Configuring outbound preview dialers for Zoom Contact Center
The outbound preview dialer feature enables agents to review contact details before making an outbound call, ensuring they are well-prepared for the conversation. Agents can also skip to the next contact in the list if necessary.
The preview dialer operates in two modes:
- Automatic mode: The dialer automatically places the call as soon as the preview timer expires. No agent action is required to initiate the call.
- Manual mode: The dialer places the call only after the agent clicks Accept. The agent controls when the call is initiated, but the dialing is still handled by the system.
This feature is especially useful in scenarios such as sales teams handling high-value contacts, enabling agents to review information beforehand and deliver exceptional service.
Other available dialers include the progressive dialer, which automatically connects answered calls to available agents, and the agentless dialer, which places calls without agent involvement and can play a pre-recorded message or leave a voicemail.
Requirements for configuring outbound preview dialers for Zoom Contact Center
How to create a contact list
Before configuring an outbound campaign, you need to create a list of contacts for outbound dialer campaigns. These contacts may come from address book (known customers), from a third party, or other sources. Contacts can also be added using the contacts API.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- In the navigation menu, click Contact Center Management then Campaign Management.
- In the Contacts tab, click Create List.
- Enter an internal Name and Description for the contacts list, then click Add.
- Follow one of the below sections to import a CSV or manually add a contact.
Manually add a contact
Note: The contact will only belong to the campaign contact list, and will not be added to an address book.
- Click Add Contact.
- Fill in the fields, then click Save to manually add the contact.
Import contacts from address books
Note: This method will import all contacts in the selected address books. You can remove contacts from the contact list later on.
- Click Import.
- Select Import from Address Books.
- Select the address books to import to the contact list.
- Click Add.
Import contact from a CSV file
- Click Import.
- Select Upload CSV file.
- Click Download CSV Sample in the web portal to download a sample CSV file and view the fields.
- Fill out the CSV sample using spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel.
- Click Upload CSV and select your completed CSV file to start the bulk import process.
Note: If there's an error in one or more fields, the process will not complete. You will receive an error message explaining why the import failed. - Click Close if the batch process is successful.
How to create a do not contact list
As an optional step, you can exclude certain contacts from dialer campaigns. This may be to meet local and federal regulations or to prevent from contacting consumers who have requested not to be contacted. Do not call (DNC) lists may come from the national do not call register, state lists, or internally managed customer lists. DNC can be supported using 3rd party integration with DNC.com or Gryphon.ai.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- In the navigation menu, click Contact Center Management then Campaign Management.
- In the Contacts tab, click the Do Not Contact Lists sub-tab.
- Click Create List.
- Enter an internal Name and Description for the contacts list, then click Add.
- Follow one of the below sections to import a CSV or manually add a phone number.
Manually add a phone number
- Click Add Phone Number.
- Fill in the phone number, then click Add to manually add the phone number.
Import contact from a CSV file
- Click Import.
- Click Download CSV Sample in the web portal to download a sample CSV file and view the fields.
- Fill out the CSV sample using spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel.
- In the Zoom web portal, select one of these options:
- Add new numbers only: Only import phone numbers in the CSV file that do not already exist in the current do not call list.
- Replace all phone numbers in the list: Replace all numbers in the current do not call list with the phone numbers in the CSV file.
Important: All existing numbers in do not call list will be deleted
- Click Choose and select your completed CSV file to start the bulk import process.
Note: If there's an error in one or more fields, the process will not complete. You will receive an error message explaining why the import failed. - Click Close if the batch process is successful.
How to configure and run an outbound preview dialer campaign
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- In the navigation menu, click Contact Center Management then Campaign Management.
- In the Outbound tab, click Add Campaign.
- Select the Preview Dialer campaign type and provide the following:
- Name: Enter an internal display name for the outbound preview dialer campaign.
- Description (Optional): Enter an internal description for the outbound preview dialer campaign.
- Always running: Enable to keep the campaign running after contacts are depleted. The campaign will dial new contacts added to the associated contact lists. The campaign only stops when paused by an Admin, otherwise the campaign remains active, even when 0 available contacts. New contacts will be dialed as they are added to the contact list. If Always running is enabled, select the order that contacts are dialed.
- Yes (Ascending - First in, first out): Contacts will be dialed in the order they were added or received, with the oldest or earliest entered contacts being dialed first. This method ensures that the contacts are processed based on the time they were added to the list, allowing for a systematic approach where older entries receive calls before newer ones.
