How to see missed calls in CallRail (and what CallRail counts as missed)

CallRail shows missed calls in two places: the Call Log, where every call to and from your tracking numbers is listed with its answer status, and the Unanswered Calls report, which counts missed calls by day of the week and hour of the day. Before you trust either number, check how CallRail decides that a call was missed. A call that rang out on a cell phone can be logged as answered, and a call that hung up in the first seconds is logged as abandoned, not missed.

This guide uses CallRail's own help center, as checked on the date at the top. Menus move; if a path below has changed, CallRail's article is the reference.

Where to look

The Call Log: every call, one row each

Go to Analytics, then Activity, then Call Log under the "Calls" header. The log lists calls received and made by your tracking numbers. To narrow it:

• Use the company drop-down and the date range at the top.
• Select Add Filter for more filters. To see only new callers, choose Conversation Type, then First-Time Conversations.
• Use Edit Columns to add the columns you need, such as tags, value or whether the call was a qualified lead.

The Call Log can't save filters. CallRail suggests custom reports if you want a saved view. Records are kept for at most 25 months, so older calls won't show. Source: CallRail's Call Log article.

In a 2023 community reply, CallRail staff also described filtering the Call Log by Answer Status to see missed calls only. That filter isn't described in the Call Log help article itself, so check the filter list in your own account. Source: CallRail community thread on returned-call reporting.

The Unanswered Calls report: when you miss calls

Go to Analytics, then Reports, then Unanswered Calls under the "Behavior" header. Choose whether to view missed calls by day of week or by hour of day. Hovering over a bar shows answered versus missed calls, a chart shows the share of calls missed, and the numbers in the table open the list of missed calls for that period. The report works at the company level. Source: CallRail's Unanswered Calls report article.

This is the report to use for staffing. If most misses happen between noon and 1 pm, or on Saturday mornings, that is where coverage is thin.

What CallRail counts as missed

CallRail's help center describes call statuses in two places, and they don't read exactly the same.

The Call answer status article lists separate statuses (source):

• Answered: you answered, or a phone system outside CallRail answered.
• Missed: the call went unanswered for 15 seconds and didn't go to a voicemail system.
• Voicemail: a voicemail step in your CallRail call flow answered, or CallRail detected voicemail on the number the call was forwarded to. If that detection fails, the call is marked Missed.
• Abandoned: the caller hung up before 15 seconds had passed, before the destination had time to ring.
• Outbound: a call you placed to a customer.

The Unanswered Calls report article groups them differently: it defines a missed call as an unanswered inbound call that ends in a detected voicemail or is detected as abandoned, and also counts calls taken by a voicemail step in the call flow (source). So the report's missed count can include voicemails and early hang-ups that the Call Log shows under their own status.

Both articles agree on the part that matters most: a call answered by a phone system outside CallRail counts as answered, and so does a call picked up by a person or an automated system where the caller left no voicemail.

Three cases that hide missed callers

1. Calls forwarded to a cell phone. If the cell's own voicemail picks up and CallRail doesn't detect it as voicemail, the result depends on detection. If another phone system or an auto-attendant answers, CallRail logs the call as answered, even if nobody spoke to the caller.
2. Quick hang-ups. A caller who gives up during a long greeting, before 15 seconds, is logged as abandoned. Some of these are real customers. Look at the Duration column before you dismiss them.
3. The same person on two numbers. CallRail counts first-time callers by the number they called from, so a customer calling from a work line is "new" again. Source: CallRail's first-time callers article.

A five-minute weekly check

1. Open the Unanswered Calls report for the last 7 days and note the hours with the most misses.
2. Open the Call Log for the same 7 days, add the First-Time Conversations filter and look at the calls that were not answered: missed, voicemail, and abandoned calls long enough to matter.
3. For each one, look for an outbound call to the same number after the miss. CallRail logs outbound calls placed through CallRail in the same Call Log. Calls made from a personal cell outside CallRail are not there.
4. Write down how many new callers never got a callback.

Step 3 is the slow part, and CallRail has no report for it. Our guide on finding missed calls nobody returned in CallRail covers it in detail, and the free missed-call audit runs the comparison on an exported call log in your browser. If you want it checked continuously, Herdback reads your CallRail call log and emails you when a missed caller is still waiting after your target time.

Frequently asked questions

Does a voicemail count as a missed call in CallRail?

It depends on the view. The Call Log shows Voicemail as its own status, while the Unanswered Calls report counts calls ending in a detected voicemail as missed. Either way, a voicemail is a caller waiting for a callback.

Why does CallRail show a call as answered when nobody picked up?

Usually because something outside CallRail answered it: another phone system, an auto-attendant, or a cell phone voicemail that CallRail didn't detect. CallRail counts a call answered by a phone system outside CallRail as answered.

How do I see only first-time callers who were missed?

In the Call Log, select Add Filter, then Conversation Type, then First-Time Conversations, and check the answer status of each call. Newer callers matter most for a plumbing or HVAC shop, because a returning customer is more likely to call again.

How long does CallRail keep missed calls?

CallRail holds communication records for at most 25 months, according to its Call Log article.

Sources

• https://support.callrail.com/hc/en-us/articles/5711301368717-Call-Log
• https://support.callrail.com/hc/en-us/articles/5712132142605-Unanswered-calls-report
• https://support.callrail.com/hc/en-us/articles/5712088951437-Call-answer-status
• https://support.callrail.com/hc/en-us/articles/5711515153421
• https://support.callrail.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/17560290253069-Add-Reporting-for-which-Missed-Calls-were-Returned