Configure Sequential Dialing

Objective

The purpose of this article is to provide information to Outreach users and admins in the configuration and use of Sequential Dialing in call tasks. Sequential Dialing provides increased efficiency to Outreach Users by greatly reducing the number of clicks to make a large amount of calls.

Applies To

• Outreach Voice
• Outreach Users
• Outreach Admins

Before You Begin

• Ensure you are setup to make calls using Outreach Voice
• Access to sequential dialing is controlled by admins via the user profile permission Use sequential dialing in call tasks
• This mode is only supported for call tasks

Procedures

Sequential Dialing allows for the automation of call tasks. When entering Sequential Dialing mode in call tasks, the system will automatically dial the first number listed in in the prospect's profile. If no answer is detected, the call is hung up, logged, and the next phone number listed for the prospect is called automatically. When no additional prospect numbers remain, the task is completed and the system starts to call the prospect in the next call task. If a prospect answers, you are able to speak with them and log the call normally.

Configuring for Sequential Dialing

1. Access the Outreach Platform.
2. Click Administration > Calls.
3. Click Dispositions.
4. Select a disposition.
5. Click Edit.
6. Select Sequential dialing - no voicemail left.
7. Click Save.

It is recommended to also assign a default all disposition to the call states "Busy" and "Failed" as well so that these call outcomes don't pause Sequential Dialing.

Activating Sequential Dialing

Sequential dialing can be accessed from 2 places - your home page, or your task list view. When you begin to select tasks to take action on, you will see the Start sequential dialing button next to Start tasks. 

Note: The sequential dialing button will only become active once 2 or more call tasks are selected.

1. Log in to Outreach.
2. Select at least two call tasks.
3. Select Start sequential dialing. If the selection includes tasks of other types, they will be filtered out from your task flow once the button is clicked as sequential dialing only supports call tasks.
   
4. Click the play icon to begin sequential dialing.
5. Click the play icon again to end sequential dialing.
   

If a prospect answers a call, sequential dialing mode will be automatically paused allowing you to have a conversation with the prospect and log it normally. Once logged, you will need to click the play button again to continue sequential dialing.

Additional Information

• Currently, we do not support leaving voicemails or voicemail dropping with the sequential dialer task workflow, but we are looking to add this in the future.
• If the dialer reaches the prospect's voicemail, it will play their voicemail but it will not leave a message and will hang up after their voicemail recording is completed. Do not click the hang up button and let the dialer hang up on its own. If you do want to manually leave a voicemail, you'll need to stop the sequential dialer (clicking the stop button at top of call task window), leave the message, then manually log and complete that task. Once you've done that, you can then resume sequential dialing on the next call task.
• If a prospect has multiple phone numbers on their record, the system will attempt to call each number before moving to the next call task in queue.
• Do not click the hang up button, and instead let the dialer hang up on its own. If you reach a prospect's VM, it will play the recording then automatically hang up after, without leaving a message. If you click the hang up button, it will pause the dialer because you're manually intervening. You must then manually log and complete that task, then resume sequential dialing on the next task.
• If you've already made a call attempt on a call task and didn't manually log and complete that call task prior, the sequential dialer will not attempt to re-call that prospect for that specific task again. It'll look like this if you or someone has previously attempted to call them from that task.