#Call handling
| Role | Access Level |
|---|---|
| Client Admin | Edit |
| Client Manager | View only |
| Partner Admin | View only |
| Partner User | View only |
| Client Staff | No section |
The route key is still
/settings?section=call-limitsfor backward compatibility, and the section is labelled Call handling (v5.3). The section is hidden from the visible Client Admin Settings menu, but the direct link still opens it for that role. Client Managers, Partner Admins, and Partner Users still see Call handling as a tab in their Settings menu.
#Overview
Call handling settings let you manage three things together for one project at a time:
- the receptionist's welcome message
- whether callers can interrupt the greeting
- the maximum call duration before the runtime hangup policy applies
The portal exposes only these customer-safe controls. It does not configure concurrent-call caps, daily-call caps, queues, rejects, redirects, persona, voice, language, agent type, instructions, tools, knowledge bases, or transfer internals.
Maximum call duration is limited to whole-minute values between 5 and 30 minutes in this release. Extended duration options are tracked separately and are not yet available in this portal panel.
#Prerequisites
- You are signed in to the AiDial portal. See Signing In for instructions.
- Client Admins can edit supported call-handling values.
- Client Managers, Partner Admins, and Partner Users can review the summary only (no full greeting text).
- Client Staff do not receive this Settings section.
- Your session must include at least one in-scope project. This section always works on one project at a time, so the project switcher does not offer All projects here. Client Admins always work on a pinned project: the portal adds it to the address automatically, using the project already in the link, then your most recently selected project, then your first authorised project. The panel has no project picker for Client Admins — change project with the project switcher in the sidebar (or in the mobile menu). Summary-only roles choose from an in-panel Project selector when more than one project is available.
#Configuring Call handling
- Open Settings from the sidebar, then open the direct Call handling link at
/settings?section=call-limits. - Confirm which project you are looking at. Client Admins change project from the sidebar project switcher; summary-only roles use the in-panel Project selector if it appears.
- Review the current call-handling state. Client Admins can see the full Welcome message; summary-only roles see whether a welcome message is configured and its character count, but not the raw greeting text.
- If the section is editable, update any of the three controls:
- Welcome message: 1 or 2 sentences works best. The character counter shows your length up to 280 characters, and a Caller hears preview echoes what you type. If your plan requires a transcription or recording notice, include it here.
- Let callers interrupt the greeting: toggle on to let callers start talking before the greeting finishes; off feels more polished for short greetings.
- Maximum call duration: choose a value from the list, which runs from 5 to 30 minutes in whole-minute steps.
- Select Save call handling to save all three controls together under one version. Discard changes returns the panel to the last confirmed values.
- The footer's Last changed timestamp refreshes with the server-confirmed change time.
Screenshot reference: v5.3 Call handling panel with three icon-led sections and a shared footer.
#Field Reference
| Field Name | Description | Validation Rules | Default Behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project | The in-scope project whose call handling you are reviewing or editing | Required. The server accepts only projects in your current scope and returns a non-enumerating not-found response for invalid or out-of-scope project references. | A single in-scope project loads automatically. Multi-project Client Admins get a project pinned into the address automatically and change it from the sidebar project switcher; summary-only roles use the in-panel selector. |
| Welcome message | The first thing your receptionist says when a caller is connected | 1-280 Unicode code points after line-ending and Unicode normalisation. Line feed is allowed; other control characters, bidi overrides/isolates, zero-width controls, delete, and private-use characters are rejected. Plain text only. | Loads from the saved working copy if one exists, otherwise from the confirmed published runtime projection. If the inherited source has no greeting, Save remains disabled until a non-empty greeting is entered. |
| Let callers interrupt the greeting | Whether callers can start talking before the greeting finishes | Boolean toggle. | Loads from the saved working copy if one exists, otherwise from the confirmed published runtime projection. If neither source defines it, the runtime baseline defaults to true (interruptions allowed). |
| Maximum call duration | The maximum call duration before the runtime hangup policy applies | Whole-minute value from 5 through 30, chosen from a fixed list. | Loads from the saved working copy if one exists, otherwise from the confirmed published runtime projection. A published value outside the supported range stays visible read-only, shown as its exact value. |
| Last changed | When the call-handling state was last changed or observed | Read only. | Shown in the shared footer with a checkmark icon. |
#Saving works as a single operation
All three controls (welcome message, interruption, duration) save together under one version token. The browser sends a single protected request to /api/settings/call-limits; the portal server enforces session, RBAC, CSRF, and project scope before forwarding a bearer-authenticated request to aidial_api at /v1/projects/{project_id}/call-handling. The browser does not send X-API-Key.
If anyone else changes the same project's call-handling state between your last load and your save, the portal rejects the save with a "state stale" message and asks you to reload the latest state before saving again.
#Empty State
- If your session has no in-scope projects, the page displays No in-scope projects available and does not show edit controls.
- If a summary-only role has multiple in-scope projects, the panel displays Choose a project to continue with the in-panel Project selector, and loads nothing else until one project is selected.
- If the address carries no pinned project and a Client Admin has more than one project in scope, the panel displays Select a project to view these settings and does not show Save or Discard controls. In normal use the portal pins a project before the panel renders, so this state is rarely seen.
- If the published runtime call-handling state cannot be resolved safely, the page displays Call handling is temporarily unavailable with a Reload latest button. Reload after the source is corrected, or contact your AiDial delivery partner.
#Common Issues
| Issue | Resolution |
|---|---|
| Cannot edit call handling | Only Client Admins can save changes. Other roles see a summary-only view, and Client Staff do not receive this section. |
| No project is selected | Client Admins change project from the sidebar project switcher. Summary-only roles choose from the in-panel Project selector when it appears. The page will not load project-specific call-handling state until one in-scope project is selected. |
| Welcome message text is not visible | Summary-only roles see only whether a welcome message is configured and its length. Raw greeting text is shown only to editable Client Admins. |
| Welcome message rejected | The greeting must be non-empty and 1-280 Unicode code points after normalisation. Remove unusual control characters, zero-width controls, private-use characters, or bidi overrides/isolates. Plain punctuation such as <, >, $, {, } is allowed. |
| Panel is read-only even though you are a Client Admin | The stored welcome message may contain characters the portal does not accept. In that case the text is withheld and editing is blocked until the stored value is corrected — contact your AiDial delivery partner. |
| Maximum call duration rejected | Choose a whole number of minutes from 5 through 30. Values outside that customer-safe range cannot be saved from the portal. |
| Save button is disabled | The values may be unchanged, the section may be summary-only, the welcome message may be empty or over 280 characters, or the published runtime value may be outside the supported customer-safe range. Contact your AiDial delivery partner if the panel says the value is managed elsewhere. Discard changes stays available so you can recover from an invalid draft. |
| Save reports that the state changed elsewhere | Select Reload latest, review the latest confirmed values, then save again if a change is still needed. |
| Changes are temporarily rate-limited | Saves are limited to six per project in a rolling five-minute window. Wait for the retry period shown in the message, then try again. |