Plum IVR Support

We have experienced issues with automated outbound calls when the initial
number called is not the "real" number. Google Voice is the prime example
of this. When an automated outbound call first dials a Google Voice number
the recording is already well started by the time the recipient picks up the
call. This problem is severe if Google Voice doesn't reach a user on the
first number in it's list. If the end users phone is dialed directly this
issue does not present itself.

Is there a way to prevent the outbound dialog from starting until a final
number is reached or stated another way is there a way to detect a forwarded
call and then stop the automated dialog?

Hi,

The reason why the outbound call is starting before the user answers the phone is due to how Google Voice accepts calls. Google Voice answers the telephone call and connects itself to the call. It then starts placing its own calls to the various phone numbers within its database. The issue you're experiencing stems from this. Our platform sees that the other end of the telephone call was answered. When it starts playing the message Google Voice is still attempting to reach the user. A suggestion to deal with the delay caused by Google Voice would be to play your message a few times to allow the user to hear the message in its entirety. We would highly recommend not using a Google proxy number when using the outbound system though.

Regards,
Plum Support