fic call IDs with support may help investigate .

​ To learn more, see the sources I considered: [[1] Debug outbound connection issues](https://docs.retellai.com/reliability/debug-outbound-call) [[2] Handle voicemail and IVR](https://docs.retellai.com/build/handle-voicemail) [[3] Voicemail detection - only working on carrier default](https://discord.com/channels/1186424376300679209/1354391344864297040) ​

### Answer This sounds like your outbound calls are reaching numbers experiencing spam-related issues, rather than being genuine spam calls received by your agent. If your Retell-purchased number is experiencing a high outbound call volume spike without warmup, and/or has a low pickup rate, it might get marked as spam by carriers, causing frequent blocking issues [(1) ]() . To remedy this, you can try to: - Purchase a new number and warm it up before pouring all traffic to it (slowly increase outbound traffic) - Increase the pickup rate - Register the number with the spam remediation feature (verified phone number) Regarding empty calls or music playing in the background, this is consistent with reaching voicemail or IVR systems rather than a live person [(2) ]() . You can configure your agent to detect these automatically: **Voicemail detection**: Runs continuously within a timeout window. When detected, you can configure the agent to either hang up immediately or leave a message . **IVR hangup**: When enabled, detects if the outbound call reaches an IVR system and automatically hangs up . To enable these, navigate to your agent settings, then open Call Settings and toggle on Voicemail Detection and/or IVR Hangup . One thing to note: detection only runs for the first 3 minutes of the call, so if the music or empty call is happening after that window, detection won't catch it . There's also a known limitation reported where voicemail detection reliably hangs up on default carrier voicemail messages, but calls to non-default/custom voicemail greetings can run through the entire message instead of hanging up [(3) ]() . If you're experiencing this with custom greetings, sharing the speci

Feel free to tag @AI Evy with additional questions. I also appreciate feedback, it helps me improve.

@AI Evy No, inbound calls are coming in, but there's no one on the other line. It's just dead air until the silence timeout occurs

### Answer I don't have information in the available sources that directly addresses inbound calls with dead air/silent callers, since the sources here cover the inbound webhook payload/response spec [(1) ]() , agent creation parameters [(2) ]() , chat agent creation [(3) ]() , and turn-taking/VAD concepts [(4) ]() [(5) ]() [(6) ]() . One relevant option from the inbound webhook: you can use

custom_sip_headers

and the `from_number`/`to_number` fields in the webhook payload to identify and filter suspicious inbound calls before they connect [(1) ]() . You could also use the

reject

field in your webhook response to decline calls from numbers you suspect are generating dead air:

{
  "call_inbound": {
    "reject": true
  }
}

Beyond this, I don't have documented guidance in these sources on detecting or handling silence specifically on inbound calls (as opposed to outbound voicemail/IVR detection) . Could you clarify if you'd like me to search further, or would a general answer based on my broader knowledge be helpful?

​ To learn more, see the sources I considered: [[1] Inbound call & SMS webhook](https://docs.retellai.com/features/inbound-call-webhook) [[2] Create Voice Agent](https://docs.retellai.com/api-references/create-agent) [[3] Create Chat Agent](https://docs.retellai.com/api-references/create-chat-agent) [[4] Turn-Taking Endpoints](https://www.retellai.com/glossary/turn-taking-endpoints) [[5] VAD vs. Turn-Taking Endpoints in Conversational AI | Retell AI](https://www.retellai.com/blog/vad-vs-turn-taking-end-point-in-conversational-ai) [[6] Retell AI's Turn-Taking Model for Seamless Calls | Retell AI](https://www.retellai.com/blog/how-retell-ais-turn-taking-model-ensures-seamless-calls) ​

Feel free to tag @AI Evy with additional questions. I also appreciate feedback, it helps me improve.