Build Outbound workflows

A workflow defines what Avoca does after a person enters a campaign. Open Products → Outbound → Workflows.

​

Workflow states

• Draft: editable but unavailable for a new campaign launch
• Published: available for campaigns
• Archived: retained for reference but no longer offered for new use

The page separates workflows into Published, Draft, and Archived lists. Your team may also offer presets or cloning to speed up creation.

​

Recognize enterprise-managed workflows

A workflow marked Enterprise Template is a team copy linked to an enterprise-managed template. The editor also displays a notice when a workflow has this relationship. Published changes to the enterprise template can update the linked workflow, including its messages and template-owned steps. Team-specific bindings, such as configured agents or call settings, can remain local, but do not assume that every team edit will survive a later template push. Workflow-variable values are an exception: the enterprise template cannot populate them, and a later template push does not overwrite the values saved on each team’s linked workflow. Before editing a linked workflow:

1. Confirm whether the change should apply to one team or every team using the template.
2. Coordinate shared changes with the enterprise workflow owner.
3. Review active campaigns that use the workflow.
4. After an enterprise update is pushed, reopen the team workflow and verify its messages, paths, and team-specific configuration.

​

Create a workflow

1. Select New Workflow.
2. Enter a clear name that describes the audience and purpose.
3. Choose the workflow type offered for your use case.
4. Start from scratch, a preset, or an existing workflow when those options are available.
5. Add the contact steps to the canvas and connect them in the intended order.
6. Configure each step’s content, sending number or agent, contact hours, and follow-up behavior.
7. Configure the connection between steps, including any delay or outcome-based path.
8. Save, then review every path from the trigger to its final step.

Common customer-facing steps include calls and texts. Other channel steps appear only for teams that have those products enabled. For a Direct Mail step, continue to Build Direct Mail creative to prepare artwork, reuse a proven piece, and verify print-safe guides before publishing.

​

Arrange and reconnect steps

While a new workflow graph has never been saved, you can reorder its main sequence by dragging a step on the canvas or using its move controls in the sidebar. Timing stays with the sequence position, so review which action now occupies every delay or scheduled slot after reordering. The reorder controls disappear after the first successful save. Arrange the sequence before saving instead of assuming the same automatic resequencing will remain available later. If deleting a connection leaves a step or downstream run detached, the editor keeps it visible under Not connected and reports it in Action Required. Use Reconnect on the head of the detached run to append that run to the end of the main sequence, or draw the intended connection manually. Saving and publishing remain blocked while a required step is unreachable from the trigger.

​

Choose delay or scheduled timing

Most connections between contact steps use one of two timing modes:

• Delay: a relative wait after the preceding step.
• Scheduled: a specific day and time measured from campaign enrollment.

A path can switch between these modes only once. For example, a path can use delays and then scheduled times, but it cannot switch back to delays later. Scheduled points on the same path must move forward in time. Trigger connections and Direct Mail lifecycle connections do not offer this timing-mode switch. When a scheduled point follows one or more delays, the editor raises the earliest allowed day based on the accumulated wait. Less than 24 hours of prior delay starts at Day 2; each full additional day of delay moves that minimum later. A path that begins with scheduled timing can start on Day 1. The editor disables an invalid timing choice and surfaces the reason in Action Required. An older workflow with an invalid mix continues running as saved, but you must correct its timing before the next save succeeds.

​

Set workflow variables for text messages

Open the editor’s Workflow tab to set values that text-message templates can reuse: These values are saved with the workflow and continue to apply after publishing. If a text or message node references one of these variables while its value is empty, the editor shows a warning and blocks saving or publishing so the sent message cannot render a blank value. Text nodes can also insert customer and appointment values supplied by the campaign’s audience. In the message editor, choose from the supported variables instead of typing an unlisted placeholder.

• Use {{customer_first_name}} when the greeting should contain only the first part of the audience member’s name, such as John from John Test.
• Use {{customer_name}} when the message should contain the complete name stored on the audience member.
• Use {{commercial_account_name}} for the customer’s own business name on a commercial lead. It is empty for residential leads. Do not confuse it with {{company_name}} or the workflow’s {{brand_name}}, which identify your business.

Preview the message with representative audience data before publishing. If the source name or commercial-account field is blank, the matching variable can render blank. If a business requires a different preferred name than the first part of the stored value, correct the source data or use approved static copy. Write commercial copy so it still reads correctly when {{commercial_account_name}} is empty, or use that variable only in a workflow whose audience always supplies it. For an enterprise workflow template, leave these fields to the destination teams. After the template is delivered, open each linked team workflow and set its local values; later enterprise pushes preserve them.

​

Configure an email step

Email steps appear only for teams with Outbound email enabled. Open the email node and review the sender, sending domain, subject, preheader, creative, attachments, variables, tracking, and policy links before publishing. Under Creative → Other Content → Policy links:

• Leave Unsubscribe link blank to use Avoca’s hosted unsubscribe page. Avoca adds a footer link for every recipient and supports one-click unsubscribe.
• Enter a custom unsubscribe URL only when footer-link clicks should go to your own opt-out system. The URL can use supported variables such as {{email}}; preview it with representative audience data.
• Add public Terms & conditions and Privacy policy URLs when they apply to the campaign.

Supported mailbox-native one-click controls use Avoca’s hosted unsubscribe endpoint even when the footer points to a custom URL. Confirm that both the custom system and Avoca suppression state prevent later sends before launching at scale.

​

Review before publishing

Confirm that:

• The first contact identifies the business and matches the campaign’s purpose.
• Variables used in a message have a value for every audience member.
• Calls and texts use an eligible phone number.
• Business hours and delays use the team’s intended time zone.
• A non-response path does not create excessive follow-ups.
• Booking, transfer, escalation, and opt-out language is accurate.
• Email policy links render correctly and the intended unsubscribe path suppresses later sends.
• Every branch ends intentionally and no step is disconnected.

When the workflow is ready, open its detail or editor view and select Publish. It can then be selected in a campaign.

​

Archive safely

Before archiving a published workflow, check which active campaigns use it. Pause or move those campaigns first. Avoca displays the affected campaigns when an archive would interrupt active work.