- Yes (Ascending - Last in, first out): Contacts at the bottom or the end of the list (those added most recently or received last) will be dialed first. It operates on a last-come, first-served basis, where the most recently added contacts take priority. This method ensures that the contacts added most recently receive calls before the older ones, potentially prioritizing newer leads or contacts that have just been added to the list.
- Campaign priority: In the case when multiple campaigns share a single queue, this indicates the priority level indicating the importance of this campaign relative to any others. Contacts in the campaign with the lowest priority will be dialed when there are no more records to be dialed in the higher priority campaign. 1 is the lowest, 5 is the highest.
- Dialing strategy: Select how calls should be initiated:
- Automatic: The system automatically connects calls for the agent.
- Manual: Agents manually dial the calls.
- The options below only apply if you select Automatic dialing:
- Preview Timer: Displays a countdown timer before the call is initiated (range: 5–60 seconds).
- Allow Agent to Ignore Preview Notification: Enable this if agents should be allowed to skip the preview and move on to the next call.
- Max Skips Allowed: Set the number of times an agent is allowed to skip a contact (e.g., 1).
- Configure other settings as needed.
- Save or publish the outbound campaign.
- Click Save draft to save the outbound campaign but keep it in a draft state.
- Click Publish to make the campaign ready to run.
- Click Run when the campaign is configured and ready to run.
Campaign settings
- Contact Lists:
- Click the Contact Lists dropdown to select an existing contact list.
- To add a new list, click New Contact List and follow the prompts to upload or create one.
- Do not contact lists (Optional): Click Select do not contact list, select the do not contact (DNC) lists to add to the outbound campaign, then click Add.
- Do not contact logic: Specify how contacts matching the selected DNC list will be excluded from the campaign.
- Exclude only the matching phone numbers from the contact list: Contacts with additional phone numbers will still be included in the campaign. In other words, the following rules apply:
- If an associated DNC list contains a contact’s main phone number, and the consumer doesn’t have additional phone numbers, the campaign will not call this contact.
- If an associated DNC list contains a contact’s main phone number, and the consumer has additional phone numbers that are not in the DNC list, then the campaign will dial this contact on the additional phone numbers that are not in the DNC list. Only the matching phone number will be excluded for this campaign.
- Exclude the contacts from the list if any phone number matches: Contact will be excluded from the campaign if one or more phone numbers matches the DNC list. For example, if an associated DNC list contains a contact’s additional phone number, the campaign will not call this contact.
- Click Preferences - Block List to manage exclusions.
- Set contact callable hours based on: Determine when each contact can be dialed based on their location:
- Area code
- Time zone
- None (default)
- Contact Number Dial Order: Specify the order in which phone number types will be dialed if contacts have more than one phone number. If phone numbers have duplicate labels, they will be dialed in the order listed in the contact. To change the order, click the up and down arrow, or click the six dots icon
then click and drag the number type. - Max ring time (Abandon call): Enable to disconnect unanswered calls after the specified period of time has elapsed. If enabled, the max ring time must be between 15 (default) and 120 seconds.
- Max number of attempts: Select how total number of times the campaign should attempt to call each contact. When a call attempt goes unanswered, the campaign will re-dial the contact after all other contacts on the list have been dialed, and the retry period has elapsed. The retry period must be between 60 seconds and 7 days.
- Use same wait period for all attempts: Check this box if you want a consistent wait time between all retry attempts.
- Wait period: Specify a wait time before the dialer retries a failed attempt.
Connection settings
- Queue: Select a voice queue to use for the outbound dialer.
Note: The queue must have outbound calling enabled. - Call ID number: Select one of the queue’s outbound caller ID numbers to use for outbound dialing. You can also:
Campaign schedule
- Specify the hours that the campaign will dial contact when the campaign is in the Running status.
How to add campaign skip reasons
Users can choose not to accept outbound voice engagements, and assign specific skip reasons to particular queues if needed.
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin or another role with the privilege to edit account settings.
- In the navigation menu, click Contact Center Management then Preferences.
- Under Account, click Agent Status and Experience.
- Under Outbound Campaign Skip Reasons, click Manage next to Campaign Skip Reasons.
- Click Add Reason and complete the following fields:
- Reason Name: Provide a display name for the skip reason.
- Assign to Queues: Click the drop-down and select the queues this reason will apply to.
- Enable: Click the toggle to enable the skip reason.
- Click Save.
- To manage existing reasons, to the right of the reason name, click the ellipsis icon
and select one of the following:
- Edit: Modify the details of the reason.
- Delete: Remove the reason.
You can also assign or delete multiple reasons at once by selecting the checkboxes next to the reason names and choosing the appropriate action.