> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getnexor.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Contact hours, cadence and follow-up rules > When an agent contacts a lead: contact hours and days, timezone, cadence blocks, follow-up attempts and follow-up template rotation, recontact rules, per-lead limits, 24-hour WhatsApp window, and why a lead was not contacted. When an agent reaches out to a lead, how often, and what stops it. Last verified: 2026-09-25. ## The short answer | Question | Answer | | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Where do I set contact days and hours? | Agent → **Schedule** → **Edit** writes every task. Task → **Schedule** → **Edit** changes only that task, which then shows **Custom**. | | Time zone? | One per task: task settings → **Who is it, and what does it know?** → **Timezone**. **Schedule** doesn't change it. | | Outside the hours? | **Outside those hours**: **Block calls only** or **Block all channels**. | | First contact? | As soon as the lead enters a live task: the **First contact** channel, then the other channels a few minutes apart, until the lead replies. | | Attempts per day? | **Automatic**: one per channel in each time range. **Customize**: 0 to 5, one fewer each later day. | | For how long? | **Contact for** 1 to 15 contact days. With no reply, the lead moves to **Discarded**. | | After the lead replies? | The cadence stops. If the lead goes quiet later, **Follow-up** rules apply: 1 to 10 attempts. | | WhatsApp follow-up template? | **Automatic** (all approved ones), one (always that one), or several (rotates among those). | | WhatsApp after 24 hours without a reply? | Only with an approved template. | | Lead's local time, US quiet hours, monthly SMS limit? | Not applied. Only the task's schedule and time zone count. | ## Where the schedule lives * The agent's **Schedule** edits one task and copies its days, hours, **Contact for** and **Attempts per day** to every task of the agent, including tasks that had their own. * A task's **Schedule** edits only that task. Its rows then read **Custom** instead of **Shared**. * Each day has one or more time ranges (**Add range**). The cadence only runs inside them. * The time zone belongs to each task, in its settings → **Who is it, and what does it know?** → **Timezone**. Saving the agent's **Schedule** has two side effects today: **Outside those hours** is saved on only one of its tasks, and that task's **Greeting template** choice, if it has one, is copied to the others. After saving, check both on each task. ## Outside those hours | Option | Calls | WhatsApp, email, SMS | | ---------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Block calls only** | Only inside the ranges | First contact and scheduled follow-ups can go out at any hour | | **Block all channels** | Only inside the ranges | Wait for the next range | * Whatever you choose, cadence attempts are planned inside the ranges, and **Follow-up** rule attempts always wait for them. * Never blocked: replies to a lead who writes, a time the lead asked for, and meeting reminders. * For US recipients, set the hours yourself. See [US outreach rules](/docs/en/guides/compliance/us-outreach-overview). ## First contact * A lead from a CRM, the API, a file or added by hand gets it as soon as it enters a live task. A lead who writes first gets a reply instead. * The **First contact** channel (Task → **Channels**) goes first, then each other channel with attempts, a few minutes apart. It stops when the lead replies. * If the lead can't be reached there, for example with no phone number, Nexor starts with the next channel. * In a paused task, the lead waits until you **Set live**. ## Attempts per day and contact days * **Attempts per day** applies per channel and per time range. A day with two ranges can get twice as many. * **Automatic**: one per channel in each range. Personal WhatsApp gets none unless you customize it. * **Customize**: 0 to 5. Each later day uses one fewer, down to a minimum. 0 turns the channel off in the cadence; with 0 calls, calls the lead asks for and meeting reminders still happen. * iMessage and personal WhatsApp send at most one message per range. * Attempts are spread across the range, at least 3 minutes apart. * **Contact for** counts only days with contact hours. ## What stops the cadence * The lead replies on any channel, or has a real conversation on a call. Voicemail doesn't count. * The lead reaches the goal (for example, a meeting is booked), a final stage, or a stage with **Pause your agent here**. * The lead opts out. See [Consent and opt-out](/docs/en/guides/whatsapp/consent-and-opt-out). * Automation is paused for that lead (**Pause** in its conversation), or it waits for someone on your team. * The task is paused. **Set live** resumes its leads. To restart a **Discarded** lead, open it and change its stage to one that isn't final. It starts over with a new first contact. ## Follow-up after silence Task settings → **When does it reach out?** → **Follow-up**, or search **Contact rules and follow-up**. | Setting | Range | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | **If no reply in** | 1 to 720 hours since the last message | | **Follow up every** | 1 to 720 hours | | **Up to** | 1 to 10 times | * It applies to the stages you include. The first stage belongs to the cadence; final stages, paused stages and the goal stage and later ones are left out. * Per stage you can change the timing, add instructions and pick a **Recontact channel** (**Automatic — all active channels** or one channel). * No attempt while the agent owes the lead a reply, while another follow-up is scheduled, or when a meeting is booked. The agent can also decide to skip one. * A failed delivery doesn't count. A reply from the lead resets the count. * Nexor checks about every 15 minutes. The lead's conversation shows the next contact or why there's none, for example **Follow-up attempt limit reached**. ## WhatsApp 24-hour window and templates * The window stays open 24 hours after the lead's last message. Inside it, the agent writes freely. * To start a conversation, or write after the window closes, WhatsApp needs a template approved by Meta. See [Message templates](/docs/en/guides/whatsapp/message-templates). * **Greeting template**: the first message to a new lead. **Follow-up template**: later WhatsApp attempts with the window closed. * Templates count against your account's [daily sending limit](/docs/en/guides/whatsapp/delivery-and-quality). ## Follow-up template rotation Task → **Channels** → WhatsApp → **Follow-up template**: * **Automatic**: all approved follow-up templates of the task's WhatsApp account. * One template: always that one. * Several: only those. The agent picks one per lead from the context and attempt number, without repeating the last one sent. List order isn't send order. The **Greeting template** works the same way. Each task has its own selection. ## Reply-only tasks A task can be set to never write first: no first contact and no cadence, only replies. This is set through the API or MCP, not in the app. See [Update a task (API)](/docs/en/api/workflows/update-workflow). ## Why a lead was not contacted | Cause | What to check | | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Task paused | **Set live** | | Outside the ranges | Calls and follow-up rules always wait; messages wait with **Block all channels** | | No usable channel | Task → **Channels**, and the lead's phone or email | | No approved WhatsApp template, or daily limit reached | Templates and [daily sending limit](/docs/en/guides/whatsapp/delivery-and-quality) | | Lead replied, opted out or is in a final stage | Expected: the cadence stopped | | Lead in **Discarded** | **Contact for** ended; change the lead's stage to restart | | Automation paused or waiting for your team | The lead's conversation and the **Inbox** | | Reply-only task | The API setting | ## Related * [Settings scope: account, agent and task](/docs/en/support/settings-scope) * [Glossary](/docs/en/support/glossary)