AM — Answering Machine — Message Left

What AM Means

Answering machine was detected by AMD and a pre-recorded voicemail message was successfully left via the amd_send_to_vmx extension. The contact has received the message and may call back.

When This Status Is Set

AM is assigned automatically after VICIdial’s AMD engine detects an answering machine and successfully routes the call to the voicemail-drop extension configured via amd_send_to_vmx. The system plays the pre-recorded message into the voicemail system, waits for the recording to complete or the channel to hang up, and then writes AM to the vicidial_list table. This two-step process — AMD detection followed by confirmed message delivery — distinguishes AM from AA (where the machine was detected but no message was left). The voicemail drop extension and audio file are configured in the campaign’s dialplan, and the call duration logged in vicidial_log reflects the full time including the message playback.

Impact on List Management

AM leads warrant a longer recycling delay than standard answering-machine statuses because the contact has already received a voicemail message and may call back on their own. A typical best practice is to set the lead_recycling delay for AM to 48-72 hours, giving the contact time to listen to the message and respond before you redial. Include AM in your dial_status_filter so these leads re-enter the hopper after the delay expires, but track your inbound callback rate from AM leads closely — if a significant portion of AM contacts are calling back, those leads should be automatically excluded from outbound recycling to avoid double-contact. The vicidial_closer_log table captures inbound calls that can be matched against AM leads by phone number to measure your voicemail-to-callback conversion rate.

Best Practices

• Wait 48-72 hours before recycling AM leads to allow callback response from the voicemail message

• Track inbound calls from AM sources by matching vicidial_closer_log phone numbers to measure voicemail drop effectiveness and ROI

• Rotate voicemail message content periodically to avoid listener fatigue — contacts who receive the same message on every attempt stop listening

• AM leads with no callback after 72 hours should be recycled with high priority since the voicemail clearly did not generate a response

• Limit total voicemail drops per lead to 2-3 across all recycle passes to avoid being perceived as spam by the contact

Admin Configuration

The voicemail-drop functionality that produces AM statuses is configured per-campaign under Campaign Detail → AMD/VM Settings, where you set amd_send_to_vmx to Y and specify the voicemail-drop extension and audio file. AM itself is a system status defined in Admin → System Statuses with callable set to Y. Lead recycling parameters for AM — including the 48-72 hour delay and maximum attempts — are configured in Campaign Detail → Lead Recycling. To audit voicemail delivery success rates, query vicidial_log for AM records and compare against call duration to confirm the message had time to play completely.

ViciStack’s List Management module monitors disposition distribution in real time — automatically adjusting recycling logic, dial_status_filter priorities, and hopper fill strategies based on how your dispositions are trending. No manual SQL, no spreadsheet audits.