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Dialer Manager
Printable Help
Interactive Intelligence Customer Interaction Center® (CIC)
2016 R1
Last updated October 27, 2015
(See Change Log for summary of changes.)
Abstract
This document explains what an administrator must know to manage Interaction Dialer effectively. It covers
Interaction Dialer Manager views and best practices that are beneficial to the effective operation of the system.
Interactive Intelligence, Inc.
7601 Interactive Way
Indianapolis, Indiana 46278
Telephone/Fax (317) 872-3000
www.ININ.com
Dialer Manager Printable Help
Table of Contents
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Dialer Manager Help
Interaction Dialer is a client/server extension that adds automated dialing, manual calling, and campaign management features to CIC servers. Since Interaction Dialer is a CIC application, it utilizes CIC's architecture, feature set, and event processing engine. Campaigns can scale to hundreds of agents at one site or thousands across multiple locations.
Campaigns can run simultaneously across multiple CIC sites but are administered centrally.
• Interaction Dialer conducts campaigns by contacting a list of people according to a prescribed list of rules.
• Interaction Dialer places outbound telephone calls for campaigns, plays audio files to answering machines, sends faxes to fax machines, and routes calls answered by a live person to an Interaction Attendant profile or directly to Dialer agents.
• Interaction Dialer's Manual Calling feature provides you with the ability set up a Dialer server to manually call customers when the situation warrants non automated calls.†
† As you use this Help system to learn about Interaction Dialer, keep in mind that this product can be configured to operate in two different ways: 1) as an automated dialing system and 2) as a manual-only calling system. For more
information, see the Automatic Dialing vs. Manual Calling topic.
Help System Organization
This Help System is organized as follows:
Administration
Concepts
The sectionexplains what an administrator must know to manage Interaction Dialer effectively. Topics are sequenced to introduce concepts while building familiarity with the system.
Reference information about settings on each Interaction Dialer Manager screen. In some cases, the discussion of screen functionality spans multiple topics. Pressing
F1 in Interaction Dialer Manager opens help topics in this section. Procedures often follow these topics.
Describes features licensed at the server level, including information about Manual
Calling feature license, and granular rights assigned to users or workgroups.
Recommended practices that are useful to the effective and efficient operation of
Interaction Dialer, learned by Interactive
Intelligence staff working with many Dialer customers and partners over time.
Summary of changes made to this document.
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Documentation Conventions
In this document, product titles are shortened for readability. Full titles are always used for clarity when it is necessary to distinguish between similar sounding items.
Full Title
Customer
Interaction
Center
Interaction
Dialer
Outbound
Dialer Server
Manual
Calling Server
Central
Campaign
Server
Interaction
Dialer
Manager
Interaction
Scripter API
Interaction
Scripter .NET
Client
Abbreviations used in this
Document
"CIC" or "IC"
"Dialer"
"ODS", "Outbound Dialer", "Dialer
Server"
"MCS", "Manual Calling feature",
"Dialer Server"
"CCS", "Campaign Server"
"IDM", "Dialer Manager"
"Scripter", "Scripter API"
"Scripter Client", "Client", "Interaction
Scripter Client"
Copyright symbols (©), trademarks (
TM
), registered trademarks (®), and other signs and indicators are omitted from titles in this documentation. These indicators are declared for Interactive Intelligence products and platforms in the
Copyright and Trademark Information topic.
Accessing Help
To Open Interaction Dialer Manager Help press F1 in Interaction Dialer Manager to open a reference topic describing the current view. Reference topics are linked to background information, feature overviews, and procedures where applicable. You can also press help buttons ( ) in the user interface.
Since IDM plugs into application frameworks, pressing F1 in the host framework may open a different help topic than expected. This can occur when the context of a display screen cannot be determined, when a common user interface element (such as a logon dialog for example) has focus. For best results, click help buttons where applicable.
Documentation Updates
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Notes for overall release information.
Feedback
Automatic Dialing vs. Manual Calling
The primary function of Interaction Dialer is to provide an efficient automated, predictive dialing system. However, to respond to industry needs, we have added a manual calling feature to Interaction Dialer that in effect disables all of the automatic dialing capabilities. In other words, when using the manual calling feature, the system can only make manual calls. You can choose how you want Interaction Dialer to work, either as an automatic dialer or a manual-only
When it comes to the documentation, the server that handles the calls is referred to as the Outbound Dialer Server or
ODS. When you use the manual calling feature, the server that handles the calls is also referred to as a Manual Calling
Server or MCS, in order to differentiate it from a fully automated dialing system. (However, other than being limited to only making manual calls, an MCS has the exact same feature set as an ODS.)
The distinction between an ODS and an MCS, means two things:
• First, there are options and functions described in this documentation that do not apply to a Manual Calling
Server.
• Second, there are options and functions described in this documentation that apply to both the automatic
Outbound Dialer Server and the Manual Calling Server configurations.
To handle the first case, where appropriate we have expressly pointed out some of the differences you will encounter when using a Manual Calling Server as opposed to using an automatic Outbound Dialer Server. In the second case, when we are discussing options and functions that apply to both configurations, we attribute those items to an
Outbound Dialer Server or ODS.
Dialer Administration Concepts
This section explains concepts and detailed information that you must know to manage Interaction Dialer effectively.
Topics are sequenced to introduce concepts while building on familiarity with the system.
Dialer Architecture and
Database
Contact Times:
Schedules and Zone
Blocking
Calling only at appropriate times
Scheduled execution of Campaigns
Objects in Interaction Dialer
Manager
Automation: Rules and
Contact Policies
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Configurations stored on the CCS
Introduction to Rules and Contact Policies
Differentiate when to use Rules vs. Policies
Contact List Management
Skills-Based Routing vs. Skills-Based
Skills-Based Dialing and Call List Sorting
Campaign Management
Regulatory Compliance
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Screen Pop, Scripting, and
Staging
Supervisory Tools
Feedback
Dialer Architecture and Database
Introduction to Interaction Dialer
Introduction to Interaction Dialer
This section explains what Interaction Dialer is, and the benefits it brings to an organization. You will learn the difference between automatic and predictive dialing, and how connections are analyzed to determine whether a person answered. Modes of outbound calling are discussed, along with Dialer's client/server architecture and integration with CIC. In addition, you will learn about Dialer's Manual Calling feature.
What is Interaction Dialer?
Interaction Dialer is a set of client/server extensions that add predictive dialing or manual calling along with campaign management features to the Customer Interaction Center (CIC) platform. When Interaction Dialer is installed on a CIC server, that server is called either an Outbound Dialer Server (ODS) for automatic, predictive dialing or a Manual
• Interaction Dialer conducts campaigns. During a campaign, calls are placed to contacts based upon information read from a contact list. Campaign is a generic term that describes the process of contacting a list of people according to a prescribed list of rules.
• Campaigns can place outbound telephone calls, play .wav files to answering machines, send faxes to fax machines, and route calls answered by a live person to an Interaction Attendant profile or Dialer agent.
• Interaction Dialer provides full control over campaign definition and execution. It provides everything a contact center needs to conduct campaigns without the expense of predictive dialer hardware.
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Since Interaction Dialer is a CIC application, it uses CIC's architecture, feature set, and event processing engine. Dialing is performed by CIC subsystems. CIC provides PBX, IVR, ACD, and other services for inbound, outbound, and blended interactions. Campaigns can scale to hundreds of agents at one site or thousands at multiple
centrally.
Advantages of all-in-one approach
• Simpler to administer
• Reduces contact center costs
• Works with other CIC applications
Scales campaigns to meet any requirement
• Hundreds of agents at one site
• Thousands across multiple locations
• Remote agents are fully supported
Scalability
A single Interaction Dialer Outbound Dialing Server (ODS) has a throughput of approximately 180,000 calls per hour.
Optimizations in Dialer to database access, database update, and placing of calls will increase this number and will be an ongoing process in new releases. It is already possible to host large outbound operations on a single Interaction
Dialer ODS machine.
Introduction to Interaction Dialer
Feedback
How is Dialer used?
Interaction Dialer provides outbound campaign management in the context of an all-in-one, multichannel communications suite.
It can boost telephony services capabilities, fill sales pipelines, streamline collections, and aid in telemarketing and fundraising efforts.
It is part of a unified communications platform that provides PBX, ACD, IVR, FAX, call recording, and outbound predictive dialing, without the integration headaches and middleware associated with multivendor solutions.
Interaction Dialer can:
• Increase revenue
• Decrease labor costs
• Increase customer service capabilities
• Increase contact coverage
• Optimize calling order
• Record results consistently
• Manage callbacks effectively
• Manage inbound and outbound traffic at the same time.
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Interaction Dialer's integration with CIC provides versatility:
• Build goal-oriented outbound campaigns—target distinct customer groups and specific times of the day or week, without forcing agents to log in to and out of individual campaigns.
• Blend outbound and inbound call activities—optimize agent resources and elevate productivity.
• Conduct agentless campaigns—play messages, automatically gather customer input, or connect called parties to agents. You decide how each type of call should get treated before the call is actually placed.
• Conduct campaigns in a pure SIP-based "all-software" VoIP environment—deploy the Interaction Gateway network appliance for digital trunk-to-SIP conversion in the CIC/Interaction Dialer solution as part of your overall VoIP strategy.
• Use agents effectively—take advantage of Interaction Dialer's patented predictive algorithm to keep agent productivity high and idle time low.
• Comply with regulations— manage abandon rates, issue appropriate caller IDs, log data to prove compliance, play safe harbor messages, or prevent dialing restricted numbers.
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• Monitor campaigns in real-time, and analyze after-the fact—configure tabular and graphical views in IC
Business Manager to manage the CIC/Interaction Dialer solution in real-time.
Feedback
Automatic Predictive Outbound Dialer
Interaction Dialer's primary purpose is efficient placement of outbound calls. Interaction Dialer is both an automated dialer and a predictive dialer. It supports supplemental dialing modes for added flexibility.
Automatic Dialing
It can take up to 30 seconds for an agent to manually place an outbound call. The agent must look up a number, dial, and wait for an answer. After the number is dialed, the agent spends time listening to rings, phone company intercepts, busy signals and answering machines. Additional time is required to update records at the end of each call.
Interaction Dialer automates this process by automatically selecting the person to call, dialing the number, and routing the call to an agent if a live person answers. Productivity gains are achieved by screening out answering machines, busy signals, non-completed calls, and operator intercepts.
1. Interaction Dialer retrieves telephone numbers from a call queue.
2. It obtains an outbound line from a configurable list of lines, dials the number, and waits for the call to be answered. Interaction Dialer reliably detects ring/no-answer conditions, busy signals, fax tones, and answering machines.
3. Agents receive only telephone calls that reached a contact.
Agents in a manual dialing center are usually connected to targeted parties for less than 15 minutes per hour. Using
Interaction Dialer, agents connect to targeted parties for as much as 50 minutes per hour. Since each agent's time is more effectively used, the productivity and profitability of the call center is increased.
Predictive Dialing
Predictive dialing refers to the process of placing outbound calls, based upon the prediction that an agent will be available at some time in the future once a connection with a person is achieved.
Interaction Dialer uses an advanced predictive algorithm to forecast when agents will become available. It automatically adjusts the pace of dialing to keep agents busy while maintaining abandon rate goals.
