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Outbound Calls

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Overview

With Outbound Calls you initiate automated, AI-powered calls to your contacts. A voice agent calls the target number and conducts the conversation based on its configured instructions (prompt), tools, and knowledge base. Typical use cases are appointment reminders and confirmations, information requests, surveys and feedback, as well as status and notification calls. There are two ways to use it:
  • Start Calls (quick start): for immediate ad-hoc calls to a few numbers (up to 10). Ideal for testing or spontaneous, small campaigns.
  • Campaigns: the recommended way for planned, larger, and personalized campaigns – named, scheduled, with up to 30 recipients and individual values per contact.

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Prerequisites

  • At least one active voice agent (AI phone assistant)
  • For SIP agents: a valid caller number from your Placetel account (international format)

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Campaigns

Campaigns are the recommended way as soon as you want to call multiple contacts in a planned and personalized manner. Compared to the quick start, you can name a campaign, schedule it for a specific time, add up to 30 recipients, and personalize it per recipient via CSV. Existing campaigns are listed at the top in the “Campaigns” section (with “Refresh” to update their status). New Campaign opens a wizard that guides you through the setup in four steps.

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Step 1 – Agent

Select the voice agent that will make the calls – it determines the conversation flow, tools, and knowledge base. Then set the caller number (the displayed number, international format, e.g. +4921154229976; it must belong to your Placetel account) and choose a campaign name of your liking.

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Step 2 – Recipients

Here you define who gets called – in one of two ways:
  • Enter manually: phone numbers in international format, one per line, up to 30 numbers.
  • Upload CSV: a recipient list as a CSV file. This is the way to personalize calls per recipient (see the section “Personalization with variables”). A template is available for direct download.

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Step 3 – Schedule

Set the campaign start with date and time. The first call is made no earlier than this time.

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Step 4 – Review

You see a summary of the voice agent, campaign name, number of recipients, and schedule. Start Campaign creates the campaign and runs it at the scheduled time; “Back” lets you correct previous steps.

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Personalization with variables

To address each recipient individually (e.g. with their name or appointment), you work with variables. The principle consists of two parts that must match: placeholders in the prompt and columns in the CSV. 1. Placeholders in the voice agent’s prompt In the prompt, you insert placeholders in double curly braces, for example:
„Guten Tag {{name}}, ich rufe an, um Ihren Termin am {{termin}} zu bestätigen.”
2. Matching columns in the CSV Each column header in your CSV corresponds to exactly one variable name. The phone_number column is mandatory – all other columns automatically become variables that the agent uses per recipient during the conversation:
When calling the first number, the system then replaces {{name}} with “Frau Müller” and {{termin}} with “15.07. um 10:00 Uhr” – and accordingly for every subsequent recipient.
Important: Column names and placeholders must match exactly ({{name}} ↔ column name, including capitalization). Otherwise the variable stays empty. It’s best to use the downloadable template as a starting point.
Note: If all recipients should receive the same value, you don’t need a dedicated column for it. The CSV is most useful where values differ per recipient. (In the quick start without a CSV, the “Shared Variables” mode for all numbers and the “Per Target” mode per number are available for this.)

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Start Calls (quick start)

For immediate calls to a few numbers, use the quick start under “Start Calls”:
  1. Select a voice agent – determines how the conversation is conducted.
  2. Enter the caller number (SIP agents only) – international format, must belong to your Placetel account.
  3. Enter phone numbers – one per line in the format +<country code><number> (e.g. +491701234567), up to 10.
  4. Optionally fill in variables – “Shared Variables” for all numbers or “Per Target” for individual values per number.
  5. Choose consent or direct call and start the calls.
For more than 10 numbers or planned, personalized campaigns, use Campaigns; for automated bulk calls, use the API.

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Consent

By default, a consent SMS is sent to the target number before every call; the call only starts after approval. This applies to both the quick start and campaigns. Alternatively, enable “Call directly without consent SMS” – then the call is made immediately. Make sure to observe the applicable legal requirements (e.g. for marketing calls).

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Tracking status & past jobs

You can see the status of ongoing calls per number in the “Triggered Calls” table (phone number, call status, last update). Under Call History you find all previous outbound jobs with creation date, voice agent, number of target numbers, and consent and call status per number.

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API access

For automated integrations, create a Bearer token via “Generate API token” and start outbound calls through the REST API.
Important: The token is only displayed once. Store it securely; if lost, a new token must be generated.
Detailed feature handbook (English): https://placetel-marketing.notion.site/Outbound-Calling-Feature-Handbook-348e8c0be43880d2955aeeef38ec44bf

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FAQ

What is the difference between “Start Calls” and a campaign? “Start Calls” is the quick start for immediate ad-hoc calls to a few numbers (up to 10). A campaign is named and scheduled, holds up to 30 recipients (or a CSV list), and allows personalized values per recipient. How do I personalize calls per recipient (e.g. name, appointment)? Insert placeholders like {{name}} in the prompt and upload a CSV in a campaign whose columns have exactly the same names. The phone_number column is mandatory; every additional column becomes a variable for the respective recipient. What happens if the column name and placeholder don’t match? The variable is then not replaced correctly and stays empty. Make sure the spelling is identical (including capitalization) and use the template. How many numbers can I call? Through the interface, up to 10 numbers in the quick start or up to 30 recipients per campaign. For larger volumes, use the API. What format do the phone numbers need to be in? International format: +<country code><number>, e.g. +491701234567. When does a campaign start? At the campaign start selected in the “Schedule” step – the first call is made no earlier than this time. What happens if the callee doesn’t pick up? The call is ended automatically after a configured time and the status is updated accordingly. Can I skip the consent process? Yes, via “Call directly without consent SMS”. Make sure you comply with the legal requirements. How do I get beta access? Under “Outbound Calls”, click “Apply now” and describe your use case – we will review your request. Are there limits during the beta phase? Yes, by default a maximum of 20 calls per 5 minutes. Individual limits can be arranged if needed.