> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.retellai.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Build your first phone agent in 5 minutes
> Step-by-step guide to create, test, and deploy your first AI phone agent with Retell
## Overview
**Retell** is a platform for building, testing, deploying, and monitoring reliable **AI phone agents** that can handle natural conversations over the phone.
This quickstart guide will walk you through:
* Creating your first agent from a template
* Testing it in the web interface
* Deploying it to a real phone number
* Making your first AI-powered phone call
1. Visit the [Retell Dashboard](https://dashboard.retellai.com)
2. Sign up for a new account
1. Navigate to the "Agents" tab
2. Click "Create an agent"
3. Choose a template
1. Click the "Test" button to test your agent
1. Before buying a phone number, you need to add a payment method to your account
2. Go to the "Billing" tab and click "Change payment methods"
1. Go to the "Phone Numbers" tab
2. Click "Buy New Number"
3. (Optional) Enter the area code you want to buy the number for
4. Purchase your number
5. Assign your agent to the number in the configuration settings
1. Incoming Calls:
* Dial your purchased number
2. Outbound Calls:
* Click "Make an outbound call"
* Enter the phone number including the country code (e.g., `+12137774445`)
🎉 Congratulations! Your agent is now live and can:
* Receive incoming calls
* Make outbound calls
* Handle natural conversations
* Process requests 24/7
## Next Steps
Now that you have a working phone agent, explore these resources to enhance your implementation:
Learn prompt engineering techniques to improve your agent's responses
Integrate APIs and external services into your agent
Track call metrics and analyze agent performance
Ensure reliability and optimize for production use