A predictive algorithm is a calculation that determines when to make a call. This calculation analyzes a number of factors, including agent status, stage completion measurements, and contact list quality. The predictive algorithm uses real-time statistics to estimate when each agent will finish the current call. The system queues and places multiple outbound calls while agents are busy, to ensure that a targeted party is answering at the moment that the
Some of the factors that Dialer's predictive algorithm analyzes are:
• Number of available lines
• Number of available agents
• Probability of getting no answer, a busy signal, a disconnected number, operator intercept or an answering machine
• Time between calls required for maximum operator efficiency
• Average length of each conversation
• Average length of time agents need to enter data from the call
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Automatic dialing and predictive calculations work together to improve the efficiency of outbound call centers. The rate of outbound calling is adjusted dynamically as factors change. Agent productivity, in terms of time spent talking to customers and prospects can approach 100% utilization.
Feedback
Dialing Modes
Interaction Dialer has several dialing modes that determine how contacts are dialed. A different Dialing mode can be selected for each campaign, and the dialing mode for a campaign can be changed on the fly in many cases.
Note: If you are running Interaction Dialer using the Manual Calling feature license, then the only dialing mode that will be available to you is the Preview Dialing Mode. However, the Preview Countdown feature is not supported on a
Manual Calling Server.
The dialing modes are:
Most Aggressive
Predictive
Predicts when agent will be available
Power
Waits for agent to become available
Precise
Used within Predictive and Power Dialing
Dials multiple numbers before agent becomes available
Uses call analysis to detect live person
Dials multiple numbers when agent becomes available
Uses call analysis to detect live person
Sets agent aside for call to assure the call is not abandoned
Uses call analysis to detect live person
Predictive Dialing Mode
• Predicts agent availability and number of calls needed to keep agent busy
• Places calls in parallel before agent becomes available
Uses call analysis to detect live person
Agentless
Play messages, send faxes, use outbound
IVR
Can transfer from IVR to inbound
Queue
Least Aggressive
Preview
Agent is presented with contact's info for review
Agent presses dial when ready
Agent performs call analysis
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• System uses call analysis to determine dial result
In predictive dialing mode, the server predicts agent availability and places calls based on internal statistics. The server predicts the number of calls that must be made in order to provide each agent with a targeted party at the moment the agent becomes available.
Predictive mode is similar to Power mode, except that Dialer tries to predict when an agent will be idle and places calls before that, so that by the time the call has been answered by a customer, a Dialer agent will be just becoming available.
Predictive mode tracks how long agents spend on calls, so it can make an accurate prediction. This mode requires at least 7 agents to be logged on, preferably more than that. The larger the agent pool, the more accurate the predictions can be, minimizing idle time even further than in Power mode and decreasing the likelihood of an abandon.
Power Dialing Mode
• Predicts number of calls needed to keep agent busy
• Places calls in parallel once agent become available
• Uses call analysis to determine dial result
Preview mode dials from the campaign list only when an agent is available to process the call. This mode waits for an agent to become available before placing outbound calls. It calculates the number of calls to place in order to reach a live party.
When an agent becomes available, Dialer sends a number of calls to Telephony Services to be placed from the system queue. The number of calls to place is determined by a calculation that Dialer makes based on previous calls, with the goal of one of the initiated calls being answered by a live person. This number can be limited by the Dialer configuration. For example, if Dialer calculates that the current campaign has a 20 percent connect rate, it will try to place 5 calls for every idle agent to ensure a connection. Once a live caller is returned by Telephony Services, Dialer hands the call off to an ACD queue or an ACD group, to be routed to an agent who is logged into the campaign. Note that the call is not necessarily assigned to the agent whose idle event caused the call to be placed. This mode requires at least 5 agents to be logged into a campaign for best effect and to minimize idle time and abandons.
Precise Dialing Mode
• Used within predictive or power campaign via contact policy
• Sets agent aside while placing call to assure call is not abandoned
Used within Predictive or Power campaigns, Precise mode is entered per call via a contact policy. This mode sets an agent aside for that call to guarantee that the call cannot be abandoned. Once the call is finished, places agent back in pool of all idle agents.
Agentless Dialing Mode
• Does not require call center agents
• System uses call analysis to determine dial result
Agentless campaigns do not connect parties with an agent. Instead, Agentless campaigns can play a .wav file to answering machines; send faxes to fax machines, and route calls answered by live recipients to an Attendant profile.
Interaction Attendant is an easy-to-use graphical interface used for inbound IVR and auto-attendant menus and for outbound IVR and messaging applications. Using an Interaction Attendant profile allows in-house development of simple messaging applications or more complex outbound IVR menus, giving called parties the option to talk to an agent, remove their name from a list, and so on.
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Agentless campaigns respond appropriately to live persons, to answering machines, and to fax machines by playing an audio file, transferring the call to an Attendant profile, sending a fax, or by hanging up.
Note: Interaction Dialer Manager does not allow a campaign's calling mode to be changed from agentless to another mode, while the campaign is active.
Preview Dialing Mode
• Presents contact to agent before dialing
• Agent dials call and performs call analysis
Preview dialing mode presents agents with information about the targeted party before the call is actually placed. When ready, the agent manually starts the call by clicking a button in the predictive client application. The agent can be given the option to reschedule the call, or skip to the next data pop.
In Preview Mode, Dialer presents a Scripter pop to an available agent and places a call object in an Initializing state on the agent's queue. The agent will then review the information for the customer record and decide whether to place the call or skip to the next record. Once the call is placed, it is placed from the agent's user queue and no call analysis is done (the agent will hear all pre-connect audio). This is the slowest of the Dialing methods, but it prevents any chance of an abandon. This mode is typically used for high value contacts.
Special considerations apply to contact policies in this dialing mode. See Policies in Preview dialing mode .
Feedback
To configure Dialing Mode for a campaign
Dialing modes are predefined by Dialer and cannot be modified.
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Feedback
Blending
• Interaction Dialer supports call blending—the coordinated delivery of both inbound and outbound calls to the same set of agents.
• Dialer monitors inbound load and adjusts outbound accordingly
• Agents can receive calls from multiple inbound queues while handling outbound calls
• Blending is supported in all agent-based dialing modes
Feature Overview
Whether following up on a conversation with an agent or responding to a message left on an answering machine, called parties sometimes call back—outbound operations by nature generate inbound calls. Interaction Dialer provides blended inbound and outbound centers with a flexible platform for managing a variety of outbound applications.
Outbound agents are often the best skilled resources to handle the resulting inbound calls. This need to efficiently handle inbound calls in outbound operations illustrates a great strength of the Customer Interaction Center platform upon which CIC and Interaction Dialer exist.
Since Interaction Dialer is an add-on to CIC, it can take advantage of key functionality within CIC including CIC's feature-rich, inbound automatic call distribution (ACD) capabilities. When a live person is detected by Interaction
Dialer, CIC's ACD is used to route that call to the most appropriate agent using the same routing functionality as is used with an inbound call.
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The system knows about both inbound and outbound calls and delivers both calls as appropriate to the same agent using the same phone and screen pop/call control capabilities. Because agents can belong to multiple inbound workgroup queues in CIC, agents can seamlessly move between inbound only, outbound only, or blended. Agents can receive outbound calls from one outbound campaign at a time along with inbound calls from any number of inbound workgroup queues.
Typically, inbound calls take priority over outbound calls. However, this bias toward inbound calls can be modified for an outbound campaign. In addition, the Disable Non-Dialer statistics campaign setting can be enabled to allow more time between outbound calls for agents to process inbound interactions.
When a blended agent completes a call (inbound or outbound), the agent becomes available for waiting ACD calls – either inbound or outbound. If no waiting ACD calls are appropriate for that agent, the agent is idle and the agent is added to the pool of agents needing another outbound call.
Interaction Dialer's pacing algorithm dynamically reserves a percentage of agents for inbound calls based on the recent history of inbound calls for that outbound campaign. As inbound increases, outbound decreases and vice versa.
Feedback
Pacing
• Pacing algorithm keeps agents as busy as possible while maintaining abandon rate goals
• Pacing can take advantage of staging for better predictions
Feature Overview
Interaction Dialer's pacing algorithm has been improved over many years of real-world experience and, in head-tohead tests, has proven itself to be a top performer in keeping agents busy while maintaining abandoned rate goals.
A pacing algorithm is a calculation that determines the timing and number of outbound calls. The calculation analyzes a number of factors including agent status, stage completion measurements per agent, and call list quality. The pacing algorithm uses real-time statistics to estimate when each agent will finish the current call. The system queues and places multiple outbound calls while agents are busy, to ensure that a targeted party is answering at the moment that the agent becomes available.
Some of the factors that the predictive algorithm analyzes include:
• Number of available telephone lines
• Number of available agents
• Skill requirements of the contacts and skills of the available agents
• Probability of getting no answer, a busy signal, a disconnected number, an operator intercept (SIT) or an answering machine
• Time between calls required for maximum operator efficiency
• Average length of each conversation
• Average length of time the agents need to enter the data from the call
• Current versus configured abandoned rate
• Recent history of inbound and other non-outbound interactions handled by agents
Feedback
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Call Analysis
Call Analysis is an IC process that analyzes a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a fax machine, or an answering machine, and whether or not an agent is available to process the call. Call Analysis can be activated at the campaign level (see Call Analysis
setting) or at the policy level (see Call Analysis Behavior type ).
has figured out what is at the other end of a placed call:
Call Analysis
Result
Live Person
No Available
Agent
Predictive
Connect to Agent
Dialing Mode
Power
Connect to Agent
Preview
No Action
Available
No Action
Available
Agentless
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
No Action Available
Answering
Machine
Fax
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Connect to Agent
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Connect to Agent
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Connect to Agent
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Connect to Agent
No Action
Available
No Action
Available
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Configurable Actions based on Call Analysis Results
You can configure a campaign to take one of the actions below after call analysis has figured out what is at the other end of a placed call:
Action Description
Hang Up Disconnects when a live person, answering machine, or fax machine answers the call.
Connect to Agent Routes the call to an available ACD agent.
File Plays a wave audio file to the contact, or sends a fax file to a fax machine. Any standard wave audio (.wav) file can be used, such as files created using Windows Sound
Recorder. However, the G-711 .wav format is recommended, since it uses the fewest resources and does not need to be translated to another format by the system.
A fax document consists of one or many pages of data contained in a file created using the Interaction Fax application.
The path to fax and wave files must be the same on any Outbound Dialer server that will run the campaign. In other words, the file must exist in the same location on each participating server, or all servers must point to the same network location and each
Outbound Dialer must have read access to the specified path.
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Attendant Profile Passes the call to an Outbound Interaction Attendant profile. Interaction Attendant is
Interactive Intelligence's IVR solution. Outbound Interaction Attendant profiles are created by running the outbound version of Interaction Attendant.
Note: To manage outbound profiles in Interaction Attendant, you must start
Interaction Attendant using the /outbound command line parameter. This tells the application to display outbound call flows. Typically inbound call flows are displayed by default. For more information, refer to Interaction Attendant Help > Procedures >
Start Interaction Attendant > Optional Command-Line Parameters > Call Flow
Configuration Switches.
