Callback Notifications
Get told when a caller asks to be called back, instead of finding out later.
What happens on the call
When your assistant can't finish what a caller needs, it offers to take a callback rather than sending them away to email you or ring back later.
It already has the caller's number from the call, so it reads it back to confirm rather than making them recite it, and it asks briefly what the callback is about — so whoever returns the call knows before they dial.
It will not promise when someone will call, who will call, or what the answer will be. It says a version of "I'll pass this on and someone will get back to you" and holds that line even if the caller presses for a time. It has no way of knowing your team's availability, and a promise it can't keep costs you more than the callback was worth.
A callback is the fallback, not the first answer. If a transfer target fits what the caller needs, the assistant puts them through to a person instead — talking to someone now beats waiting for a call back. It only takes a callback when no transfer fits, or when the transfer doesn't connect.
For this to work well, give each transfer target a When to use description. Without one, a target matches every caller and the assistant will transfer people it should have taken a callback for.
Turning it on
Alerts are off until you set a recipient. There are two places to do that.
Account default
Settings → Notifications → Callback Requests
Enter the email address that should hear about callbacks, and optionally a mobile number. This covers every assistant that doesn't have its own setting.
To turn alerts off account-wide, use Turn off on that card. Any assistant with its own setting keeps notifying — the page tells you how many.
Per assistant
AI Assistants → your assistant → Agent tab → Callback Requests
Useful when different people should hear about different lines — a front desk for one number, an owner for another. Three choices:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Use the account default | This assistant follows Settings → Notifications |
| Send to someone specific | This assistant alerts its own recipients instead |
| Do not notify for this assistant | This assistant stays quiet, even if an account default exists |
An assistant's own setting always wins over the account default. Only one alert goes out per call — nobody gets two copies.
What you receive
Email
Always sent when someone is set as a recipient. The subject leads with the action so it's useful from a lock screen:
Call back Dana Smith — (555) 123-4567
Inside: the number as a tap-to-dial link, what the caller wanted, a button through to the call in your portal, and the time of the call in your own time zone.
Text message
Optional, and only if your account has the SMS add-on. Add a mobile number alongside the email and you'll get a short nudge with the same number and link.
Texts come from a Voka number, not your own toll-free number, and they don't count against your SMS allowance.
Seeing them in the portal
Every callback request also appears in three places, whether or not you set up alerts:
- Call Backs in the sidebar — the shared work queue your team actually works from. See below.
- The notifications bell → Priority tab. A working list of callers still owed a call, each showing the number to dial.
- A Callback badge on the call in your call log, so you can filter for them. Exports label the column Callback Requested.
Working the queue
Call Backs lists every request with the caller's number, what they asked about, and a way through to the call it came from.
- Claim a request before you dial, so two people don't ring the same caller back. If a colleague claims it first, the row updates to show it.
- Resolve it once the call is made — or reopen it if it needs another attempt.
- Add notes so whoever picks it up next knows what already happened.
Claiming is the part worth building a habit around. Alerts tell everyone at once; without claiming, "everyone" can easily mean two people calling the same customer within a minute of each other.
Older callbacks are still listed, but they have no claim history — there was nobody to record.
Worth knowing
Alerts arrive after the call ends, usually within a minute — not while the caller is still on the line. They're generated from the analysis of the finished call.
Ordinary calls produce nothing. Someone asking your opening hours won't generate an alert. Only a caller who actually asks to be called back does.
Check your spam folder the first time. A new sender often lands there once; marking it "not spam" fixes it for good.
A caller who hangs up without asking for anything isn't a callback request. If you want to see those, the call log shows every call including very short ones.