### Answer I don't have specific documentation here on configuring inbound call routing logic to bypass an AI agent and forward directly to a human call center based on caller number or call direction. What I can tell you from the sources: for custom telephony setups, Retell supports binding numbers to specific agents, and inbound/outbound call handling can be configured through your telephony provider's SIP setup [(1) ]() . AI voice agents also support call forwarding and call routing based on real-time logic, and warm transfer capabilities exist for handing off calls to human agents when needed [(2) ]() . For your specific use case (same number used for outbound AI calls, but inbound calls should skip the AI and go straight to your human call center) , this would likely involve either: - Configuring your telephony provider's inbound routing rules to send calls to your call center directly rather than to Retell, or - Using the "Dial to SIP URI" method described in the docs, where you control call handling logic yourself and can direct inbound calls away from the agent [(1) ]() The docs note that with the Dial to SIP URI method, "all traffic looks like inbound to Retell," so you'd need your own system to determine call direction and routing . I don't have exact configuration steps for this specific scenario in the sources. Check out these potentially useful sources: [Connect Retell voice agents to custom telephony]() , [AI in SIP Calling & Telephony Solutions | Retell AI]() Would you like me to give a general answer based on my broader knowledge instead?

​ To learn more, see the sources I considered: [[1] Connect Retell voice agents to custom telephony](https://docs.retellai.com/deploy/custom-telephony) [[2] AI Voice Agents in 2026: Everything Businesses Need to Know | Retell AI](https://www.retellai.com/blog/ai-voice-agents-in-2026) ​

Feel free to tag @AI Evy with additional questions. I also appreciate feedback, it helps me improve.

### Answer I don't have documentation with exact step-by-step configuration for routing inbound calls away from a Retell agent to a separate human call center number based on call direction. What the sources do support, step by step, for the general "Dial to SIP URI" approach where you control routing yourself: 1. Set up your own call-handling system to receive the inbound call from your telephony provider (e.g., via a webhook) [(1) ]() . 2. In your webhook handler, call the Register Phone Call API to get a

call_id

if you want Retell to handle the call — but since you don't want inbound calls going to the agent, you would skip this step for calls arriving on your retail number and instead route them directly to your call center using your telephony provider's own dialing/transfer capabilities . 3. If you did want to route certain calls to Retell, you would construct the SIP URI as

sip:{call_id}@sip.retellai.com

and dial the call to that URI within 5 minutes of calling Register Phone Call . 4. The docs state that "all traffic looks like inbound to Retell" with this method, so "it's up to you to specify the call direction" — meaning the logic to decide "this call should NOT go to the AI agent" has to live in your own telephony/webhook code, not in Retell. For the Elastic SIP Trunking method (used with Twilio, Telnyx, Vonage, or contact center platforms like Avaya) , the docs describe importing a number and binding it to an agent , but don't document a way to conditionally send only some inbound calls to a different destination outside Retell. I don't have exact steps in the sources for splitting inbound vs. outbound handling on the same number to bypass the agent entirely. This would likely need to be configured on your telephony provider's side (e.g., inbound routing rules that never touch Retell for calls to

that number) , which isn't covered in these sources. Check out these potentially useful sources: [Connect Retell voice agents to custom telephony]() , [Avaya]() Would you like a general answer based on my broader knowledge instead?

​ To learn more, see the sources I considered: [[1] Connect Retell voice agents to custom telephony](https://docs.retellai.com/deploy/custom-telephony) ​

Feel free to tag @AI Evy with additional questions. I also appreciate feedback, it helps me improve.