if you ever find yourself in the position I was in last night - having basically somehow managed to forget to make an important phone call for the whole day - you should know that it is now possible (easy, speedy, too) to use Automations to set your phone to dial a number/contact at a specific time with no other user interaction.
you don't have to confirm anything. so, this morning, as I was almost certain I would, I just woke up to the sound of my doctor's offices' receptionist's voice coming from somewhere in my bed saying "hello...?"
it worked! I accomplished what I needed to hehe.