Outbound Calls

Outbound calls are calls initiated towards your customer's phone numbers. They are initiated in the Infobip web interface or from your platform via API or SIP request.

Again, like inbound calls, with outbound calls, you have a wide array of options depending on your business needs.

Here's what you can configure with outbound calls:

• Send voice messages over Broadcast using the web interface.
• Send voice messages over API.
• Send IVR with Flow in Moments using the web interface or API.
• Initiate calls using SIP trunking to enable real-time communication from your platform towards end users.

For example, you can use Broadcast or Voice Messages over API to send a simple text message which is then converted to audio or pre-recorded audio file and reproduced to your customer once they have answered the call. You can use this feature to send one-time pins (OTPs), reminders, alerts, surveys, and others.

Voice as a channel is available over our customer engagement hub, Moments. For a more complex scenario, combine Voice with other channels such as SMS. You might want your customer to provide their response using their phone and based on that, the call can be branched in different ways. To learn more, check IVR Flow in Moments or IVR over API. 

Use SIP trunking to establish calls initiated by your business platform towards GSM or landline phones. Use this feature if you have a voice platform on your side available to initiate phone calls towards end users. Integration is done using the SIP protocol.

All outbound voice calls can be recorded. Learn more about Recording. To enable this add-on, contact your dedicated Account Manager.  

Voice over Broadcast

To start a simple voice communication, use Broadcast. Broadcast is a shared component on the Infobip platform. It's available as a standalone component with communication channels or with Moments. There are different ways you can use Broadcast with Voice.

Create a text message content that will then be converted into audio (text-to-speech feature) or upload a pre-recorded audio file. When your customers answer the call, they will hear the audio message. Also, you can use Broadcast to collect responses from your customers.

Voice over Broadcast supports two-way communication. This means your customers can enter response codes using their phone keypad. Response codes are defined within the communication parameters.

You can set up multiple next steps and actions. For example, you can redirect an active call to another phone number, replay an audio file, the customer might opt in or out using Tags, or the customer's number might be added to the Do Not Contact list.

You can record voice calls sent over Broadcast. Refer to Recording for more details. To enable this add-on, contact your dedicated Account Manager.

Additionally, with Voice communication over Broadcast, you can use the Answering Machine Detection add-on. This option allows you to configure the call to drop if an answering machine is detected on the end-user's side. Or you can set up your outbound call to continue playing the voice message. Then the voice message is saved in your end-user's voice mailbox. To enable AMD, contact your dedicated Account Manager.

Text-to-Speech

Text-to-speech (TTS) is used to convert a written message into an audio file. That file is then played to your customers once they answer your voice call. You can use it for both promotional and transactional traffic.

With this feature, you don't have to bother with pre-recorded audio. Additionally, you save time and are able to speed up your go-to-market strategy.

Text-to-Speech Languages

For text-to-speech conversion, we offer more than 100 languages and accents. A full list of supported languages is shown below.

Pre-recorded Audio Files

This feature enables you to use a pre-recorded audio file and play it to your customers once they answer your voice call. This is pretty awesome because, for example, you can use different celebrity voices when creating your campaign.

Response Codes

Response codes are also known as Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (DTMF) codes. They can be used in Broadcast to interact with your customers and set up the next steps during a call.

Your end user enters predefined response codes on their phone and our platform will perform actions in accordance with how they're defined when you created the broadcast.  

You can use Response Codes with IVR in Moments as well as IVR over API.

Create Voice Broadcast

Here's how to set up Voice using Broadcast.

Prerequisites:

• Broadcast. To enable Broadcast as a standalone shared component with channels such as Voice or to get it with Moments, please contact your dedicated Account Manager.

To send outbound call with predefined text or audio file, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the web interface and navigate to the Moments > CREATE BROADCAST. Choose Voice as a channel.

