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

# How Calls Actually Work

> The full path a call takes, what each outcome means, and which numbers you can trust. Read this before you read any report.

Every number on every dashboard comes from one path through the system. If you
know the path, you know what each figure is counting — and, just as important,
what it is *not* counting.

<Note>
  This page is the shared vocabulary for the whole product. The
  [Dialer Performance dashboard](/dashboard/dialer-performance), the
  [reports](/reports/call-reports), and your
  [AI agent](/connect-mcp) all use the definitions below. When a
  number looks wrong, start here.
</Note>

## 🗺️ The path of one dial

```mermaid theme={null}
graph TB
    A[📋 Lead from a Power List] --> B[📞 AI Sync places the call]
    B --> C{Did anything pick up?}

    C -->|Nothing| D[📵 No answer / Busy / Bad number]
    C -->|Something answered| E{Who or what answered?}

    E -->|🤖 Answering machine| F[📼 Voicemail]
    E -->|📱 Handset screened it| G[🛡️ Screened]
    E -->|🧑 A real person| H{Was a rep free?}

    H -->|Yes| I[✅ Connected — a real conversation]
    H -->|No| J[⚠️ Answered, no rep]

    style I fill:#1f7a4d,color:#fff
    style J fill:#a33,color:#fff
    style F fill:#b4531f,color:#fff
    style G fill:#6b3fa0,color:#fff
```

Only the green box is a conversation. Everything else answered in some sense,
which is exactly why "answered" and "connected" are different words here.

<Warning>
  **Answered, no rep** is the one to watch. A real person picked up and reached
  nobody. Regulators call this an abandoned call, and the limit is 3% of live
  human answers. Our engine stops itself well before that — see
  [Predictive pacing](/dialer/predictive-pacing).
</Warning>

## 📖 What each outcome means

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="✅ Connected — a rep and a lead talked" icon="circle-check">
    A person answered and reached one of your reps. This is the only outcome that
    can become a sale.

    **Counted when:** a human answered, the call bridged to a rep, and there was
    real audio. A machine verdict, a voicemail verdict, or a screening verdict can
    never be counted here, no matter how long the call lasted.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="⚠️ Answered, no rep" icon="triangle-exclamation">
    Somebody picked up the phone and never got a human. Usually every rep was
    already talking when the call landed.

    **What to do:** lower your lines per rep, or put more reps on the floor. This is
    the number the pacing engine exists to hold down.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="📼 Voicemail" icon="voicemail">
    An answering machine picked up. The system detects this by listening to the
    greeting, then stops the call from reaching a rep.

    **Why it matters:** a voicemail is a dial that cost you money and reached
    nobody. It is counted in your dials, never in your connects.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="🛡️ Screened" icon="shield-halved">
    The lead's phone answered on their behalf — iPhone Call Screening, Google Call
    Screen, or a carrier screening service. A recorded voice asks who is calling.

    **Why it is its own category:** a screened call is not a machine and not a
    person. The lead may well call you back. Merging it into "voicemail" hides that,
    and counting it as a connect inflates your rate with conversations that never
    happened. See [iPhone screening](/dialer/iphone-screening).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="📵 No answer" icon="phone-slash">
    It rang out. Nobody home.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="🙅 Declined" icon="ban">
    They saw the call and actively rejected it. This is a signal about your list or
    your caller ID, not a missed opportunity.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="🔙 Rep hung up first" icon="rotate-left">
    Your side cancelled before the lead could answer. Almost always pacing: too many
    lines for the reps available.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="☎️ Bad number" icon="circle-xmark">
    The number does not exist. You are paying to dial it every time it comes round
    in the list. Worth cleaning.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="📡 Carrier problem" icon="tower-cell">
    The call failed on the network. Watch the trend, not the individual call.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## 🧮 The formulas, in plain words

| Metric               | How it is worked out                                           | Common misreading                                                                |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Dials**            | Every outbound call placed, including ones that hit voicemail. | People expect voicemails to be excluded. They are dials — they cost money.       |
| **Connects**         | Dials where a person answered **and** reached a rep.           | Not "answered". A voicemail is answered and is not a connect.                    |
| **Connect rate**     | Connects ÷ dials.                                              | If this seems low, check your Screened and Voicemail counts before blaming reps. |
| **Avg talk time**    | Averaged over **every** conversation, short ones included.     | A 30-second floor makes this look far higher than reality. We do not use one.    |
| **Answered, no rep** | A human answered, no rep took it.                              | This is your abandonment number. Watch it.                                       |

<Tip>
  **One reconciliation rule.** On the dashboard, the outcome breakdown always adds
  up to your dial count exactly. If the bars sum to a different number than the
  tile above them, something is wrong — tell your agent, or see
  [Troubleshooting](/go-live/troubleshooting).
</Tip>

## 🌍 Time zones change your numbers

Every figure is bucketed by **your** day, not the server's. "Today" means today
where you are.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Set your time zone once">
    Open your profile in the top right, choose your time zone, and save. See
    [Profile settings](/profile-settings/profile).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the dashboard header">
    The Dialer Performance header shows the time zone the numbers are using. If it
    does not match where your reps sit, the day boundaries will be wrong.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  If your time zone is wrong, an evening call can land on the next day's report.
  The numbers are still correct — they are just filed under a day you did not
  expect.
</Warning>

## ➡️ Where to go next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Dialer Performance dashboard" icon="chart-line" href="/dashboard/dialer-performance">
    Read your numbers and know which ones to act on.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Predictive pacing" icon="gauge-high" href="/dialer/predictive-pacing">
    How the engine decides how many lines to dial.
  </Card>

  <Card title="iPhone screening" icon="shield-halved" href="/dialer/iphone-screening">
    What screening is and how we detect it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ask your AI agent" icon="robot" href="/connect-mcp">
    Get these answers without opening the dashboard.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>