> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.famulor.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Dialer, retries & compliance

> Parallel dialing, retry logic, calling windows, DNC lists, and voicemail handling

The dialer keeps running after you close the browser and places calls within your campaign rules.

## Parallel dialing (concurrency)

* Set **Parallel calls (concurrency)** per campaign — a slider from 1 to 10 — for how many calls run simultaneously.
* The effective limit is the lower of the campaign setting and your plan's parallel-call allowance; higher values are capped server-side. That plan allowance is a single workspace-wide ceiling shared by every live assistant session — inbound and outbound calls, web calls, WhatsApp voice, and web chat — rather than a per-campaign or per-channel budget.
* **Concurrent Lines** is a paid, tiered add-on bought from **Settings → Plan** for workspaces that need more simultaneous capacity than the plan includes. Each purchased line raises the workspace ceiling by one.
* Calls that never connect are cleared automatically so they do not occupy a slot indefinitely.

<Note>
  This is a different limit from the [daily outbound call cap](/telephony/outbound-limits): concurrency governs how many calls run at the same moment, the daily cap governs how many calls may start over a whole day.
</Note>

## Retry logic

Unanswered leads are retried automatically:

* **Max. retries** counts *additional* attempts after the first dial. The default is 2, so a lead is dialed up to three times.
* **Retry delay (min)** is the wait before the next attempt (default 60) — the retry lands at a *different time of day*, which measurably improves reach.
* A lead that answers stops being retried; `busy`, `no answer`, and `failed` outcomes schedule the next attempt until the budget is exhausted.
* The full attempt history is visible per lead.

**Max. retries** is the hard ceiling for every retry policy below. The voicemail and goal options cannot create unbounded loops; once the attempts are exhausted, the lead receives its final outcome.

### Retry until a human answers

Turn on **Retry on voicemail** ("Continue calling until a human answers") to keep retrying when answering-machine detection reports voicemail, an IVR, or an unavailable message. A human answer or an exhausted retry allowance finalizes the lead.

This is a retry *policy*. What the assistant actually does when it hits a machine is a separate, per-assistant setting — see [AMD & voicemail](#amd--voicemail) below.

### Retry until the goal is achieved

Two settings work together to keep dialing a lead until a defined outcome is met:

* **Retry until goal completed** ("Continue calling until the goal is achieved") — marks a lead completed only when the selected goal evaluates to true; otherwise another attempt is scheduled within the maximum.
* **Goal variable** — pick one of the assistant's yes/no post-call evaluation fields, or the built-in **Call successful** result. If the list is empty, add a boolean field under the assistant's [Analysis](/assistants/analysis) tab first.

If the goal is never achieved, the lead is retried only until **Max. retries** is reached.

## Calling windows

Define **when the campaign may dial**, per weekday, in the campaign's **timezone** — e.g. Mon–Fri 09:30–18:00. Outside the window the dialer pauses and resumes automatically.

<Note>
  In Germany, unsolicited calls outside reasonable hours violate the UWG. Calling windows aren't just a courtesy feature — configure them for every campaign that dials consumers.
</Note>

## Do-not-call (DNC)

A central workspace suppression list hard-blocks opted-out contacts before
proactive marketing outreach:

* **Universal mode** blocks every linked channel after an opt-out on any one
  channel.
* **Per-channel mode** blocks only the channel where the opt-out was received.
* Phone, email, contact identity, scope, source, reason, and the mode at
  opt-out are retained for auditability.
* Campaign dialing checks the active voice suppression immediately before
  dispatch and fails closed when consent status cannot be verified.

Manage the mode and records under **Settings → Data → Suppression**. See
[Consent & compliance](/settings/consent-compliance) for cross-channel
behavior, restoration semantics, REST examples, and MCP tools.

* `GET /api/v1/suppression-list` — list active records
* `POST /api/v1/suppression-list` — record an opt-out
* `DELETE /api/v1/suppression-list/{id}` — restore consent without deleting
  the audit history

The same operations are available through MCP.

