Outbound calls

An outbound flow rings the customer: appointment reminders, payment follow-ups, delivery notifications, callbacks.

The shapeCopy Anchor Link

1. Something asks the project to place a call, with the number to ring and any values the flow needs.
2. The platform rings the number on your carrier account.
3. When someone answers, your flow runs from the Outbound Call node.

Calls are placed against the published flow, so publish before you trigger one.

Building itCopy Anchor Link

Add an Outbound Call node. It is a start node, like Incoming Call, and a project can hold one of each.

Opening line: spoken the moment they answer. Use whatever the trigger sent:

Hello {{name}}, this is a reminder about your appointment on {{date}}.

Expected values: the names the trigger should send alongside the number, comma separated. They become variables you can use anywhere in the flow, and they document what the flow assumes for whoever writes the trigger.

Detect answering machines: on by default. Tells a person from a voicemail greeting and sends machines down their own path. Turned off, the call connects faster and the flow plays to whatever answers.

Three outcomesCopy Anchor Link

A placed call ends one of three ways, and each has its own exit:

• answered: a person picked up. The flow continues.
• voicemail: a machine answered. Leave a short message, or hang up.
• no answer: nobody picked up, or the line was busy.

Wire all three. Left unwired, voicemail and no-answer end the attempt quietly, which is better than reading your whole script to a beep but tells you nothing about why the call did not land.

Triggering a callCopy Anchor Link

When an agent records an outcome in the inbox for someone who called a voice project, they can reply with Call and speak it, which rings the person back through the project's Outbound Call node. The option is unavailable until the published flow has one.

Outbound calls appear in the project's Activity tab with direction Outbound, alongside inbound ones.

Before you place real callsCopy Anchor Link

Outbound calling is regulated, and the rules differ by country: consent, permitted hours, do-not-call lists, and the number you appear to call from. Buni.ai gives you the mechanism; the obligations are yours. Say who is calling in the opening line, and honour opt-outs.

For a worked example, see IVR appointment reminders.