How Nimbata counts calls: total calls, unique callers, and call legs
Nimbata uses three distinct measurements for call activity.
Using the wrong one for the question you're asking is the most common source of confusion when comparing numbers across reports.
The three measurements
Calls
A call is a single inbound event, one caller dialling your tracking number one time.
- Same caller rings twice > 2 calls
- One call routes through 3 destinations in a call flow > still 1 call
- Ten different people each call once > 10 calls
Use this metric for measuring call volume and marketing activity.
Call legs
A call leg is each individual connection Nimbata establishes as part of routing a single call.
When a call flow rings multiple destinations, sequentially, simultaneously, or after a transfer, each ring creates a separate leg.
- One call, one destination > 1 leg
- One call routed to 3 destinations sequentially > 3 legs
- One call routed to 3 destinations, caller hangs up after the 2nd rings > 2 legs
Call legs are relevant for understanding telephony costs and diagnosing call flow behaviour.
They are not the right unit for marketing or volume reporting.
If you are seeing higher numbers than expected in a report, call legs are often the reason.
Unique callers
A unique caller is a distinct phone number that called within your chosen time window, regardless of how many times that number called.
- Same caller rings 3 times in one day > 1 unique caller, 3 calls
- 10 different people each call once > 10 unique callers, 10 calls
- 8 different people call, 2 of them call twice > 8 unique callers, 10 calls
Call legs are never counted here.
One call through a 4-destination flow is still 1 unique caller.
Use this metric for measuring true inbound demand and understanding your audience size.
How call flows affect these numbers
When a call flow rings multiple destinations, e.g. three sales reps in sequence, a single inbound call creates multiple legs.
The Calls metric and the New vs. Repeat callers reports are normalized to the call level, not the leg level, so they always give you the correct count.
Reports scoped to Destinations may show leg-level data, which is expected.
Scenario | Calls | Call legs | Unique callers |
|---|---|---|---|
1 caller, calls once, 1 destination | 1 | 1 | 1 |
1 caller, calls once, 3 destinations (sequential) | 1 | 3 | 1 |
1 caller, calls twice, 1 destination each time | 2 | 2 | 1 |
1 caller, calls twice, 3 destinations each time | 2 | 6 | 1 |
5 callers, each calls once, 2 destinations each | 5 | 10 | 5 |
Which report to use
Total calls per day (not counting legs)
- Go to Analytics > Trends.
- This report counts at the call level.
- One inbound caller routing through multiple destinations counts as one call.
- This is your headline volume metric.
Unique callers per day
- Go to Analytics > Trends
- Look at the New vs. repeat callers view.
- The same caller ringing multiple times still counts as one unique caller.
Individual call records with full detail
- Go to Activity > Calls.
- Select All calls.
- Every call appears once, with its source, tracking number, caller ID, duration, destination, and any tags or transcriptions.
- Use this when you need to investigate a specific call, export data, or apply filters.
Destination-level activity
- Destination reports show activity broken down by destination number.
- Because a single call can route to multiple destinations, these reports may show higher numbers than your Calls reports.
- This is expected; it reflects leg-level activity per destination, not total call volume.
New vs. returning callers over time
- Nimbata classifies a caller as New if it is the first time that phone number has called within your account's look-back window.
- If the same number has called before within that window, it is Repeat.
- This split is useful for understanding whether your campaigns are reaching new audiences or re-engaging existing callers.
Quick-reference cheat sheet
What you want to know | Metric | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
How many calls came in today? | Calls | Analytics → Tracking Source → Calls → Daily Trend |
How many distinct people called today? | Unique callers | Analytics → Tracking Source → New vs. Repeat Callers → Daily Trend |
Did someone call more than once this month? | New vs. Repeat | Analytics → Tracking Source → New vs. Repeat Callers |
How many times did a specific destination ring? | Call legs (by destination) | Analytics → Destinations → Daily Trend |
What happened on a specific call? | Individual call record | Activity → Calls → All Calls |
What's my overall call activity at a glance? | Dashboard summary | Analytics → Dashboard |
A note on call filtering
- If you use filtering rules to block certain callers, those calls are rejected before they enter the call flow and do not appear in your call count.
- This is intentional: filtered calls represent noise, not real inbound demand.
- A call flow keypad step where a caller doesn't press a digit does not exclude that call from reporting.
- The call still happened and is still recorded.
- If you need a call to be excluded from your metrics entirely, use a call filtering rule, not a call flow exit path.
Detailed guide: How to set up call flows
Detailed guide: Call disposition statuses explained: outcomes and hang-up causes
Detailed guide: How to export call activity
Updated on: 03/04/2026
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