Calling

Cleanlist has a built-in dialer. Reps call leads from their browser, from a phone number of their own, and the call is logged on the lead and its task. It runs on Twilio. You don't need a phone app or softphone, only a browser and a microphone.

Calling is built for working the call tasks your sequences create, but you can also call any number from the sidebar or from a lead's phone number.

Plans

Calling follows the same rule as launching sequences: you need a paid plan that can launch them. During the Pro trial you can build sequences but not call. A workspace with only an AppSumo license doesn't get calling; adding a paid Cleanlist plan unlocks it.

Without calling, Settings → Calling isn't shown, the Dialer button isn't in the sidebar, and Cleanlist isn't offered under Dial with.

If a workspace loses a plan with calling, the page shows Calling paused: your plan doesn't include calling. Callbacks keep forwarding for 30 days, then the workspace's numbers are released.

Turn calling on (admins)

Go to Settings → Calling. The top of the page is a status line that says where calling stands and what's left to do, for example Calling is off, 1 step left: Give yourself a number or Ready to call (with "2 teammates have no number" when some reps still need one).

1. Under Turn on calling, tick the box to accept the terms: Cleanlist calling is for sales calls only and can't reach emergency services, and your team is responsible for having consent to call people and for following calling rules where they live.
2. Click Turn on calling. This turns calling on for the whole workspace. If setup stops part-way, the status line reads Setup didn't finish; click Retry setup.
3. Give each rep a number (see Numbers). Each rep needs their own number to call.

Every member can open Settings → Calling. Reps see the status line, Your number and Recent calls. Admins also see Team numbers, Call rules and Verified caller ID.

What's on the page

Your number, microphone and callback phone

• Your number is the number your calls go out from and the one leads call back. A rep without one sees 1 step left: Ask an admin for a number.
• Microphone → Test microphone asks your browser for the microphone and listens for a few seconds. It answers Microphone works., No sound picked up. Check the microphone your browser uses., Microphone blocked. Allow it for this site in your browser's settings. or No microphone found. Run it before your first call: the browser permission it asks for is the one calls need.
• Callback phone is your cell or desk phone. When someone calls your Cleanlist number back, it rings this phone and shows the caller's number. It can be a number in any country Cleanlist can call, but not a Cleanlist number ("Callbacks can't forward to a Cleanlist number."). Include the country code if it's outside the US and Canada.

If a callback isn't answered within 20 seconds, or you have no callback phone, the caller hears a greeting and can leave a voicemail of up to 2 minutes. Callbacks and voicemails show in your calls as Callback and Voicemail. A callback never completes a task.

Call rules

Admins set these under Call rules. They apply to everyone in the workspace.

Calling hours use the lead's time zone from their sequence run, or from their phone number. When Cleanlist can't tell (for example a toll-free number), the call must be inside calling hours in both New York and Los Angeles.

The monthly total counts calls, forwarded callbacks and number rent. Once less than one minute's credits are left under the limit, the status line reads Calling paused: monthly limit reached until next month or until an admin raises the limit.

Numbers

Each rep calls from their own number, and only one number can be assigned to each rep. Admins manage numbers under Team numbers.

• Get a number (under Your number), Buy number (next to a rep with no number) and Add number all open the Add number dialog. Pick who it's For (a rep, or Local presence, no rep), the Country, and an Area code (US and Canada) or Digits it contains (elsewhere), then Search and Buy number. If an area code has none left, the dialog suggests nearby area codes.
• Assign gives a teammate a spare Local presence number. Each number's row shows who has it and lets you change that.
• Replace number (in a number's ⋯ menu) gets a new number in the same area for the same rep. The old number keeps forwarding callbacks for 3 days, then it's released. It's offered only when a number's daily check shows May be marked spam or Fewer answers, next to that week's answer rate.
• Release (in the same menu) stops calls from the number at once. Callbacks keep forwarding for 3 days, then the number is gone for good.

Local presence. Numbers with no rep are caller ID only: nobody can call from them alone. Cover area codes buys up to 25 at a time, either for The ones my team called most (last 90 days) or for Area codes I choose, skipping area codes you already have. Each call then goes out from the number that best fits the lead: the number they last answered, else one in their area code, then their state or province, then their time zone, else the rep's own number. A callback to a Local presence number rings the rep who last called that person from it.

Numbers abroad. Pick another country in the Country list, and a Type (Local, Mobile, National or Toll-free). The dialog shows the monthly price. Some numbers need extra details first:

• Needs address: Twilio needs your business address before it sells the number (most Canadian numbers). Add it in the dialog; it's the same address Verified caller ID uses.
• Needs paperwork: Twilio needs your business documents approved first. Cleanlist can't file them yet, so these numbers can't be bought; the dialog lists what Twilio asks for.

Rent. A number's first month is charged when you buy it, then monthly. If rent can't be paid, the number shows Paused: rent unpaid: callbacks still forward but you can't call from it, and the status line reads Calling paused: your number's rent is unpaid. A number paused for a week is released.

Verified caller ID

Verified caller ID is optional and never needed to call. Verifying your business with Twilio shows your business name on calls and lowers the chance of a spam label. Twilio's review takes 1 to 4 days.