Benefits
Interaction Dialer's tight integration with CIC allows it to take full advantage of call analysis and Automatic Call
Distribution (ACD). When call analysis detects a live person, that connected outbound call is routed to the most appropriate agent using the same ACD routing that CIC uses for inbound calls. When call analysis detects an answering or fax machine, Dialer receives this information and uses it to play messages or send faxes appropriately.
Both TDM (ISDN, EuroISDN, T1/CAS) and SIP trunking are supported for outbound call analysis. The Interaction
Media Server performs call analysis on IP audio coming from Interaction Gateways, third-party gateways, or SIP trunks from the carrier.
Call analysis capabilities include:
• Industry-leading detection accuracy leveraging speech recognition-like pattern matching and advanced audio analysis in the Interaction Media Server.
• Configurable automatic disposition of calls (for example: busies, no answers, SITs).
• Post-connection detection including live speaker, answering machine, and fax machine detection.
• Special Information Tone detection; differentiating between temporary (all circuits busy for example) and permanent failures such as bad phone numbers.
• Adjustable balance between answering machine detection and live person detection, to reduce accidental hangup on a live person.
• Continuous monitoring during message playback to restart playback should additional audio or a machine's beep can be detected to assure complete message playback to answering machines.
• Control of call analysis on a campaign or per-call basis; for example turning on answering machine detection for a home number and turning it off for a work number.
• You can turn Live Speaker Detection (LSD) on/off dynamically per call (for example home vs. work numbers) using
Policies. The same is true for Answering Machine Detection (AMD).
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• Call Analysis differentiates special information tones for numbers that are bad due to a temporary problem (all circuits busy for example) and permanently bad numbers. It correctly detects common network messages such as
"the number you have dialed is no longer in service".
Feedback
Dialer integration
A key advantage of Interaction Dialer is its interoperability with CIC services, applications, and add-on products. Interaction Dialer is completely assimilated with CIC. This eliminates the compatibility problems that plague other CTI systems.
For outbound, inbound or blended interactions, CIC supplies the PBX, IVR, ACD, web gateway and more.
Interaction Dialer, on the CIC server, provides outbound and inbound/outbound contact centers and teleservices providers with a fully integrated solution to create outbound campaigns of every kind without having to add expensive predictive dialer hardware.
Dialer campaigns are managed using a "single-point" administration utility: Interaction Dialer Manager. This makes outbound efforts more manageable.
Integration with services
Interaction Dialer takes full advantage of CIC features, including but not limited to:
• ACD • Screen pop
• IVR • Multimedia interactions
• Database integration
• Skills-based routing
• Call blending
• Reporting
• Supervisory control
• Call Analysis
For example, outbound dialing for Dialer is performed by CIC subsystems. When a live person is detected by call analysis, that call is routed to the most appropriate agent using the same ACD routing that CIC uses for inbound
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Integration with applications
Interaction Dialer adds plug-in application modules to familiar application frameworks:
Installation of Interaction Dialer adds campaign management features to CIC. For example, call center supervisors can define any number of campaigns, and control their execution manually or run campaigns in accordance with schedules. Campaigns can be automated, using Rules that run in response to changing campaign conditions, or
Policies that provide low-level control over the processing of individual contact records.
Dialer also adds contact list management features, such as the ability to scrub contact numbers against Do-Not-Call data sources. Administrators can import or export contact records, add contact records on the fly, and manage other contact list settings, such as record selection filters, sorts, outbound caller ID, and much more.
The user interface used to configure Interaction Dialer is called Interaction Dialer Manager (IDM). IDM is an application module that plugs into Interaction Administrator. IDM manages campaigns, contact lists, and scripts. It also configures the optional building blocks of campaigns, which are zones, stages, skills, policies, schedules, and rules.
Subject to access rights and license restrictions, IDM's administration functionality is identical in all application contexts, except that top-level commands conform to the visual metaphor of the framework hosting the IDM plug-in.
IDM configuration settings are stored centrally on the Central Campaign Server (CCS). The administrator of each
Outbound Dialer Server can update configuration settings used by all participating servers in the network.
Dialer adds Interaction Supervisor views to IC Business Manager, for the purpose of monitoring campaign and agent statistics in real-time. Users can set alerts that notify when conditions exceed user-defined thresholds such as a campaign goal met, queue backing up, and so forth. IC Business Manager users can run Dialer reports in the
Interaction Reporter module.
Integration with add-on products
The table below lists add-on products that work with Interaction Dialer:
Requirement
Agent Scripting
Ensure that agents receive exactly the information and options they need to process each call.
Screen Pop
Interaction Dialer interoperability with CIC platform
Product
Base Scripts
Interaction Scripter
API
Interaction
EasyScripter
IceLib.Dialer API
Usage
Interaction Dialer supports scripting options that make it easy for developers and non-developers to create scripts that guide agents through the stages of a campaign call. Every campaign has a script that pops on the agent desktop when a call is sent to an agent. Scripts ensure that Agents receive exactly the information and options they need to process each call.
Non-programmers can create base scripts by setting options in
Interaction Dialer Manager.
Web developers can use HTML and JavaScript (Interaction Scripter
API), or a drag-and-drop script development environment
(Interaction EasyScripter) to create more sophisticated custom scripts.
If you do not want to run Interaction Scripter Client on Agent desktops, you can develop your own custom client application using the IceLib.Dialer API.
Interaction Scripter Dialer agents use Interaction Scripter Client to run base scripts
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When a call is delivered to an agent, "pop" the appropriate script containing information about the customer and step by step call processing instructions.
Outbound IVR
Creation
Route connected contacts to IVR interactions.
.NET Client
Custom
IceLib.Dialer client applications
Real-time
Supervisory
Control
Monitor campaigns and agents, manage workforce resources, and control the execution of campaigns, based on real-time statistics and alerts.
Call and Screen
Recording
Meet compliance requirements and monitor agent effectiveness.
Customization
Modify CIC
Interaction
Recorder
Interaction
Designer configured in Interaction Dialer Manager, or custom scripts developed using Interaction Scripter API or Interaction
EasyScripter, in any combination.
Interaction Scripter Client populates the agent's display with information pertaining to the call, the customer, and the campaign, based on behavior defined in a script. Information collected or modified by agents is routed back to campaign database tables.
Interaction
Attendant
Interaction Dialer views in IC Business
Manager
Using the agentless dialing mode, Interaction Dialer allows campaigns to play dynamic messages to answering machines or people, and send faxes to fax machines.
These messages can be notifications; for example appointment reminders, service updates, product ready, and so on. It can provide the option for the live party to interact with Interactive
Voice Response (IVR). This process is often called Outbound IVR.
Outbound IVR campaigns can combine automated, dynamic messaging with text-to-speech to read contact-specific information back and speech recognition. The live contact on the other end can choose to speak to an agent or do anything else enabled in the IVR menu.
The call can then be transferred to an appropriate inbound queue based on information about the called party, the time of day, and so on for handling by an agent.
Outbound IVR and messaging, ranging from simple messages to complex interactions, is configured using Interaction Attendant, the powerful, yet easy-to-use tool employed by CIC customers for inbound IVR and auto-attendant configuration.
Call center supervisors can view real-time statistics about agents and campaigns in Interaction Supervisor, an application module of
IC Business Manager.
Agents can be monitored and coached while the supervisor keeps watch over campaign goals, and workforce resources. Supervisor allows alerts to be set on any statistic, so that when user-defined thresholds are reached, special processing or notification actions can occur.
Based on real-time information, call center supervisors can start, stop, pause, recycle, and reset campaigns in Supervisor and
Interaction Dialer Manager.
Dialer calls and agent's on-screen interactions can be recorded using Interaction Recorder.
Handlers are visually designed programs that allow customers to customize and control internal IC operations. Predefined entry points in handlers make it possible to insert custom logic into the
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Dialer Manager Printable Help processing behaviors to meet any need.
Reporting
View, annotate, print, or export performance information about campaigns and agents.
Interaction
Reporter
Client/Server Architecture
flow of control, should special needs exist. Handlers are managed using Interaction Designer, the visual development tool included with CIC.
By the way, no handler development is required to implement
Interaction Dialer.
CIC provides standard reports that summarize queue and blended call activity. Interaction Dialer builds upon the open reporting architecture of the CIC by adding predictive reports to Interaction
Reporter. Predictive reports describe the performance of campaigns and agents.
Interaction Reporter is an IC Business Manager application that makes it easy to run pre-defined reports by using filters to configure report parameters. Report Filters can be saved to run reports again. You can view Interaction Reports on-screen, annotate, print, and export each report.
Feedback
Interaction Dialer is a client/server system—its software components run on different hardware devices. The figure above shows the subsystems that run on ODS/MCS and CCS servers, and desktop applications used by agents, administrators and developers. The Central Campaign Server is depicted in a Campaign Server Switchover Pair, but
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Dialer Manager Printable Help can be a single CCS. The DBMS is depicted on dedicated hardware, but in some cases the database can exist on same server as the CCS.
Dedicated Server Hardware
Since the CIC's system architecture is event-driven, hardware devices are isolated from command and control subsystems. This allows the CIC to support a wide range of telephony hardware with minimal system integration overhead.
Because Interaction Dialer uses client/server architecture, the software is deployed across servers and workstations that collectively make up the system. Two to three dedicated servers are required to implement Interaction Dialer:
• Outbound Dialer Server (ODS)/Manual Calling Server (MCS). This is a CIC server with Interaction Dialer installed.
An ODS performs automatic outbound dialing for agents in that location. An MCS provides agents with a structured mechanism for manually making outbound calls. Multiple ODS/MCS servers can participate in the same campaign.
• Central Campaign Server (CCS). The Central Campaign Server sends campaign configurations, threshold alerts, and other notifications to the Dialer Server subsystem, which in turn communicates with Interaction Processor to control processing.
The CCS provides ODS/MCS servers with campaign configurations, control messages, statistics, and contact list data. Each ODS/MCS communicates with a controlling CCS to obtain its current configuration and control messages that signify campaign property changes, campaign starts, stops, or error conditions. This arrangement makes it easy to implement an Interaction Dialer solution in complex multi-site environments.
A Central Campaign Server can be set up in a Campaign Server Switchover Pair configuration for redundancy. If the primary CCS goes down, the backup CCS will take over.
Note: The Campaign Server Switchover feature requires special installation steps. For more information, see the CCS Switchover Setup Assistant section of the Interaction Dialer Installation and Configuration Guide, which you can find in the CIC Documentation Library.
• A DBMS Server. Interaction Dialer supports either Oracle Database or Microsoft SQL Server. Each campaign has a set of database tables that are created and managed automatically by Interaction Dialer. History tables are consolidated, such that there is one set of history tables (agent statistics, call history, and campaign statistics) in the
CIC database for all campaigns. Customers are responsible for managing contact list and do-not-call tables only. All other tables are created and managed automatically by Interaction Dialer.
While the CCS and DBMS can reside on the same physical server, it may not practical for all situations.
For environments that have a high call volume, having the DBMS server reside on dedicated hardware will provide better overall Dialer performance.
For environments that employ the CCS Switchover feature, having the DBMS server reside on dedicated hardware will ensure that the backup CCS will still have access to the DBMS even if the physical server running the primary CCS goes down completely.
Desktop Components
IC Administrators, Call Center Supervisors, Dialer Agents, and Script Developers all use client software on desktop PCs.
