Repeated Missed Calls and Manual Handling

When a customer cannot get through, they usually call back multiple times. Each attempt is normally recorded in statistics as a separate missed call, inflating the numbers even though all attempts represent a single inquiry. In addition, receptionists or managers often reply to the customer via Telegram rather than by phone, and the telephony platform has no way of knowing that automatically. Two features solve both problems:

1. Grouping repeated missed calls. A sequence of missed calls from the same phone number is counted as a single missed call unit and a single unique inquiry.
2. Manual handling statuses. An employee can mark a missed call as handled and select a reason, such as "Replied in Telegram".

There is also a third, independent option: outbound callback closes a missed inquiry. When an employee calls the customer back, the missed inquiry is automatically marked as handled (details below).

All three features are independent, disabled by default, and enabled per company. Call records and audio recordings are never altered or deleted: only the way inquiries are counted in statistics and reports changes.

Tip

While these features are disabled, the interface and numbers remain unchanged. New controls and counters appear only after activation.

How grouping works

The platform orders missed inbound calls from the same phone number chronologically. If each subsequent call arrives within the configured number of minutes after the previous call, they are merged into a single group (call unit).

Example with a 10-minute window:

Call time	Result
02:00	Start of group
02:08	Repeat call, same group (8 minutes elapsed)
02:18	Repeat call, same group (10 minutes elapsed since the previous call; boundary is inclusive)
02:29	New group (11 minutes elapsed)

Key rules:

1. Sliding chain, not a fixed window. The interval is measured from the immediately preceding call, not from the first call. A series of calls arriving every 8 minutes remains a single group regardless of total duration.
2. Same number across formats. Numbers +998 90 123-45-67, 998901234567, and 901234567 are recognized as the same number. Anonymous or empty caller numbers are never grouped.
3. Consecutive missed calls only. If the caller gets through and has an answered conversation between two missed calls, the chain is broken.
4. The group belongs to the period of its first call. If a chain starts at 23:55 and ends at 00:10, the entire inquiry is attributed to the day of the first call.
5. One callback closes the entire group. By default, a callback means an answered inbound call from the same number after the missed call.
6. The definition of a missed call does not change. What counts as a missed call or a callback remains the same; only the unit of counting changes.

Outbound callback closes a missed inquiry

By default, only a subsequent answered inbound call from the same number is counted as a callback. If an employee called the customer back via an outbound call, the platform previously did not count that. A dedicated platform-enabled option covers this workflow.

When this option is enabled, an inquiry is marked as handled automatically if the company places an outbound call to the same number after the inquiry's last missed call. Phone numbers are normalized the same way as in grouping: +998901234567, 998901234567, 00998901234567, and 901234567 all match the same number.

The company owner or administrator selects the matching mode in settings:

Mode	What counts as an outbound callback
Recipient answered (default)	An outbound call that the customer answered
Any outbound attempt	Any outbound call to the number, even if the customer did not answer, was busy, or rejected the call

Rules:

1. Only after the missed call. An outbound call placed before or simultaneously with the last missed call does not close the inquiry.
2. No upper time limit. Just like inbound callbacks, it does not matter how many minutes or hours later the callback occurs.
3. An outbound callback breaks the chain. If an employee calls back between two missed calls, the earlier missed calls are closed, and the next missed call starts a new inquiry. An outbound call that does not qualify under the selected mode (for example, an unanswered call in "Recipient answered" mode) does not break the chain.
4. Company-wide matching. Outbound calls are matched across the entire company regardless of extension or department, including calls placed by another department. An operator whose view is restricted to their own extensions will still see that the inquiry was called back.
5. Service calls are excluded. Internal calls between employees and automated platform calls (IVR, monitoring, and other technical calls) do not count as callbacks.
6. Works with or without grouping. If grouping is disabled, each individual missed call acts as its own inquiry.
7. State priority is preserved. Automatic resolution takes precedence over manual marking: if an inquiry has already been resolved by a callback (inbound or outbound), a manual mark is not applied. If both an answered inbound call and an outbound callback exist, the resolution method is shown as an inbound callback.
8. Call records are never modified. This only affects analytics and status calculation; call logs and recordings remain untouched.

In the call log, such an inquiry displays the badge Handled: outbound callback, and statistics and the dashboard include a "Closed by outbound callback" counter (a subset of the "Called back" counter). While the option is disabled, none of these elements are shown.

How manual statuses work

In the call log, missed inbound calls display a Mark as handled action. The employee selects a reason from the company's preset list and optionally enters a comment. The platform records who marked the inquiry, when, and with which reason.

Default reasons list:

1. Replied in Telegram
2. Booked via Telegram
3. Called back from another number
4. No callback needed (spam or wrong number)
5. Other

Manual handling rules:

1. A mark applies to the entire group. When grouping is enabled, marking any call in a group resolves all repeated calls in that group.
2. A mark can be removed. The Unmark action returns the inquiry to the "Unhandled" state.
3. Automatic callback takes precedence. If the inquiry was already resolved by an automatic callback, manual marking is unnecessary and skipped by the platform.
4. A new missed call requires attention again. If a new missed call arrives from the same number after an inquiry was marked as handled, it starts a new unhandled inquiry while preserving the mark on the previous inquiry.
5. Marks survive window changes. Changing the grouping window duration does not erase existing manual marks.
6. Bulk action. In the call log, you can select multiple inquiries with checkboxes and mark up to 200 calls at once with a single reason.

