Smart Timing is deliberately cautious: it changes your pacing only when it is at least 90% sure the change is better and expects a real lift. Most "it isn't doing anything" reports are it doing exactly that. Here's how to tell the difference.
It's stuck in "Learning"
Work down this list.
1. Not enough calls yet. Open the campaign and read the Smart Timing card. Learning from N calls is the practice-wide count. Under a couple of hundred calls it is mostly showing the starting point and will rarely be confident enough to apply. The progress bar tells you how far to the next level of detail. There is no shortcut except more calls.
2. The pattern is real but small. If your patients pick up about as well at 10 a.m. as at 3 p.m., there is nothing to optimize, and Smart Timing correctly does nothing. The status line shows its confidence ("62% so far"). A number that hovers rather than climbs usually means a flat pattern, not missing data.
3. Your window only has one narrow block. If the campaign calls 10 a.m.–12 p.m. only, there are two hours to choose between. Smart Timing can only re-balance inside your windows — it never adds hours. Widen the block or add a second one in Campaign settings and it will learn inside the larger fence.
4. Apply automatically is off. In that mode the state parks at Ready to apply and waits for you. Check the chip; if it says Ready, press Apply on the card. To make it self-serve, turn Apply automatically when ready on in Campaign settings.
5. You pressed Undo recently. An undo (or any apply) starts a one-week cooldown before Smart Timing may apply again, so it can't immediately redo the thing you just reversed. Show changes on the card lists the timestamp.
6. The campaign is in staff mode. Staff campaigns have no auto-dialer, so there is nothing to pace and Smart Timing does not appear. Only AI-agent campaigns learn.
The best times look generic
If the top three are "late mornings / late afternoons / midday" and every rate is marked estimate, you are looking at the starting point, not your own data. The line under the heatmap says where it came from — other practices in your specialty, FrontDesk practices, or industry defaults. That is expected until your own call count grows; a few hundred calls replaces most of it.
If you have plenty of calls and it still looks generic, check that they are landing where you think:
- Timezones. Everything is measured in the patient's local time. A list spanning several states spreads the same practice-hour across several patient-hours, which flattens the picture. Nothing to fix — it's correct — but it explains a softer pattern.
- A short window. With a 9-to-5 block the map can only ever light up 9-to-5. Faded cells are outside your windows and never get calls.
An applied schedule feels wrong
- Check the observed lift first. Once about 30 control calls have gone out since the apply, the card shows the measured difference ("+9% observed vs. the control slice"). A positive number means it is working even if the schedule looks unfamiliar.
- Press Undo. Pacing returns to even immediately. Nothing else changes.
- Look at the numbers. Hover the heatmap cells it leaned into and away from. Each shows the pick-up rate and how many of your calls back it. A cell with three calls and a 67% rate is noise; Smart Timing weighs that appropriately, but the raw number can look alarming.
- Check the log. Show changes records what was applied, when, whether it was automatic, and the expected lift at the time.
- Turn it off in Campaign settings if you'd rather run evenly. Your history is kept for when you switch it back on.
The heatmap is empty or all one shade
- All one shade — every open hour has about the same estimated rate (flat pattern, or early days when the starting point dominates). Normal.
- Everything faded — your campaign has no open hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the days it calls. Check the calling days and blocks in Campaign settings.
- The card doesn't load — press the refresh icon on the card. If it keeps failing, contact support with the campaign name.
Callbacks aren't being counted
A callback is credited when the same phone number rings the practice within three days of an AI campaign call. It won't be counted if the patient called from a different number, called after the three-day window, or reached a number that isn't managed by FrontDesk. The card's "callbacks credited" figure is practice-wide.
Still stuck?
Contact support with the campaign name and a screenshot of the Smart Timing card — the status chip, call count, and confidence line are usually enough to diagnose it.