• Interaction Dialer is configured using Interaction Dialer Manager, a plug-in module for Interaction
Administrator. Configuration data is stored on the Central Campaign server.
• Dialer reports, statistics, and views are available in IC Business Manager.
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• Agents run Interaction Scripter Client to participate in campaigns. At the desktop level, campaign scripts run inside the Interaction Scripter predictive client application. Interaction Scripter interacts with CIC's Client Services subsystem to provide desktop screen pops and agent status updates.
• A CIC client, which is available to all IC users.
• Developers have several scripting options at their disposal. They can use Interaction Scripter API or Interaction
EasyScripter (both licensed separately from Dialer) to develop custom campaign scripts. Application programmers can use IceLib.Dialer or Dialer.NRRLib APIs to create custom clients (like Scripter Client) and even applications that arbitrate between contact list data and the Dialer system.
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Hosted Dialer Processes
CCS and ODS servers host software processes, called servers. The distinction between hardware and software servers is important, since the term server commonly refers to both hardware devices and software processes. The table below shows hardware devices and the software processes that run on each.
Hardware Server
Central Campaign
Server (CCS)
Coordinates database operations.
Provides ODS servers with contacts to dial.
Acquires data collected by agents for posting to the database.
Sends campaign configurations, alerts, and other notifications to Outbound Dialer servers.
Hosted Process
CampaignServer
UpdateServer
DialerTranServer
DialerStatServer
Description
CampaignServer is responsible for Rule Set processing and management of object configuration and storage.
UpdateServer maintains a Notifier connection with each
Outbound Dialer server. Its role is to acquire database updates that have been generated by call center agents. UpdateServer passes this data to DialerTranServer, so that it can be posted to database tables.
Each Outbound Dialer server uses PMQ to send database updates to the UpdateServer process. These messages contain updates for the Contact List, CallHistory, CallRecordSchedule and AgentHistory tables. The UpdateServer passes these updates to the DialerTranServer process, which starts the actual database updates by communicating with the database management system.
DialerTranServer uses a database connection to start database operations. It passes data to the DBMS whenever data is received from UpdateServer.
DialerTranServer commands the DBMS to update the
CallRecordSchedule, CallHistory, Contact List, and Agent
Statistics tables. The database management system does the low-level file management work.
DialerTranServer uses a Notifier connection to notify
Outbound Dialer Servers whenever a campaign should be started or stopped.
DialerStatServer is the central hub for relaying and caching of
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
Outbound Dialer
Server (ODS)
Performs automatic outbound dialing for agents in that location.
Makes intelligent predictions, places calls and routes connected calls to agents.
Logs call outcomes.
Tracks the number of agents available, and dynamically adjusts pace.
Caches statistics and relays them to monitoring applications
Database Server
Processes database
Customer
Interaction Center
DialerServer
DialerStatRepeater
SQL Server or statistic updates for Interaction Supervisor and statistic rules.
Interaction Dialer works with CIC subsystems:
Notifier style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Acts as "traffic cop" for CIC subsystems and hardware. ODS and CCS both use Notifier connections to communicate.
Interaction Processor (IP) style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">IP controls which handlers carry out.
Client Services style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Client Services communicates with agent workstations to keep track of agents' availability status—on the phone, available for a call, and so on. The ODS depends on agent status information it receives from Client Services.
Telephony Services style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Since Interaction Dialer is tightly coupled with CIC, it places an outbound call by directly calling the CIC's
Telephony Services subsystem. This process is highly efficient.
ACD style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Routes incoming ACD calls to the appropriate agent. Once an outbound call placed by Dialer has connected to a targeted party, ACD is used to route the call to the intended agent.
Other style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Email Services, Fax Services, Paging Server perform their customary functions.
DialerServer is the predictive algorithm that forecasts when an agent will be available to take the next outbound call. It initiates outbound calls. It detects when no lines or ports are available to prevent Dialer from over-dialing. It logs call resolutions, tracks the number of agents available, and dynamically adjusts the pace of campaigns. DialerServer also provides statistics to monitoring applications.
DialerStatServer is the central hub for relaying and caching of statistic updates for Interaction Supervisor and statistic rules. It relays statistic updates to and from DialerStatServer and
DialerServer. It works with DialerStatServer to regenerate statistics during network outages.
No special processes are used. The DBMS communicates with
CCS using standard OLE DB connections.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help updates and selects contact records for
CCS
Oracle
Processes use PMQ and Notifier protocol to communicate. PMQ is used to pass database updates. Notifier is used to send control messages between process servers.
PMQ
PMQ (Persistent Message Queuing) provides loosely coupled communications using a store and forward model. Updates to call center databases and control messages are stored temporarily in queues, so that transactions and messages that pass between machines are not lost in the event of a network or computer failure.
To send a message or data object to another server, the source server passes the message to Persistent Message
Queue—a subsystem that handles all low-level tasks of delivering a message from one point to another. Destination servers read this data without involving the sending server in any way. For example, the Outbound Dialer server sends information about processed calls to PMQ, for eventual pickup by the Central Campaign server. PMQ uses a
Notifier Services
Notifier is a proprietary protocol used to communicate between subsystems across a network. In the case of Dialer,
Notifier Services provide a connection between Notifier on the Outbound Dialer Server and Notifier on the Central
Campaign Server. This connection serves as the core message transport mechanism between servers.
Feedback
CCS Process Servers
A single Central Campaign Server coordinates the activities of multiple Outbound Dialer servers. This means that a campaign can run concurrently in distributed call centers, using a shared set of database tables.
Each ODS communicates with a controlling CCS to obtain its current configuration and control messages that signify campaign property changes, campaign starts, stops, or error conditions.
CampaignServer
>CampaignServer is responsible for Rule Set processing and management of object configuration and storage.
CampaignServer maintains all the settings associated with campaigns. It is also responsible for sending out notifications to control processing. CampaignServer uses a Notifier connection to signal Outbound Dialer servers whenever a campaign should be started or stopped. It sends threshold alerts, manual resets, campaign start/stop notifications, active campaign IDs, and configuration updates as needed to control processing. Control messages are not routed through PMQ. Instead, CampaignServer sends Notifier messages directly to the DialerServer process, to tell an Outbound Dialer server to start, stop, or reset campaigns.
UpdateServer
>UpdateServer maintains a Notifier connection with each Outbound Dialer server. Its role is to acquire database updates that have been generated by call center agents. UpdateServer reads data from ODS message queues and passes these updates to DialerTranServer, which starts the actual database updates by communicating with the database management system. The tables updated are CallHistory, CallRecordSchedule, and AgentHistory.
DialerTranServer
>Each Outbound Dialer server receives contact list records from the DialerTranServer process using a Notifier connection. DialerTranServer uses an OLE DB database connection to start database operations. It passes data to the
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DBMS (SQL Server or Oracle) whenever data is received from UpdateServer. DialerTranServer commands the DBMS to update the CallRecordSchedule, CallHistory, Contact List, and Agent Statistics tables. The database management system does the low-level file management work. DialerTranServer uses a Notifier connection to notify Outbound
Dialer Servers whenever a campaign should be started or stopped.
DialerStatServer
>DialerStatServer is the central hub for relaying and caching of statistic updates for Interaction Supervisor and statistic rules. This process caches updates and relays them to other servers. DialerTranServer maintains an OLE DB connection to a database server. It handles SQL processing and starts database operations whenever it receives data from UpdateServer. It passes the data to the DBMS and commands it to update the CallRecordSchedule, CallHistory,
Contact List, and Agent Statistics tables.
The database management system does the low-level processing. If the database accepts the update, the message is deleted from the input queue. If the DBMS rejects the database update for some reason, the message doesn't stay in the input queue. If DialerTranServer cannot update the database, the UpdateServer process moves the message to an error queue.
A database may reject messages for a variety of reasons. For example, a message may refer to a field that has been removed or renamed from a table, or the format of the data may be inappropriate for the data type defined in the table.
Feedback
ODS Process Servers
DialerServer
>Each Outbound Dialer server runs the DialerServer process, which predicts agent availability. The ODS initiates predictive calls by sending requests to the Telephony Services component. It tracks outbound events, the number of agents available, logs call resolutions, and dynamically adjusts the pace of dialing after analyzing factors such as agent availability, stage completion, the number of calls currently placed, the number of lines available, the number of agents logged on, the number of currently available agents, and the number of calls to place at a time.
The DialerServer process server uses PMQ to send database update messages to the UpdateServer subsystem. These messages contain updates for the Contact List, CallHistory, CallRecordSchedule and Agent
Statistics tables.
DialerStatRepeater
>DialerStatRepeater relays statistics between DialerStatServer on the CCS and DialerServer on the ODS. It is the central hub for relaying and caching of statistic updates for Interaction Supervisor and statistic rules. ODS sends live updates to Interaction Supervisor (via DialerStatServer and DialerStatRepeater) so that campaign statistics can be displayed in real-time.
Feedback
Data flow between process servers
The data flow between software servers is illustrated below.
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How processes interact during a call
Feedback
The interaction between major processes during a campaign call are:
1. DialerServer requests and receives a configurable number of call records from the
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CCS, using a Notifier connection.
To do this, DialerServer requests records from the contact list via DialerTranServer without going through the
CampaignServer for the information.
Database operation results are requested from DialerTranServer.
2. DialerServer tells the Telephony Services subsystem to place campaign calls and to route connected calls (via the ACD process) to the next available agent.
3. The campaign script pops on the screen of the agent's computer. It guides the agent through stages of the call. When the call ends, Interaction Scripter sends data collected by the agent and a call completion code to the ODS.
4. The ODS data received from agents to
PMQ, for delivery to the CCS. Configuration change events originate from
CampaignServer.
5. UpdateServer receives messages from
Outbound Dialer servers and stores them temporarily in a PMQ queue for ensured delivery. UpdateServer passes this data to
DialerTranServer, which in turn passes it to the database management system.
The Contact List, AgentStatistics,
CallHistory, and CallRecordSchedule databases are updated at this time. If the DialerTranServer encounters an error while writing to a database,
UpdateServer logs the message in the
Error Queue.
6. Steps 1-5 are repeated while the contact list is processed. Along the way, the
CampaignServer writes threshold alerts, configuration updates, and responds to campaign status requests from ODS servers.
Feedback
PMQ guarantees delivery of database updates
Interaction Dialer uses an advanced proprietary messaging subsystem known as PMQ. PMQ stands for Persistent
Message Queuing. Records are always stored and transmitted in FIFO (first-in-first-out) order, to ensure reliable transaction processing. PMQ offers guaranteed FIFO delivery and store-and-forward capabilities. Interaction Dialer uses PMQ to transport information between services and data stores. PMQ is reliable, efficient, and fast.
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As contact lists are processed, Outbound Dialer servers accumulate information that needs to be propagated back to databases managed by the Central Campaign Server. These updates are written to Persistent Message Queues on each ODS for pickup by the CCS. For example, an agent might collect information from a customer. Instead of attempting to directly update the master database by means of a direct SQL connection, the local IC server writes this information to a queue and continues processing.
PMQ is then responsible for delivering this information to the Central Campaign Server where it is applied against the database. PMQ protects against the loss of database updates caused by network or hardware failures.
PMQ "users" are applications that send data to one another. Each application implements a PMQ object and passes data to it. The object handles the task of sending data to another PMQ-compatible application on the network.
