---
title: Calling windows and retries
description: "The schedule step of an outbound campaign: dates, daily call hours, days of the week, timezone, and how many times to call back a number that did not answer."
---
Voice agents
The second step of the outbound wizard, *Set when the campaign runs and how
retries behave*, decides when a contact's phone is allowed to ring. Everything on
it can be changed later in the **Schedule** section of the campaign's
**Settings** page, while the campaign is paused.
## Fields
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **Start Date** | Today | The first day calls may go out. A future date leaves the campaign `scheduled` until then. |
| **End Date (Optional)** | Blank | The last day. Blank means the campaign runs until its list is exhausted or you stop it. |
| **Call Time - From** | `09:00` | Start of the daily window. |
| **Call Time - To** | `17:00` | End of the daily window. A call that is in progress at this time is not cut. |
| **Days of Week** | | Tick each day calls are allowed. |
| **Timezone** | Your browser's | The zone the window is expressed in, with its offset, as in `Europe/Paris (GMT+2)`. |
| **Enable retry attempts** | Off | Reveals **Retry Configuration**. |
## Choosing the timezone
The window is one clock for the whole campaign. Set **Timezone** to where the
contacts are, not where you are: a `09:00` to `17:00` window in
`America/Chicago` rings a list of Texas numbers during their working day. The
campaign's page shows the window in the campaign zone and, when your zone
differs, underneath converted to your local time, so the two can be checked
against each other.
A list that spans several zones is better split into one campaign per zone, on
the same agent and number, with a tag per zone.
:::warning[Local calling rules]
Many jurisdictions restrict the hours in which automated calls may be placed and
require consent for them. The window is your tool for the hours; consent is
recorded in your contact data. Check the rules for every country you call before
the first run.
:::
## Retries
With **Enable retry attempts** on, **Retry Configuration** lists attempts. Each
has a **Delay** (`60` by default) and **Units** (`Seconds`, `Minutes`, `Hours` or
`Days`; `Minutes` by default). **Add Another Retry** appends the next attempt. A contact whose call
ended without a conversation is called again after the delay, inside the window;
after the last attempt it is left alone.
Retries apply to calls that did not reach a person: busy, no answer, unreachable,
and, when [answering machine detection](/build/speech-pipeline/answering-machine-detection)
is on, voicemail. A call the agent held is not retried.
A sensible first policy is 2 attempts: `2 Hours`, then `1 Days`. Calling back in
minutes reaches the same voicemail.
## Verify
- The campaign card under **Launch AI Voice** shows the window and zone, as in
`9:00–17:00 Europe/Paris`, or `Anytime` when no hours were set.
- On the campaign's page, **Campaign configuration** repeats **Time Zone**,
**Call Hours** (with your local equivalent), **Days of Week**, **Start Date**
and, when set, **End Date**.
- Outside the window the campaign holds and **Total Calls** stays flat; inside it
the count moves.
## Troubleshooting
- **Nothing dials on the start date.** Check that the day is ticked under **Days
of Week** and that the current time falls inside **Call Time** in the
campaign's **Timezone**, not yours.
- **A contact was called twice in a minute.** The first retry's **Delay** is in
**Seconds**. Change the **Units**.
- **Contacts who answered are being called again.** They hung up before the
agent spoke, so the call counted as unanswered. Check the agent's first message
and [who talks first](/build/prompting/first-message-and-conversation).
## Related
- [Create an outbound campaign](/deploy/campaigns/create-an-outbound-campaign)
- [Answering machine detection](/build/speech-pipeline/answering-machine-detection)
- [Campaign details](/deploy/campaigns/campaign-details)