2. Fill in the necessary fields. 

TO - Select your audience who will receive your voice message. You can either paste a list of numbers, enter them manually one by one, search customers using People, or use custom data by uploading a file.  

FROM - Select your sender. Your end users will see your sender as a caller ID. You can use your actual business phone number or lease a Voice number from Infobip. Voice and Video supports numeric senders, only. Delivery of your sender depends on the supported route. What this means is that depending on the Voice capabilities, availability, and country regulations, the caller ID might be changed to a different number in certain cases.

CONTENT – Enter the message content that will be used for text-to-speech conversions. Click on the placeholder to personalize this content with data from People or an uploaded custom data file. People, our customer data platform, is available with different communication channels (Infobip CPaaS), including Voice.

To enable People, contact your dedicated Account Manager.

3. Check the auto-detected language and adjust the speech rate.

LANGUAGES

Each time you change the message content, the language will be automatically (re)detected. Make sure your specific dialect is identified and choose your preferred voice. You can choose between more than 30 languages and 100+ different voices.

4. Instead of entering text in the Content field, you can click Use File Upload. Select an audio file from your computer to upload it to your broadcast. This audio file will be played to your customers once they answer the call. The maximum size of an mp3 to be uploaded and used is 4 MB.

5. To engage in two-way communication with your customer, use the Response Codes feature, click on ADD.

Here's what you can do with Response Codes:

• A current call can be forwarded to another phone number (entered in the format without 00 or +).
• The end user called can be tagged/untagged or added to the Do Not Contact list.
• The audio message will be repeated.

Enter one or more numbers to define the value of the response code you want to use for a particular action. Then, select one of the available actions from the drop-down menu.

Additional options:

• Maximum Length for Response Code – Specify the response code maximum length. This is in case a customer is supposed to enter multiple codes to perform a certain action.
• Wait Time for Response Code – Define how long will the system wait for the end user to enter these codes after the audio message has finished playing. If the predefined time has passed and the customer didn’t provide any input, the call will terminate.

6. Click ANALYZE. If you are satisfied with the outcome, you may launch your broadcast. After you've launched your broadcast, see the details such as status and metrics on the All Communications dashboard. Refer to Reports for more details on reporting.

Advanced Options

In addition to the standard options in Broadcast, the Voice channel offers advanced options that you can use to further adjust your Voice Broadcast communication.

For more details, refer directly to Advanced Options, under the Broadcast product documentation.

Answering Machine Detection (AMD)

If you want to determine whether your calls are answered by a voicemail or real human, use the AMD add-on. You can find this while creating your broadcast, under Advanced. 

From the drop-down menu choose Hang up if you want to hang up the call once the machine is detected. If you want your message to be saved to end-users’ mailbox, choose Continue.

Answering Machine Detection is an add-on. To enable it, contact your dedicated Account Manager. 

Validity Period

The validity period defines for how long this broadcast will be valid on the Infobip platform. After this period expires, the Infobip platform will not retry to send the broadcast.

Data Payload

Set the data payload and store additional data which can then be connected to stored or imported contacts. Use this data to send useful information to your customers, but it also provides you with additional information regarding your customers.

If you use this option, you'll be able to see the passed-on data in the reports as well. 

Data payload, in general, relates to the data in the People module.

Retry Period

The Retry Period option lets you define the maximum number of re-dials to a single end user if the initial call has not yet been delivered. Use the minimum and maximum parameters to configure how many times you want to redial and the time period between redials.

Currently, you can configure the number to be re-dialed 4 times.

For example, the number will be redialed four times within 10 mins. The first redial is after 2 mins. 

The redial pattern is 1 min, 2 mins, 5 mins, 10 mins, 20 mins, 30 mins, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 16 hours, etc., or until the maximum retry period is reached.

Call Options

Duration of pause - Defines the silence period before your audio voice message is played to the end user.

Maximum call duration - This lets you limit the call duration. Convenient if you want to manage costs.

