AFAX — Auto Fax Detected

What AFAX Means

The AMD system detected a fax tone on the called number. The number belongs to a fax machine rather than a voice line. These leads are typically non-contactable via voice dialing.

When This Status Is Set

AFAX is assigned automatically by the AMD engine when it detects fax carrier tones (CNG tones at 1100 Hz) during the initial audio analysis of a connected call. The detection happens within the first few seconds of the call and does not require agent involvement — Asterisk’s call processing identifies the characteristic fax handshake signal and writes AFAX to the vicidial_list table immediately. While fax machines are increasingly rare in consumer contexts, they remain common on B2B lists where businesses maintain dedicated fax lines, multi-function devices, or fax-to-email gateways that still answer with carrier tones. Some older modem lines and alarm system dialers can also trigger AFAX detection, so the status does not always mean a literal fax machine.

Impact on List Management

Exclude AFAX from your dial_status_filter permanently — calling fax numbers produces no voice contact, generates loud tones that can damage agent headset experience if misrouted, and wastes trunk time that could be spent on viable leads. AFAX leads should be flagged in your list hygiene process and the phone number updated with a correct voice number if one is available through data enrichment. When analyzing list quality by source, a high AFAX rate is a strong indicator of outdated or poorly scrubbed B2B data, since fax lines are typically static numbers that do not change — meaning the data vendor sold you records that were never validated against current line-type databases. Track AFAX counts per list_id and vendor_lead_code to build data quality scorecards for your lead providers.

Best Practices

• Do not include AFAX in dial_status_filter — these numbers will never produce a voice conversation

• High AFAX rates on B2B lists indicate outdated data — invest in line-type validation during list import to filter fax numbers before they enter the dialer

• Use AFAX data to build a suppression file of confirmed fax numbers for removal from future list purchases

• Cross-reference AFAX leads with data enrichment services to locate alternate voice numbers for the same contact — update the alt_phone or address3 field with the corrected number

• If AFAX rate exceeds 2% on a consumer list, investigate whether the data source is including business lines in residential records

Admin Configuration

AFAX is defined as a system status under Admin → System Statuses with callable set to N and human_answered set to N. It is auto-assigned by the AMD process and does not appear in agent disposition screens. The AMD configuration that controls fax tone detection is managed at the campaign level under Campaign Detail → AMD/VM Settings, where the cpd_amd_action setting determines how fax-detected calls are handled. To review AFAX volumes, use Admin → Status Category reports or query vicidial_log filtered by status = 'AFAX' and group by list_id for per-list quality analysis.

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