volume caps

Volume Caps Configuration

Control the flow of leads with volume caps - your automated traffic controller. Set limits by source, time period, or conditions to manage costs, prevent overselling, and maintain quality service levels.

📍 You Are Here

You're learning to configure volume caps that limit how many leads are accepted over specific time periods. Whether controlling daily budgets, managing inventory, or throttling high-volume sources, volume caps give you precise control over lead flow.

🎯 What You'll Master

• Flow, Source, and Step cap configuration
• Time-based limits and reset behaviors
• Conditional and nested caps
• Performance optimization strategies
• Integration with other flow controls

🔑 Understanding Volume Cap Types

Flow Caps

What they control: Total leads entering your flow from all sources
Use when: You have overall daily/monthly limits
Behavior: Lead fails with "Cap reached" when exceeded

Source Caps

What they control: Leads from specific sources
Use when: Different vendors have different allocations
Behavior: Source-specific limit, lead fails when exceeded

Step Caps

What they control: Leads sent to specific recipients or destinations
Use when: Recipients have capacity limits
Behavior: Step skips (lead continues), unless filter stops it

⏱️ How Volume Caps Work

The Counter System

Each cap maintains a counter that:

1. Starts at zero when created
2. Increments by one for each successful lead
3. Resets to zero based on duration settings
4. Only counts successes - failures don't increment

💡 Key Point: Only successful leads count against caps. Rejected leads don't use your allocation.

Reset Timing

Caps reset at the END of their duration period in your account timezone:

Duration	Reset Time
Hour	59 minutes past the hour
Day	11:59 PM
Week	Sunday 11:59 PM
Month	Last day 11:59 PM

Custom Durations:

• "2 days" → Resets at 11:59 PM on the 2nd day
• "3 weeks" → Resets Sunday 11:59 PM of the 3rd week

🛠️ Basic Configuration

Setting Up a Simple Daily Cap

1. Navigate to Configuration
   • For Flow/Source caps: Flow Editor → Sources tab
   • For Step caps: Flow Editor → Steps tab → Select step

2. Add Volume Cap

   • Click "Add Volume Cap" or "Configure Caps"
   • Choose cap type if prompted

3. Configure the Cap

   Name: Daily Lead Limit (or auto-generated)
   Quantity: 1000
   Duration: 1 day

4. Save Changes

   • Cap activates immediately
   • Counter starts at zero

Example: Basic Source Cap

Limit a specific vendor to 500 leads per day:

Location: Source Configuration
Name: Vendor ABC Daily Limit
Quantity: 500
Duration: 1 day
Rules: None (applies to all leads from this source)

🎯 Advanced Configurations

Conditional Caps

Use rules to create caps that only apply to specific leads:

Example: Different limits by state

Cap 1: California Leads
Quantity: 200
Duration: 1 day
IF: state is equal to "CA"

Cap 2: Other States
Quantity: 800  
Duration: 1 day
IF: state is not equal to "CA"

Nested Caps

Create hierarchical limits with parent-child relationships:

Example: Monthly cap with daily limits

Parent Cap: Monthly Total
Quantity: 10,000
Duration: 1 month

  Child Cap: Daily Limit
  Quantity: 500
  Duration: 1 day

How it works:

• Daily cap prevents more than 500/day
• Monthly cap ensures total doesn't exceed 10,000
• If parent cap rule doesn't match, children aren't evaluated

Multiple Independent Caps

Configure multiple caps that work independently:

Cap 1: Hourly Throttle
Quantity: 100
Duration: 1 hour

Cap 2: Daily Maximum
Quantity: 2,000
Duration: 1 day

Cap 3: Premium Leads
Quantity: 50
Duration: 1 day
IF: lead_quality is equal to "premium"

All caps evaluate independently - hitting one doesn't affect others.

