A dialer session turns a batch of call tasks into one calling session. lemlist dials for you, skips voicemails, busy lines and dead numbers, and connects you only when a person answers. With the Parallel Dialer, lemlist calls up to 5 leads at the same time and connects you to the first person who answers. With the Power Dialer, lemlist calls one lead at a time.
Limitations
A dialer session requires a Power Dialer or Parallel Dialer seat. Your admin buys the seats and assigns them to the reps who call.
Dialing 2 to 5 lines at once requires a Parallel Dialer seat. With a Power Dialer seat, selecting 2 or more lines shows the Parallel dialer add-on offer instead.
Dialer sessions work from lemlist call tasks. You cannot start a dialer session from HubSpot or Salesforce.
Dialer sessions work with lemlist-bought phone numbers by default. Connected (non-lemlist) numbers can be unlocked for your team on request: contact support. Use a connected number only if it is used just for prospecting, not your main business or personal number.
lemlist cannot provide French mobile numbers (06/07), only landlines. If you already have a French mobile line, you can connect it.
Live transcript is not available.
Voicemail detection is not fully accurate. Occasional false positives and false negatives happen while detection is being tuned.
Attempts to the same phone number are capped at 5 per month in Power Dialer mode, to avoid over-calling leads.
Prerequisites
A Power Dialer or Parallel Dialer seat assigned to you.
A phone number bought through lemlist, or a connected number if it has been unlocked for your team, set up for calling. See Set up lemlist in-app calling.
Call tasks on your Tasks page.
How do I start a dialer session?
Step 1: Select the call tasks you want to dial
Open Tasks from the left sidebar and filter your call tasks, for example by campaign, owner or attempts. Tick the call tasks you want in the session, then click Launch power dialer in the bottom action bar. You do not need to build or import a separate call list: the session is built from the tasks you select.
✅ Verify: the Call session panel opens with your selected contacts listed.
Step 2: Review the leads in the session
The list shows each lead's Contact, Status, Phone, the number you call From, Company, Job title, Attempts, Last call, Campaign and Instructions. Click Open contact to check a lead's details, or Remove from the list to take a lead out of the session. Unsubscribed leads and invalid phone numbers are excluded automatically when the session starts.
Step 3: Choose how many lines to dial at once
Next to Parallel lines, select 1 to 5.
1 line: lemlist calls your leads one after another and connects you only when a person answers. Use it for fewer, high-value leads, such as key accounts, warm leads and callbacks.
2 to 5 lines (Parallel Dialer): lemlist calls that many leads at the same time and connects you to the first person who answers. The other lines are dropped. Use it for large cold lists and long calling sessions.
Step 4: Check your call settings
Click Call settings (gear icon) to review how the session behaves. Each setting is explained below.
Step 5: Start the session
Click Start session.
✅ Verify: lemlist starts dialing the leads in your list.
What each call setting does
Phone number to use: the number you call from. Pick a number, or keep automatic rotation between your numbers. Rotating spreads your calls across your numbers, which helps keep each number healthy. See Check your phone number's health score before carriers flag it as spam.
Auto-launch the next call after an answered call: when on, the next call starts after an answered call ends.
Skip voicemails: hangs up as soon as an answering machine is detected, so the session moves straight to the next lead. Turn it off if you want the call to stay connected so you can listen to the voicemail.
Hear the ringing: when on, you hear the ringing while lemlist dials.
Leave a voicemail: record your voicemail message once, then drop it in one click instead of repeating it on every call. Click Start recording, or Choose a file or drag and drop one. A message can last up to 1 minute (Max: 01:00).
Mark as done after X attempts: the call task is marked as done after the chosen number of unanswered calls. Until then, the task stays in your task list.
Record calls: records calls by default. You can turn recording off on a specific answered call.
Play a sound when someone answers: plays a sound when a lead picks up, so you know to start talking.
Audio settings: choose your Audio input and Audio output.
What happens during the session
lemlist dials your leads, detects voicemails, busy lines and dead numbers, and skips them, so you never hear them. What happens with a voicemail depends on your Skip voicemails setting. Calls that ring for more than 20 seconds without an answer are dropped automatically.
When someone answers, the lead's contact card opens with what lemlist already knows about them and where they are in the campaign. Talk to the lead, then add notes and a call status during or after the call. Mark the task as done to log the outcome and your notes, and the next dial starts.
You keep full control during the session:
Pause, resume or stop the session at any time.
Reorder leads, move a lead to the top, remove a lead, or sort by timezone, company or campaign.
See where you are in the list (lead X of Y) and how many calls connected.
All existing call features stay available during a session: recording, transcript, AI summary, AI follow-up, notes, and statuses.
The call is one step of your campaign sequence, and you decide what happens after it. Add a next step for leads who don't pick up, for example a follow-up email that goes out automatically after a missed call, so no lead is left waiting.
Session recap
When you stop a session, a recap shows the leads called, conversations, connect rate, talk time and interested leads. To find your past sessions, go to Calls → Sessions.
Practical example
A rep has 60 call tasks from one cold campaign. They filter Tasks by that campaign, select all the call tasks and click Launch power dialer. They set Parallel lines to 5, keep Skip voicemails on and set Mark as done after X attempts to 3, then click Start session. The rep only talks to the people who pick up. Leads who don't answer move on to the campaign's next step, a follow-up email. For a short list of callbacks later in the day, the rep sets Parallel lines to 1 so no answer is dropped.
Best practice: call from numbers used just for prospecting, ideally local to the lead's region, and keep an attempt limit so old tasks do not stay open.
Troubleshooting and common pitfalls
Issue: I cannot select 2 to 5 parallel lines, or I see the Parallel dialer add-on offer
Root cause: you don't have a Parallel Dialer seat. A Power Dialer seat dials one line at a time.
Ask your admin to buy a Parallel Dialer seat and assign it to you.
Until then, keep Parallel lines on 1.
Issue: I cannot launch a dialer session
Root cause: you don't have a Power Dialer or Parallel Dialer seat, or your calling setup uses a connected (non-lemlist) number that has not been unlocked for your team.
Ask your admin whether a dialer seat is assigned to you.
Check which number is connected to your calling setup and whether it was purchased through lemlist.
If it is a connected number, ask support to unlock connected numbers for your team, or buy a lemlist number.
Issue: Some leads are missing when the session starts
Root cause: unsubscribed leads and invalid phone numbers are excluded automatically at launch.
Check the original task list for lead status and phone number validity.
Add or correct the missing phone numbers, then start a new session.
Issue: Calls end without connecting me
Root cause: the call rang for more than 20 seconds without an answer, or it went to voicemail while Skip voicemails was on.
Check the lead's Status in the session list.
If it shows voicemail, an answering machine was detected and the call was dropped. Detection is not fully accurate, so a live answer is occasionally dropped this way.
Retry later, within the monthly attempt limit.
Issue: I cannot keep calling the same number
Root cause: attempts to the same number are capped at 5 per month in Power Dialer mode.
Check the lead's Attempts and Last call in the session list.
Wait until the next month, or call that lead outside a dialer session.
If your case is different
If you want to call leads one by one instead, see How to call leads and log outcomes from Tasks or Contacts.
If you need to buy or configure a number first, see Set up lemlist in-app calling.
If you want to listen back to a call from a session, see Review a call recording, transcript, and AI insights.