What is Answer Machine Detection (AMD)

⚙️ How Does AMD Work?

The first thing to understand is that no AMD system is 100% effective. Many get incredibly close — including ours at Blue Telecoms — but perfection isn't achievable.

Consider a typical answering machine message:

AMD works by detecting telephone numbers answered with a lengthy message followed by silence. Most humans answer with a short "Hello" or their number. The algorithm identifies answerphone messages matching these longer parameters.

However, several factors can throw the algorithm off course:

• Country-specific systems (US AMD won't work well in the UK and vice versa)
• Different mobile/landline networks handle answerphones differently
• Call quality can have an impact
• Some answerphones have unusually short greetings

⏱️ Detection Time

The algorithm has to listen to the customer's greeting before deciding what to do. This means when a real customer answers, the agent will miss the first few seconds of the call.

At Blue Telecoms, we've minimised this wait to just a second or two. However, not all AMD systems perform this well. If your detection system is taking too long, raise it with your tech support team immediately.

🔄 What Are the Alternatives?

If you're not getting great results, consider these options:

• Try a different AMD system — If your current dialler isn't performing, trial another product. Blue Telecoms offers free trials for anyone struggling with dialler performance.
• Switch AMD off entirely — If you want 100% data utilisation, this is worth testing. This is especially important when paying per individual lead, such as internet marketing and hot key leads.
• Optimise calling times — Try to gauge when your target audience will be home to answer. This naturally reduces the number of answering machines your agents encounter.