For example, each Outbound Dialer server uses PMQ to send data collected by agents to the Central Campaign server. PMQ guarantees that all data eventually arrives at the database. If the database cannot process an incoming message for some reason, PMQ writes the data to an error queue.
PMQ guarantees delivery of data between networked applications, by saving the working state of data. When a software process or network path is unavailable, PMQ queues information in a way that allows running applications to continue. PMQ automatically resumes communication when services are restored.
PMQ support is built directly into Interaction Dialer. PMQ queues have an .I3P extension, and are called I3 Persistent
Files. Interaction Dialer creates persistent files dynamically, and takes care of all setup and configuration details. PMQ objects pass data from the application to a back end entity in real-time. PMQ provides an efficient method of caching and storing messages until they can be processed. If for some reason PMQ cannot deliver data, or data cannot be delivered fast enough, data is written to local disk files until a reliable connection is reestablished with the remote application.
PMQ queues reside in memory most of the time. Persistent files (queues) are written to disk if PMQ cannot deliver data fast enough, or not at all.
In the event of an outage, PMQ caches data to disk until the remote connection is re-established, or until all free storage space is exhausted. If storage falls below 10% available free space, the oldest data is discarded to make room for incoming data. In the event of a sustained outage, PMQ will discard data rather than fail for lack of storage space.
PMQ cannot send data to an application that is not running. Likewise, network outages and hardware failures can prevent PMQ from connecting to a remote entity. PMQ attempts to reconnect with the entity it is configured to log to—which may be Notifier, a logging client, database application, wave file compression engine, or other process— whatever the receiving entity is defined to be.
When the connection is broken, PMQ writes data to disk and enters an idle state. It retries the connection every few seconds and automatically resumes delivery when the connection is re-established.
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Flow of PMQ messages in Interaction Dialer
Agents collect information during the course of a campaign. Each ODS uses PMQ to deliver these database updates to the Central Campaign server for processing. PMQ guarantees delivery of data across machine, network, and process boundaries.
To understand how PMQ works in the Dialer environment, let's step through the messaging process. The diagram below illustrates the flow of PMQ messages between Outbound Dialer servers and the Central Campaign server.
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Each Outbound Dialer server creates a PMQ object in memory. The object knows how to communicate with the
Central Campaign server to deliver PMQ messages. Each message is a chunk of binary data that represents an item of work. PMQ doesn't care what a message contains—its only role is to store and forward messages efficiently.
1. The PMQ object creates an I3 persistent file to store messages in FIFO order. FIFO ensures that transactions arrive in order.
2. The object invokes a method that attempts to send data to the UpdateServer process on the Central Campaign server. If the server cannot be contacted using Notifier protocol, if the UpdateServer subsystem is not running, or if the transaction cannot be completed quickly enough, the method returns an error code. When errors occur, the message stays in the FIFO queue until PMQ can successfully send it. Under typical conditions, PMQ messages cross network and machine boundaries in near real-time.
3. Next, PMQ sends messages between processes on the Central Campaign server. Messages received by the
UpdateServer process are in turn passed to the DialerTranServer process, which starts database operations. Messages that cannot be delivered to the DialerTranServer are retained in the UpdateServer's input queue.
4. When messages arrive at the DialerTranServer, they are prepared for submission to the database management system (DBMS). DialerTranServer uses a UDL connection to send an update notification to the DBMS. The notification contains the message data. Most messages are written to database tables without incident. When this happens, a successful return code is passed back to PMQ, and it removes the processed message from the input queue.
5. If the DBMS rejects the data for some reason, it doesn't stay in the input queue. Instead, rejected messages are written to an error queue. A database may reject messages for a variety of reasons. For example, a message may refer to a field that has been removed or renamed from a table, or the format of the data may be inappropriate for the data type defined in the table.
Feedback
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CCS Switchover
As you know, the Central Campaign Server (CCS) plays a key role in Dialer. It coordinates database operations, provides Outbound Dialer Servers (ODS) with contacts to dial, sends campaign configurations, alerts, and other notifications to the ODS, and acquires data collected by agents for posting to the database.
In order to protect this key role, Interaction Dialer provides failover support for CCS servers. Using the CCS Switchover
Setup Assistant, you create a switchover pair known as the Primary CCS and a Backup CCS. Once this pair is created, the Backup CCS will create and maintain a mirror image of the Primary CCS's configuration.
If the Primary CCS fails, in less than 30 seconds the system can switch control to the Backup CCS with minimal disruption. In addition, the switchover scheme allows administrators to manually switch the active CCS at any time with minimal disruption.
Note: The Campaign Server Switchover feature requires special installation steps. For more information, see the CCS
Switchover Setup Assistant section of the Interaction Dialer Installation and Configuration Guide, which you can find in the CIC Documentation Library.
Related Topics
Feedback
CCS Switchover FAQ
If the Primary CCS fails, in less than 30 seconds the system can switch control to the Backup CCS with minimal disruption. In addition, the switchover scheme allows administrators to manually switch the active CCS at any time with minimal disruption. However, you may be curious about what exactly happens in the Dialer environment with a
CCS Switchover event occurs.
Will running campaigns continue to function normally and all records remain intact?
Yes, running campaigns will continue to function normally as Dialer keeps a set of records in it cache, which is isolated from the CCS Switchover event. No records will be lost or skipped.
What happens if a campaign recycle is initiated just prior to the CCS Switchover event?
A recycle operation that occurs prior to a CCS Switchover event will be safely moved to the database and will continue operation there. Once the CCS Switchover event is complete, the campaign will start normally. Worst case scenario would be that a second recycle occurs.
What happens if a contact list is being imported or updated at the time a CCS Switchover event occurs?
The answer here depends on how far along in the process the import/update is and what caused the CCS
Switchover event to occur.
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If the CCS Switchover occurred due to the physical server powering down, then any data in the cache will be lost and the import/update operation will have to be restarted from scratch.
If an import is running at the BCP (Bulk Copy Program) stage, the process will continue normally.
If an import hasn't yet reached the BCP stage, all data will be lost and the import operation will have to be restarted from scratch.
Updates go though the PMQ (Persistent Message Queuing), which means that in most cases an update will continue normally after a CCS Switchover event occurs.
What happens with real time stats in ICBM Dialer views?
Real time views should be unaffected by a CCS Switchover event. The backup CCS will immediately query for all of the stats and it should pick up right where it left off.
What happens with historical data – is everything written to CIC DB or some data can be missed?
Historical data exists in the CIC DB, which is completely isolated from a CCS Switchover event.
What happens if changes to a campaign's configuration were made in IA, but not yet saved?
Any campaign changes made in IA and not yet saved, will be lost. IA will recognize that a new CCS connection has been established and display a message dialog to that effect. As soon as you click OK, a refresh will occur and any unsaved data will be lost.
What happens in Scripter if an agent has a record open and the call has not yet been dispositioned?
Scripter is completely isolated from a CCS Switchover event. From an agent's perspective everything will continue functioning normally. In fact, an agent will not even be aware that a CCS Switchover event occurred.
Feedback
Agent Management
• Dialer agents are CIC Users.
• ID, password, extension, name, station, preferred language, contact information, roles, workgroup membership, access rights, and licensing are all configured in Interaction Administrator
• CIC containers manage ACD, skills, auto-answer, whisper tone level, agent greeting wav file, and more
Feature Overview
Administration and configuration of CIC is performed in Interaction Administrator, the common administrative interface used to manage inbound, recording, workforce management, and all other aspects of an CIC system. This includes the management of agents who are Dialer agents. Agents are managed using the User, Workgroup and other containers in Interaction Administrator. Interaction Dialer does not replicate CIC's agent management features.
Instead, it takes advantage of them.
For CIC configuration assistance, refer to the Interaction Administrator Help. It explains how to customize and configure Interaction Center users and resources (agents, lines, stations, security, and so on.) This document (Dialer
Manager Help) covers the features that Interaction Dialer adds to CIC.
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and Contact List Management is performed in Interaction Dialer Manager (IDM). Dialer
Manager adds views for managing everything else involved with outbound dialing campaigns.
How Dialer installation changes CIC roles for Administrator, Supervisor and Agent
Installation of Dialer modifies three CIC roles so that they can be assigned to Interaction Dialer system administrators, call center supervisors, or Dialer agents:
Agent Greeting
Agent Greeting, also called smile is an agent's pre-recorded greeting played to callers before the call is connected to that agent. Agents can record smiles in the CIC client. See Record Agent Greeting button on the Personal Prompts configuration page). Agent Greeting is configured in Interaction Administrator on the Options section of the ACD tab of a user configuration:
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Check the Enable box to activate the Agent Greeting feature. Next, select the agent's prompt (.wav) file, by clicking the Browse button. Navigate to the directory containing the recording, and select a .wav file (for example,
\\ICServer\IC\Resources\AgentGreeting_MarkM.wav
).
Whisper Tone and Whisper Tone Level
Whisper tone is similar to an Agent Greeting, except that the recording is played to the agent to announce a new call.
Whisper tone requires modification of system handlers to set up. When whisper tone is configured in Interaction
Designer, you can adjust its playback volume in Interaction Administrator on the Options2 section of the ACD tab of a user configuration.
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For more information about configuring whisper tones, see the Alert tool documentation in Interaction Designer help.
Feedback
Remote Agent Support
• A persistent connection keeps the voice connection open between calls.
• Campaigns can audibly notify remote agents when a persistent connection is established.
Feature Overview
Call center agents can participate in campaigns while working at home or from other locations away from the call center. These remote agents can run Interaction Scripter from any location that has access to the Internet and a telephone.
Remote agents can connect to the Outbound Dialer Server in a number of different ways. The requirement is determined by the accessibility of the IC server—whether or not it is completely behind a firewall at the corporate network. If the server protected by a firewall, remote agents may need a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection. If the corporate network permits the server to be accessed from outside a firewall, a simple IP connection may be used.
Interaction Scripter Client users who are working as Remote Agents can establish a persistent connection at logon
time. A persistent connection allows agents to disconnect one call, keep the receiver off hook, and place or receive the next call via the client, using the same connection between their telephone and the server. The Interaction Center automatically reconnects new calls using the existing phone connection.
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When a persistent connection is effect, your remote phone stays connected if you leave your remote phone off hook, and disconnect via the client. The IC server does not dial your remote phone again. It will connect new calls using the existing audio path. A persistent connection with the IC server remains in effect until you log off the system or place your phone on-hook.
When a persistent connection is not used, the IC server closes its connection to the remote phone whenever either party disconnects. This can reduce long distance expenses and free up lines.
Related Campaign setting
Campaigns can be configured to play a wave audio file when Scripter Client users logon to establish a persistent connection. This wave file should play a tone, or say something such as "connection established" to inform the agent
that a persistent connection has been established. See the Persistent Connection campaign setting.
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Dialer Database Concepts
Interaction Dialer makes effective use of database technology such that customer and prospect records, including telephone numbers, agent statistics, call histories, and statistics are all stored in database tables. To allow for maximum customization, Interaction Dialer does not include any pre-configured data for the database. Customers are responsible for creating and populating the table that holds contact records, and for optional tables that store Do-
Not-Call records. Dialer automatically creates and manages all required tables except contact list and DNC tables.
