Nodes and Configuration

Pulse nodes

A Pulse is built from these node types:

Entry node

Indicates when and how customers enter the campaign, based on your campaign triggers.

Call node

Dispatches a call event in the campaign workflow. A campaign's inbound or outbound direction is chosen when the campaign is created and cannot be changed later. In a Voice AI pulse the call is handled by the AI employee. In an Agent-first pulse, every normal Call node places an outbound call through a live agent, regardless of campaign direction.

Every normal Agent-first Pulse Call uses a dial-first flow, including a follow-up call in an inbound desk campaign. careCycle dials the customer, runs mandatory answering machine detection (AMD), and rings agents only when AMD confirms a live person. A requested callback is the accept-first exception: careCycle rings an agent first and dials the customer only after the agent accepts. Receiving an inbound desk call does not automatically enroll that customer in Pulse; a follow-up must belong to an active Pulse cadence for that customer and campaign.

Each call node supports:

• Pre-call SMS: a text sent shortly before the call to let members know you're calling and why. See Sending SMS below.
• Voicemail handling: choose what happens when voicemail is detected. See Voicemail modes below.
• Customer variables: personalize SMS messages and voicemails to maximize contact rates and callbacks.

SMS node

Sends a custom message or a reusable template at any point in the cadence. See Sending SMS below.

Disposition routing

Splits the workflow based on how a call ended, so you can, for example, redial missed calls while routing connected calls elsewhere. See Dispositions and Routing.

Wait node

Inserts a static delay, or waits until a specific time in the customer's local time zone, before the next action.

Loop node

Repeats a set of nodes a specified number of times before exiting. This is the simplest way to build a multi-attempt cadence (for example, "call, wait a day, repeat up to 4 times").

Exit node

Marks the end of a cadence. Exit nodes are typed as either Success or Exit, which feeds your campaign analytics.

Sending SMS

Pulse can send SMS at any point in a cadence. Texts are sent from your agency's main phone number, so replies and callbacks land on one consistent number members recognize.

There are two ways SMS goes out:

• SMS node: a standalone step in the workflow. Use it to follow up after a missed call, confirm an appointment, or nurture between call attempts.
• Pre-call SMS (on a call node): a text sent shortly before the call is placed, letting the member know you're about to call and why. On modern smartphones the device populates your business name from the message, priming recognition and improving contact rates.

Custom messages vs. templates

For any SMS you can either write a custom message inline on the node, or reuse an SMS template so the same wording is shared across campaigns and stays consistent. Templates are the better choice when the same message is used in more than one place, so an edit updates everywhere at once.

Personalization with customer variables

Both custom messages and templates support customer variables, which are merged in per recipient (for example, the member's first name, plan, or appointment time). Personalization lifts contact and callback rates, so use variables wherever the message would otherwise read as generic.

Voicemail modes

Every call node has one of three voicemail modes:

These modes control whether careCycle leaves a message. They do not disable AMD on normal Agent-first Pulse calls: detection always runs before an agent is rung.

Compliance

SMS follows the same opt-out and quiet-hours rules as the rest of the platform. A member who replies STOP is suppressed from further messages automatically, and texts are not sent outside compliant hours. See Error Handling and Retries for how hours are enforced.

Export and Import

A proven cadence should not have to be rebuilt by hand. From the workflow menu in the Pulse builder:

• Export downloads the workflow as a file.
• Import loads an exported workflow into another campaign and walks you through a review before anything changes: it shows how the incoming pulse maps onto this campaign, and for each disposition the workflow routes on you choose to keep it, drop it, or remap it to one of this campaign's dispositions (agent-first campaigns remap onto outcome types). SMS template references get the same treatment.

Importing replaces the campaign's current canvas, and the builder keeps versions, so you can restore an earlier one from the same menu.