Calls

How Tandem calls

A calendar can have Tandem call the customer when their callback is due. Tandem runs one of your published workflows, and the workflow places the call with a Convert to Voice node. The workflow decides what happens on the call, and what happens when nobody answers.

Set it up

1. Build a workflow whose first node is Convert to Voice. Set To Number to $(booking_phone) and pick a From Number, the caller ID the customer sees.
2. Publish the workflow.
3. Open the calendar under Scheduling → Calendars and go to the Call tab.
4. Turn on Calls enabled, pick the workflow under Workflow, and click Save.

Workflow lists published workflows only. With Calls enabled on and no workflow picked, the field says Pick a workflow for Tandem to run. and Save stays off. Saving fails with That workflow no longer exists if the workflow was deleted, and with Publish the workflow before Tandem can run it if it isn't published.

If the workflow is unpublished later, the Call tab says This workflow isn't published, and calls fail until you publish it again or pick another.

Tandem reads the setting when each callback comes due, so it covers callbacks booked before you turned it on. Turn Calls enabled off and save to stop calling.

Number customers see

The Call tab has a Caller Number section with Number customers see. It lists your organization's phone numbers. The help text reads Shown to customers as the number we'll call from. Set this to the caller ID your call workflow uses. Customers see it on their confirmation and callback pages as The call comes from {number}. Clear the field to hide the line.

The setting is display only. The number Tandem dials from is the From Number on your workflow's Convert to Voice node, so keep the two the same. If the number is deleted after you pick it, the line is left out.

Variables

Each run starts with these variables. Use them anywhere a workflow takes $(name). A field the customer didn't fill in is empty text, so a reference to it never fails.

For an As soon as possible callback, booking_start is when the customer booked.

Example

A workflow that hands the call to a voice agent:

1. Convert to Voice with To Number $(booking_phone) and a From Number.
2. On default, which Convert to Voice takes once the call is placed, an AI Voice Agent node. Under Pass to agent, add booking_name with the value $(booking_name) and booking_reason with the value $(booking_reason). The agent reads them as {{vars.booking_name}} and {{vars.booking_reason}} in its prompt.

Handling voicemail and no answer

Convert to Voice can also tell who answered, with Detect Human or Answering Machine. This setting may not be available on every account yet. If your Convert to Voice node shows it, turn it on and route its four exits:

• humanDetected: the AI Voice Agent node above.
• machineDetected: a Play Message node that leaves a voicemail.
• noAnswer: a Send SMS node to $(booking_phone) that says you tried to call and includes $(booking_manage_url).
• detectionFailed: the call was answered but Tandem couldn't tell by whom. Send it to the AI Voice Agent node too, so every answered call reaches the agent.

When Tandem calls

• A picked time: at the booked start.
• As soon as possible: at once.
• A moved callback: at its new time.
• A cancelled callback: never.

Tandem runs the workflow once per booked time. It does not call again when nobody answers; put that handling in the workflow. Tandem does not check the time of day before calling: the booked time fell inside the calendar's hours when it was booked.

If Tandem can't start the call within 15 minutes of the booked start, it doesn't call. For As soon as possible, the limit is the end of the callback length.

Call status

Once Tandem has acted on a callback, its sidebar on Scheduling → Bookings has a Call section with one of these statuses. A reason follows the status where there is one.

For Call started and Call status unknown, View conversation under the status opens the run in Call Logs.