> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.voxworks.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Gatekeeper > The Gatekeeper fixed section opens every survey call: the greeting and consent question, the opening line, the named opening, screeners and receptionists, holds, callbacks, wrong numbers and the inbound introduction. Every Outbound and Inbound field, and what the respondent hears. ## What is the Gatekeeper? The **Gatekeeper** is the front door of every survey call. It runs once at the start of every call, outbound and inbound, before the first question. It works out who has answered — the respondent, a receptionist, a phone's call-screening service or an answering machine — asks for consent, and only then hands over to the questionnaire. In the **Outline** on the [Questions tab](/surveys/questions-tab), **Gatekeeper** is a fixed section described as *"The person who answers before the respondent is reached, and the lines that open the call."* It has two children: * **Outbound** — *"What the call says to whoever picks up — a live person, a screen, or a machine."* * **Inbound** — *"What a respondent who calls back is told before they are asked to take part."* Each pane carries the eyebrow *Gatekeeper · fixed section* and its own **Save** button. The confirmations are *Outbound saved* and *Inbound saved*. The gatekeeper is always on. You shape what it says; you cannot remove it. *** ## Outbound fields ### Opening | Field | Note in the app | | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Greeting** | *"The consent question, asked on BOTH directions. Its reply is read: yes goes on to the survey, no is recorded as refused, ‘not now’ as a callback."* | | **Alternative phrasings** | *"One per line. The greeting above is what a fresh call always hears; these are the other ways of asking it, and one of them is drawn whenever the question is put again."* Up to 20. | | **Opening line** | *"Spoken only when the pickup settled nothing. A clear ‘hello’ gets the greeting straight away."* Placeholder *Hello?* | | **Named opening** | *"Spoken when the person answers with a name and the contact record has one. `{first_name}` is replaced on the call; with no name on record this line is never used."* Placeholder *Hi, is that `{first_name}`?* | **The greeting is required.** Without one, [Readiness](/surveys/readiness) blocks compiling and publishing with *"The gatekeeper has no greeting — it is the consent question, and it is asked on every call."* Write the greeting as who is calling, why, and then the consent question, ending with a question mark. For example: > Hi, my name is Alex and I'm calling from Northside Research. We're running a short survey about local services and would like to include your views. It takes about ten minutes. Are you happy to take part? Keep the recording notice out of the greeting — put it in the first section's **Intro line** (see [Sections](/surveys/sections)), so it is said once the respondent has agreed. ### Screening | Field | Note in the app | | ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Screener line** | *"Said to a call screen or a receptionist: who is calling and why. Left empty, the line shown in grey is what the call says."* The grey placeholder is composed from the agent name and organisation, for example *Hi, Alex from Northside Research, calling about a short research survey. Could you put me through?* When the contact has a first name on record, the composed line says *calling for* and the name in place of *calling about a short research survey*. | | **Voicemail - Message** | *"Spoken to an answering machine. Leave both this and the SMS empty and the call hangs up on voicemail instead."* | | **Voicemail - SMS** | *"When set, the SMS is sent instead of the spoken message."* | A summary line under the Screening group tells you what an answering machine will get: *Voicemail: send the SMS*, *Voicemail: speak the message* or *Voicemail: hang up*. See [Voicemail and SMS](/surveys/voicemail) for the full behaviour. *** ## Inbound fields These are used when a respondent calls the survey's number — usually to call back after a missed call. | Field | Note in the app | | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Introduction** | *"Who the caller has reached, said before they are asked to take part — the two are one turn. Left empty, the line shown in grey is what the call says."* The grey placeholder reads *Thanks for calling (organisation) back about the (study name).* | | **Alternative phrasings** | *"One per line. Other ways of saying who they have reached."* | | **Consent question** | *"Asked straight after the introduction, as one turn with it. The introduction has already said who they have reached, so this asks only for consent."* Placeholder *Are you ok to participate?* | The pane ends with the note: *"The introduction has already said who the caller has reached, so the consent question asks only for consent. On an outbound call there is nothing in front of it and the Outbound greeting does both jobs."* Both inbound fields are optional. Readiness warns when they are empty: * *"The gatekeeper has no introduction — an inbound caller is told who they have reached in a line the compiler composes."* * *"The gatekeeper has no inbound consent question — an inbound caller is asked “Are you ok to participate?” after the introduction."* *** ## What the respondent experiences on an outbound call ### 1. Pickup The interviewer says nothing until the person who answered has spoken and finished. Their first words decide what kind of pickup it is: a clear live answer, an answer that names someone, an unclear answer, a receptionist or call-screening service, an answering machine, or silence. Common mailbox and screening phrases — *"you've reached"*, *"leave a message"*, *"after the tone"*, *"record your name and reason for calling"*, *"please hold"* — are recognised straight away. ### 2. Opening | Pickup | What the interviewer says | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | A clear *"Hello?"* or *"Yeah?"* | The **Greeting** straight away. | | Unclear | The **Opening line** (*"Hello?"