Understanding Categories, Outcomes, and Conversions

When a call ends, Steer Phones automatically analyzes the conversation and tags it with three pieces of information: a Category, an Outcome, and — when applicable — a Conversion. Together, these give you a clear picture of what your calls were about and whether they turned into business.

This article discusses the use of Categories, Outcomes, and Conversion. To learn how to customize Categories, Click Here. 

Jump To:

Categories

Outcomes

Conversions

-> How They Work Together

AI Classification and Manual Editing

Categories

A Category describes the primary purpose or topic of a call.

Examples:

• Appointment Booking
• Service Status
• Billing Question
• New Customer Inquiry

Every call is assigned one category, either automatically by AI or manually by your team. Categories are the top-level way to organize and filter your call history — you can see at a glance how many calls were about booking versus billing, spot trends over time, and compare volume across categories.

You can customize category labels to match the language your business uses, and control which categories are active on your account.

To learn how to customize Categories, Click Here.

Outcomes

An Outcome is the specific result of a call within its category. Each category has its own set of possible outcomes that reflect what can actually happen during that type of call.

Examples for the "Appointment Booking" category:

• Appointment Booked
• Callback Scheduled
• No Availability
• Customer Declined

Like categories, outcomes are assigned automatically by AI and can be edited by your team. They give you a more precise view of what happened on a call — not just that it was about booking, but whether a booking actually happened.

To learn how to customize Outcomes, Click Here.

Conversions

A Conversion is an outcome that represents a successful business result — the kind of call that drives revenue.

Each outcome in your account is marked as either a conversion or not. For example:

• "Appointment Booked" → Conversion
• "No Availability" → Not a Conversion
• "Customer Declined" → Not a Conversion

When a call results in a conversion outcome, Steer Phones records the call as converted and applies the conversion value you've set for that category (for example, $150 per booked appointment). This lets you see the revenue impact of your calls — not just how many came in, but how much business they generated.

You can set and update conversion values per category from your Revenue settings at any time. To learn how to customize Conversions, Click Here.

How They Work Together

Think of the three as a funnel:

1. Category — What was the call about? (Appointment Booking)
2. Outcome — What happened on the call? (Appointment Booked)
3. Conversion — Did it turn into business? (Yes — $150)

Your dashboard uses this data to show conversion rates, total revenue from calls, and a breakdown by category so you can see which call types are performing and where there may be missed opportunities.

AI Classification and Manual Editing

Steer Phones uses AI to automatically classify every call with a category and outcome based on the conversation transcript. You don't need to tag calls manually.

If the AI gets something wrong, any team member can open the call log and update the category or outcome. The conversion status and value update automatically based on whatever outcome is selected.

Need help setting up your categories, outcomes, or conversion values? Contact our support team.