Glossary
What is an inbound call?
The calls customers make to you: what they're usually about, and where they go when nobody picks up.
The short answer
What is an inbound call?
An inbound call is a phone call that a customer, or anyone else, places to your business, as opposed to an outbound call, which your business places. Inbound calls are usually requests: questions about prices or hours, bookings, orders, support and complaints. Because the caller chose the moment, an inbound call that goes unanswered is often a lost opportunity, and how a business handles inbound calls shapes much of its customer service.
Where inbound calls go
An inbound call to a business number passes through whatever your phone setup puts in its path.
- A greeting or menu: an auto attendant or IVR.
- The people who answer: one phone, a ring group or a queue.
- Rules for busy times and closed hours: overflow and after-hours routing.
- The last stop when nobody answers: voicemail, a forwarded number, an answering service or an AI receptionist.
Example
A homeowner finds a leak under the sink and calls three plumbers from a search. The first rings out to voicemail, the second is busy, and the third answers and books a visit. All three got an inbound call; one got the job.
What it means for a small business
Daber AI answers inbound calls on a new number, which it gives you right away in the US and Canada, or on your existing number through call forwarding, either every call or only the ones you don't answer. Calls can also arrive over an existing SIP trunk or a Twilio number. The agent answers from your knowledge base, books appointments, takes messages and transfers to a person, and every call is saved as a recording, a transcript and a summary.
Questions
What is the difference between inbound and outbound calls?
Direction. An inbound call comes in to your business; an outbound call is one your business places. Inbound calls are mostly requests from customers, while outbound calls are mostly reminders, follow-ups, sales and surveys.
What is an inbound call center?
A team, or a system, set up mainly to answer incoming calls: customer service, support, orders and bookings. An outbound call center mainly places calls, such as sales, reminders and follow-ups. Many do both.
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