How to Configure Outbound Batch Calling in Thoughtly

How to Configure Outbound Batch Calling in Thoughtly

Teams running high-volume lead conversion need a way to call hundreds or thousands of contacts without dialing each one by hand. Whether you're an insurance agency chasing open-enrollment leads, a mortgage lender following up on rate-lock requests, or a home services company re-engaging stale estimates, manual outbound doesn't scale. Thoughtly's outbound batch calling combines Automations, contact segmentation, and the Call Contact step to let your AI voiceAI voiceAn artificially generated, natural-sounding voice produced by a TTS model. Thoughtly supports a library of AI voices and brand-specific cloning.Read full definition → agent work through a targeted list on a schedule you control.

This guide covers two approaches: a CSV bulk upload for one-time campaigns and a tag-based automation for recurring outbound programs. By the end, you'll have a working batch calling workflowWorkflowAn automated, multi-step process — usually triggered by an event (form fill, new lead) and orchestrating one or more voice / SMS / email actions.Read full definition → that reaches the right contacts, at the right time, with the right agent — and writes outcomes back to your CRMCRMThe system of record for leads, contacts, deals, and activity. Thoughtly reads from and writes to your CRM continuously.Read full definition → or data warehouse automatically.

What you'll need

Before configuring batch calling, make sure you have the following:

• An active Thoughtly workspace with calling credits
• At least one configured AI voice agent with a tested conversation flow
• An outbound phone number assigned to the agent in Settings → Phone Numbers
• Contacts loaded into Thoughtly (via CSV upload, CRM integration, or the Contacts API)
• An API token and Team ID from Settings → Developer (required for the tag-based automation approach)
• A consent and suppression workflow so you only call opted-in contacts — see your TCPA/DNC obligations before launching any outbound campaign

If you don't have an agent ready, start with How to Build a Speed-to-Lead AI Agent with Thoughtly to build one in under an hour.

Approach 1: CSV bulk upload for one-time campaigns

The simplest way to run a batch call is to upload a CSV of contacts and launch a bulk calling campaign directly from Thoughtly. This approach works well for one-off campaigns: a list of leads from a trade show, a re-engagement file from your CRM, or a batch of appointment confirmations. Thoughtly's Bulk Upload and Bulk Calls promptbook walks through the full flow inside the platform.

Prepare your CSV file

Your CSV should include at minimum a phone number column. You can also include name, email, tags, and any custom attributes you want the agent to reference during the call. A typical CSV for an insurance lead re-engagement campaign might look like this:

first_name,last_name,phone,email,policy_type,last_quoted
Maria,Gonzalez,+15125551234,[email protected],auto,2026-04-15
James,Chen,+14155559876,[email protected],home,2026-03-22
Aisha,Patel,+17135554321,[email protected],auto,2026-05-01

Upload contacts to Thoughtly

1. 1. Navigate to Audiences in the primary navigation.
2. 2. Click Import or Add Contacts, then select CSV Upload.
3. 3. Map your CSV columns to Thoughtly contact fields: phone number, first name, last name, email, and any custom attributes.
4. 4. Apply a tag to the entire upload batch (for example, "June Re-Engagement" or "Trade Show 2026") so you can target this group later.
5. 5. Review the import summary and confirm. Contacts with duplicate phone numbers will be matched to existing records.

Launch the bulk call

Once contacts are uploaded, you can launch a bulk call against the tagged segment. Select the agent that should handle the calls, choose the outbound phone number, and set any throttling or scheduling constraints. Thoughtly handles the dialing queue, voicemail detection, retries, and outcome tracking. You can monitor progress in History as calls complete.

Approach 2: tag-based automation for recurring campaigns

For ongoing outbound programs — daily lead follow-up, weekly re-engagement, monthly appointment reminders — build a recurring automation that targets contacts by tag. This approach uses Thoughtly's Automations engine to query contacts, loop through results, and call each one with your AI agent. The Outbound Automation promptbook covers this pattern in detail.

