Outbound campaigns turn a list of clients into booked appointments. Import a list (or pick existing patients), choose whether the AI or your staff works it, set your calling window, and FrontDesk dials, has the conversation, offers real open slots, and books straight into your calendar — logging every outcome.
Outbound calling is a regulated activity. You are the caller as between you and FrontDesk, and you are responsible for having a lawful basis (including any required consent) to contact each person on your list. See the Acceptable Use Policy for the full rules.
Where to find it
Campaigns in the left navigation. Click New campaign, or from Patients select contacts and choose Add to campaign.
1. Create the campaign
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Internal label (e.g. "Spring recall — hygiene") |
| Goal | What the AI is trying to do — e.g. book an appointment |
| Mode | AI (auto-dials) or Staff ("Call Next" dialer for your team) |
2. Import your contacts
- From a CSV — first name, last name, and phone number are all you need.
- From existing patients — search and select patients already in FrontDesk; their name, phone, city/state, and last visit come along.
- From a saved audience — seed the campaign straight from a built-in segment: patients due for recall, recently diagnosed but not booked, or recent no-shows. FrontDesk pulls the matching contacts in one click, applying the same suppression and de-dup rules as any other import.
Re-uploading is safe: FrontDesk matches on phone number and updates the existing contact with any new details instead of creating a duplicate — so you can re-import a corrected or expanded list any time. Contacts on your do-not-contact or blocked list (see Blocked / do-not-call numbers) are automatically skipped on import.
3. Set the call window & pacing
FrontDesk only dials inside the schedule you configure:
- Calling days — which days of the week the campaign may dial.
- Call window — start and end time, in the recipient's local time. The legal window is generally 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; the default is narrower (business hours).
- Daily limit & retries — cap attempts per day and set how many times to retry a no-answer.
- Skip recent callers — don''t auto-dial someone who already phoned your FrontDesk number within a window you choose (default 24 hours), so you never call a patient who just reached you. This covers calls that come through FrontDesk.
Nothing dials outside these settings. If today isn''t a calling day, or you''re outside the window, the campaign shows why instead of dialing.
4. Consent & restricted states
This is the part that keeps you compliant — read it carefully.
- Consent — you certify that every contact on the list has given the consent required to receive these calls. For automated or AI-voice calls, that generally means prior express written consent.
- Restricted states — several states have stricter "mini-TCPA" telephone-solicitation laws. By default FrontDesk suppresses calls to all of them unless you explicitly enable a state for the campaign. They fall into two groups:
- Prior express written consent states — Florida (FTSA), Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, and Maryland. To enable these you must certify that every number on the list has prior express written consent to receive automated/AI-voice calls at that number, not conditioned on a purchase.
- In-call mechanic states — New York and Washington. These aren't written-consent regimes; FrontDesk applies the required in-call mechanics automatically (an early opt-out offer for New York; caller identification and a callback number for Washington).
- Require confirmed state (optional) — when on, FrontDesk only dials contacts whose state is confirmed from a saved address, and holds anyone whose state it can only guess from the area code. Use this when you want to be conservative about which state's rules apply.
Enabled a restricted state after importing? Contacts that were held for that state aren't lost. Use Re-queue suppressed on the campaign to move newly-eligible contacts back into the calling queue — no re-import needed. Held contacts always show the reason they were suppressed.
5. What every AI call includes
AI-voice calls placed through FrontDesk open, by default and in a fixed order, with:
- An automated-call disclosure so the recipient knows they're speaking with an AI.
- A recording notice.
- Any state-specific identification or opt-out language required for the recipient's state.
Only then does the AI move into the conversation and its booking goal. These openers are spoken verbatim on every call — you can't accidentally turn them off, and you must not attempt to remove or undermine them.
6. Start the campaign & track outcomes
- AI mode — activate the campaign; the dialer works the list on your schedule.
- Staff mode — press Call Next and the dialer connects you to the next contact.
Every call is logged with an outcome — booked, callback, no answer, or declined — giving you a full, auditable history per contact.
Blocked / do-not-call numbers
Every practice has a shared blocked list. Add a number once — a wrong number, or someone who has asked not to be contacted — and it''s suppressed from every campaign and future dial, and from your texts too. Manage it from Campaigns → Blocked numbers. When someone tells the AI to stop calling during a call, their number is added to this list automatically.
Good to know
- Opt-outs are permanent. Once someone opts out, they're suppressed across all campaigns for your practice.
- Recordings follow consent law. In two-party-consent states the recording notice is part of the opener — see Understand call recording consent.
- You own the list. Don't use purchased, rented, or scraped lists; only call people who have given you the necessary consent.