Customers can easily integrate their own specialized data with the columns that Interaction Dialer uses by default. For example, additional fields can be added to a contact list table, in addition to the required fields that are described in this topic. A contact list can be shared by multiple campaigns, provided that each campaign selects a distinct subset of the list using filters. An individual call record should not be shared by more than one campaign. As a best practice, the tables used by Interaction Dialer are for Interaction Dialer's exclusive use. If you allow an external application to select, update, or insert data, you could slow down or halt the usual processing of campaign data.
No databases are included with Dialer
Customers are responsible for populating the contact list table. The easiest method to do so is by using Dialer's
Contact Import Wizard. If desired, you may use the expertise of in-house database administrators in your organization to create your contact tables manually.
Contact Import Wizard provides an easy to use interface for importing contact data from common data sources.
These sources include Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and CSV files.
Customers can integrate their own data
Customers can easily integrate their own specialized data with the columns that Interaction Dialer uses by default.
Additional fields can be added to a contact list table to store special information collected during a campaign. A contact list table may not exceed 2 million records. Up to 200 new fields can be added using Contact Import Wizard or database management tools, so long as the data type is char, varchar, or nvarchar. These string data types define a
"lowest common denominator" data type that is used when passing data through the system.
Custom fields can be passed to Interaction Scripter when the call record is popped on the agent's machine.
Related Topics
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Supported Database Servers
Interaction Dialer simplifies server management by supporting industry-standard database systems and by using database connections to define OLE DB providers that link Dialer to data sources. Interaction Dialer uses external data sources for contact Lists and campaign tables. All database tables must be managed by a database management system (DBMS). Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server are the only DBMS systems supported at this time.
While the CCS and DBMS can reside on the same physical server, it may not practical for all situations.
• For environments that have a high call volume, having the DBMS server reside on dedicated hardware will provide better overall Dialer performance.
• For environments that employ the CCS Switchover feature, having the DBMS server reside on dedicated hardware will ensure that the backup CCS will still have access to the DBMS even if the physical server running the primary CCS goes down completely.
Related Topics
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The Dialer Database
The IC database is built during the installation process. This is different from the way that Interaction Dialer operates.
A key phase of IC installation is running Setup Assistant, which automatically creates and configures the IC database.
As such, little more than identifying the database server and providing credentials to authenticate that connection are required.
The Dialer database is provided by the customer. The customer must also provide connections to the database in the form of UDL files. Furthermore, each contact list entry is associated with a database connection that allows Interaction
Dialer to manipulate data without working directly with the DBMS or massaging a file format.
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Internally, Interaction Dialer uses an application-level programming interface named ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) to handle database operations. ADO provides standard methods that Dialer uses to work with database objects such as tables, queries, and records. Consequently, Interaction Dialer is not hardcoded to support Oracle or SQL Server databases. Instead, it passes generic requests to ADO, and relies upon ADO to handle the task of interfacing with database systems efficiently and reliably.
Behind the scenes, layers of software called OLE DB service providers connect
ADO to DBMS systems. OLE DB service providers are available for the leading
DBMS systems: SQL Server and Oracle.
Although Microsoft provides a generic service provider for ODBC, it is not supported for use with Interaction Dialer.
• OLE DB Service Providers perform the low-level task of database interfacing.
• OLE DB connections are defined by creating UDL Universal Data Link
(.UDL) files.
• UDL files are uploaded to the Central Campaign server, so that they can be used by multiple ODS servers.
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Database Connections
Database connections are important, because they allow a campaign to select a contact list, without specifying any details concerning the location of that file. To make this connection, Dialer makes use of a Universal Data Link (UDL) connection.
Since Interaction Dialer reads and updates campaign tables using UDL, UDL files must be defined before contact lists or campaigns are configured in Dialer. A UDL file encapsulates everything that a DBMS server needs to know to integrate with an application such as Interaction Dialer. More specifically, UDL connections provide a software layer that an application (such as Dialer) can use to communicate with a DBMS. The Central Campaign server uses UDL to connect to OLE DB data sources, such as the contact list, which are under control of a DBMS. Each UDL defines data sources in a generic way that allows conforming applications to work with data.
• You cannot define UDL connections in Dialer Manager. Fortunately UDL files are easy to create, using
Microsoft's Data Link Properties utility. See Create a UDL File .
• Dialer does not support ODBC connections. Dialer uses OLE DB providers.
• Any number of campaigns can share the same connection. Campaigns can use different connections but don't need to in most cases. The Default Connection is commonly used for all campaigns.
Default Connection
A default database connection object is created when Interaction Dialer is installed. It is called [Default
Connection]. In many cases, [Default Connection] provides all of the database connectivity that a call center needs to run campaigns. While each campaign might use a separate contact list table, typically these tables are stored in only one database. If this is the case, the Default Connection may be used exclusively. You cannot delete the default connection object, but you can modify it or define your own custom connection settings.
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Related Topics
Add UDL as a Dialer Database Connection
Associate a Database Connection with a Contact List
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Custom Stored Procedures
By default, any time data is written to either the CallHistory Table or the AgentStats Table, Dialer runs a stored procedure (SPROC): CallHistoryInsert_1 or spid_exec_tran_batch respectively. If you, as a DBA/Developer, would like to run custom SQL code when Dialer inserts data into the CallHistory Table or the AgentStats Table, you can do so by creating and enabling Custom SPROCs.
Creating Custom SPROCs
Dialer provides you with two custom stored procedures called Custom_CallHistoryInsert_1 and
Custom_AgentStatsInsert. By default, these two SPROCs are just blank shells into which you can add any SQL code that you wish.
Using these custom stored procedures has two main benefits: 1) Once Custom SPROCs are enabled, they will be run automatically from Dialer's default SPROCs. 2) When you perform an upgrade, they will remain intact-they will not be overwritten during the upgrade procedure.
Note: Keep in mind that while you can indeed add custom SQL code directly to Dialer's default SPROCs, it is not recommended. During an upgrade, Dialer's default SPROCs will be overwritten and you will have to recreate your custom code.
Enabling Custom SPROCs
In order for the custom SPROCs to run when data is written to the CallHistory Table or the AgentStats Table, you must enable them via a special server parameter called Dialer Call Custom Sprocs. To enable your custom SPROCs, set the
parameter value to true. For more information, see Server Parameters.
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Dialer Tables
Tables in the IC Database
The following tables are created in the IC database for use by Interaction Dialer. These tables are not created by
Dialer, but by IC during Setup Assistant if the IC license contains the licensed Dialer features.
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Table Name
Description
Holds call-completion information for every call placed. This table is updated in the IC Database.
Stores information about agent performance for all campaigns.
Contains summary statistics for each campaign running in Dialer. Each row will contain a set of statistics averaged over a configurable sample period.
Note: For bevity, the ININ_DIALER_40 prefix is often omitted from table names in the documentation. For example, we may use "AgentStats" instead of "ININ_DIALER_40.AgentStats".
Tables in the Dialer Database
The following tables are created and managed by Dialer on a SQL server apart from IC databases. In high volume environments, SQL server runs on dedicated hardware. Many customers install SQL server on their Central Campaign
Server instead.
Table Name Description
Phone Number Detail (PND) table tracks time zones, attempts, call rescheduling, and
DNC status for each phone number associated with a contact record, for each campaign.
Holds sequencing for the current recycle. It is used internally by Interaction Dialer when Contact List records are selected for processing.
Maintains the list of parties who are scheduled for callbacks. This table is created by the system when you create a campaign.
Tracks changes made to configurations.
Priority Dialing records are tracked using this table auto-created by Dialer. For performance reasons, Dialer watches this secondary table for inserted records, not the Call List itself.
Tracks the contact columns chosen for a contact list and the contact column ids assigned to those contact columns. The contact column ids tracked in the contact column details tables correspond to the i3_ccid field in the phone number details (PND) table, making the new table useful when customizing the PND table.
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Tables created by the Customer
Customers are responsible for creating and managing list of contact numbers, and optionally for managing lists of numbers that are never to be called.
Table Name Description
required
(managed and named by customer)
This table stores the list of people who will be called in a campaign, along with customerdefined fields that are displayed to the agent by Interaction Scripter.
The customer is responsible for creating and populating this table, whether through
Contact Import Wizard or client tools for the particular DBMS.
Do Not Call (DNC) table - optional
(named by customer)
Customers can optionally create a table in Dialer's database that stores telephone numbers that are never to be called. This information can come from state and local sources, or from a third-party cleansing service.
Once the table is set up as a DNC Source assigned to a campaign, Dialer can use the table to perform DNC Scrubbing. Scrubbing prevents contact numbers from being dialed by a campaign. An initial bulk scrub is performed once, to flag matching records in the contact table to prevent them from ever being dialed. During campaign execution, just-in-time scrubbing scrubs batches of numbers just prior to placing the calls.
The DNC table must contain one column that contains telephone numbers. There is no restriction on the format of contact numbers except that numbers should conform to the format generated by Dial Plan if Dial Plan is used. Otherwise, the format of telephone numbers should be (xxx) xxx-xxxx. The data type of that column must be varchar.
The DNC table may contain an additional Expiration column in DATETIME format, after which the DNC entry is ignored or deleted. If the DNC contains a populated Expiration column, that time is compared with the current time.
If the current time is previous to the expiration time, the number is not dialed. It is treated like a traditional do-not-call number.
If the current time is past the expiration time, the number is dialed because the entry has expired.
Generally speaking, a DNC table stores telephone numbers that are never to be called. For
background information and procedures, see DNC Scrubbing of Contact Numbers .
Tables used for Penetration Rate Reporting
Customers can develop penetration rate reports to show the number of contacts that were contacted (the numerator) contrasted with a number of records in a contact list (the denominator). The penetration rate calculation is simple but input criteria must be carefully considered.
Penetration Rate tables store data that customers can use to generate custom penetration rate reports. See
Penetration Rate Report Data and
Penetration Rate Tables ERD .
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Table Name
Description
This table stores the numerator used to calculate penetration rate. It contains one row for each completed call of the corresponding contact list table.
Penetration rate records are not inserted into the _PEN table after each call. Instead, data about penetrated calls is accumulated in RAM and written to the _PEN table 100 records at a time per database connection. This improves performance by reducing the number of round trips to the database, eliminating the overhead of individual
RDMS transactions.
When call volume is low, fewer than 100 records are written. A scheduled job is triggered every two minutes to ensure that calls older than 5 minutes are flushed to the database. As a consequence, calls in RAM can never be older than 7 minutes.
This table contains the actual penetration data, specifically two rows per contact column (one for all values and one for unique values) plus one row per contact list to account for all contacts.
This table is reserved for future use.
An integer value in this table is incremented every time a new row is added in this table. That occurs when contacts added to a contact list.
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ContactList Table
Unlike most tables used by Dialer, the ContactList is created by the customer. The ContactList table contains all the phone number records that will be called during the campaign, along with the current status of each record. These phone number records can come from any source and can be entered into the table manually or imported. You can add additional columns to the ContactList table which will provide more information about each record that can be accessed and worked with by the script.
For example, you could add columns that list the first and last name of the person associated with each phone number record in the ContactList table. This column, when integrated in a script, would allow the agent to address the customer by his/her name. Similarly, you could add additional telephone number fields to support multiple phone numbers per contact.
Note: Do not use SQL Views for the ContactList table. Dialer cannot update this table if it is a SQL View.
