Use this guide when a scheduled callback appears early or late, a lead returns to the dialer sooner than expected, callback fields are unavailable, agents cannot find each other's callbacks, or calling hours do not match the contact's local time.
Do not mix up these three controls
Scheduled callback
A scheduled callback is for one contact at a specific date and time. It should appear in the campaign's callback list and become due at the saved time.
Recall timing
Recall controls whether a disposition makes a lead eligible for another pass through the campaign after the current cycle. A recall delay can be measured in hours or days. It is not an appointment and it does not reserve a precise callback time.
Dialer Access Hours
Dialer Access Hours determine when contacts may be served based on their local time. They can prevent a due callback or recallable lead from being dialed until an allowed window opens.
A lead can therefore be recallable but not currently dialable, or have a due callback that remains blocked by the campaign's access rules.
Schedule a callback correctly
1. While working the contact, choose the system Callback disposition.
2. Select the date and time.
3. Confirm the time zone shown or used for the appointment.
4. Save or add the callback before moving to the next lead.
5. Open the callback list and confirm the contact and scheduled time are present.
If the campaign offers Move to next lead, select the appropriate option before saving. A disposition can advance the dialer, so complete notes and messages before submitting it.
When a callback becomes due, the dialer can highlight the callback indicator in red. Callbacks are associated with the campaign and may be available to other authorized agents running that campaign; they are not guaranteed to remain private to the person who scheduled them.
If the callback date or time fields are dimmed
Check all of the following:
1. You selected the system Callback status, not a custom status with a similar name.
2. Callback functionality is enabled for that campaign.
3. The Callback status is visible in the campaign's call-status list.
4. Your user is assigned to the campaign and has permission to work it.
5. No other unsaved action or active call is blocking the form.
If the fields remain unavailable, capture the campaign name and a screenshot that includes the selected disposition. Do not create a second custom “Callback” status to work around the problem; it may not open the scheduling controls.
Control when a disposition returns a lead
Open the account's call-status settings. Depending on your layout, use Profile & Settings → Global Call Statuses or the Global Call Statuses option under the profile menu.
For each relevant disposition, review:
- Recall = Yes: the lead may re-enter the campaign after the configured delay and campaign cycle rules allow it.
- Recall = No: the disposition does not make the lead eligible for another pass through the cycle.
- Days/Hours until recall: the minimum delay before the status can become eligible again.
- Go to next call: determines whether the dialer advances automatically or asks first after the status is saved.
The system Callback status is a separate scheduling action. Do not use a general recall delay when the customer expects a call at a precise date and time.
Set calling hours for the campaign
1. Go to Dialer → Campaigns.
2. Edit the affected campaign.
3. Open Dialer Access Hours on the campaign's first settings tab.
4. Set the allowed days and local-time window.
5. Save, reopen the campaign, and confirm the values remained saved.
Dialer Access Hours are designed to enforce the saved window using the contact's resolved local time. Do not promise an account-specific cutoff until you verify that the hours stayed saved, confirm the affected contact's location and time-zone data, and complete one controlled test near the cutoff.
Hot Prospector determines a contact's time zone from the best location data available. A complete address is more reliable than state alone, and state is more reliable than area code alone. When an area code spans multiple time zones, the system can use the more conservative western time zone. A connected CRM location may also provide the time-zone setting used for that integration.
Correct incomplete or wrong contact location data before changing campaign hours to compensate for one bad record.
If a lead appears before its callback
Seeing the same person in the dialer does not always mean the saved callback fired early. Work through this order:
1. Open the callback list and confirm that the original callback still exists with the expected date, time, and time zone.
2. Confirm that the dialer served the same contact record and phone number, not a duplicate record.
3. Check whether the contact belongs to another group or campaign that can serve it independently.
4. Review the last disposition. A recallable status may have returned the lead through the normal campaign cycle.
5. Check whether tags, group movement, or a CRM sync re-added the contact to an eligible audience.
6. Compare the scheduled time with the campaign, user, and contact time zones.
If the callback remains correctly scheduled but the exact same contact record was served early from the same campaign, capture both records and report it as a timing defect.
If the callback appears late or is missed
Confirm that an authorized agent was actively running the campaign when the callback became due and that the contact was inside allowed calling hours.
If nobody is available at the scheduled time, the callback can remain due for another authorized agent. When the callback is eventually attempted, use the result that actually occurred, such as No Answer or Left Message, and follow the campaign's recall workflow.
Do not change the callback time merely to hide a missed callback. Preserve the original schedule and document the actual attempt.
Understand call-to-call gaps
A gap between two recorded calls is simply elapsed time between those call events. It can include after-call notes, messages, callback handling, page navigation, an approved pause, or a connection problem. The gap alone does not prove that an agent was idle.
To review performance fairly, compare call records with saved dispositions, callbacks, notes, session start/stop events, and any pause data available in the account.
Prove the setup with a controlled test
Use one test contact with a known phone number and location:
1. Schedule a callback several minutes in the future.
2. Confirm it appears in the callback list.
3. Keep an authorized user in the campaign.
4. Verify it is not served as an ordinary lead before the scheduled time.
5. Confirm the due indicator and attempt appear at the expected local time.
6. Save the result and confirm any recall delay behaves separately.
This single test distinguishes a scheduling defect from a duplicate lead, another campaign, a recall setting, or a time-zone mismatch.
If you still need help
Send one complete package:
- Hot Prospector account and exact campaign name;
- contact name, lead ID if shown, and full phone number;
- callback date and time exactly as saved, including time zone;
- date and time the contact actually appeared or was called;
- callback-list screenshot before the due time;
- last disposition and its Recall setting;
- every campaign and group containing the contact;
- contact city, state, ZIP code, and time zone;
- Dialer Access Hours for the affected day; and
- whether the contact is duplicated or was recently re-synced from a CRM.