Missed calls
A missed call is a customer ringing somebody else.
The missed call is the only loss in a business that shows up nowhere: no invoice, no CRM row, nothing. It appears only in a call list, if somebody looks. And whoever rang has already found somebody else by the time anybody does.
When a call goes unanswered, the assistant rings back immediately, says which company it is calling from and that it saw the call, finds out what the caller wanted, and either resolves the request or writes it down and passes it to a person. It does not wait until tomorrow.
When the callback fires
A missed call does not mean one thing. There are four different situations, and the right treatment differs between them.
Nobody answered
The classic case. A callback within seconds, while the person is still thinking about what they wanted.
The line was busy
A callback once the line frees, with a short apology and one question.
They hung up while holding
The most valuable to recover, because that person genuinely wanted something and gave up.
They called out of hours
A callback first thing in the morning, not at eleven when they have already solved it.
They hung up without speaking
One attempt, then it stops. Persistence turns a recovery into a problem.
From a missed call to a recovered customer
All that matters here is speed. A callback after twenty minutes is an unwanted sales call; one after twenty seconds is a service.
- 01 The call ends unanswered The call-end event reaches your webhook with the ended reason, which says whether nobody answered or the caller hung up.
- 02 Your system triggers the callback An outbound call started from the API. You can add a delay of a few tens of seconds so it does not ring in the same second the person hung up.
- 03 The assistant introduces itself The company, the fact that it saw the call, and one open question. Not a sales script.
- 04 Resolve or record If the request can be handled, it handles it. If not, it writes it down in full and says when a person will call.
- 05 Stop in time One attempt, two at most. A system that rings somebody five times after an accidental call is worse than the missed call was.
What appears where nothing appeared before
The main value is that the missed call becomes visible: a row, an outcome and a reason, instead of an absence.
| The callback outcome | Recovered, not recovered, or no answer, as structured output with fixed values. |
|---|---|
| The request | As a ticket or a row in a sheet, with what the caller wanted, if they said. |
| In the CRM | The contact and the call note, if it was a commercial enquiry. |
| On both calls | The missed one with its ended reason, and the callback, linked in the record. |
What it does not do, and where it becomes a problem
Automated callback is the mechanism most easily turned into harassment, and the limits below are written with that in mind.
- It does not persist One attempt, two at most, with a gap between them. Configurable, but our recommendation is written here precisely because the temptation runs the other way.
- It does not call numbers that opted out The suppression list applies to callbacks too, not only to campaigns.
- It does not know why the person called It has no context. It opens with an open question, which means the call is only useful if the assistant can actually help with what follows.
- It does not fire by itself It has to be wired: the call-end event goes to your webhook and your system starts the call through the API. There is no switch that does this with no development.
- It does not recover calls missed elsewhere It only sees calls that went through CallAgent. A call missed on your old switchboard produces no event here.
What people ask about callbacks
How quickly should it ring back?
Fast enough that the person still remembers, but not in the same second. A few tens of seconds is the interval that works: long enough not to feel like surveillance, short enough that they have not already rung a competitor.
Does it not bother somebody who misdialled?
It might, which is why the first sentence has to say which company it is and that it saw a call. Somebody who misdialled hangs up in three seconds and is never called again. One attempt, not five.
How is it wired technically?
Through webhooks: the call-end event reaches your endpoint with the ended reason, and your system starts the callback through the API. The developers page describes both ends.
Can it be an SMS instead of a call?
Yes, and for many businesses that is the better option: a text saying you called and asking what you needed. It is sent through the Twilio connector and interrupts nobody.
Where to go next
Telephony
Numbers, trunks, dial plan, queues, operators and campaigns, in one system.
Outbound campaign
Contacts, pacing, window, compliance, start, report.
Phone numbers
Twilio works today. Your own SIP trunk has the code and the switch, but no carrier yet.
Pricing
Components at their published price, the platform on top, and what we cannot price yet.
Notes
-
1
The tools named on this page are the ones in
App\Services\Integrations\ConnectorRegistrycarryingimplemented. Anything that is only in the catalogue, without that flag, is not named here as though it worked. - 2 Call events reach your endpoints through the webhook system, with scheduled redelivery on failure. The callback is started from the public API.