Training Guide

Omnichannel Engagement Engine

Everything you need to know about how Aria contacts, qualifies, and nurtures your leads across voice, SMS, email, voicemail, and live transfer — automatically.

Back to Engagement Engine
00

What Is the Engagement Engine?

The Engagement Engine is the AI-powered brain that automatically contacts, qualifies, and nurtures your leads across every communication channel — voice calls, SMS, email, and ringless voicemail — so you never miss a lead and never let one go cold.

At the center is Aria, your AI assistant. When a new lead arrives, Aria initiates first contact within 60 seconds. She qualifies borrowers by asking the right questions, books appointments on your calendar, and transfers hot leads to you live with a full briefing. Between those conversations, Aria runs intelligent drip campaigns that adapt based on how each borrower responds.

You do not need to manually chase leads, remember to follow up, or worry about compliance. The engine handles all of that. Your job is to close loans — Aria handles everything that gets borrowers to your desk.

Lead Sources
  • Web forms on your microsite or landing pages
  • Encompass imports via LOS integration sync
  • Salesforce sync for lead aggregation
  • Follow Up Boss (FUB) webhooks from partner agents
  • Manual entry in the Perennia dashboard
01

AI Voice Calls

Aria places outbound calls using Vapi AI with the Deepgram asteria voice. Each call opens with a personalized greeting built from the lead's data, referencing prior SMS messages, emails, or calls.

Qualifying Questions
  • Loan purpose: Purchase, refinance, cash-out, HELOC
  • Timeline: How soon are you looking to move forward?
  • Price range / loan amount
  • Credit range: Excellent (740+), Good (680-739), Fair (620-679), Below 620
  • Employment: W-2 employed, self-employed, retired
Call Outcomes
Live TransferBorrower is ready now — Aria bridges you in with a whisper briefing
AppointmentBorrower wants to talk later — Aria books your calendar
NurtureInterested but not ready — enrolled in drip campaign
DisqualificationDeal breaker found — Aria provides alternatives, never dead-ends
Compliance
  • No calls before 8 AM or after 9 PM (borrower local time)
  • DNC registry checked before every dial
  • Recording disclosure at call start
  • Timezone from borrower area code mapping
02

AI SMS (Two-Way)

Aria sends and receives text messages via Telnyx from your dedicated number. Messages are composed by Claude AI — not canned templates. Aria adapts tone, references prior conversations on any channel, and never repeats herself.

Features
  • One question at a time, natural qualification flow
  • Remembers answers across messages and channels
  • Deal Breaker integration with ECOA-compliant alternatives
  • Cross-channel awareness: "I tried calling earlier — text me here if easier"
Compliance
  • STOP/HELP keyword handling is automatic and immediate
  • Every opt-out recorded with full audit trail
  • A2P 10DLC registered campaign with carrier-approved throughput
  • Re-subscribe via START/YES/UNSTOP with confirmation
03

AI Email

Emails are sent from your actual Outlook address via Microsoft Graph — not from a system email. Claude composes hyper-personalized content using full lead context. Each email is individually written, not mail merge.

Features
  • Open/click tracking that updates lead scores in real time
  • Email opened → SMS escalation within 5 minutes
  • HMAC-signed tracking pixels prevent spoofing
  • Template categories: pre-approval, rate alerts, market updates, doc reminders, referrals
Trigger Events
  • Rate drops affecting the borrower's scenario
  • Stale leads needing re-engagement
  • Post-call follow-up summaries
  • Document requests during processing
  • Appointment confirmations and no-show follow-ups
04

Voicemail Drops

When an outbound call goes unanswered or hits an answering machine, the system triggers a ringless voicemail drop via Slybroadcast. The message appears in the borrower's inbox without their phone ringing.

How It Works
  1. 1.Outbound call goes to voicemail or no-answer
  2. 2.AMD (Answering Machine Detection) identifies machine result
  3. 3.Slybroadcast delivers voicemail to borrower's inbox
  4. 4.15 minutes later: automatic SMS follow-up sent
Safeguards
  • Circuit breaker: 5 consecutive failures → falls back to SMS-only for 60 seconds
  • TCPA quiet hours enforced
  • DNC freshness check is blocking — stale data prevents the drop entirely
05

Live Transfer

When Aria qualifies a borrower who is ready to proceed, the system transfers the call live to you with a whisper briefing containing everything you need to close.