Step 1: Tag the contacts you want to call

Tag contacts in Audiences before you build the automation. Your tags define the segment. Examples:

• "New Lead — Auto Insurance" for fresh form fills
• "No Answer — Retry" for contacts who didn't pick up last round
• "Warm Lead — Mortgage" for pre-qualified applicants awaiting follow-up
• "Appointment Confirm — June" for upcoming appointments that need confirmation calls

You can tag contacts manually in Audiences, include tags in your CSV during bulk upload, or set tags via the Contacts API or a CRM integration.

Step 2: Create the automation

1. 1. Go to Tools → Automations in the Thoughtly navigation.
2. 2. Click New Automation and give it a clear name, like "Outbound — Call New Auto Insurance Leads."
3. 3. Leave the automation in Draft mode while you configure it.

Step 3: Configure the Recurring Schedule trigger

Select Time → Recurring Schedule as the trigger. Set the frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly), the time window, and the timezone. If you're calling consumer leads, restrict to business hours in the recipient's timezone to stay compliant and improve answer rates. For example, a mortgage lender might run the automation every weekday at 10:00 AM Central.

Step 4: Add a Send Webhook step to fetch tagged contacts

Add a Send Webhook step that calls the Thoughtly Contacts API to retrieve all contacts with a specific tag. Configure it as follows:

• URL:

https://api.thoughtly.com/contact?tags[]=New%20Lead%20-%20Auto%20Insurance&limit=100&phone_numbers_only=true

• Method: GET
• Headers: x-api-token → your API token, team_id → your Team ID (both from Settings → Developer)

After configuring, use the Output tab on the Send Webhook node and click Refresh to verify the API returns contacts with the expected tag. Confirm that status shows 200 and the response includes a data.contacts array.

Step 5: Add a Loop on Items step

Add a Loop on Items step after the Send Webhook. In the Items field, click Insert VariableVariableA named value the voice agent stores during a conversation — caller name, intent, qualifying answers — and uses to drive routing and post-call actions.Read full definition → and select Send Webhook → response.data.contacts. This tells the loop to iterate over each contact returned by the API call. You can optionally set a limit to cap the number of contacts per run — useful when you're testing or want to throttle volume.

Step 6: Add a Call Contact step inside the loop

1. 1. Inside the loop block, add a Call Contact step.
2. 2. For Contact, click Insert Variable and select Loop → item.id. This links the call to each contact in the batch.
3. 3. Under Select Agent, choose the AI voice agent that should handle these calls.
4. 4. Under Assign Genius / Knowledge Base, select the knowledge base with the script and reference material for this campaign.
5. 5. Optionally, enable Use Custom Phone Number to specify which outbound number these calls should originate from.

Step 7: Test with a small segment first

Before going live, tag two or three internal contacts with the target tag and toggle the automation from Draft to Live. Monitor the History tab to confirm calls are placed, transcripts look correct, and outcomes are recorded. Only then should you expand to the full segment.

Assign and verify your outbound phone number

Every outbound batch call originates from a phone number assigned to the agent's outbound profile. If the number isn't configured correctly, calls will fail silently or trigger a "Outbound calling is disabled for this phone number" error. Configure this in Settings → Phone Numbers:

1. 1. Navigate to Settings → Phone Numbers.
2. 2. Click Edit (pencil icon) on the number you want to use for outbound batch calls.
3. 3. Under Outbound Profile, assign it to the agent that will run the campaign.
4. 4. Confirm the Allow Outbound Calls toggle is enabled.
5. 5. If the number is a Twilio number, set the region closest to your primary call destinations to minimize latency.
6. 6. Save and verify: place a single test call to an internal number before launching the batch.

For high-volume outbound campaigns, consider pairing your number with branded calling and call screening bypass to improve answer rates.