If you already have data stored in a separate database (or perhaps in a comma separated value list delivered from a phone list supplier), you can import that data into your Dialer database using Dialer's Contact Import Wizard.
Adapting existing tables as Contact Lists
Customers can use any existing contact list table with Interaction Dialer. When a table is associated with a Campaign
(via Interaction Dialer Manager), Dialer adds these required columns to the table if they do not exist: attempts i3_attemptsrescheduled
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Dialer Manager Printable Help i3_activecampaignid i3_attemptsabandoned i3_attemptsbusy i3_attemptsdaily i3_attemptsfax i3_attemptsmachine i3_attemptsnoanswer i3_attemptsremotehangup i3_attemptssitcallable i3_attemptssystemhangup i3_identity i3_lastcalled_utc i3_siteid i3_uploadid status zone
Dialer automatically adds the i3_identity column, which does not need to be a primary key.
Inserting Additional Fields
You can add up to 200 additional fields to a ContactList table before performance degrades appreciably. The only restriction is that the data type for new fields must be one of the following:
• char
• nchar
• dateTime
• int
• bigint
• money
• nvarchar
• varchar
String data is the "lowest common denominator" data type that passes through the system most easily. Custom fields can be passed to Interaction Scripter when the call record is popped on the agent's machine. Additional telephone number fields can be added to support multiple phone numbers per contact.
Other data types such as float and binary are not supported. Custom fields can be passed to Interaction Scripter when the call record is popped on the agent's machine. Additional telephone number fields can be added to support multiple phone numbers per contact. Phone number columns should be a string type such as varchar.
Note: Do not use spaces when naming custom contact list columns. Interaction Dialer does not support contact fields that have spaces in the field name.
Reserved column names
When constructing a contact list, customers should keep in mind not to use columns already reserved for use by
CallRecordSchedule tables. The Dialer Transaction Server performs a join operation on the schedule table and the contact table. Using the reserved column names listed below will result in syntax errors and will prevent dialer from dialing scheduled contacts. Avoid columns with the following names: campaignname siteid i3_identity
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Importing Records
Interaction Dialer offers a tool called Contact Import Wizard to simplify the process of populating contact lists for campaigns. Contact Import Wizard walks the administrator through a step by step process to populate contact lists from existing databases and flat files.
If you determine that additional fields are needed in the ContactList, the field property, when using strings, must be defined with a data type of char, varchar, nvarchar or nchar.
Additional Considerations for Contact List Management
Contact List Updates. The contact list table is a dynamic data source. As your business demographic or customer base changes, so must your contact list. This includes adding contacts and revising existing records.
Real-Time Updates. Interaction Dialer may be configured to regularly schedule contact list updates, but often there is the need to add on-the-fly records to be dialed immediately. For example, if your organization generates customer inquiries through a website form, the most effective marketing may occur if that inquiry is called as soon as possible, nearly immediately following the request.
Managing Do-Not-Call Lists. DNC lists are a critical consideration of any dialer system. Like the contact list table itself, this is not a "set it and forget it" item. Updates based on internal do-not-contact requests and governmental registries must be conducted based on regulations for the location in which your company exists, and for locations where your customers reside. Regulatory compliance is discussed in detail later in this document.
Limitations
• Don't use quoted identifiers in table names: to comply with both SQL and Oracle platforms, Interaction Dialer does not support contact list tables that use names enclosed by quotation marks.
• Do not exceed 200 columns or 2,000,000 records. To maintain optimal performance, a single ContactList table should not exceed 200 columns (fields) nor contain more than 2 million records.
Preserving Performance
As a best practice, customers are advised not to run queries or other database operations against the call list table when it is in use by Dialer. This can cause performance problems.
Custom Columns
See also Custom Contact List Columns .
Importing Records
Feedback
ContactList Schema
The contact list table stores the list of people who will be called in a campaign. The number of columns in a
ContactList table should not exceed 200 columns. Testing indicates that performance remains acceptable with up to
200 columns.
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Column
I3_IDENTITY
ZONE
ATTEMPTS
STATUS
PK, bigint, not null
Details varchar(25), null int, null char(1), null
Description
I3_IDENTITY is an integer value that uniquely identifies each row in the contact list. This column is managed for the customer. Customers may insert records that contain I3_ROWID, but they cannot and should not modify
I3_IDENTITY columns. Although I3_ROWID is deprecated from Dialer's point of view, it was retained for backward compatibility purposes.
The time zone when this contact can be called.
The number of times that Dialer attempted to call this party. This cumulative total is never reset. This column is managed by Dialer. Customers can populate the attempts column before uploading a call list, but this column is optional and not required.
This field contains a one-character alphabetical flag that indicates the overall status of a contact in a campaign. Interaction Dialer uses this flag to determine whether to select a record for processing.
The status column in the contact list indicates the overall status of a contact, not the callable status of individual numbers, which is maintained in the
Phone Number Detail table . This approach allows a DNC status to be
maintained in the PND table for individual telephone numbers associated with a contact.
A "A" indicates that maximum retry attempts for busy, answering machine no answer and so on have been reached for the record. It will never be called again. This status is also assigned when "max attempt" thresholds have been reached for auto-schedule options or the total attempts to dial the record.
C "C" indicates a callable record.
F "F" indicates that all of a contact's numbers are uncallable, and that the record has been "flagged" for customer review.
For example, if all attempts to dial phone numbers for a contact fail with
SIT wrap-up Category , then that contact is essentially uncallable until a new contact column is added or some of the existing numbers are changed. Rather than mark the contact as uncallable, it is flagged with
"F" so that customers can change the status back to "C" after they have added a new contact column, or updated contact numbers.
I "I" stands for In Process. The record selection process has selected this record for processing, and the record has been passed to an Outbound
Dialer server. However, the record may not have been dialed yet, and it has not been dispositioned by an agent.
When a campaign stops, its active contacts are reset in the contact list
(status changed from 'I' to 'C'), and the active campaign ID
(I3_ACTIVECAMPAIGNID) is used by a stored procedure to ensure that only contacts associated with this campaign are cleared.
This process takes into account the active campaign so that if the contact list is in use by multiple campaigns, the queued flag will be cleared on all contacts when the campaign stops (even ones queued by
Dialer for other campaigns). This prevents contacts from being called back once they are completed or processed.
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I3_SITEID
I3_ACTIVECAMPAIGNID
I3_ATTEMPTSREMOTEHANGUP int, null
I3_ATTEMPTSSYSTEMHANGUP int, null
I3_ATTEMPTSABANDONED int, null
I3_ATTEMPTSBUSY
I3_ATTEMPTSFAX
I3_ATTEMPTSNOANSWER int, null int, null int, null varchar(80), null varchar(80), null
J "J" identifies a record inserted into the contact list table for Priority
Dialing.
O "O" stands for auto-scheduled call. When the system schedules a call back according to the defined auto-schedule settings, Status is set to O to indicate that a callback has been scheduled, but has not been attempted yet.
P "P" indicates that the record is to be purged and will not be dialed. The
"P" status is set by DNC scrubbing.
R "R" is used for records that have been rescheduled because the designated agent was not logged on to take the call. If these are campaign wide calls, then if no agents are logged on, calls will be rescheduled with "R" in the status field.
If 'ignore recycles' is checked, auto scheduled calls will be distinguished from agent scheduled campaign wide calls and own agent callbacks.
The contact list status will appear as 'C' for auto-scheduled and rescheduled auto-scheduled calls if ignore recycles is not checked.
S "S" stands for Scheduled call. When an agent schedules a call back,
Status is set to S to indicate that a callback has been scheduled, but has not been attempted yet.
T "T" stands for auto-rescheduled call (scheduled call that was rescheduled by dialer, not an agent). This status is assigned to a scheduled callback that failed to reach a contact, and the maximum number of callback attempts has not been reached. When it is, the status will be changed to "A".
U "U" stands for unusable call record. This status flag designates that the contact will not be called again. Items are given a "U" status when the assigned wrap-up category code indicates Success, SIT Uncallable,
Failed, or Wrong Party.
The name of the Outbound Dialer server that last called this contact.
GUID of the last campaign that this record was selected for. I3_ACTIVECAMPAIGNID holds the Id of the active campaign associated with this contact—the campaign that has this contact cached.
When a campaign stops, its active contacts are reset in the contact list (status changed from 'I' to 'C'), and the active campaign's GUID (i3_activecampaignid is used by a stored procedure to ensure that only contacts associated with this campaign are cleared.
The number of contact attempts that resulted in remote party hang up.
The number of contact attempts that resulted in System Hang Up.
The total number of times that this party was abandoned (disconnected before an agent could speak with the party).
The total number of calls to this party that returned busy signals.
The total number of calls to this party that were answered by a Fax machine.
The total number of calls to this party that were not answered.
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I3_ATTEMPTSMACHINE
I3_ATTEMPTSRESCHEDULED
I3_ATTEMPTSSITCALLABLE
I3_ATTEMPTSDAILY
I3_LASTCALLED_UTC
SUCCESSRESULT
I3_UPLOAD_ID
I3_ROWID int, null int, null int, null int, null datetime, null float, null int, null varchar(80), null
The total number of calls to this party that reached an answering machine.
The number of times that this contact was rescheduled due to agent unavailability.
The number of contact attempts that failed with SIT tones. This also helps indicate how many times the record has been placed. This column can be used with policies or filters to stop dialing records that have exceeded a customer-defined threshold of SITCallable results.
Number of contact attempts today.
UTC time of the last contact attempt.
SUCCESSRESULT is a customer-managed column in both the ContactList and
CallHistory tables. Customers can use SUCCESSRESULT to maintain running counters, such as a money counter for example. The value of SUCCESSRESULT can be NULL when records are added or updated.
The value of SUCCESSRESULT in a CallHistory row will contain whatever was in the SUCCESSRESULT column of the associated contact at the time the history row was written. Its value in this table can be incremented by the customer as need to manage a running total of some sort.
Upload Id is a sequential number populated when contacts are added or
uploaded to a contact list. For details, see Penetration Rate Report Data and
Penetration Rate Tables ERD in this document.
I3_ROWID is a customer-managed field used to uniquely identify a row. Dialer no longer uses this column. I3_ROWID is superseded by I3_IDENTITY, a Dialermanaged field. I3_ROWID is not a required field. However, I3_ROWID is supported in the contact list and is propagated to the CallRecordSchedule and CallHistory tables. I3_ROWID is also available in Scripter and in policies for backwards compatibility.
• Callable records are records with callable status in database.
• Scheduled records are 'status' column records with a value of S, O, R, or T.
• Cached records are records in progress that have been cached by Dialer (I).
Note to Oracle Users
Oracle documentation highly discourages use of quoted identifiers for table names. In accordance with the stance that Oracle has taken with regard to quoted identifiers, Interaction Dialer does not support contact list tables whose names are enclosed in quotes.
For this reason, Dialer does not create tables with spaces in the name. DialerTranServer removes all special characters, including spaces, from the campaign name when it creates tables. The following special characters are removed automatically: '`|#*?[].!$ -&*()=+:;/\\
PND Table
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PND Table
The Phone Number Detail (PND) table tracks time zone, contact attempts, and rescheduling attempts for each phone number associated with a contact record. The PND table also stores Do-Not-Call (DNC) status of individual phone numbers in the table. Customers should not modify PND tables as they are automatically created and maintained by
Interaction Dialer.
