> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.recepta.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Outbound overview

> The growth engine — working leads, quotes, and dormant customers automatically.

The receptionist catches demand that comes to you. The outbound engine creates it — by systematically working the leads, unsold quotes, and past customers most service businesses never get round to calling back.

It runs on the same agents, knowledge, and phone numbers as your inbound setup.

## The pieces

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Contacts" icon="address-book" href="/outbound/contacts">
    Who you're reaching. Imported, captured from calls and forms, or synced from your CRM.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Campaigns" icon="bullhorn" href="/outbound/campaigns">
    A batch of contacts worked toward one goal, with an agent and a schedule.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sequences" icon="list-ol" href="/outbound/sequences">
    The multi-step logic — call, SMS, email, voicemail drop, waits, and branches.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Email infrastructure" icon="server" href="/outbound/email-infrastructure">
    Sending domains, mailboxes, and warmup that keep email landing in inboxes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What to run first

Start with the warmest list you have. Cold prospecting is the hardest thing to make work and the worst place to learn the system.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Unsold quotes" icon="file-invoice-dollar">
    The highest-return campaign for most service businesses. These people asked for a price, which means they had the problem and the intent — many simply got distracted.

    Work quotes from the last 30–90 days. A call plus a text referencing the specific job recovers a meaningful share.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Dormant customers" icon="clock-rotate-left">
    Customers who haven't been back in a year or more. They already trust you and often just haven't thought about it. Tie the reason to the season — pre-summer AC service, pre-winter heating check.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="New leads" icon="bolt">
    Form fills, Facebook lead ads, and missed calls, worked within minutes. Speed is the whole game here. See [Web forms](/channels/web-forms).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Post-visit follow-up" icon="star">
    Reviews, upsells on work you flagged but didn't do, and maintenance plans. Cheap to run and it compounds.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Tip>
  Run one campaign at a time until it works. Three half-configured campaigns produce noise you can't learn from, and they compete for the same contacts.
</Tip>

## Channels

| Channel        | Best for                           | Notes                                                                 |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Call           | Highest intent, fastest resolution | Respect calling hours in the contact's timezone                       |
| SMS            | Follow-up after an unanswered call | Requires approved [A2P registration](/phone/a2p-10dlc)                |
| Email          | Detail, links, and quotes          | Sends from dedicated [infrastructure](/outbound/email-infrastructure) |
| Voicemail drop | Reaching people who never answer   | Treated as a call for compliance purposes                             |

## Compliance is not optional

Outbound carries real legal exposure. Before your first campaign:

<Warning>
  * **Calling hours** — 8am to 9pm in the *called party's* local time, tighter in some states.
  * **Do-not-call** — honor the national registry and your internal list. A stop request must persist forever.
  * **Consent** — know the basis you're relying on for each list. An existing-customer relationship is not blanket consent to market.
  * **Identification** — say who's calling and why, early.
  * **Opt-out** — must work on every channel, and must be immediate.
</Warning>

See [Recording & consent](/phone/recording-and-consent). If a campaign's list makes you hesitate, that hesitation is the answer.

## Measuring it

Judge campaigns on booked jobs and revenue, not on contact or reply rates. A campaign with a low answer rate that books six jobs beats a chatty one that books none.