An admin clicks Set up, fills in the business (Legal business name, Business type, Industry, Tax or registration ID and ID number, Website), the Address, and an Authorized representative, then clicks Send for review. Caller ID name (US landlines), Employees, Calls a day and What your calls are for are optional. The section shows Not submitted, In review, Verified or Needs changes; when Twilio asks for changes, its note shows at the top of the form and the button reads Send for review again.

Making a call

From a call task

1. Open a call task in Tasks. If the lead has more than one phone, choose the number (the first is marked Best).
2. Under the number, Dial with shows Cleanlist. It's the default once calling is on.
3. Click Call. If you don't have a number yet, the button reads Set up calling and links to Settings → Calling.

The call opens in a panel above the Call button. It shows who you're calling, their number, the rate (for example "1 credit/min") and the number you're calling from, then the status: Calling…, Ringing…, then Connected with a timer. The panel has Mute, Keypad and Hang up. Press M to mute and K for the keypad; Hang up has no shortcut, so a stray key never ends a call. Leaving the page during a call ends it, so the browser asks first.

When the call ends, the panel shows how it went, such as Answered · 3:12, No answer, Busy, Didn't connect, Voicemail or Not placed.

From anywhere else

• Dialer in the sidebar footer (the phone button) opens a keypad with Number to call, your recent numbers, and All calls and settings. A call placed here shows in the same popover until you've logged it.
• A lead's phone number in a list's lead drawer, or on a person's page, calls from Cleanlist when you can call. Otherwise it opens your phone app.

Parallel dialing

On Tasks, with Dial with set to Cleanlist, Dial in parallel rings several of your open call tasks at once. It uses your own open call tasks that have a phone number, in the order the page shows them.

1. Pick Lines at once (1 to 5; 3 by default) and click Start dialing. You join a call room: "You're connected. Leads who answer join you."
2. Click Dial next N. The first lead to answer joins you and their task opens. Each line shows Ringing, Connected, Voicemail, No answer or Back in queue.
3. Anyone who answers after that hears a short message with your workspace's name and callback number and can press 9 to join your do-not-call list. Their line shows Missed (message played).

Parallel dialing follows US and Canadian calling rules for every workspace:

• Only US and Canadian numbers are rung ("Not a US or Canadian number").
• Two people at the same company are never rung in one batch ("Same company as another line").
• Leads on your do-not-call list or outside calling hours are skipped.
• When too many recent calls were answered with nobody free to talk, it drops to one line at a time: "Dialing one at a time for now: too many recent calls were answered with nobody free to talk."

Every answered line is charged like a call, including one that hears the message. Unanswered lines are free.

Logging the outcome

On a task. Pick a Call disposition on the task and complete it, as for any call task. Meeting booked and Not interested end the lead's sequence. Admins choose the list in Settings → Sequencing → Replies and tasks → Call dispositions: Cleanlist's defaults, a HubSpot or Salesforce field, or Trellus. See Inbox and Tasks.

Without a task (from the sidebar Dialer or a lead's phone number), the call panel asks for a Disposition ("How did it go?") and Notes, with Add this number to do-not-call. Click Save call, or Later to save it afterwards.

Unsaved calls. A call that ended without being logged (you clicked Later, or the tab closed mid-call) shows under Unsaved in the sidebar Dialer, with Save it, or Open its task for a task's call. The Dialer button shows how many are waiting.

Recordings and where calls show

When Record calls is on, each call's row has Play recording and, when Twilio has finished it, a Transcript. Voicemails are recorded too. Recordings are kept for 90 days, then show Recording no longer available. Anyone in the workspace can play them.

Cleanlist calls show in these places, with the disposition, how the call ended, the date, notes, recording and transcript:

Costs

Calls and numbers are charged in credits from your workspace's balance. See Credits and pricing.

Minutes are rounded up per call: a 61-second call costs 2 credits, or 4 when recorded. The call bar shows the per-minute rate before you talk. A call that would cost more than 101 credits a minute isn't placed.

Before a call starts, Cleanlist sets aside enough credits for up to 60 minutes, or fewer if your balance or the monthly limit covers less, and charges only the minutes used. A call can last up to 60 minutes, and ends when the minutes set aside run out.

Limits and troubleshooting

When a call can't start, the call panel shows Not placed or Couldn't call with the reason.

Calls to most countries work, but which ones connect depends on Twilio's permissions; a call that can't be priced isn't placed ("The call couldn't start. Try again."). Phone numbers you can buy, and the free numbers included with seats, are US and Canadian; numbers in other countries are priced separately, and those that need paperwork can't be bought yet.

Other dialers

Dial with on a call task can also open your own phone app or softphone instead of calling from Cleanlist:

These calls cost no credits and aren't recorded by Cleanlist. The task starts a timer when you click Call; log the outcome on the task as usual.

Trellus. You can also connect Trellus on the Integrations page. Due call tasks go to your Trellus calling list, calls made in Trellus come back to Cleanlist and complete the matching task, and the task shows Open Trellus.

Related

• Sequences: call task steps and the short summary of calling
• Inbox and Tasks: working call tasks, call dispositions
• Credits and pricing: calling prices and credit add-ons
• Plans: which plans include calling