App Bazaar Overview

App Bazaar is Exotel's marketplace for pre-built telephony applications and applets. It provides ready-to-use building blocks that you can combine to create sophisticated call flows, IVR systems, and communication workflows without writing code.

tip

New to Exotel call flows? Start with the App Builder to create your first call flow using a visual drag-and-drop interface.

What Is App Bazaar?

App Bazaar is a collection of applets -- modular components that handle specific telephony tasks. You connect applets together to build call flows (called Apps in Exotel terminology) that define how incoming and outgoing calls are processed.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    App Bazaar                        │
│                                                      │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐          │
│  │ Greeting  │  │   IVR    │  │ Connect  │          │
│  │ Applet    │──│  Applet  │──│ Applet   │          │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘          │
│                                                      │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐          │
│  │ Passthru  │  │   SMS    │  │ Voicemail│          │
│  │ Applet    │  │  Applet  │  │ Applet   │          │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘          │
│                                                      │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐          │
│  │ Transfer  │  │  Email   │  │ Hangup   │          │
│  │ Applet    │  │  Applet  │  │ Applet   │          │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Available Applets

Applet	Purpose	Common Use Case
Greeting	Play audio messages to callers	Welcome message, hold music, announcements
IVR	Create interactive voice response menus	"Press 1 for Sales, 2 for Support"
Connect	Route calls to agents, groups, or numbers	Agent routing, round-robin distribution
Passthru	Make HTTP requests during call flow	CRM lookup, dynamic routing, data logging
SMS	Send SMS during a call flow	Post-call SMS confirmation, missed call alerts
Transfer	Transfer an active call to another number or flow	Escalation to supervisor, department transfer
Voicemail	Capture voice messages from callers	After-hours voicemail, overflow handling
Email	Send email notifications during a call	Missed call email alerts, lead capture
Hangup	End the call	Graceful call termination after a flow

How Apps and Applets Work Together

An App is a complete call flow built by connecting multiple applets in sequence. When a call hits an ExoPhone, the assigned App determines how the call is handled.

Example: Customer Support Flow

Incoming Call
    │
    ▼
┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐
│ Greeting  │────►│   IVR    │────►│ Connect  │
│ "Welcome" │     │ Menu     │     │ to Agent │
└──────────┘     └──────────┘     └──────────┘
                      │                 │
                      │ Press 2         │ If busy
                      ▼                 ▼
                 ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐
                 │ Passthru  │     │ Voicemail│
                 │ CRM Check │     │ Leave msg│
                 └──────────┘     └──────────┘

Example: Lead Capture Flow

Missed Call
    │
    ▼
┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐
│ Greeting  │────►│   SMS    │────►│  Email   │
│ "Thanks"  │     │ Send SMS │     │ Notify   │
└──────────┘     └──────────┘     └──────────┘

Getting Started

Creating Your First App

1. Log in to my.exotel.com
2. Navigate to App Bazaar in the left sidebar
3. Click Create New App
4. Choose a starting template or start from scratch
5. Use the Flow Builder to drag and connect applets
6. Configure each applet's settings
7. Save and assign the app to an ExoPhone

Assigning an App to an ExoPhone

After creating your app:

1. Navigate to ExoPhones in the left sidebar
2. Select the virtual number you want to configure
3. Under Incoming Call Flow, select your app
4. Click Save

Now, every incoming call to that ExoPhone will follow the flow defined in your app.

App Categories

Pre-Built Templates

Exotel provides pre-built app templates for common use cases:

Template	Description	Applets Used
Basic IVR	Simple menu with department routing	Greeting + IVR + Connect
Customer Support	Multi-level IVR with agent groups	Greeting + IVR + Connect + Voicemail
Lead Capture	Missed call to SMS/email notification	Greeting + SMS + Email
Click-to-Call	Connect two parties via API	Connect (two legs)
Survey	Post-call DTMF survey	Greeting + IVR + Passthru

Custom Apps

Build custom apps for advanced use cases:

• Dynamic routing based on CRM data (using Passthru applet)
• Time-based routing (business hours vs. after hours)
• Multi-level IVR with fallback options
• Hybrid flows combining voice, SMS, and HTTP integrations

App Management

Action	How To
Edit an app	App Bazaar > Select app > Edit
Duplicate an app	App Bazaar > Select app > Duplicate
Delete an app	App Bazaar > Select app > Delete (only if not assigned to any ExoPhone)
Version history	App Bazaar > Select app > Versions (Enterprise plan)
Test an app	Make a test call to the assigned ExoPhone

warning

Editing a live app affects all incoming calls immediately. For critical changes, create a duplicate, test it with a separate ExoPhone, and then swap the app assignment once verified.

Related Topics

• App Builder -- Create custom apps without coding
• Flow Builder Guide -- Visual drag-and-drop call flow design
• Voice API -- Trigger apps programmatically via API
• ExoPhones -- Manage virtual numbers and app assignments