💡 Strategic Use Cases

Budget Control

Prevent overspending with daily/monthly limits:

Daily Budget Cap:
Quantity: $5000 worth of leads
Duration: 1 day
Calculate quantity based on average lead cost

Inventory Management

Match lead flow to sales capacity:

Sales Team Capacity:
Quantity: 50 (leads per agent × number of agents)
Duration: 1 day

Geographic Distribution

Balance leads across territories:

California Cap: 30% of daily volume
Texas Cap: 25% of daily volume  
Florida Cap: 20% of daily volume
Other States: 25% of daily volume

Time-Based Throttling

Smooth out lead flow throughout the day:

Business Hours Cap:
Quantity: 100
Duration: 1 hour
IF: hour is between 9 and 17

🔧 Important Behaviors

Counter Reset Rules

When counters reset to zero:

• Creating a new cap
• Changing cap rules (IF conditions)
• Reducing duration (e.g., month → week)
• Duration period expires

When counters DON'T reset:

• Changing quantity only (no rule changes)
• Increasing duration
• Renaming the cap
• Normal incrementation

Evaluation Order

1. Flow caps checked first

   • If exceeded, lead fails immediately
   • Source caps aren't checked

2. Source caps checked second

   • Only if flow caps pass
   • Specific to the submitting source

3. Step caps evaluated during processing

   • Don't prevent lead acceptance
   • Skip the step when exceeded

Multiple Cap Behavior

When multiple caps exist:

• All matching caps increment together
• First exceeded cap stops processing
• Remaining caps don't increment if one fails

📊 Monitoring Cap Status

Flow Dashboard View

See cap status at a glance:

• Current count / Maximum
• Time until reset
• Nested cap expansion

Real-Time Monitoring

Track cap usage throughout the day:

• Green: Under 80% capacity
• Yellow: 80-95% capacity
• Red: Over 95% or exceeded

Cap Naming Convention

Default pattern helps identify caps:

[Flow Name]: [Source/Step Name] [Type] - [Location]
Example: "Insurance Leads: State Farm Source - Cap 1"

Rename for clarity:

"State Farm Daily Limit"
"California Hourly Throttle"
"Sales Team Capacity"

🚀 Optimization Strategies

Rule Ordering

For best performance with conditional caps:

1. Most restrictive rules first
2. Most common conditions first
3. Complex calculations last

Capacity Planning

Set caps based on:

• Historical acceptance rates
• Sales team capacity
• Budget constraints
• Quality requirements

Combining with Other Controls

With Hours of Operation:

• Hours of Operation: When to accept leads
• Volume Caps: How many to accept

With Acceptance Criteria:

• Acceptance Criteria: Lead quality requirements
• Volume Caps: Quantity limits on good leads

With Day Parting:

• Use submission timestamp rules
• Create time-of-day caps
• Optimize for call center hours

🚫 Common Issues and Solutions

"Cap Not Resetting"

Check:

• Timezone settings in account
• Duration configuration
• Whether rules changed (triggers reset)

"Unexpected Counter Values"

Verify:

• Only successful leads count
• Multiple caps might be incrementing
• Parent cap rules affecting children

"Step Cap Not Working"

Remember:

• Step caps just skip the step
• Add a filter after to stop the flow if needed
• Check if lead is succeeding elsewhere

💡 Best Practices

Start Conservative: Set lower limits initially, increase based on performance.

Use Descriptive Names: "California Daily Solar Leads" beats "Cap 1".

Monitor Fill Rates: Track how often caps are hit to optimize limits.

Plan for Resets: Know when caps reset to avoid surprise cutoffs.

Document Your Strategy: Note why each cap exists and how limits were determined.

📚 Related Documentation

• Acceptance Criteria - Quality controls
• Hours of Operation - Time-based controls
• Filter Steps - Routing based on cap status
• Pricing Rules - Cost management

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🎚️ Control Your Flow: Volume caps give you precise control over lead flow, ensuring you never exceed capacity or budget. Start simple with daily caps, then add sophistication as your needs grow!