> ## 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.

# Voicemail and SMS

> What a survey call does when an answering machine picks up: how machines are detected, the spoken message, SMS and hang-up options on the Gatekeeper's Outbound pane, and how voicemail is recorded.

## How an answering machine is detected

Every outbound survey call listens to the first words of whoever answers before it says anything (see [Gatekeeper](/surveys/gatekeeper#1-pickup)). Voicemail detection is built in and always on. It recognises mailbox greetings such as *"You've reached Sarah, leave a message after the tone"*, *"I can't take your call right now"* and carrier announcements that the call is being forwarded to voicemail.

Voicemail is checked before anything else, so a mailbox greeting is never offered a callback or asked the consent question. A hold message that turns out to be a mailbox (*"please hold or leave a message after the tone"*) is also treated as voicemail.

***

## Choosing what a machine gets

You choose on the **Gatekeeper → Outbound** pane, in the **Screening** group, with two fields:

| Field                   | Note in the app                                                                                                   |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **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 group shows the result of what you have entered:

| Voicemail - Message | Voicemail - SMS | Summary line                   | What happens                                              |
| ------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Empty               | Empty           | *Voicemail: hang up*           | The call hangs up without leaving anything.               |
| Set                 | Empty           | *Voicemail: speak the message* | The message is left on the machine.                       |
| Either              | Set             | *Voicemail: send the SMS*      | An SMS is sent to the number instead of a spoken message. |

### The spoken message

The message is spoken exactly as written, once. The interviewer waits for the mailbox greeting to finish and for a short moment of quiet before speaking, so the message is not talked over by the beep.

A good message says who called, why, and how to reach you, in two or three sentences. For example:

> Hi, this is Alex from Northside Research. We're running a short community survey and would love your views. You can call us back on this number at any time. Thanks.

If respondents call back, they reach whatever the number is assigned to — assign the survey's script to your outbound number to have the survey answer them (see [Running a survey](/surveys/running-a-survey)). Inbound callers hear the **Inbound** introduction and consent question from the [Gatekeeper](/surveys/gatekeeper#inbound-fields).

### The SMS

The SMS text is sent to the number that was dialled. Keep it short, say who you are and why you called, and give a way to take part or opt out. If the SMS cannot be sent, the call ends without leaving anything.

When no SMS is set, [Readiness](/surveys/readiness) shows the warning *"The gatekeeper has no SMS — an answering machine gets a silent hangup."* When a spoken message is set, the message is left as usual. The warning is a reminder only: hanging up on voicemail is a common choice for research calls, and it does not block compiling or publishing.

***

## How voicemail is recorded

A voicemail ends the call straight after the message or SMS. There is no closing text and no farewell, because nobody is listening.

* The outcome is `no_contact`.
* No survey session is filed, so the call does not appear under Results **Responses** or in the export. It is counted as **Voicemail** under **Not connected** in the Results **Contact funnel** (see [Results](/surveys/results)).
* The call's `survey.gatekeeper.result` custom variable is `voicemail`, and `survey.gatekeeper.status` records what the machine got:

| `survey.gatekeeper.status` | Meaning                               |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `voicemail_left`           | The spoken message was left.          |
| `voicemail_sms`            | The SMS was sent.                     |
| `voicemail_skipped`        | An SMS was set but could not be sent. |
| `voicemail_hangup`         | Nothing was left; the call hung up.   |

All are text values. See [Survey variables and piping](/surveys/survey-variables#gatekeeper-variables) for the full set.

Whether voicemail calls are retried is decided by the batch the survey runs in, not by the survey — see [Calling Rules & Retries](/batches/calling-rules).