Scheduling Options

Use this to schedule when you want your broadcast voice messages to be launched. Selected date, time, and timezone. You can also set a delivery time window and specify exact days.

With send time optimization you can pick the best time to send out communication to customers and increase answered calls rate. 

Voice over API

Voice over API enables you to easily set up Voice capability that best suits your business needs. 

To use Voice over API, please rely on our Voice API documentation in parallel with detailed instructions here, under product documentation.

Available Voice capabilities over API:

• Voice messages (Text-to-speech and Pre-recorded audio messages)
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
• Click-to-Call 

Voice Messages

Using voice messages you can initiate outbound calls to one or more destination numbers (landline or mobile). Then, when the call has been answered, play a pre-recorded or text-to-speech converted audio file to the recipient. 

Additionally, you can capture a response from your end users by them pressing different digits on their phone keypad. Then they trigger a pre-defined command.

To use voice messages via API, please rely on our API documentation.

Request example:

{
   "bulkId": "BULK-ID-123",
   "messages": [
      {
         "from": "3859111111111",
         "destinations": [
            {
               "to": "385912222222",
               "messageId": "MESSAGE-ID-123"
            }
         ],
         "text": "Hello, this is Your Bank notification. Your account has been accessed. If it wasn't you please contact our support asap or press 1 to be connected with our agent. ",
         "language": "en",
         "voice": {
            "name": "Joanna",
            "gender": "female"
         },
         "maxDtmf":1
      },
	  { 
        "if": "dtmf",
        "equals": "1",
        "transferTo": "385913333333"
    }

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Use IVR to initiate outbound calls to one or more destination numbers (landline or mobile), or to receive inbound calls to your Voice number from your end users (Inbound IVR). For inbound calls, you use API to configure these calls. First, you create a scenario, then you add it to the Voice number, and then when the end user answers the call, the IVR scenario is executed. 

Refer to IVR for more information.

Click-to-Call

Use click-to-call to initiate two outbound calls to two destination numbers (landline or mobile), and if the calls are answered, connect the two parties. 

The order in which the number will be called is defined by the Click-to-Call solution design and your own business logic.

Learn more about Click-to-Call.

Delivery Reports

After the call is finished, you can check out the call details in the Infobip web interface under Analyze or by getting delivery logs via API. 

Use the GET method to gather delivery reports or configure them so that Infobip sends these reports to your URL.

Refer to the following API documentation:

• Get Sent Voice Logs
• Get Voice Delivery Reports
• Receive Voice Delivery Reports

SIP Trunking

SIP trunking is a live form of person-to-person (P2P) communication. It allows you to initiate a call from your voice platform using the Infobip infrastructure. You can have a conversation in real time with the end user who receives this call on their mobile or landline phone.

SIP Trunking configuration is also used to safelist your IP address to receive incoming calls (Forward to IP). Configure it under Apps > SIP Trunking.

Setup

Here's how to configure SIP trunking.

Prerequisites:

• To use SIP trunking, you need to have a voice platform which supports the SIP protocol and is reachable over the public Internet via static and public IP address.

1. Log in to the web interface, navigate to Apps > Voice > SIP Trunking > ADD NEW.
   

2. Enter the following parameters and click SAVE.

   • IP ADDRESS – IP address of your Voice platform

   • PORT – TCP/UDP - Port used for SIP communication (usually 5060)

   • DATA CENTER – Choose one of the Infobip data centers, closest to your voice platform location

As mentioned earlier, to initiate or receive calls, in the case of inbound calls with Forward to IP configuration, you need to safelist the Infobip API address that you plan on using.

List of Infobip API addresses:

Use the one that relates to the data center defined during a SIP trunk configuration.

Search Logs

To be able to search SIP trunking logs using API, send us your unique call ID in an X-Client-Message-ID SIP header when initiating outbound Voice calls. Use this value as a  messageId to search call details when using SIP Trunking call logs.