In short
- AI outbound calling is a voice AI that phones your list, follows a script in a natural conversation and passes your team only the people who are interested.
- On 3 lines the AI makes 1,000–1,500 dials per working day, so a list of 5,000 contacts takes about a week.
- A person usually answers 35–45% of dials; in our campaigns 15–20% of those who answer become warm leads.
- It works best for your own customers, B2B and ad leads. Cold calls to consumers from bought lists — no.
AI outbound calling is a calling campaign run by a voice AI instead of agents. It works through your list, talks to each person from a script, handles questions and objections, and hands every warm lead straight to a manager with a short call summary in Telegram and your CRM. Your sales team stops cold calling and only talks to people who want to talk.
Below: how it works, how many calls a day are realistic, what a list of 5,000 contacts costs and where the legal line is.
How AI calling differs from a “press 1” robocaller
A classic robocaller plays a recording and waits for a key press. Most people hang up in the first second, and the only result is a list of who pressed “1”.
A voice AI holds a dialogue: it greets the person, asks again when it mishears, answers “how much is it?” and “I’m driving right now”, and agrees a better time. It recognises answering machines and voice menus and doesn’t spend minutes on them. Every call is recorded and transcribed, so you see exactly what the customer said.
What AI outbound calling is used for
- Customer win-back. People who haven’t bought for six months get a reminder and an offer to book or order again.
- Reminders. Appointments, payments, deliveries, contract renewals — and rescheduling when the customer can’t make it.
- Ad leads. A call within a minute of the form, while the person still remembers leaving their number.
- B2B sales. Calls to companies on their public numbers: reaching the decision-maker, booking a meeting or sending a price list.
- Surveys. Service ratings after a purchase, reasons for leaving, NPS — answers go straight into a sheet.
How a campaign runs
- List. Your customers or public business contacts, for example from Google Maps. We remove duplicates, dead numbers and anyone who asked not to be called.
- Script. We write the conversation for the goal and agree what counts as a warm lead: a booking, a price request, a yes to a sales call.
- Test. The AI calls you and your team first, then a small part of the list. We listen to the recordings and adjust.
- Launch. Calls in the hours when people pick up, with a daily cap and retries at a different time.
- Reports. Every warm lead goes to Telegram and the CRM at once; a daily summary shows connects and interest.
How many calls, and what result
One line makes roughly 350–500 dials per working day. On 3 lines that is 1,000–1,500 dials, so 5,000 contacts take 5–7 working days. Need more? Add lines — 10,000 calls a day and beyond; the ceiling depends on the number of lines and the minutes package. For comparison, a human agent makes 80–150 calls a day.
From our campaigns: a person answers 35–45% of dials, and with retries at other times we reach half the list or more. 15–20% of those who answer become warm leads. For 5,000 contacts that is usually 350–700 people worth a follow-up from your team. The exact figure depends on the list and the offer: existing customers respond better than cold B2B.
What it costs: AI vs a human agent
Take a list of 5,000 contacts. Most conversations last 30–70 seconds and the AI ends no-answers and answering machines at once, so the whole campaign is roughly 2,000–3,000 minutes of conversation.
| Human agent | AI outbound calling | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | over 3 months of one agent (≈ 8,500 dials at 120 a day) | 5–7 working days |
| Cost | in Portugal, even at the 2026 minimum wage (€920 × 14 payments) plus employer social security, over €1,300 a month — before training and supervision | setup from €790 + from €0.35 per conversation minute: ≈ €1,500–1,850 per campaign |
| Quality | depends on the person and on fatigue | one standard, every call recorded |
Minimum wage: Decreto-Lei 139/2025. For B2B there is also a pay-per-result model: setup plus a fee for each warm lead under agreed criteria. Package prices are on the AI call center page.
What is allowed: B2B, your own customers and consent
In the EU, the ePrivacy Directive allows automated calling systems without human intervention for direct marketing only to subscribers — natural persons — who have given prior consent (Article 13). Calls to businesses are regulated by each member state. Since 2 August 2026 the AI Act also requires that people know they are talking to an AI unless it is obvious (Article 50). And every call is processing of personal data under the GDPR, so you need a legal basis.
In practice we follow simple rules:
- B2B — only on public business numbers, in business hours, with an offer relevant to their business;
- consumers — only your own customers or people who have consented; we never call bought lists;
- anyone who asks not to be called goes on a permanent stop list for every campaign;
- the AI never poses as a human: asked “Are you a robot?”, it answers honestly.
This is a general overview, not legal advice: check the rules for your country before a campaign.
When AI outbound calling is the wrong tool
Cold calls to consumers from bought lists are unlawful in the EU and damage your reputation. Debt collection and calls that need professional advice (legal, medical, financial) are also better left to people. There the AI helps differently: it books the consultation with your specialist.
If you have a list of 1,000+ contacts nobody calls, or ad leads wait hours for a reply, start with a pilot on part of the list. Within a week you will see how many warm leads your own offer brings.
FAQ
What is AI outbound calling?
A calling campaign on your list run by a voice AI: it talks to each person from a script, answers questions and passes only warm leads to your team with a call summary.
How many calls a day can an AI make?
One line makes roughly 350–500 dials per working day, 3 lines 1,000–1,500. With extra lines — 10,000 a day and more.
How much does calling 5,000 contacts cost?
Roughly 2,000–3,000 conversation minutes. At from €0.35 per minute plus setup from €790, that is about €1,500–1,850 per campaign.
Is it legal to call customers with an AI?
Calling your own customers and businesses on public numbers is possible if you follow data protection rules and keep a stop list. In the EU, automated marketing calls to consumers require their prior consent.