.

Does the agent call students under 18?

For a student under 18 the agent speaks to the parent or guardian on record. It confirms it has the right person before it names the application or the fees.

Can anyone get a student's grades or fees by calling?

No. The caller is matched to the registered number and confirms a detail such as the student ID or application number before the agent reads out anything from the record.

What happens when the student or parent wants a person?

The call is transferred live to your counsellor or office with the record and the summary, so the family does not repeat the case. You decide which cases always go to a person, such as fee discounts, visa questions and complaints. A student who sounds distressed is handed to a person at once.

Where are recordings and student data kept?

In your own Google Cloud project and your storage, in the region you choose. Tilicho runs the agent inside that project.

See it on one of your use cases

A 30-minute session: a live call with the agent, then a walk through one use case of yours, such as enquiry follow-up, application completion or the student helpline.

Write to
sharada@tilicho.in