How It Works
  1. 1.Borrower placed on brief hold with hold music
  2. 2.System dials your phone via Telnyx Call Control
  3. 3.You hear a whisper briefing: name, loan type, credit, amount, property, prior context
  4. 4.Both call legs bridged into conference — conversation begins
  5. 5.If unavailable: priority callback task + SMS notification created
initiatedlo_ringinglo_answeredwhisper_playingbridgedcompleted
LO Availability States
  • Available — ready to receive transfers
  • Busy / On Call — transfers queue
  • DND — no transfers
  • Offline / Away — not available
06

12-Month Drip Campaigns

When a lead is not ready to proceed immediately, the engine enrolls them in an automated drip campaign — a 12-month sequence with three phases that gradually decrease in frequency. The moment a lead responds, the drip pauses and Aria starts a live conversation.

Phase 1: Hot Lead
Days 1–7
Daily Contact
  • Day 0: Immediate intro SMS + voicemail follow-up if call went to VM
  • Day 1: Pre-approval intro email
  • Day 2: Check-in SMS
  • Day 3: Rate environment email
  • Day 5: Pre-approval CTA SMS
  • Day 7: Market update email
Phase 2: Warm Nurture
Days 8–90
Weekly Contact
  • Biweekly check-in texts and educational emails
  • Content varies: closing costs, credit tips, market updates
  • Refinance leads get rate-focused content
Phase 3: Long Nurture
Days 91–365
Monthly Touchpoints
  • Quarterly market reviews
  • Monthly check-in texts
  • Rate watch alerts
  • Anniversary re-engagement at 1-year mark
Adaptive Behavior
  • Email opened — escalate from monthly to weekly
  • Link clicked — escalate from weekly to daily for 3 days
  • SMS replied — pause drip, route to live AI conversation
  • No engagement 14 days — reduce frequency
  • Email bounced — switch primary channel to SMS
Exit Conditions
  • Lead responds to any message — routes to live conversation
  • Appointment booked — switches to prep sequence
  • Application submitted — switches to loan lifecycle sequence
  • STOP received — permanently exits all sequences
  • Loan funded — switches to post-close referral sequence

Four pre-built sequences: purchase_12_month, refinance_12_month, post_close, and reengagement. All drip steps are timezone-aware — messages scheduled for 10 AM in the borrower's local time.

07

The Engagement Orchestrator

The Engagement Orchestrator is the master decision engine that coordinates all channels. Every engagement action flows through it. It decides what to send, when to send it, and on which channel, then dispatches to the appropriate service.

15 Trigger Events
new_leadA new lead is created in the system
no_answerAn outbound call was not answered
voicemail_droppedA voicemail was successfully delivered
sms_no_response_24hSMS sent but no reply within 24 hours
email_openedBorrower opened a tracked email
call_completedAn AI or manual call was completed
appointment_setA consultation was booked
appointment_missedBorrower did not show
rate_dropInterest rates dropped significantly
document_neededA document is required to advance the loan
stale_7dNo engagement activity for 7 days
stale_30dNo engagement activity for 30 days
qualification_completeBorrower answered all qualifying questions
deal_breaker_foundA disqualifying factor was identified
loan_fundedThe loan has closed and funded
Channel Selection Logic
  • Time of day — Morning/afternoon: call preferred. Evening: SMS. Quiet hours: no contact.
  • Lead preference — If the lead prefers text, that channel moves first.
  • Pipeline stage — New leads favor calls; nurture-stage leads favor SMS/email.
  • Channel availability — No phone? Skip call/SMS. DNC? Skip call.
  • Consent status — call_consent and sms_consent checked before dispatch.
  • Recent patterns — Already called today? Deprioritize another call.
Fatigue Prevention
  • Maximum 5 contacts per day per lead (configurable)
  • Maximum 15 contacts per week per lead (configurable)
  • 30-minute same-channel deduplication
  • 60-second trigger deduplication (webhook retry protection)
  • Limits reached → deferred to next morning, never dropped
08

Compliance Built In

Every engagement action passes through a multi-layer compliance check before dispatch. This is not optional — the system enforces these rules automatically. Aria never quotes specific interest rates, APRs, or fees in any channel.

TCPA
  • No calls or SMS before 8 AM / after 9 PM (borrower local time)
  • Prior express consent required for automated calls and SMS
  • Recording disclosure on every outbound call
ECOA
  • Aria never asks about race, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, or age
  • Deal breaker responses reviewed for ECOA compliance before sending
  • Every engagement decision logged with full decision factors
DNC
  • DNC registry checked before every outbound dial
  • Per-org DNC lists AND national registry consulted
  • Stale DNC data blocks the call entirely (fail-closed)
A2P 10DLC
  • STOP/HELP automatic and immediate
  • Every opt-out recorded with timestamps
  • Full audit trail for every opt-out and opt-in

Ready to activate the engine?

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