Trigger: First Call From Contact

The First call from contact trigger fires when the calling number had no previous call on record — it's the first time that contact ever reached you by voice. Note it fires on the contact, not a specific conversation, so when testing it you pick a recent contact instead of a conversation.

When to use it

• Automatically welcome a new lead who just called for the first time.
• Create a follow-up task for a salesperson to reach out.
• Tag the contact as "New phone lead" to segment them later.

Trigger settings

• Specific channel: restrict to one call channel. Empty = any.
• Direction: filter by Inbound / Outbound.
• You can toggle "Run only once per contact" in the editor, though this trigger is already one-time by design.

Available variables

Call variables ($call.id, $call.from, $call.duration, etc.), contact variables ($contact.display_name, $contact.phone, $contact.tags, etc.), plus:

• $is_new_contact — true when the number had no Contact row before this call.

Steps

1. Create or open an automation in Automations.
2. Drag "First call from contact" from Call triggers.
3. Set channel/direction filters if needed.
4. Connect actions like "Add tag" + "Create follow-up task".
5. Activate and save.

Example

Every time a new number calls the "Support" channel, you want to tag it and create a welcome task. Set up the trigger, connect "Add tag = New phone lead", then "Create task" titled: "Call {{$contact.display_name}} ({{$call.from}}) back for follow-up."

Tips

• To test it, use Test and pick a recent contact (not a conversation).
• Pair it with "Repeat caller" to tell new customers apart from regulars in your reports.