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What is Auto Outbound Call?

Auto Outbound Call is an automated testing feature where Cekura automatically initiates outbound calls when you run evaluators. Unlike manual outbound testing where you write scripts to handle calls, this feature does everything automatically.

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How It Works

1

Enable Auto Outbound

Toggle the Auto Outbound Call setting ON in your agent settings
2

Run Evaluators

Execute evaluators through the dashboard - no script needed
3

System Calls Automatically

Cekura uses your voice provider (VAPI, Retell, ElevenLabs, Bland, LiveKit, or Custom) to initiate calls
4

Review Results

Check test results and transcripts in your dashboard

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Prerequisites

  • Outbound mode enabled: Agent’s inbound must be set to false
  • Voice provider configured: Valid credentials and required agent configuration for VAPI, Retell, ElevenLabs, Bland, LiveKit, or Custom (Custom requires a trigger URL instead of provider API credentials)
  • Agent contact_number set to your outbound caller ID: Cekura validates the caller ID (ANI) of every incoming outbound-test call against the agent’s contact_number field. If the provider dials from +15551234567, the agent’s contact_number must be exactly +15551234567 in E.164 format. Set this in Agent settings or via the Update Agent API.
  • Evaluators ready: Created evaluators with valid phone numbers
API Key Permissions: Ensure your API key has outbound call permissions enabled. For ElevenLabs, enable “Conversational AI” and “Phone Number” permissions at https://elevenlabs.io/app/settings/api-keys
Caller ID mismatch causes silent rejects. If the contact_number on your agent is empty or doesn’t match the from_number your voice provider uses to place the call, Cekura drops the incoming call without returning a SIP error. The symptom on the provider side is Busy, NoAnswer, or a generic failed dial — no audio, no descriptive error. Confirm contact_number matches the provider’s outbound caller ID before debugging anything further.

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Enabling Auto Outbound Call

Navigate to your Agent settings -> Right sidebar -> Connection -> Select Telephony under VOICE -> Toggle ON Auto Outbound Call.
Enable Auto Outbound
Ensure your voice provider account has sufficient credits for making calls.

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Advanced: Trigger URL Webhook

For advanced use cases, you can configure a Trigger URL to receive webhook notifications instead of automatic calls. This lets you add custom logic before the call is made. For Custom provider agents, the trigger URL is mandatory — since there is no provider API for Cekura to call directly, your endpoint receives the call request and is responsible for making the agent dial the Cekura number.
Advanced Feature: When you configure a trigger URL, Cekura sends a webhook to your endpoint instead of automatically calling. You must handle the actual call initiation yourself.

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When to Use

Use trigger URLs when you need to:
  • Add validation or business logic before calls
  • Schedule calls for specific times
  • Integrate with internal systems
  • Log or audit call requests
  • Enable outbound auto-call for custom-hosted agents (required)

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How It Works

1

Add Trigger URL

In your agent settings, enter your webhook URL in the Trigger URL field (below the Outbound Auto Call toggle).
Configure Trigger URL in UI
2

Receive Webhook

When evaluators run, Cekura sends a POST request to your URL with call details
3

Make the Call

Your system processes the webhook and initiates the call using your provider’s API

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Webhook Payload

Cekura sends the following JSON payload to your trigger URL:
Fields:
  • from_number: Your agent’s contact number (the number making the call)
  • to_number: The evaluator’s phone number (where to call)
  • dynamic_variables: Optional test profile data for dynamic prompting
Headers sent by Cekura:
  • Content-Type: application/json
  • X-CEKURA-SECRET: <your_secret> — included only when a trigger secret is configured (see below)

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Trigger Secret

You can optionally configure a shared secret on your provider credentials. When set, Cekura includes it as the X-CEKURA-SECRET header on every trigger URL request. Your endpoint can check this header to reject requests that did not originate from Cekura. The secret is write-only — API responses expose only a trigger_secret_configured boolean, never the secret value itself.
Your webhook endpoint must be publicly accessible (HTTPS), return a 2xx status code (200–299), and respond within 30 seconds. Cekura does not follow redirects, so configure the final URL rather than one that 3xx-redirects to it.
Dial window timing: Each outbound run has a dial window that opens when the run reaches pending status. The call must be placed before outbound_dial_window_closes_at (default 300 seconds after the window opens). Dials received after the deadline are dropped and the run returns status: timeout. The three dial-window fields (outbound_dial_window_opens_at, outbound_dial_window_seconds, outbound_dial_window_closes_at) are included in run responses so you can track the deadline.

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Response Format

Your webhook should return:
The body is optional — 204 No Content or a plain-text body works too. Cekura records call_id when the response is a JSON object containing one, and proceeds without it otherwise.

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Troubleshooting

Check that Auto Outbound Call is enabled, agent is in Outbound mode, and voice provider credentials are valid.
The provider dialed but Cekura never picked up. Two possible causes:
  1. Dialed too late — if the provider dialed after outbound_dial_window_closes_at (check the run response for this field; default is 300 seconds after the run reached pending), Cekura dropped the call. This can happen if the trigger URL webhook is slow to respond or if there’s a delay in your call logic.
  2. Caller-ID mismatch — Cekura rejects incoming outbound-test calls whose caller ID doesn’t match a configured contact_number on any agent in your project. Open the agent under test and confirm its contact_number is set to the exact E.164 number the provider dials from (the from_number in the trigger webhook payload). An empty or mismatched contact_number causes every outbound attempt to be silently dropped — your provider logs will show Busy / NoAnswer / no-pickup with no audio and no SIP error explaining why. After correcting contact_number, trigger a fresh run; the timed-out runs cannot be recovered.
Check API key permissions at your provider’s settings. For ElevenLabs, ensure “Conversational AI” and “Phone Number” permissions are enabled at https://elevenlabs.io/app/settings/api-keys. Verify phone number format is E.164 (+1XXXXXXXXXX).
Verify trigger URL is publicly accessible (HTTPS), returns a 2xx status code, and no firewall is blocking requests. If you configured a trigger secret, confirm that your endpoint is not rejecting the X-CEKURA-SECRET header value.
Custom-hosted agents require a trigger URL to use auto outbound calls. Set provider.credentials.config.trigger_url in your agent configuration. Without it, enabling auto_dial_outbound is rejected by the API, and dispatch returns a “Trigger URL not configured” error.
The trigger URL is validated before each request. A “Trigger URL rejected” error means the URL is not usable: the scheme must be http or https, it must not embed credentials, and the host must resolve to a public address — anything internal, such as a private, loopback or link-local target, is refused.

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Best Practices

  • Monitor credits: Track your provider account balance
  • Valid numbers: Use correct phone number format (+1XXXXXXXXXX)
  • Secure webhooks: Use HTTPS, configure a trigger secret, and validate the X-CEKURA-SECRET header on incoming requests

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Next Steps