Automate Inventory Management in Retail Using VAPI Function Calling: My Experience

Automate Inventory Management in Retail Using VAPI Function Calling: My Experience TL;DR Most retail voice systems fail when inventory queries hit stale data or webhook timeouts kill order fulfillment. I built a VAPI function calling system that checks live inventory via webhook, handles transient tool failures, and integrates Twilio for SMS confirmations—cutting manual order entry by 80%. Stack: VAPI assistants with function calling, Node.js webhook handler, PostgreSQL inventory sync, Twilio SMS bridge. Result: real-time voice-driven order fulfillment without the dropped calls. Prerequisites VAPI Account & API Key You need an active VAPI account with a valid API key. Generate this from your VAPI dashboard under "API Keys." Store it in your .env file as VAPI_API_KEY . You'll use this for all function calling requests and webhook authentication. Twilio Account Setup Sign up for Twilio and grab your Account SID and Auth Token from the console. These authenticate your voice calls. You'll