In statistics, missed inquiries are divided into three states:

State	Meaning
Unhandled	No callback occurred and no manual mark was set
Called back	Followed by an answered inbound call from the same number or, if the outbound callback option is enabled, a qualifying outbound call to that number
Handled manually	An employee marked the inquiry with a reason

The sum of these three states always equals the total number of missed inquiries for the period.

Role permissions

Action	Roles
Enable or disable features for a company	Platform only: Superadministrator and Platform Administrator
Change grouping window, reasons list, and outbound callback mode	Owner, Administrator
Mark and unmark inquiries	Owner, Administrator, Manager, Operator
View counters and call log	All company users within their access scope

Operators can view and mark only the calls accessible through their assigned extensions. Data from one company is strictly isolated from any other company.

How to enable

To activate missed call analytics for your company, contact 4phone support. Once enabled, the configuration section becomes available to the company owner and administrator:

1. Open Settings in the left navigation menu.
2. Scroll down to the Missed Call Analytics section.
3. Set the grouping window (from 1 to 1440 minutes, default 10), customize the list of reasons, and choose the outbound callback matching mode (Recipient answered outbound call or Any outbound attempt).
4. Click Save.

Important

Previously applied marks retain the reason label as it was at the time of marking, so renaming or deleting a reason later does not alter historical records.

Where it appears

1. Call log. Summary cards above the table show: inquiries, repeat calls, unhandled, called back, and handled manually. Clicking a card filters the table. Repeat callers show a +N repeats badge with repeat rows collapsed by default. Enable Show repeat calls to view every individual call attempt. You can also filter by handling state: unhandled, handled automatically, or handled manually.
2. Excel export. Adds the columns Handling status, Reason, Comment, and Repeat calls.
3. Statistics. The missed calls tab shows merged repeat calls, unhandled inquiries, and a breakdown of manual handling by reason. The "Missed", "Unique numbers", and "Called back" cards are calculated per inquiry.
4. Dashboard and call center. Today's missed call counter and the live wallboard follow the same rules. The wallboard feed displays the first call of a group with a +N repeats badge.
5. Audit log. Enabling features, changing the grouping window, and marking or unmarking calls are recorded in the audit log.

Important things to know

1. The missed call count will decrease. Once grouping is enabled, the total missed count becomes smaller because repeat attempts are merged. Compare periods using the same settings.
2. Raw call records are unchanged. Every individual call attempt can still be found and its recording played by enabling Show repeat calls in the call log.
3. Without the outbound option, only inbound calls count as callbacks. If Outbound callback closes a missed inquiry is disabled, an employee's outbound call is not counted automatically. Either enable the option or mark the inquiry manually with Called back from another number or Other.
4. Hourly charts are displayed in UTC. Keep the Tashkent time zone offset (UTC+5) in mind when analyzing hourly distributions.
5. Wallboard SLA metrics are unchanged. Live SLA indicators continue to use the standard per-call calculation.
6. Enabling outbound callback matching reduces unhandled counts. The total number of missed inquiries stays the same, while more inquiries move into the "Called back" state. Because an outbound callback breaks a repeat chain, the total inquiry count under grouping may increase slightly.
7. Disabling restores original numbers. If you turn the feature off, statistics revert to counting individual calls. Saved manual marks are preserved and reappear if the feature is re-enabled.

Common issues

The settings section is not visible on the page

None of the missed call analytics features have been enabled for your company by the platform. Contact 4phone support or a platform administrator.

The "Mark as handled" button is missing on a call

Check the following in order:

1. Verify that Manual handling statuses is enabled.
2. The call must be inbound and missed. Answered and outbound calls cannot be marked.
3. The inquiry has not already been resolved automatically by a callback (in which case manual marking is not needed).
4. Your user role has permission to mark calls (Operator or higher) and the call is within your assigned extensions.

An outbound callback did not close the inquiry

1. Confirm that Outbound callback closes a missed inquiry is enabled for your company.
2. In Recipient answered mode, the outbound call must be answered. Unanswered calls count only in Any outbound attempt mode.
3. The outbound call was placed after the last missed call from that number.
4. The dialed number matches the customer's caller ID. Calling a different number belonging to the same customer is not matched automatically.
5. The call was external: internal extension calls and service calls do not count.

Repeat calls were not merged

1. More minutes elapsed between consecutive calls than the configured grouping window.
2. An answered call occurred between the missed calls.
3. The caller number was hidden or empty: anonymous calls are counted separately.
4. Grouping is disabled for your company.

A manual mark disappeared after a new call

This is by design: a new missed call arriving after a manual mark starts a new unhandled inquiry. Mark the new inquiry once it has been handled.

Next, we recommend reading Statistics and Analytics, Auto-Callback, and Common Issues and Quick Fixes.