Meaning & use
inbound call
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablebusiness
A telephone call that someone receives from another person or organization, rather than one they make themselves.
Grammar: Countable: an inbound call, a hundred inbound calls.
Patterns
- take an inbound call
- handle inbound calls
The agent took an inbound call from a worried customer.
The company handles thousands of inbound calls each day.
An inbound call from an unknown number lit up her phone.
Word forms
| plural | inbound calls |
|---|
Common combinations
- take an inbound call
- He took an inbound call from a client.
- handle inbound calls
- The team handles inbound calls about billing.
- answer an inbound call
- She answered an inbound call on the second ring.
- route inbound calls
- The system routes inbound calls to the right department.
- record inbound calls
- The firm records inbound calls for training.
Synonyms and how they differ
- incoming call
- Incoming call is the everyday phrase for any call being received, while inbound call is more typical of call centers and business systems.
- received call
- Received call simply states that it was answered, whereas inbound call states the direction of the call.
- customer call
- A customer call is defined by who is calling, but an inbound call could come from anyone.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: inbound call or outbound call?
inbound call vs outbound call
An outbound call is one you make to someone else, while an inbound call is one that comes to you.
Practice
A support agent waits for customers to phone in with problems. Which kind of call is she handling?
Choose one answer.
Customers are calling her, so these are inbound calls. Outbound calls are ones she would make herself.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inbound call”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.