These are working definitions for clearer buying conversations. Your dated agreement controls commercial obligations. Use the stable term links below when requesting clarification.
- Buyer or advertiser
- The business receiving call opportunities and paying under its applicable agreement. Receiving a call does not prove a sale.
- Call publisher
- The party generating consumer call opportunities through a specified source. Its payout conditions are separate from the buyer billing conditions.
- Buyer-referral affiliate
- A partner who introduces call-buying businesses. Referring a buyer is different from supplying consumer calls.
- Consumer-initiated inbound call
- A call initiated by the consumer. Record the source and complete routing journey rather than assuming every inbound-labeled call has the same origin.
- Live transfer
- A conversation handed from a person or team to the receiving buyer. Record any preceding contact and screening separately.
- Source or traffic channel
- Where demand originates, such as search, social or connected TV. A source channel is not an insurance vertical.
- Vertical
- The product or service category, such as final expense, Medicare, ACA or auto insurance. Requirements and terms can differ by vertical.
- Billable call
- A call determined to meet the buyer agreement’s charge conditions. Billability is not the same as live-answer verification, consumer suitability or sale.
- Payable call
- A call that meets the applicable publisher payout conditions. Do not derive this automatically from buyer billability.
- Buffer or duration threshold
- An agreement-specific time condition. Clarify the exact timer start, exclusions and effect on billing; the word buffer alone is incomplete.
- Buyer talk time
- Time attributed to the receiving buyer’s conversation, when the logging system supports that distinction. It can differ from total connected duration.
- IVR
- Interactive voice response: an automated phone menu or routing interaction. Time in an IVR is not proof of conversation with a live agent.
- Concurrency
- The number of simultaneous calls a destination or team is allowed to receive. A daily cap does not control simultaneous arrivals.
- Call cap
- A specified delivery or billing limit over a stated period. Confirm the counted event, reset time and what happens when the limit is reached.
- Duplicate
- A repeat call or identity match under an agreed lookback and matching rule. The definition and commercial treatment must be specified.
- Exclusive
- A claim about sharing or routing that needs a defined scope. Ask whether it applies to the call, consumer, campaign, product or time period.
- Credit or adjustment
- A confirmed change to a charge or balance. A submitted dispute is a request for review, not proof that a credit has been approved.
- Call cohort
- A defined set of calls grouped for analysis by dates, source and other documented criteria. Keep the same cohort when comparing later outcomes.
- Verified live-answer rate
- Verified calls answered by a person divided by calls delivered to the defined destination. State how voicemail, retries and unknown answers are treated.
- Cost per outcome
- Attributable cohort cost divided by the corresponding verified outcome count. State which costs and outcomes are included; zero outcomes do not produce a zero cost per outcome.
Put the definitions to work
Read the pay-per-call overview, complete a buying specification, and agree on your measurement definitions before comparing results.