Answering Machine Detection (AMD)

Updated: May 16, 2024

Answering Machine Detection is an advanced campaign feature that is used to detect human answers versus machine answers.

Answering Machine Detection (AMD) determines if an outbound call has been answered by a human or a machine by analyzing noise patterns and comparing them against time thresholds. The AMD settings represent the time thresholds, which can affect the detection ratio of machine vs human calls and the speed at which an agent is connected to a live human call. 

Be default, this feature is enabled with its own settings. On the campaign settings page, new settings can be create by clicking the + button to create a new template.

*Note: Test any new AMD settings to ensure the campaign runs as intended.

Disabling AMD

Disabling AMD removes the distinction between human and machine answers, with call logs only displaying 'Answered AgentConnect' without specifying 'human' or 'machine'. When AMD is disabled, the "Voicemail Action" campaign setting has no effect, resulting in all live answers and answering machines being connected to the agent. As a result, the combination of "Calls Outbound Human" and "Calls Outbound Machine" may not accurately add up with "Calls Outbound Connected."

Short Calls

In some cases AMD may not have enough time to analyze and make a decision when calls are cut short. Live calls take 1-3 seconds for analysis, 2-4 seconds if silence or voicemail is detected. Short calls will display "Answered AgentConnect" without specifying "human" or "machine" in the call logs.

Preview and Manual Dials

Preview and manual dials do not use AMD. This is because they are not asynchronous calls. The agent initiates the call, makes the analysis and decision, and hangs up. On an outbound call, if a live answer or voicemail is detected, the call log simply displays "Answered" or "No Answer."

Conclusion

AMD is a useful feature that ensures proper detection of carrier signals, call connections, and event logging. As mentioned earlier, it's important to test any new AMD settings before running a campaign to avoid confusion and undesired results.