How do I set calling hours and retries for AI calls?
You set calling hours and retries in each Outpero campaign: choose the schedule, a calling window such as 10 am to 7 pm, and how many times and how far apart to retry no-answer or busy numbers. Keep windows within the hours TRAI's rules allow for commercial calls, and space retries so customers never feel chased.
Calling windows to try
Pickup varies through the day and by audience. A few patterns hold widely, but test them against your own connect-rate data.
| Audience | Windows to try | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Salaried professionals | Lunch, 1 to 2 pm, and early evening, 6 to 8 pm | Morning commute and meeting-heavy mid-mornings |
| Business owners and traders | Late morning, 11 am to 1 pm | Opening hours and peak trading time |
| Homemakers and retirees | Late morning and mid-afternoon | Early evening family time |
| Students and parents | Evenings, after school or college hours | School hours for parents of young children |
Regional calendars matter too. Avoid big festival days such as Diwali, Pongal or Onam in the regions that celebrate them, and take care with evening calls during Ramzan for audiences who are fasting.
Setting retries
- 01Retry no-answer and busy outcomes, not wrong numbers or calls where the person declined.
- 02Two or three retries is usually enough. Beyond that, a WhatsApp follow-up works better than another call.
- 03Space retries several hours apart, ideally in a different part of the day, so someone in meetings at 11 am gets the next call at 6 pm.
- 04Let a retry roll to the next day if the window closes.
- 05For instant lead calls, a short first retry within the hour is reasonable, because the enquiry is fresh.
Respecting the customer
A customer who says 'call me after 5' should be called after 5, not at the next retry slot. Capture callback times as a custom field and handle them in a follow-up campaign or by your team. A customer who says 'do not call again' should be removed from every list.
Compliance basics
Commercial calls in India fall under TRAI's TCCCP regulations, which restrict calling hours for promotional communication and protect numbers on the DND registry. Outpero campaigns include DND screening, but you remain responsible for calling only people with a reason to hear from you, and only at sensible times.
Want to hear an AI voice agent handle this on a real call?