## AMD & voicemail

Turn on **Answering machine detection (AMD)** in the campaign's settings to detect a machine before the assistant speaks, and pick **Conservative** (fewer false hang-ups) or **Aggressive** (faster detection at higher volume). AMD classifies who picked up into one of five categories:

| AMD result            | Meaning                                                                  |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `human`               | A person answered — the conversation proceeds normally                   |
| `uncertain`           | Couldn't be classified — treated like a human, the conversation proceeds |
| `machine-vm`          | Voicemail / answering machine                                            |
| `machine-ivr`         | An IVR / phone menu system                                               |
| `machine-unavailable` | Number unavailable / operator message                                    |

What the assistant *does* on a machine — hang up silently, or speak a configured message and then hang up — is one toggle on the **assistant**, not the campaign: [Settings → Conversation → Voicemail](/assistants/conversation-quality#voicemail). Leave that message blank and the assistant's normal greeting plays instead.

The AMD result appears with the call and helps retry logic distinguish a mailbox from an unanswered call. Turn on [Retry on voicemail](#retry-until-a-human-answers) when appropriate.

<Tip>
  A voicemail message followed by a retry at a different hour can improve reach. Pair the assistant's voicemail message with **Retry on voicemail**.
</Tip>

Put together, one dial attempt for a lead follows this path:

```mermaid theme={null}
%%{init: {'flowchart': {'defaultRenderer': 'elk'}}}%%
flowchart TD
    Dial["Dial lead — attempt N"] --> Outcome{"Dial outcome"}
    Outcome -->|"AMD: human or uncertain"| Talk["Conversation proceeds normally"]
    Outcome -->|"AMD: machine-vm / machine-ivr / machine-unavailable"| VM{"Did the assistant leave<br/>a voicemail message?"}
    Outcome -->|"busy / no answer / failed"| Budget{"Attempts left under Max. retries?"}
    Talk --> GoalToggle{"Retry until goal completed ON?"}
    VM -->|"No — it hung up"| Budget
    VM -->|"Yes"| VMToggle{"Retry on voicemail ON?"}
    VMToggle -->|"Yes"| Budget
    VMToggle -->|"No"| GoalToggle
    GoalToggle -->|"No"| Done["Lead marked completed —<br/>no further attempts"]
    GoalToggle -->|"Yes"| GoalCheck{"Goal variable true?"}
    GoalCheck -->|"Yes"| Done
    GoalCheck -->|"No"| Budget
    Budget -->|"Yes"| Next["Schedule next attempt after Retry delay"]
    Next --> Dial
    Budget -->|"No"| Final["Lead gets its final outcome —<br/>retries exhausted"]
```

## Troubleshooting

### Campaign won't start

| Message                                                   | Cause                                      | Fix                                                                                |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| "The campaign has no assistant assigned."                 | No assistant is selected on this campaign  | Assign an assistant in the campaign's settings                                     |
| "The campaign has no leads."                              | The lead queue is empty                    | [Import leads](/audience/importing-contacts) or assign contacts from Audience      |
| "Archived campaigns cannot be started. Restore it first." | The campaign was archived                  | Restore the campaign, then start it                                                |
| "This campaign is blocked by your current plan limit. …"  | You're over your plan's campaign allowance | Upgrade your plan, or archive another campaign                                     |
| "Campaign is already running."                            | The campaign is already dialing            | Nothing to do — to change its settings, select **Stop** first, then start it again |

A scheduled campaign runs through the same checks when its start time arrives. If one of them fails, the campaign moves to Paused instead of Running and keeps the error — so a campaign that was Scheduled yesterday and is Paused today usually hit one of the rows above.

### No calls happening

A running campaign that isn't placing calls usually comes down to one of these:

* **Outside the calling window** — check the current time against the campaign's [calling window](#calling-windows) and timezone.
* **Queue exhausted** — every lead has either used up its **Max. retries** or is waiting for its next retry. Import more leads, or review the [retry settings](#retry-logic).
* **Suppressed** — leads on the [do-not-call list](#do-not-call-dnc) are skipped, not retried.

### Goal-completion debugging

If [Retry until goal completed](#retry-until-the-goal-is-achieved) marks leads complete unexpectedly — or never marks them complete — the usual cause is the goal variable itself, not the retry logic:

1. Review recent call transcripts for extraction errors on the goal variable.
2. Place a few test calls and check what the assistant actually extracts.
3. Tighten the variable's description and the prompt language around it so the criteria are unambiguous.

<Note>
  Starting a campaign dials its first wave immediately, and the dialer re-checks every running campaign about once a minute after that. If nothing has happened within a few minutes, work through the checks above rather than assuming it needs more time.
</Note>