Outcomes on incoming calls
Choose what your agent should learn from people who call a number, then see their answers added up on that number's outcome dashboard.
Every call to your number is already read after it ends. The Call outcome card on the call's page says how it ended, sums it up and suggests a next step. The Outcomes tab on a phone number goes further. You choose a few things to learn from callers, such as why they called, whether it was sorted out, or what they're looking for. The agent works those into the conversation, and the answers are added up for that number.
For the same thing on calls you place, see Call outcomes and the outcome dashboard for campaigns and Call outcomes for the API.
Before you start #
- A phone number with an agent on it. See Get a phone number and Manage a number.
- An admin or owner role. Channels is in the sidebar for admins and owners only, and a member who opens the phone page from a link sees We couldn't load your numbers, so members can't reach the questions or the dashboard. Members still see each call's answers under What we learned on Calls.
Choose what to learn from callers #
- 1
Open the number's Outcomes tab
Go to Channels → Phone / Voice, pick the number, and open Outcomes. Under What to learn from callers, choose Add questions, or Edit once it has some.
- 2
Start from a template, or from blank
Start from offers three forms made for callers: Why people call (reason, sorted, follow-up), Capture leads (interest, need, budget) and Service quality (rating, sorted, what to fix). Pick one and change anything in it.
- 3
Write the goal
The goal of these calls is one sentence, such as Understand why people call and whether we sorted it out. The agent reads it to know what the questions are for.
- 4
Add what to capture
Under What to capture, choose Add something to capture for each thing to find out, up to 12. Give it a Name and a Kind of answer (see the table below). Drag the handle to reorder. Three is plenty for a call someone else started.
- 5
Say what counts as a success
Under What counts as a success, pick When a question is an answer, for example Sorted on the call is Yes. It becomes the headline number on the dashboard. With No success rule, the headline is how many calls were completed. Only yes/no, list and rating questions can be the rule.
- 6
Save
Choose Save. Saved. The agent starts asking from the next call. Discard throws away unsaved changes; Remove all questions clears the form (then save).
The Dashboard preview on the right shows the charts your questions will make, filled with Example answers so you can judge the layout before any real call.
Each question #
Open a question to edit it:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | What the question is called on the dashboard and on each call, such as Reason for calling. Make it plain; the agent reads it too. |
| Kind of answer | Yes / No, One of a list, Several of a list, Number, Rating 1–5, Date or Short answer. |
| Options | For list kinds: the answers to choose from, up to 12. Press Enter to add the next one. |
| Hint | Optional: anything the agent should know when filling it in, such as Yes only if they clearly agreed or The day they chose, not today's date. |
| Important | A call isn't "completed" without it. Mark the few that matter most. |
| On the dashboard | How it is charted: Best fit, Bars, Ring, Big number, List, or Hide on dashboard. A hidden question is still asked and still kept on each call; it shows Not charted. |
What changes when you save #
The questions belong to the number, not the agent: putting a different agent on the number keeps them. Saving takes effect from the next call; a call already in progress keeps the questions it started with. Calls already finished keep the answers they were read against.
What callers hear #
The caller comes first. The agent deals with what they rang about, and only then, where it fits naturally, asks your questions: one at a time, in its own words, never as a survey. It skips anything the caller has already said, and lets a question go if the caller is in a hurry or doesn't want to answer.
So not every call answers every question, and that's expected. A caller who rang to check an order and hung up as soon as they had the answer is a call that went well. The dashboard counts what was said.
How a call is read #
When the call ends, the conversation is read against the questions, usually within a minute, exactly as for campaign calls:
- Only what the caller said counts. Nothing is guessed.
- A call cut short keeps what it got, and shows as Partly done.
- Completed means the caller's reason for calling was dealt with and the important questions were answered.
The result is on the call's Call outcome card under What we learned, with Not answered against anything the caller didn't say.
The number's dashboard #
Below the questions, Outcomes shows what callers said over the Last 7 days, Last 30 days or Last 90 days. It refreshes every couple of minutes while open (Updating as calls finish).
| Part | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Success rate | The share of calls that met your success rule, with Success and Not a success counts. Without a rule, how many calls got everything done. |
| Completed, Partly done | Calls that covered everything, and calls that ended partway with what was said kept. |
| Calls | Calls read in the period. |
| Answers captured | How many of your questions a call answered, on average. |
| From call to result | Calls, then those that gave answers, were completed, and counted as a success. |
| How the calls ended | Each ending with its count and share. Pick one to filter the answers below. |
| One chart per question | In your order, drawn the way On the dashboard says. |
| Answers, call by call | Each caller's number, when they called, their answers and the summary, with a link to the call. Show more loads the rest. |
Charts follow the number's current questions. If you remove a question, its earlier answers stay on each call's page but leave the charts. Calls from before calls were read for outcomes are not counted at all.
If some calls haven't been read yet, a note says how many; most are retried automatically within a few minutes, and admins can choose Read them now.
Export offers Report (PDF) of the dashboard and, for admins, Spreadsheet (CSV) with every call and every answer for the period. The dashboard counts up to 5,000 calls per period. On a very busy number or workspace, a long period may hold only the newest calls; the dashboard says so, and a shorter period shows them all.
Getting the answers into your own systems #
Each call's answers arrive on the call.outcome webhook with direction: "inbound", and on GET /calls/{call_id} as result. See Call outcomes. Get answers over the API in the editor links there too.
Troubleshooting #
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Choose an agent first | The number has no agent. Put one on it under Agent & voice. |
| Save stays greyed out | You need an admin role, or there's nothing changed, or a question has a problem (it's outlined in red: usually a missing name or options). |
| Couldn't save. Nothing changed. | Try again. Your edits are still in the form. |
| The agent never asks a question | Callers are hanging up once they have what they need, which is fine. If you need the answer from everyone, mark it Important and keep the list short. |
| A question is always empty | Make the name clearer or add a hint. A rating is asked as a number from 1 to 5; "it was good" can't be counted as one. |
| Answers you removed are missing from the charts | Charts follow the current questions. The answers are still on each call's page. |
| Calls show as Not read yet | They're retried automatically every few minutes. Admins can choose Read them now, and anyone can choose Read this call on a single call. |
| The dashboard says it's showing only the newest calls | Choose a shorter period. |
Related #
Calls
Every call, its transcript, outcome and call-backs.
Campaign outcomes
The Outcome step for calls you place in a batch.
Call outcomes over the API
Read results in code and receive call.outcome.