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A survey runs as a Call Script

When you compile a survey, Voxworks builds it into an ordinary Call Script (see Validate, compile and publish). The script appears in Call Scripts under the survey’s name, and you use it exactly like any other script:
  • Outbound — add it to a batch in Batch Scheduler to dial a list of respondents.
  • Inbound — assign it to a phone number so respondents who call that number take the survey.
  • Testing — place a test call from Call Scripts to hear it yourself.
There is no separate dialling screen for surveys. To find the script, open Settings → Compiled identity in the survey and click the Script link, or search Call Scripts for the survey’s name. The same script handles both directions. On an outbound call it opens with the Outbound greeting; on an inbound call, with the Inbound introduction and consent question (see Gatekeeper).

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Before you start: choose a voice

A survey has no default voice. Choose one in the Agent section before you compile. A survey compiled without a voice produces a script that “cannot place a call” — Readiness warns about it, but the warning does not block compiling or publishing. If you add a voice after compiling, compile (or publish) again so the script picks it up.

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Test the survey

  1. Compile the draft — press Validate or Compile.
  2. Open the compiled script from Settings → Compiled identity → Script.
  3. Place a test call to your own phone or in your browser.
A test call runs the newest compiled draft, so you can hear changes before publishing them. Answer as a respondent would — including the awkward cases: say “not now”, ask “who is this?”, give a “don’t know”, mumble an answer, ask for the options again. A session is marked as a test when its call ran a version that was not published — so a test call on a newer compiled draft is a test session, but a test call made when nothing newer than the published version has been compiled runs the published version and is counted as a live session. Test sessions are left out of Results unless you turn on Include test sessions. A rule can check The call is a test (see Routing rules).

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Publish

Real calls run the survey’s published version only. Press Publish in the survey workspace when you are ready. Until the survey has been published, only test calls should use its script. Publishing a new version later does not need any change to your batches or numbers: they keep pointing at the same script, and new calls pick up the newly published version as soon as it is live. Calls already in progress finish on the version they started with.

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Dial respondents from Batch Scheduler

  1. Put your respondents in a list — each contact needs a phone number, and a first name if you use the Named opening or pipe {{contact.first_name}}.
  2. In Batch Scheduler, create a batch and choose the survey’s script as the Call Script, either as the batch default or on a source list. See Batch Scheduler.
  3. Set the calling window and pacing in Scheduling & Pacing.
  4. Set retries for voicemail, no answer and busy lines in Calling Rules & Retries. The survey itself does not retry: a respondent who says “not now” or “call me back” is recorded as callback_requested, and whether they are called again is up to the batch.
  5. Launch the batch.
Each call’s survey answers land in the survey’s Results, whichever batch placed it.

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Answer inbound calls on a number

In Numbers & Routing → Numbers, choose the number and assign the survey’s script as its Inbound script (see Phone Numbers). Anyone who calls that number is greeted with the Inbound introduction and asked for consent. A common set-up is to assign the script to the same number the batch dials out from, so a respondent who missed the call and rings back can take the survey then. If you leave a voicemail message or SMS, tell people they can call back on that number.

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Launch checklist

  • A Voice is chosen in the Agent section.
  • Readiness shows no blockers, and you have read the warnings.
  • The Greeting asks for consent, and the four shell outcomes have closing texts in Closing.
  • FAQs cover who is calling, how long it takes, where the number came from and “are you a real person?”.
  • Maximum call duration in the Agent section is long enough for the whole interview.
  • You have made test calls and heard the awkward cases handled well.
  • The survey is published.
  • The batch uses the survey’s script, with the retries and calling window you want.

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Watching results come in

Open the survey and switch to Results mode. Figures refresh every 30 seconds while the page is open. See Results and Responses and export.