This guide helps you troubleshoot situations where the dialer appears to "freeze" on one contact and does not move to the next one in the list.

User level: Admin

First check: which dialer are you using?

Before you start, confirm which tool you are in:

CloudTalk Dialer (Sequential / Parallel)
Power Dialer

Smart Dialer (via the Click to Call extension)

The expected behavior is slightly different for each, so the checks below are grouped by cause, not by product.

Quick things to verify

Before going deeper, ask the agent to check:

Is there an active campaign session?
- For CloudTalk Dialer (Sequential / Parallel): open the Dialer tab, select a campaign, and click Start session.
- For Power Dialer: open the Power Dialer tab and click the Call icon on the campaign card to start dialing.
Is the call fully ended?
- The previous call must be disconnected and the wrap-up screen completed before the dialer can move to the next contact.
Is the internet connection stable?
- If the app lost connection, the dialer may appear idle until the client reconnects.

If all of this looks fine and the dialer still does not move, continue with the specific scenarios below.

Scenario 1: The dialer is waiting for a call outcome (disposition)

Symptom

The last call ended, but the dialer is still on the contact screen.
You see a panel with dispositions, notes or tags.
There is no button for the next call, or it is disabled.

Why this happens

In CloudTalk Dialer, selecting a call disposition after each call is mandatory.

In Power Dialer, dispositions may be required, depending on campaign configuration.

What to do

Select a disposition that reflects the call result.
Once everything is filled, click Save or Next contact.
Confirm that the next contact appears and can be dialed.

If the team recently added new required fields or surveys for the campaign, missing data there can also block progression until they are filled.

Scenario 2: There are no more contacts in the agent queue

Symptom

The dialer stays idle.
The Start session or Call button appears, but nothing happens when clicked.
The queue is empty, or only a few contacts are listed and no new ones appear.

Why this happens

The dialer can only move to the next call if an eligible contact is available. The queue may be empty because:

All contacts have already reached the maximum number of allowed call attempts.
Contacts are waiting for their next retry window based on the Hours between attempts setting.
No contacts are currently assigned to the campaign.

What to do

Check whether the campaign shows available contacts or scheduled calls.
Review the campaign configuration to confirm:
- There are active contacts in the Contacts tab.
- Attempts per contact and Hours between attempts allow the system to retry contacts.
- The correct teams or users are assigned to the campaign so contacts can be distributed.
Update the campaign settings or add more contacts if needed, then restart the session or click the Call icon again to reload the queue.

If you are unsure how your campaign is configured, review the general Campaigns guide.

Scenario 3: Sequential Dialer requires manual start of the next call

Symptom

The current call ends, and nothing happens.
The agent expects the next contact to be dialed automatically, but it is not.

Why this happens

The Sequential Dialer (preview mode) is designed to let agents review contact details and manually start the next call. It is normal behavior that it does not automatically dial the next contact.

What to do

Confirm the agent is using Sequential Dialer, not Parallel or Power Dialer.
Explain that this mode always requires:
1. Review the contact.
2. Click Start call or Call on the next contact.

If the team wants fully automated dialing, consider using Parallel Dialer or Power Dialer for the campaign instead of Sequential.

Scenario 4: Campaign session is paused or expired

Symptom

The agent was calling normally earlier, then the dialer stopped progressing.
The session shows as Paused, or the agent is back on the Dialer campaign list.
Uncalled contacts are still visible in the campaign.

Why this happens

A calling session can stop for several reasons:

Pause or End session was selected.
The user was inactive or disconnected for an extended period.
If a session remains paused for too long, uncalled contacts may return to the shared campaign pool.

What to do

Open the Dialer tab in the app.
Select the campaign again.
Click Start session, or click the Call icon for Power Dialer to relaunch the queue.
Confirm that the contact list reloads and calling can resume.

If the queue remains empty after restarting the session, refer to the "no more contacts in the queue" section.

For more details about how contact queues, attempts and retry timing work, see Campaigns and CloudTalk Dialer

Scenario 5: Smart Dialer doesn’t auto-dial

Symptom

The Click to Call extension and Smart Dialer queue are open in the browser.
The next call does not start automatically.

Why this happens

Smart Dialer does not place calls automatically.

It scans web pages for phone numbers, builds a list of contacts and provides a queue, but each call must be started manually. Smart Dialer is a tool for gathering numbers, not an auto dialer.

What to do

Make sure the tool is being used as intended:
- Smart Dialer creates a call list, but calls must be started manually.
Use Add to Smart Dialer to add numbers from a webpage.
Start each call manually from the Smart Dialer panel.
If no numbers appear in the queue:
- Check that the Click to Call extension is installed, enabled and logged in.

For automated dialing, use a Dialer campaign instead of Smart Dialer.

Scenario 6: Calls are dropped instantly due to network or carrier issues

Symptom

The dialer appears not to move forward, but in reality the next calls end almost instantly.
Agents may see very short "failed" calls in their recent history.

Why this happens

Some calls can fail immediately because of:

Invalid or inactive numbers
Carrier blocks or spam protection
Temporary network issues

CloudTalk assigns system dispositions such as Number Not in Service, Call Blocked, Line Busy, or Ring Out.

Additional technical dispositions may appear depending on your environment (for example, network-related failures).

What to do

Ask the agent to open their Call History or campaign statistics and check the last few calls.
Look for repeated system dispositions like:
- Number not in service
- Call blocked
- Network issue
If many contacts in a row fail with the same reason:
- For Number not in service / Call blocked, review the contact list quality.
- For Network issue / System limit, check local network, VPN or throttling and involve Support if needed.

Scenario 7: Campaign settings create long waits between call attempts

Symptom

The dialer appears stuck, even though there are contacts that should be retried.
Contacts remain marked as Scheduled instead of being dialed.

Why this happens

Retry behavior depends on the campaign settings:

Attempts per contact
Hours between attempts
Answer wait time (for Parallel Dialer)
Number of parallel calls

If these values are set too high, the dialer may wait a long time before trying the next number. It can look inactive, even though it is simply waiting for the retry window to open.

What to do

Open the campaign settings and review the retry configuration.
Check:
- Attempts per contact
- Hours between attempts
- Answer wait time and the number of parallel calls (for Parallel Dialer)
Adjust these values if you want the dialer to rotate through contacts more quickly.
Restart the campaign session so the updated settings apply.

When to contact Support

If you checked all of the above and the dialer still does not move to the next call, reach out to CloudTalk Support.

Include:

Dialer type: CloudTalk Dialer (Sequential / Parallel), Power Dialer or Smart Dialer
Campaign name and environment (Dashboard vs Legacy)
Approximate time the issue happened, including timezone
Agent email affected
Example Call ID or Log ID from a recent call in that campaign
Screenshots or short screen recording, if possible