* by default), then the greeting once they respond. | | Answers with a name, and the contact has a first name on record | The **Named opening** — for example *"Hi, is that Sam?"* If they confirm, the greeting follows. If they say it is someone else, or that the person is not there, the call is recorded as a wrong person. | | Silence | One *"Are you there?"*-style check, once only. | | Receptionist or call-screening service | The **Screener line** — see [Screeners and receptionists](#screeners-and-receptionists). | | Answering machine | The voicemail behaviour — see [Voicemail and SMS](/surveys/voicemail). | ### 3. Consent The greeting ends with the consent question, and the reply decides what happens next: | Reply | Result | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Yes — *"sure"*, *"go ahead"*, *"yeah, why not"*, *"give it a go"* | The survey starts with the first section. | | No — *"not interested"*, *"I don't do surveys"* | Recorded as `refused`. The respondent hears the `refused` closing text, then the farewell. There is no attempt to talk them round. | | Not now — *"call back later"*, *"bad moment"* | The interviewer asks once when would be a good time, and records whatever they say. Recorded as `callback_requested`, and the respondent hears that outcome's closing text, then the farewell. | | Wrong number or wrong person — *"nobody by that name"*, *"wrong number"* | Recorded as `no_contact`. | | A question — *"who is this?"*, *"how long will it take?"* | Answered from your [FAQs](/surveys/faqs), then the consent question is asked again. | | A hold — *"hang on"*, *"I'll get her"* | The interviewer waits — see [Holds](#holds). A hold is never taken as a yes. | | Busy or stop — *"I'm driving"*, *"take me off your list"* | Handled by the survey's [Behaviours](/surveys/behaviours). | **The greeting is said in full only once.** When the consent question has to be put again — after an FAQ answer, a hold, or an unclear reply — the interviewer asks in shorter words rather than repeating the whole introduction — the **Consent question** from the Inbound pane when you have written one, otherwise the last sentence of the greeting when that sentence is a question, otherwise *"Are you ok to participate?"*. If there is still no usable answer after the greeting and one re-ask, the call is recorded as `callback_requested` so the contact can be tried again. Answering an FAQ or a busy or stop detour does not use up a try. The consent outcomes use the codes in the [Closing](/surveys/closing-and-outcomes) section, so write a closing text for `refused` and `callback_requested` there. ### Screeners and receptionists When a receptionist or a phone's call-screening service answers (*"If you record your name and reason for calling, I'll see if this person is available"*), the interviewer says the **Screener line**: who is calling and why, and a request to be put through. | What the screen does | Result | | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Puts the call through to a new voice | Treated as a fresh pickup: that person hears the named opening or the greeting. | | Offers a callback | Recorded as a callback, with any time they gave. | | Says it is the wrong number, or refuses | Recorded as `no_contact`. | | Asks them to hold | A hold — see below. | ### Holds Whenever someone asks the interviewer to wait — *"one moment"*, *"please stay on the line"*, *"I'll just grab her"* — the interviewer says one short acknowledgement (*"Sure."*, *"No rush."*, *"Take your time."*) and then stays quiet. It waits for around a minute and a half of silence before giving up. | When the hold ends | What happens | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | The same person comes back | The call carries on where it left off. | | A new person comes on | They are greeted as a fresh pickup — the named opening or the greeting. | | Nobody comes back | Recorded as a callback with no time. | | The hold message turns out to be a mailbox (*"please hold or leave a message after the tone"*) | Treated as voicemail. | *** ## What the respondent experiences on an inbound call There is no pickup to classify: the caller has rung you. The interviewer opens with the **Introduction**. When the Introduction is left empty, the composed line ends with the **Consent question** — for example *"Thanks for calling Northside Research back about the Community Services Survey. Are you ok to participate?"* An Introduction you write yourself is spoken exactly as written, with nothing added, so end it with the consent question. The consent reply is handled exactly as on an outbound call, and FAQs, busy and stop apply from the first word. For a number to answer inbound calls with the survey, assign the survey's compiled script to it — see [Running a survey](/surveys/running-a-survey). *** ## How gatekeeper endings are recorded A call that ends at the gatekeeper never reaches the questionnaire, so it files **no survey session** — it does not appear under Results **Responses** or in the CSV export. It is counted in the Results **Contact funnel**, which is built from call records (see [Results](/surveys/results)). | Gatekeeper result | Outcome code | What the respondent hears | | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | Agreed | — (the survey starts) | The first question | | Declined | `refused` | The `refused` closing text, then the farewell | | Not now | `callback_requested` | The `callback_requested` closing text, then the farewell | | Wrong person, or screener would not connect | `no_contact` | No closing text — the farewell only | | Voicemail | `no_contact` | Nothing further — see [Voicemail and SMS](/surveys/voicemail) | The gatekeeper also writes its own result to the call's `survey.gatekeeper.*` custom variables — who answered, the result, and any callback time the respondent gave. They are listed in [Survey variables and piping](/surveys/survey-variables#gatekeeper-variables). "Are you a real person?" and "Is this an AI?" have no built-in answer. Add them as [FAQs](/surveys/faqs) with the wording your organisation wants to use.