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On outbound calls, many calls reach voicemail or an automated call-screening assistant instead of a person. Callers detects both, so your agent doesn’t pitch to a machine, and can leave a voicemail message for the contact.

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How voicemail detection works

Callers checks for voicemail in two ways:
  1. During the call. Callers listens for answering-machine greetings and beeps in real time. When it detects voicemail, the agent stops the conversation and either leaves your message or hangs up.
  2. After the call. Post-call analysis reviews the transcript and marks calls that reached voicemail even if they weren’t caught live.
A call that reaches voicemail is marked with the Voicemail outcome. If the contact has dial attempts left, they move to Pending Retry and are called again according to your retry schedule. See Statuses and outcomes. Voicemail detection is on by default for outbound agents. Contact support@callers.ai if you need to tune detection timing for your market.

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Leave a voicemail message

1

Open the agent's voice settings

Open the agent and click Agent in the editor header (see Agent settings).
2

Turn on Leave message if reaching voicemail

The section expands when the toggle is on.
3

Write the message

Type the message in Voicemail message. Use variables to personalize it, for example {{name}}. Click the speaker icon to preview it in the agent’s voice.
4

Choose when to leave it

Pick an option in When to leave a voicemail (see below).
5

Optional: vary the wording

With Whenever voicemail is detected selected, turn on Rephrase message with AI so each message is worded slightly differently.
When voicemail is detected, the agent waits for the beep (up to about 5 seconds), speaks the message, and hangs up.

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When to leave a voicemail

The final attempt is calculated from the agent’s total dial attempts multiplied by the number of valid phone numbers the contact has.

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AI rephrasing

Rephrase message with AI rewrites the message slightly each time, so contacts who get several voicemails don’t hear an identical recording. It’s available only with Whenever voicemail is detected. The meaning of your message stays the same. You can also click the rephrase button next to the message to get an AI-suggested rewording while you edit.

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Write an effective voicemail

  • Keep it under 20 seconds. Say who you are, why you called, and what to do next.
  • Give one clear call to action, such as a number to call back or a link you’ll send by SMS.
  • Personalize it with {{name}} and one relevant detail.
  • Don’t include sensitive information. Someone else may listen to the mailbox.
  • Say numbers slowly, or spell them out in the message (for example “five five five, zero one two three”).
Example

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AI call-screening detection

Phone platforms increasingly answer unknown callers with an AI assistant that asks who’s calling and why before ringing the person. With call-screening detection on, the agent recognizes the screener, answers its questions briefly, then waits for the real person to pick up and starts the conversation. If the person doesn’t pick up in time, the agent ends the call.
AI call-screening detection is off by default. Contact support@callers.ai to turn it on for an agent and to set what the agent says to screeners.
Screeners often ask for your name and the reason for the call. Make sure the agent’s script makes both clear in one short sentence, for example in the agent’s instructions.

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Troubleshooting

Short greetings like “Hello?” followed by silence can look like a machine. Use Report issue on the call and choose Incorrect/Missed Voicemail Detection so the team can review it. See Reporting call issues.
Report the call with Incorrect/Missed Voicemail Detection. Post-call analysis usually still marks these calls as Voicemail, so the contact is retried.
The message starts after the beep or after a short timeout if no beep is heard. Start the message with a brief greeting so nothing important is lost.
Check When to leave a voicemail. With First detected voicemail only, the agent leaves one message per contact.

Statuses and outcomes

How voicemail affects contact status.

Scheduling and retries

Control when contacts are called again.

Webhook events

POST_PROCESSING_FINISHED:VOICE_MAIL and other events.

Variables

Personalize the voicemail message.