Configure callback

Callback is the alternative to making callers wait on hold. Instead of staying on the line, a caller is offered a callback — they hang up, and the callback waits in the queue. When an agent is free, the agent gets a callback popup and clicks Call Back, and Atender dials the customer.

A caller can get a callback in three ways:

• From the IVR menu. A Callback Queue node in your flow books the callback, for example when the caller presses a digit.
• Dynamic callbacks. Atender offers the callback automatically to a caller who is waiting in a queue, when a trigger you set is reached. The caller accepts by pressing 1, and keeps their place in line.
• At the end of Max hold. A queue with a Max hold limit whose end action is Offer a call back makes the offer when the wait ends, whatever the Trigger Strategy says. Enable callbacks must be on and Max pending callbacks still applies; otherwise the caller leaves a message instead. See Set up queue overflow with Max hold.

Before you start

• A call queue already configured. Callbacks belong to a queue — the queue determines who eventually serves the callback.

Steps

1. Open Settings → Voice.
2. Select your phone number under Phone numbers, then go to the Callback tab. The settings on this tab are shared by every phone number that uses the same IVR flow.
3. Select Retry settings. These settings apply to callbacks from the IVR menu and to dynamic callbacks.
   Retry interval (minutes) — how long Atender waits before the next call when the customer does not answer.
   Number of calls is the total number of times Atender may call the customer for this callback, not the number of retries after the first call.
   If Number of calls is unset, Atender makes 1 call.
   If Number of calls is 0 (a value older settings can still hold), Atender treats it as 1 call.
   If Number of calls is set to 3, Atender calls the customer at most three times total.
   When opening hours end — what happens to a callback that no agent answered, 30 minutes after the line closes:
   End the callback and send the expiry message — the default.
   Keep it for the next opening hours, once — the callback returns when the line next opens and keeps its place in line from that moment. A callback that was kept once already ends at the following close.
4. (Optional) To offer callbacks automatically while callers wait, select Dynamic callbacks and turn on Enable callbacks. Then:
   Set Max pending callbacks. While this many callbacks for the number are waiting, Atender does not make the automatic offer. Leave it empty for no limit.
   Select Trigger Strategy and pick a Trigger type: Time-based (Offer callback after (seconds)), Position-based (Offer when queue position reaches), Estimated wait time (EWT) (Offer when estimated wait exceeds (seconds)), or Combination (all thresholds). With Combination (all thresholds), Atender makes the offer as soon as any one of the thresholds you set is reached.
   Select Announcements and add what the caller hears. A Callback Offer announcement is the offer itself — tell callers to press 1 to accept. A Greeting announcement is the confirmation the caller hears after accepting, before the call ends. Each announcement has a Language and a Message format of AI voice or Pre-recorded audio. Callers who hide their number are never offered a dynamic callback, because Atender cannot call them back.
5. Click Save at the top of the page.

Add the Callback Queue node to your IVR

To offer callback from the IVR menu:

1. Open your IVR in the builder.
2. Drag a Callback Queue node onto the canvas.
3. Connect it from wherever in the flow you want to offer the callback option — typically from a Gather Input branch (“Press 2 to receive a callback instead”).
4. In the node’s config, pick the Queue this callback should be served from. The node’s Confirmation Message is what the caller hears before the call ends.
5. Save the flow.

The next caller who takes that path hears the confirmation and the call ends. The callback waits in the queue until an agent is free; the agent then gets a callback popup and clicks Call Back to dial the customer. If no agent answers the callback before the line closes, When opening hours end decides what happens: End the callback and send the expiry message ends it, while Keep it for the next opening hours, once keeps it and brings it back when the line next opens.

Duplicate callback requests: Atender allows only one pending ASAP callback per phone number per tenant. If the same caller requests another callback before the first one is completed, canceled, or expired, the original pending callback stays in the queue and the repeat call is closed without creating a second callback task. Explicitly scheduled future-slot callbacks do not block an urgent “call me now” request.

Verify it worked

Dial your number from a phone, take the path that leads to the Callback Queue node (or wait in a queue until your dynamic trigger is reached), and confirm:

• The IVR offers the callback.
• After hanging up, the callback shows as an open voice conversation in the inbox.
• When an agent is free, the agent gets a callback popup and clicks Call Back. Your phone rings and you’re connected to the agent.
• If the line closes before the callback is served, the callback follows your When opening hours end setting: the default End the callback and send the expiry message ends it and sends the expiry message, while Keep it for the next opening hours, once brings it back when the line opens again.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: Callbacks are accepted but never come back. Fix: Confirm the queue has agents who can take voice calls, are marked Available, and do not see the microphone-blocked banner. If an agent’s browser microphone permission was blocked or the wrong microphone was selected, restoring mic permission or choosing a working microphone automatically lets that agent receive calls again. If the agent switches Offline, their held Available intent is cleared and they must mark themselves Available again. The agent must click Call Back in the callback popup — Atender dials the customer only then. If the line closed before the callback was served, check When opening hours end to see whether callbacks end at close or are kept for the next opening hours once.

• Symptom: Callers waiting in a queue stop getting the automatic callback offer. Fix: Check Max pending callbacks under Dynamic callbacks. While that many callbacks for the number are waiting, Atender does not make the offer. It makes the offer again when the number of waiting callbacks is below the limit.

• Symptom: A customer misses the callback and expects the request to be over. Fix: Check Retry settings. A missed callback remains active until Atender has used the configured Number of calls budget. For example, if Number of calls is 3, Atender may try the customer up to three times total instead of ending after the first unanswered dial.

• Symptom: Callers are not sure that their callback is booked. Fix: Make the confirmation explicit, for example “Your callback from Acme is booked. We will call you when an agent is free.” For callbacks from the IVR menu, set the Confirmation Message on the Callback Queue node. For dynamic callbacks, add a Greeting announcement on the Callback tab.

• Symptom: Callback is being offered to international callers when you only want it for domestic. Fix: Branch the IVR before the Callback Queue node with a Condition that filters on the caller’s country code.

See also

• Set up a call queue
• Build an IVR flow
• Set up queue overflow with Max hold
• The Voice channel