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Glossary

Outbound calling glossary

Plain definitions of the terms that come up when you run outbound calls: dialers, lead response, call handling, compliance rules and the metrics teams report on. Each entry links to the rules or the longer guide behind it.

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Outbound calling and dialers

AI outbound calling

AI outbound calling is the use of an AI voice agent to place calls to leads or customers and hold the conversation itself, instead of a human rep on a dialer. The agent dials, talks, qualifies or books, logs the outcome, and hands the call to a person only when one is needed.

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AI dialer

An AI dialer is an outbound calling system that uses AI either to decide who and when to dial, or to run the conversation once someone answers. The term covers both AI-assisted dialers that still connect calls to human reps and AI agents that dial and talk on their own.

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Predictive dialer

A predictive dialer places more calls than there are free agents, using an algorithm that predicts when an agent will finish the current call and how many dials it takes to reach a live person. When a person answers, the call goes to the next available agent.

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Power dialer

A power dialer calls one number per rep at a time and dials the next number on the list as soon as the previous call ends. It removes manual dialing without the pacing algorithm of a predictive dialer, so a person who answers always reaches a rep.

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Parallel dialer

A parallel dialer calls several numbers at once for a single rep, often three to ten lines, and connects the rep to the first person who answers. The other calls are dropped, sent to voicemail or left unanswered.

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Voicemail detection

Voicemail detection is a dialer or voice agent's ability to tell, within the first seconds of an answered call, whether a person or a voicemail greeting picked up. The system then either starts the conversation or waits for the beep to leave a message or hang up.

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Answering machine detection (AMD)

Answering machine detection (AMD) is the dialer feature that classifies an answered call as a live person or a machine by analyzing the audio right after pickup. Dialers use the result to route humans to an agent and send machines to a voicemail drop or a hang-up.

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Lead response and qualification

Speed to lead

Speed to lead is the time between a prospect raising their hand, by submitting a form or requesting a quote, and your first attempt to contact them. It is one of the strongest predictors of whether an inbound lead is ever reached and qualified.

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Lead qualification

Lead qualification is the process of deciding whether a lead is worth a salesperson's time, by checking them against criteria such as need, budget, authority and timing. Leads that pass move to a rep or get a meeting booked; leads that do not are nurtured, recycled or closed out.

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BANT

BANT is a lead qualification framework that checks four things: Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline. A lead that has money set aside, the power to decide, a real problem and a date to solve it is treated as sales-ready.

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Lead reactivation

Lead reactivation is the work of contacting old leads that went cold, such as past inquiries, lost deals or expired quotes, to find the ones that are ready to buy now. It turns a CRM full of records you already paid for into new pipeline without new ad spend.

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Call handling and routing

Warm transfer

A warm transfer hands a live call to another person after briefing them, so the caller does not have to repeat themselves. In lead generation and sales the same handoff is often called a hot transfer or live transfer.

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Cold transfer

A cold transfer, also called a blind transfer, sends a caller to another person or queue without introducing them or passing along any context. The original agent drops off as soon as the call is routed.

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IVR

An IVR, or interactive voice response system, is the automated phone menu that answers a call and routes it based on the caller's keypad presses or short spoken answers. "Press 1 for billing" is an IVR.

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Conversational IVR

A conversational IVR answers calls with an AI agent that lets callers say what they need in plain language, instead of navigating a numbered menu. It understands the request, resolves simple ones on the spot and routes the rest with context attached.

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Voice AI agent

A voice AI agent is software that holds a phone conversation on its own: it listens, understands what the caller means, decides what to do, and answers in a natural voice. It can also take actions during the call, such as booking an appointment or updating a CRM record.

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Call disposition

A call disposition is the outcome code recorded at the end of a call, such as "no answer", "left voicemail", "not interested", "qualified" or "meeting booked". Dispositions drive what happens next to the record and feed most outbound reporting.

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Compliance and caller reputation

Autodialer (ATDS)

An autodialer, or automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS), is the TCPA's term for equipment that can store or produce numbers using a random or sequential number generator and dial them. Autodialed calls to mobile phones, and to certain other lines such as emergency and hospital lines, need the called party's prior express consent, and autodialed telemarketing calls to those numbers need prior express written consent.

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TCPA

The TCPA, or Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, is the US federal law that restricts telemarketing calls, autodialed calls, prerecorded or artificial-voice calls and texts. The FCC writes and enforces the rules under it, and consumers can sue for $500 to $1,500 per violating call.

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Prior express written consent

Prior express written consent is the strongest form of consent under the TCPA: a signed written agreement, electronic signatures included, in which a person authorizes a specific seller to call or text their number with marketing using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice. It is required for telemarketing calls of that kind to mobile numbers and for prerecorded telemarketing calls to landlines.

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DNC list

A DNC (Do Not Call) list is a list of phone numbers that must not receive telemarketing calls. The best known is the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry; every telemarketer must also keep its own internal list of people who asked it to stop calling.

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Reg F (7-in-7 rule)

The 7-in-7 rule is the call frequency limit in Regulation F, the CFPB's rule implementing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A debt collector is presumed to violate the law if it calls a person about a particular debt more than seven times within seven consecutive days, or within seven days after having a phone conversation with them about that debt.

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Quiet hours

Quiet hours are the times of day when telemarketing and collection calls are not allowed. Federally, telephone solicitations are barred before 8am and after 9pm in the called person's local time, and some states set narrower windows or ban calls on Sundays and holidays.

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STIR/SHAKEN

STIR/SHAKEN is the set of caller ID authentication standards US phone carriers use to digitally sign calls and confirm the calling number has not been spoofed. The FCC required it on carriers' IP networks under the TRACED Act, with the largest carriers starting in June 2021.

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Caller ID reputation

Caller ID reputation is the score that carriers and their call analytics partners assign to a phone number based on how it is used. A low score leads to warning labels such as "Spam Likely" on the recipient's screen, or to the call being blocked.

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Spam Likely label

"Spam Likely" is a warning shown on a recipient's phone when their carrier's call analytics flag the incoming number as probable spam. T-Mobile shows "Scam Likely", and other carriers and apps use similar wording.

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Call metrics

Connect rate

Connect rate is the share of outbound dials that are answered by a live person. If you place 1,000 dials and 80 are picked up by a human, your connect rate is 8%.

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Contact rate

Contact rate is the share of leads or accounts your team actually spoke with, out of all the leads worked. If you call 500 leads and have a live conversation with 150 of them at least once, your contact rate is 30%.

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Average handle time (AHT)

Average handle time (AHT) is the average length of a customer interaction from start to finish, including talk time, hold time and the after-call work an agent does to wrap up. It is calculated as total talk, hold and after-call time divided by the number of calls handled.

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First call resolution (FCR)

First call resolution (FCR) is the share of customer issues resolved on the first contact, with no follow-up call, transfer or callback needed. It is usually measured by checking whether the same customer calls back about the same issue within a set window, such as seven days.

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