Short answer
Agents book a callback at a time in the lead's own time zone. When it's due, it goes to the agent who booked it first, in whatever campaign they're dialing, ahead of normal leads. A callback skips the campaign's own hours, cadence and call limits, because the lead asked for that time. DNC, do-not-disturb and legal state calling hours still apply.
"Call me back Thursday at 3" is a promise. Miss it, or call at 3 your time instead of theirs, and you've lost the lead's trust. DialerDay's callbacks are built so that doesn't happen.
Booking in the lead's time zone
The callback picker shows times in the lead's time zone, not the agent's. DialerDay works out the lead's zone in this order:
- The contact's own time zone (from GoHighLevel, your CSV or the API).
- Their phone number's area code.
- Their GoHighLevel location's time zone.
- The campaign's or company's default.
The picker also checks the time before you book it. It warns when the lead is on do-not-call, when the time is outside legal calling hours for their state, when the campaign is paused, or when the lead isn't in a campaign you can dial. A time that has already passed in the lead's zone is refused.
Where the callback lives
A callback sits on the lead's entry in a campaign:
- If the lead is waiting in a campaign the agent can dial, the callback goes there.
- If not, the lead is added to a campaign the agent can dial, so it has a place in the queue.
When it's due
Every time an agent's dialer asks for work, due callbacks are checked before the normal campaign queue, right after inbound callers who are waiting:
- Callbacks this agent booked, from any active campaign. It doesn't matter which campaign they're dialing now. The callback follows the person, not the list.
- Other agents' callbacks, once the grace period has passed. See who gets a callback if the agent is busy.
What a callback skips, and what it never skips
| Skipped (the lead asked for this time) | Never skipped |
|---|---|
| The campaign's calling hours (optional, see below) | Your DNC list |
| The campaign's operating days and holidays | Call do-not-disturb |
| GoHighLevel work hours | Invalid numbers |
| Cadence steps and their age windows | GoHighLevel exclude tags |
| Maximum calls per day, week or month | Legal per-state calling hours |
Callbacks outside hours in Settings → Queue priority can be set to *always* (the default) or *only inside the campaign's window*.
Auto-dial or notify
Also in Settings → Queue priority:
- Auto: due callbacks are dialed like any lead, ahead of the queue.
- Notify only: callbacks are never dialed automatically. The agent gets a desktop notification and claims the callback from the Callbacks board.
Missed callbacks
If nobody gets to a callback in time, it stays at the front. You can set A missed callback expires on the campaign: once a callback is that late, it loses its place at the front and waits like any other lead.
Paused campaigns
Turn on Keep dialing callbacks while paused and a paused campaign's callbacks still go out. Useful when you pause new outreach but owe people their calls.