What AI-Moderated Telephone Interview does
It turns participant phone lists into managed research conversations. Researchers upload participants, select or buy numbers, configure the AI interviewer, define scripts and probing rules, set calling windows, launch the campaign, and review every transcript, recording, insight and cost from Terapage.
Outbound callsInbound callbacksAdaptive probingAI analysisBuild the campaign around the study, not around a call centre
Create a telephone interview campaign from study details, project goals, language, timezone, consent requirements and call-window rules. This keeps the CATI workflow inside the wider Terapage study environment instead of splitting scripts, participants, interviews and analysis across separate tools.
- Define study name, purpose and participant-facing description.
- Set language, timezone, dates, call windows and campaign readiness checks.
- Preview the interview before launch and save reusable templates.
Upload, import and validate participants
Import phone participants from a current project, CSV, Salesforce, Databricks or Snowflake. Terapage checks phone number quality, country code, duplicate records, missing numbers and source before calls are queued.
- Track total selected participants and valid numbers.
- Identify missing phone numbers, duplicates and unsupported formats.
- Attach segment, language, timezone and custom attributes to each participant.
Buy, assign and brand local phone numbers
Provision numbers for specific markets, regions or campaigns. The number management screen supports local number search, country filters, voice/SMS capabilities, caller ID branding and project-level cost visibility.
- Rent local numbers by country, city or area code.
- Use verified business caller ID where available.
- Track setup fees, monthly rental and project duration costs.
- Upload required documents for countries with number activation rules.
Configure the AI interviewer’s voice, tone and consent message
Researchers can choose the interviewer voice, language, accent, tone and personality. Consent and recording disclosures are placed at the start of the call so the AI can capture permission before the substantive interview begins.
- Choose voice profiles such as calm, warm, professional or brand-aligned.
- Set language and accent for different markets.
- Preview or clone a brand voice where permitted.
- Generate scripts and probes with AI while keeping researcher control.
Create questions, probes, branching logic and variables
The AI interviewer is not limited to a static questionnaire. Researchers can create question types, follow-up probes, logic triggers, tags and answer-time expectations so the call feels like a guided interview instead of a robotic survey.
- Open questions, rating scales, screeners and follow-ups.
- Probe based on rating scores, key themes or unclear responses.
- Use variables such as first name, study name or segment.
- Organise questions by tags, status and estimated time.
Manage the full interview script before launch
The Questions & Probes screen gives researchers a clear view of the whole interview: order, item type, trigger logic, estimated time, status, tags and actions. This makes telephone interviewing scalable while keeping the method auditable.
Control call flow, retries, silence handling and no-match outcomes
Configure pre-call messages, call windows, retry attempts, maximum duration, recording, transcription, sentiment analysis and no-match handling. The rules engine helps campaigns avoid spam-like behaviour and keeps calling inside approved windows.
- Send SMS or WhatsApp-style pre-call notifications.
- Stop retrying after opt-out, invalid number, refusal or completion.
- Route rejected, busy or invalid calls to the correct status.
- Use quiet hours, call pacing and custom retry schedules.
Inbound callback handling for participants who call back
When a participant calls a campaign number, Terapage can greet the caller, check the inbound number against workspace, project and campaign participant records, confirm the participant identity, explain the call purpose and continue the interview. If no match is found, the caller can leave a message with name, reason and callback details for researcher follow-up.
Scheduling that respects participant timezones
Define calling days, start and end times, retry spacing, maximum attempts, concurrent call limits, ramp-up period, quiet hours and holiday exclusions. Terapage applies these rules in real time when queuing calls.
Compliance, consent, DNC and audit logs built in
Telephone research must be controlled carefully. Terapage supports do-not-call lists, opt-out handling, country-specific rules, consent records, audit logs, compliance health checks and data retention settings.
- Capture consent before the interview begins.
- Honour opt-out requests such as “stop”, “remove me” or “don’t call me again”.
- Prevent calls outside allowed local-time windows.
- Store script version, call events, consent status and recording disclosure.
Review readiness, budget and launch with confidence
Before launch, the researcher sees every major configuration: study details, participants, phone number, AI interviewer, scheduling, call flow, compliance and budget. Campaign readiness checks reduce mistakes before calls begin.
- Review expected completes, call attempts, duration and cost.
- Confirm DNC exclusions and opt-outs before launch.
- Save draft or launch the campaign when checks pass.
From call to insight: transcripts, summaries, themes and reporting
Completed calls can produce recordings, transcripts, summaries, themes, sentiment, key quotes, codes, quality scores and exportable reports. Because the feature sits inside Terapage, telephone interview data can connect with Data & Reports, Publish Insights, Recap, Pulse and wider study workflows.
Ideal use cases for AI-moderated telephone interviews
Customer experience follow-up
Reach customers who may not complete long online surveys and collect richer verbal context.
Hard-to-reach participant groups
Support participants who prefer phone, have limited internet access or need a lower-friction interview route.
High-volume qualitative feedback
Run structured interviews at scale while still capturing nuance, explanations and probes.