Track outcomes after the batch completes

Batch calling is only useful if you know what happened on each call. Thoughtly gives you several ways to track and act on outcomes:

• History: Every completed call appears in the History feed with the contact, transcript, duration, and outcome. Use filters to isolate a specific campaign or agent.
• Post-call automations: Build a separate automation triggered by On Call Completed to tag contacts based on outcomes (for example, tag "Booked" if the agent scheduled an appointment, or "No Answer — Retry" for voicemails). See How to Handle Voicemail Detection and Voicemail Drops in AI Outbound for voicemail-specific logic.
• CRM write-back: Use a webhook or native integration step (HubSpot, Salesforce, GoHighLevel) to push call results, dispositions, and next steps back to your CRM after every call.
• Dispositions: Use the Add Disposition step in your post-call automation to label each call with a standardized result — "Qualified," "Not Interested," "Callback Requested," "Voicemail Left" — so your team can filter and prioritize without reading every transcript.

Common mistakes

• Launching without testing on a small segment. The first run of any batch automation should target two to five internal contacts. Verify transcripts, outcome tagging, and CRM write-back before expanding.
• Forgetting to activate the automation. Thoughtly automations start in Draft mode. If calls aren't going out, check that the automation is toggled to Live.
• Mismatched tags between contacts and the webhook URL. The tag in the Send Webhook URL must exactly match the tag on your contacts, including capitalization and spaces. "New Lead" and "new lead" are not the same.
• No consent or suppression check before dialing. Batch calling a list that includes opted-out or DNC contacts creates compliance risk. Build suppression logic into your automation or clean the list before upload.
• Using Call Phone Number instead of Call Contact. If you want call history, attributes, and dispositions tied to a contact record, use the Call Contact step. Call Phone Number dials a raw number without contact linkage.
• Leaving outbound calling disabled on the phone number. If the Allow Outbound Calls toggle is off in the phone number settings, every call in the batch will fail. Check Settings → Phone Numbers before launch.
• Running outside business hours. Calling consumer leads at 7:00 AM or 9:00 PM damages answer rates and risks TCPA complaints. Set your Recurring Schedule trigger to stay within business hours for the recipient's timezone.

Measuring success

Track these metrics after running your first batch to evaluate performance and calibrate future campaigns:

Monitor these in Thoughtly's History and Analytics views, and export data for deeper analysis in your BI tool or CRM.

Frequently asked questions

How many contacts can I call in a single batch?

There's no hard platform cap on batch size, but practical limits apply. The Send Webhook step defaults to limit=100 per API call. For larger campaigns, run multiple automation cycles or increase the limit parameter. Start small (50–100 contacts) and scale up as you verify answer rates and agent performance.

Can I run multiple batch calling campaigns at the same time?

Yes. Create separate automations for each campaign, each targeting a different tag. Assign different agents or knowledge bases to keep conversation scripts distinct. Use different outbound numbers if you want to track pickup rates per campaign.

What happens if a contact doesn't answer?

Thoughtly's voicemail detection identifies whether the call reached voicemail or was simply unanswered. You can configure voicemail drops to leave a pre-recorded message and build a post-call automation to re-tag no-answer contacts for a retry batch. Most teams run two to three retry cycles before moving a contact to a "could not reach" segment.

Can I trigger a batch call from an external system instead of a schedule?

Yes. Instead of a Recurring Schedule trigger, use a Webhook trigger on the automation. Your CRM, marketing automation tool, or custom backend can send a POST request to the automation's webhook URL to kick off the batch on demand.

How do I avoid calling the same contact twice?

Use post-call automation logic to remove or change the tag after a successful call. For example, after a call completes, strip the "New Lead" tag and add a "Called — June" tag. The next automation run will only pick up contacts that still have the original tag.

Sources and further reading

• Bulk Upload and Bulk Calls — Thoughtly Promptbook
• Outbound Automation — Thoughtly Promptbook
• Automations: Getting Started — Thoughtly Docs
• Automation Actions and Steps — Thoughtly Docs
• Phone Number Configuration — Thoughtly Docs
• How to Build a Speed-to-Lead AI Agent with Thoughtly
• How to Handle Voicemail Detection and Voicemail Drops in AI Outbound
• How to Re-Engage Dead Leads with Voice, SMS, and Email
• How to Connect Thoughtly to Zapier for AI Voice Workflows
• Thoughtly — AI Agents for Inbound Lead Conversion