In Step 8 of the campaign creation process, you choose the number of times you wish to attempt to call the contacts on your list for this call campaign. 


In other words, you select the number of “passes” you want the Scale to Win Dialer to make on your list: one, two, three, four, or five. This enables you to try reaching the contacts on your list more than once, and in turn increases the likelihood that your callers will get to have a conversation with them.


“Step 7: Number of Passes” in the campaign creation process.


Key Aspects of This Feature

  • Disposition settings: The “Disposition” settings in the first question of your call script determine which contacts the dialer will retry to call during subsequent passes. More on this below.

  • Minimum time between passes: You will specify the minimum amount of time you want to elapse between each pass, so that a given contact will not be re-dialed in less than that amount of time. Note: This is not the amount of time that must lapse after finishing your list, and beginning again. Rather, it signifies the time needed to pass before a single contact is available to dial again.

  • Clicking: You only need to complete the “clicking process” once, before you begin the first pass on your campaign, not multiple times nor between each pass.

  • Edit later: You can edit the “Number of Passes” and the “Minimum Time Required Between Passes” later, even when the campaign has been started and calling is underway.


Below, we’ll explain in more depth 1) how to use the “Number of Passes” step in the campaign creation process, 2) how the dialer determines which contacts to retry and not retry to call during subsequent passes, 3) a few notes on pass behavior, and 4) how to view the results of your passes.


Using the “Number of Passes” Step

“Step 7: Number of Passes” in the campaign creation process.


As shown in the image above, on the “Number of Passes” step of the campaign creation process, there are three fields you need to complete. Each is detailed below.


  1. “Number of Passes”

Use this dropdown menu to select the number of passes you want the Scale to Win Dialer to make on your list for this campaign. That is, specify the number of times you wish to attempt to call each of the contacts on your list.

The field on the “Number of Passes” page where you select the number 

of passes you want the dialer to make on your list for this campaign.


You can edit the “Number of Passes” later, even when the campaign has started and calling is underway. The change will take effect immediately. If, for example, you want to see how your first pass of calling goes before deciding on a second pass, you may begin your first pass and then update the Number of Passes step if you decide that additional passes are warranted.


  1. “Minimum Time Required Between Passes”

You will specify the minimum amount of time you want to elapse between each pass, so that a given contact on your list will not be re-dialed in less than that amount of time.


The field on the “Number of Passes” page where you select the 

minimum amount of time you want to elapse between each pass.


Depending upon the specifics of your calling program, you may, for example, prefer to wait several days before trying to reach your contact again, or, on Election Day, you may wish to dial a contact multiple times within the same day.


You must set the minimum time between passes to be at least 20 minutes.


The minimum time you can input in this field is 20 minutes.


You can edit the “Minimum Time” field later, even when the campaign has started and calling is underway. The change will take effect immediately.


  1. “Pass to Leave Voicemail During”

Using this dropdown menu, you will select during which pass you want the Scale to Win Dialer to leave your prerecorded voicemail message on the answering machines of landline phone numbers you don’t reach. 


The Dialer will only leave your prerecorded voicemail message once for each applicable contact during a given calling campaign, regardless of the number of passes you select.


The field on the “Number of Passes” page where you select during which 

pass you want the dialer to leave your prerecorded voicemail message.


Note: This dropdown menu is available only if you’ve turned on the voicemail feature in “Step 6: Leave Voicemail.” Otherwise, this dropdown menu will be grayed-out and not clickable, as it is not applicable.


Which Contacts Are Called During Subsequent Passes

The Scale to Win Dialer determines which contacts on your list to call during subsequent passes based on the results of your first pass. 


The “Disposition” settings you select when setting up the first question of your call script determine which contacts the dialer will and will not call during subsequent passes. Below is a summary of this behavior.


By default, the dialer will call the following types of contacts during subsequent passes on your list:

  1. Contacts whose answering machine was reached during the previous pass, or for whom there was otherwise no answer (i.e., silence)

  2. Contacts with whom one of your callers was connected during the previous pass and whom the caller marked as “call back later” 


By default, the dialer will not call the following types of contacts during subsequent passes on your list:

  1. Contacts with whom one of your callers had a conversation during the previous pass (i.e., contacts with whom one of your callers was connected and whom the caller marked as “canvassed”)

  2. Contacts with whom one of your callers was connected during the previous pass and whom the caller marked as “refused,” “wrong number,” “moved,” or “language barrier”


The above summary is based on the dialer’s default “Disposition” settings in the first question of your call script. If you or another admin edits these default Disposition settings, those selections will determine which contacts the dialer will and will not call during subsequent passes on your list.


An example of a default response option in the first question of a call script, with the dropdown menu of Disposition options displayed.


Below is a summary of each disposition option, its use case, and whether or not it will be called during subsequent passes on a call list, according to the dialer’s default settings:

Disposition

Use Case

Called during subsequent passes?

“Canvassed”

The caller spoke with the contact and marked them as “Talking to Correct Person.” 

No

“Answering machine”

The caller marked that they encountered either an answering machine or silence, not a human on the other end of the line. 

Yes

“Do not retry to call”

The caller marked the contact as “Refused,” “Wrong Number,” “Moved,” or “Language Barrier.”

No

“Retry to call on a subsequent pass”

The caller marked the contact as “Call Back Later,” perhaps because the contact said they were busy at the moment or a different member of the household answered and said to call back later.

Yes

“Add to ‘Do Not Call’ list”

This disposition is not used by default in the first script question, but can be used to automatically add certain contacts to your dialer organization’s internal Do Not Call list. You might use this disposition for contacts that a caller marks as “Hostile” or “Strong refusal.”

No


Read more about Disposition settings in this guide.


Notes on Pass Behavior

Caller Wait Times 

  • Calling speeds can vary between the first and subsequent passes on your list. In some cases, callers may experience somewhat longer wait times between calls during the second, third, and additional passes on your list.

  • This is usually because the contacts most likely to pick up your call already did so during the first pass on your list, or because there may be more answering machines for the dialer to bypass on the second pass in order to find a contact to connect with one of your callers.


Clicking

  • You only need to complete the “clicking process” once, before you begin the first pass on your campaign, not multiple times or between each pass.


Viewing the Results

As with all calling results on the Scale to Win Dialer, you can view the results of each pass of your calling campaign in the following three ways:


1. Your “View Results” Page

In the “Call Progress” section of your campaign’s View Results page, your progress calling through each pass on your list will be displayed, as shown in the example below.


Example Call Progress bars showing the progress calling through each pass of a list.


2. Your Exported CSV of Results

In the CSV export of your campaign results, the third column of the spreadsheet will display “Pass,” meaning the pass during which this particular call occurred. 


The “Pass” column in an example CSV export.


For example, a contact that was called during the first, second, and third passes on your list will have three separate rows in your CSV, detailing the results of each of the three calls.


3. Your S3 or BigQuery Export

Finally, if you’ve set up an export of your calling data into S3 and/or BigQuery, your “Calls” table will include a row for “call_count”, which represents the pass during which the call was made.


An excerpt from the Scale to Win Dialer’s S3 and BigQuery data dictionary.


Once you’re done with Step 7, head to the next step: starting your campaign!