Why we stopped redialling people

Until this month, if our AI rang someone and they did not pick up, it tried again. And again, up to five times. It seemed obviously right: more attempts, more completed calls.

Then we looked at the numbers.

What the data said

Across two months and more than four thousand outbound calls, three quarters of completed conversations happened on the first attempt, and nearly 90% by the second. Attempts three to six produced very little except irritation. Retries made up about four in ten of all the calls we placed, and most of them reached nobody.

Worse, the retries sometimes collided with people doing the right thing. Someone would miss a call, ring back, complete their conversation, and then be rung again by a retry that had not noticed.

One call per request

So we changed the rule. The AI now rings only when asked: when someone replies to a text, when they email, or when a manager presses Call now. If that call is missed, it does not redial. It sends one text:

"Sorry we missed you. Reply RETURN when you're ready and we'll call straight back."

The person is back in control. They choose the moment, and the call that follows is one they are expecting.

Voicemail

We changed how voicemail is detected at the same time. The old method listened to the first second or two of a call and guessed. It hung up on real people who answered with a pause. Now the AI itself decides, from what it hears, and hangs up quietly if it reaches a mailbox.

People without a mobile

Some people have no mobile, or a number we cannot text. They used to drop out. Now they get an email with a button: reply, and we ring the number we have, landline included. A second reminder by email also goes to anyone who has not answered a text after twelve hours.

The principle

Automation makes it very easy to contact people too much. We would rather make one well-timed call that someone asked for than six that they did not.