Brett Lindenberg
To add click-to-call to a video, play the video in an interactive player, put a button, hotspot, or image on it, and set the click action to call your phone number. When a viewer taps it on a phone, the video pauses and the phone's dialer opens with your number filled in. In Mindstamp this click action is called Start Call. On a computer the same click pauses the video and shows your number in a message, because there is no dialer to open. On a tablet it does both: the calling app opens if the tablet has one, and the number also appears in a message. A plain video file cannot do this on its own, so the button has to come from the player.
What viewers see when they tap a call button
| Device | What happens |
|---|---|
| Phone | The video pauses and the phone app opens with your number. On an iPhone, iOS first asks the viewer to confirm the call. The viewer places the call. |
| Computer | The video pauses and your number appears in a message on the video. The video stays paused until the viewer closes the message. |
| Tablet | The video pauses and the tablet opens its calling app with your number, if it has one. Your number also appears in a message on the video, for tablets that cannot place calls. |
Mindstamp decides by the type of device the browser reports, not by screen size. The confirmation step on an iPhone comes from iOS, and Apple's phone links reference (last updated 2017) says iOS asks the user before it dials a number from a web page.
How to add click-to-call in Mindstamp
- Open the video, select Interactions, and move the playhead to the second where the call button should appear.
- Click Button in the interaction bar. To make a person or object in the frame tappable, use a hotspot. To use your own "Call now" graphic, use an image button.
- Write a label that names the result and shows the number, such as "Call sales: (202) 555-0143". A viewer at a computer can then dial from a desk phone without clicking.
- Set the click action to Start Call and type your number in the Phone Number field, in the format described in the next section.
- Under Timing, set when the button shows and hides. Set Pause to None so the video keeps playing until the viewer taps.
- Save and publish. Open the share link on your own phone in a private browser window, tap the button, check that the dialer shows the right number, and cancel the call. A private window shows the video as a viewer sees it, and the owner preview in the editor does not store normal viewer responses.
The Start Call feature page shows an example of the click report, and our guide to adding call-to-action buttons to your videos covers button design and timing in more detail.
Enter the number so every phone can dial it
A click-to-call button opens a tel: link. The rules for those links are in RFC 3966, the 2004 standard for telephone URIs. Follow these rules when you type the number:
- Start with a plus sign and the country code, for example
+12025550143. RFC 3966 calls this a global number, and the plus sign and country code are what make it unique worldwide. Without them, a viewer in another country dials a local number that is not yours. - Hyphens, dots, and parentheses are allowed between digits. Spaces are not on the standard's list, so leave them out.
- Use digits, not letters. If your number is usually written with letters, convert the letters to digits.
- Leave out
*and#. The same Apple reference says the iPhone Phone app does not dial a link that contains either character. If callers need an extension or a menu option, put it in the button label, such as "Ask for extension 214".
Give viewers at a computer a better option
A message with your number works, but a viewer at a desk may prefer to book a time. You can show phones and computers different buttons:
- Set the Visibility of your Start Call button to Mobile Only.
- Duplicate it and set the copy's Visibility to Desktop Only. Change its label to "Book a call" and its click action to Open Link Modal with your Calendly or HubSpot meetings page. The calendar opens on top of the video, so the viewer books without leaving (calendar embedding).
Visibility treats a tablet as a computer, so phones get the call button, and computers and tablets get the calendar. Start Email is another option for the desktop copy.
Where to put the call button
- Right after the moment that earns the call, such as the price or the point where a viewer would want to ask a question. Our guide to video CTA placement explains how to find that moment.
- In the Magic Menu, so the number is one tap away for the whole video. See our post on always-available calls to action.
- On the end screen, with the Show Button: Start Call option (end-of-video calls to action).
- As an answer to a question. A multiple-choice answer such as "Talk to someone now" can run Start Call, so the viewers who want a person go straight to the phone.
Show the button only to the viewers it fits. With conditional logic on Pro and higher plans, a support video can show "Call support" only to viewers who answered that the fix did not work. Also think about the hours your phones are staffed. Put them in the label, for example "Call us, 9 to 5 ET", and offer a booking link next to the call button for viewers who watch at night.
Send each viewer to the right phone number
The Phone Number field accepts personalization variables, so one video can ring a different person for each viewer. Enter {{REP_PHONE|+12025550143}} and viewers whose link sets REP_PHONE call their own sales rep, while everyone else calls the main line in the fallback. You can set the variable in these ways:
- A personalized link for each prospect, created in bulk from your CRM (personalized links from a CRM).
- A URL parameter on the share link or embed, such as
?rep_phone=%2B12025550188. Write the plus sign as%2B, because a plain + in a link's parameters becomes a space (passing URL parameters into an embed). - A default value for the organization or the video, which applies when the link sets nothing.
Variable names use letters, numbers, and underscores, and capital letters do not matter. Variables are on Core and higher plans.
Track who tapped and what happened next
Mindstamp records each tap like any other click, with the button, the second of the video, and the viewer if you know who they are. The call itself happens in the viewer's phone app, so Mindstamp cannot tell you whether it connected or how long it lasted. That record is with your phone provider. If you want to match calls to the video on that side, give the video a phone number of its own, so every call to that number came from the video.
- To know who tapped, set lead capture to On interaction and turn on Capture Lead for the call button. The viewer gives a name and phone number before the dialer opens, so you can call back if the call drops. It adds a step, so use it when a callback list matters more than speed.
- On Core and higher plans, email alerts tell your team when a viewer submits lead capture.
- On Pro and higher plans, interaction webhooks send the click to your CRM or another system. They arrive after the viewing session ends, not at the moment of the tap.
The reporting overview shows where clicks appear in your reports.
Click-to-call outside an interactive player
- On YouTube, info cards can show a video, a playlist, a channel, or a link, and link cards need YouTube Partner Program membership (YouTube Help, checked October 2026). YouTube lists no call card, so put your number in the video and its description. YouTube links work in Mindstamp for testing only, so to add a call button to the same video, upload the file to Mindstamp before you publish (using YouTube videos in Mindstamp).
- Google Ads call assets add a phone number to ads, and Google's call assets help page lists Search and Smart campaigns (checked October 2026). It does not list video campaigns.
- If you show the video inside your own mobile app, your app code decides how links from the video open (using Mindstamp in mobile apps). Test Start Call inside the app before release.
- On your own web page, a plain link next to the embedded video also works:
<a href="tel:+12025550143">Call (202) 555-0143</a>Common questions
Does click-to-call work on a desktop computer?
In Mindstamp, a Start Call click on a computer pauses the video and shows your number in a message. To offer something better, add a Desktop Only copy of the button that opens your booking calendar.
Does the video pause when someone taps call?
Yes. Start Call pauses the video on every device, so the viewer does not miss anything while on the phone.
Can I see whether the viewer actually called?
Mindstamp shows that the viewer tapped the button and when. Whether a call connected is in your phone system's records. A phone number used only in that video lets you count the calls it produced.
Which Mindstamp plans include Start Call?
Start Call is not limited to a plan. Variables in the phone number need Core or higher, and conditional logic and interaction webhooks need Pro or higher. See pricing for what each plan includes.
To try it, add a Start Call button with Visibility set to Mobile Only right after your video's main offer, add a Desktop Only copy that opens your calendar, and open the share link on your own phone to test the call before you send the video out.
