Where to start with an AI operator: incoming calls or outgoing calls first
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
Start where you lose customers today. If you can’t answer every call (in the evening, at lunch or when everyone is busy), start with incoming calls: it’s the simplest and safest start. If you answer calls but call website leads back late, or customers miss appointments, start with outgoing calls. Run one direction for two weeks, write down the numbers, then add the other. The same operator handles both, from the same facts.
One question: where are you losing customers today?
For one week, write down two numbers. First: how many calls went unanswered (your phone or PBX history shows this). Second: how many hours, on average, until someone calls a website or Instagram lead. Whichever number worries you more, start on that side.
What to start with in each situation
| Situation | Start with | First flow |
|---|---|---|
| Evening and weekend calls go unanswered | Incoming | Calls outside working hours |
| The line is busy while ads are running | Incoming | Calls when staff are busy |
| Website leads are called the next day | Outgoing | Calling each new lead at once |
| Customers miss appointments or meetings | Outgoing | A reminder the day before |
| An old customer base sits unused | Outgoing | News for customers who agreed to calls |
| You have both problems | Incoming | Incoming first, outgoing after 2–3 weeks |
Why incoming is usually the easier start
- The customer calls you: they know what they want and are ready to talk.
- No list, consent or calling hours to prepare.
- If a mistake happens, it touches one call, not a hundred people.
- The facts and questions you polish here then work for outgoing calls too.
Starting with outgoing calls is also right if leads wait too long: for example, you pay for ads every day but call leads only the next day. Then a call in the first minutes matters most.
What to prepare for each start
- Incoming: the facts (prices, address, hours), three or four questions, the transfer rule and the hours the operator answers.
- Outgoing: all of that, plus a list of people who agreed to calls, the purpose of the call, calling hours and a daily limit.
- Both: who reads the requests and how fast they reply.
- So an outgoing start is a step or two longer: leave time to check the list and the consent.
A worked example: comparing the two
Say a furniture shop misses 12 calls a day, and its website brings 8 leads a day that get a call five hours later. Incoming: 12 calls × 2 minutes = 24 minutes × 800 = 19,200 so‘m a day. Outgoing: 8 leads × 3 minutes = 24 minutes, the same cost.
In money, there’s almost no difference. What decides it is where more buyers slip away. These numbers are only an example: write down your own for a week and do the same sum.
After two weeks
- Compare the numbers you wrote down with the week before you started.
- If the first flow runs smoothly (fewer unanswered questions, requests handled on time), add the second.
- For outgoing calls, keep only people who left a request, gave consent or are your customers.
- The greeting and facts stay the same: whichever side the conversation starts from, the customer hears one company.
In Sado, both directions are one operator and one portal: AI operator for incoming calls and AI outbound calls. You pay only for talked minutes: pricing. More on missed calls: missed calls; how this differs from a recorded robocall: autodialer or AI operator. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
Can we start both at the same time?
You can, but decide in advance who watches each one. In the first week, one person will struggle to listen to recordings from two flows.
Which number do outgoing calls come from?
From the number connected to the operator, usually your company’s own. If a customer calls it back, the operator answers.
Which one is cheaper?
The price is the same: 800 so‘m a minute, only for talking time. On outgoing calls, numbers that don’t answer cost nothing.