Interaction Dialer automatically creates a separate PND table for each contact list in use. As it does so, Dialer adds a separate row to the PND table for each contact column, for each contact in the list.
Interaction Dialer also automatically maintains the contents of the PND table, which also includes a periodic clean up operation to prevent the PND table from getting too large. After midnight each day, DialerTran deletes any PND entries that have no corresponding call list entry or that are for a column that is no longer used.
Tracing in the DialerTran log records the SQL that was run during this cleanup operation. As such, you can determine what was removed from the PND table by searching for the trace entries labeled DeleteOrphanedPNDRecords.
Relationship between Contact List and PND
• Dialer creates one PND table per Contact List.
• Each PND table is a child table of a Contact List.
• Each PND has an entry for each contact column in the Contact List.
• PND tables manage the details associated with each individual phone number in the Contact List.
• The Phone Number Type for each contact column in the PND table is read from the Dialer configuration file.
• A PND table tracks time zone, contact attempts, and rescheduling attempts for each phone number associated with a contact record.
PND/Contact List Status fields and DNC
DNC scrubbing marks entries in a PND table with a status of "P" if a number should not be called. However, DNC scrubbing does not modify the status field in a Contact List.
The status column in the Contact List indicates the overall status of a contact, not the callable status of individual numbers, which are maintained in the PND table. This approach allows a DNC status to be maintained for individual telephone numbers associated with a contact. If all of the numbers for a contact are flagged not to be called, then
Dialer will never dial the contact, since the contact has no callable numbers.
See also
Managing DNC in Interaction Dialer
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Feedback
PND Schema
Dialer creates one PND table per contact list. Each PND has an entry for each contact column in the Contact list. The
Phone Number Type for each contact column is read from the Dialer configuration file. A PND table tracks time zone, contact attempts, and rescheduling attempts for each phone number associated with a contact record.
Column
I3_IDENTITY
I3_CCID
I3_STATUS
I3_SUBSTATUS
Details
PK, bigint, not null
PK, bigint, not null char(1), null char(1), null
Description
I3_IDENTITY is an integer value that uniquely identifies each row in the contact list.
Contact Column ID (CCID) is the unique id of the corresponding contact phone number in the
Contact list table.
When a contact column is chosen, if it does not already exist in this list then it is added, and a new CCID is assigned. Items are not removed from this list when a contact column is removed from a campaign.
"P" if this contact is a "Do-Not-
Call" after scrubbing.
As Dialer works through the records in the PND table, it flags (with an "F") each phone number associated with a contact record as it is dialed.
Using these flags allows Dialer to keep track of which numbers have been dialed. This flagging technique is designed to allow
Dialer to pick up where it left off in the event that a recycle occurs before all the phone numbers in a particular record have been dialed. Once all the numbers in a record have been dialed, Dialer will clear the
I3_SubStatus flags and move on to the next record.
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I3_ZONE
I3_ATTEMPTS
I3_ATTEMPTSABANDONED
I3_ATTEMPTSBUSY
I3_ATTEMPTSFAX
I3_ATTEMPTSMACHINE
I3_ATTEMPTSNOANSWER
I3_ATTEMPTSREMOTEHANGUP
I3_ATTEMPTSRESCHEDULED
I3_ATTEMPTSSYSTEMHANGUP
I3_ATTEMPTSSITCALLABLE nvarchar(25), null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, not null
The time zone when this contact can be called.
Number of attempts to call this contact.
Number of attempts that were abandoned, meaning that the call was ended by the contact before a conversation with the agent could take place.
Number of attempts that resulted in a busy signal.
Number of attempts that reached a Fax machine.
Number of attempts that reached an answering machine.
Number of call attempts that were not answered.
Number of attempts that were hung up by the remote party.
Number of attempts that were rescheduled.
Number of attempts that were disconnected by the system due to no available Agents, high
CPU utilization, and so on.
The number of contact attempts that failed with SIT tones. This also helps indicate how many times the record has been placed. This column can be used with policies or filters to stop dialing records that have exceeded a customerdefined threshold of SITCallable results.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
Feedback
Recycle Table
At runtime, Dialer creates a recycle table that helps it select the next batch of ContactList records for processing. The recycle table holds sequencing for the current recycle. Recycle tables are named as follows: I3_ CampaignName_RE0.
For example, the recycle table for a GlobeNews campaign might be named: I3_GlobeNews_RE0.
Recycle Table Schema
The Recycle table consists of only two fields, one of which (i3_Identity) is used as the join with the ContactList. The second field, i3_SeqNo, stores the processing sequence number of each specific record within the recycle. i3_SeqNo reflects the processing order of records within the ContactList based on filter and sort criteria provided by the customer.
Column
I3_IDENTITY
I3_SEQNO
Details bigint, not null
PK, int, not null
Description
Used to join the contact list with the Recycle Table
I3_seqno stores the processing sequence number of each specific record within the recycle.
The sequence id is a unique number that identifies the order in which records should be processed. Each sequence number indicates where each record falls in the recycle based on the current filter and sort criteria.
A recycle table is automatically created by the system when you create a campaign. The table is named
I3_<CampaignName>_RE0.
Record Selection Process
Dialer invokes a stored procedure to select contact list records for processing. It preps the contact list before every recycle. The procedure runs quickly since it is precompiled and resides in the database. When a campaign is started, reset, or recycled, the conceptual process is as follows:
1. The procedure clears the contents of the recycle table.
2. It reorders the contact list to apply sort criteria defined for the campaign.
3. It queries the contact list to obtain a list of all contacts that can be called, based upon the Status of each record and the Campaign filter.
4. The resulting row IDs are stored in the status table. The order in which the records are returned is used to populate the sequence ID field.
5. Records are processed in i3_seqno order. Only records that are not blocked by Zones at this point are pulled. As records are pulled for processing, they are removed from the recycle table. The recycle table contains only records that are left to process in the current recycle.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
6. When a contact list record is routed to an Outbound Dialer server, its status is set to "I" to indicate that the record is in-process (for example: the record is being dialed or awaiting completion from the agent.) This prevents future selects from pulling the record and double-dialing a contact. The Status field is updated again when the contact record is dispositioned. This eliminates the need to maintain a cache of records that are currently active within the system.
Feedback
CallRecordSchedule Table
The CallRecordSchedule table maintains the list of parties that are scheduled for callbacks. Although this table does collect data on both the agent and the customer, this table is not intended to act as historical data. Entries are removed from the CallRecordSchedule table when they are passed to the Dialer Server.
Interaction Dialer automatically creates a CallRecordSchedule table (I3_<ContactList>_CS) for each call list. No customer maintenance is required.
CallRecordSchedule Schema
Column Details Description
CAMPAIGNNAME varchar(255), not null
Name of the Campaign.
SITEID
I3_IDENTITY varchar(80), null
PK, bigint, not null
SCHEDTIME
AGENTID
SCHEDPHONE datetime, not null varchar(80), null varchar(50), not null
Name of the Outbound Dialer server that will call back the party.
An integer value that uniquely identifies each row in the contact list. This field is managed for the customer by Dialer. Customers may continue to insert records that contain I3_ROWID, but they should not populate I3_IDENTITY fields.
The scheduled callback date and time.
This field contains the name of an agent if an agent owns the callback; otherwise the AGENTID is blank.
This column contains the phone number that will be dialed when this contact is called back. It stores the last phone number dialed to reach the contact—the number that reached a contact who asked to be called back at a later time, or the last number dialed when the system auto-scheduled the callback, due to no answer, busy, or another condition. When the scheduled call matures, the number in this field is always called, even if there are multiple phone numbers per contact.
If there is no specific phone number to dial, then this field can be an empty string and the entire contact will be scheduled. Each contact number will be called per the same rules used when a contact comes up for normal calling (for example phone number order, and so on)
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
SCHEDCCID bigint, not null The default is -1, which indicates that 'schedphone' is not in the
PND table. Otherwise, this column contains a valid ccid from the
Phone Number Detail (PND) table.
'ccid' stands for Contact Column ID—the unique id of the corresponding contact phone number in the Contact list.
Columns that do not allow NULL values must have a value when records are added or inserted.
Feedback
CallHistory Table
The ININ_DIALER_40.CallHistory table holds call-completion information for every campaign call placed. The
Outbound Dialer Server populates the CallHistory table as it progresses through the contact list during the course of a campaign. This table indicates who was called and the completion result of the call. No customer maintenance is required. The CallHistory table is in the CIC database. It is shared by multiple campaigns.
Related topics
How Wrap-Up Categories affect Status columns
Feedback
CallHistory Schema
The CallHistory table holds call-completion information for every call placed. This table indicates who was called and the completion result of the call.
Column Details Description campaignname varchar(255), not null
The name of the Campaign. siteid i3_identity varchar(80), not null bigint, null
The name of the Outbound Dialer Server / Manual
Calling Server that processed the call. i3_identity is an integer value that uniquely identifies
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Dialer Manager Printable Help i3_rowid callid callidkey wrapupcategory wrapupcode varchar(80), null char(11), null char(18), null varchar(80), not null varchar(80), not null each row in the contact list. Dialer manages this field for the customer. Customers may insert records that contain i3_rowid, but they cannot and should not populate i3_identity fields. Although i3_rowid is deprecated from Dialer's point of view, it was retained for backward compatibility purposes. i3_rowid is a customer-managed field used to uniquely identify a row. i3_rowid is no longer a required field, since it was superseded by i3_identity, a Dialermanaged field. However, i3_rowid is supported in the contact list and is propagated to the
CallRecordSchedule and CallHistory tables. i3_rowid is also available in Scripter and in policies for backwards compatibility.
The callid number of this call attempt. For more information, see the discussion of callid in the Reporting
Data Dictionary.
This internal, site-unique key identifies a call in the system. It is an 18 character alphanumeric strings whose format may change from release to release, though the values will always be unique. This field is not referenced in any report, but can be used by customers to cross-reference Dialer calls with the standard call data stored in the IC database. For more information, see the discussion of callidkey in the Reporting Data
Dictionary.
A code that generally identifies the completion status of the call. Used to provide standardized reporting across
multiple campaigns. See Wrap-up Codes and
If you create a custom wrap-up category, this column will contain a GUID that is associated with the display name of the custom wrap-up category. To match the
GUID to the display name for reporting purposes, you will have to use the WrapupCategory lookup table. See
A code that more specifically indicates the outcome of the call. Wrap-up codes add granularity to reporting, while wrap-up Categories provide for standardized
reporting across multiple campaigns. See Wrap-up
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Dialer Manager Printable Help callingmode previewtimerinit phonenumber phonenumbertype agentid calledpartyoffset odsoffset tinyint, null bit, null
If you create a custom wrap-up code, this column will contain a GUID that is associated with the display name of the custom wrap-up category. To match the GUID to the display name for reporting purposes, you will have
to use the WrapupCode lookup table. See WrapupCode
The value in this column identifies the Dialing Mode .
Value Meaning
0
3
8
1
2
Non-Dialer Call
Predictive
Power
Preview
Agentless
This flag indicates whether a Preview call was initiated manually or automatically through a campaign configured preview timer.
- If it is a 1, then the call was initiated automatically through a campaign configured preview timer.
- If it is a 0, then the call was initiated manually.
- If it is null, then the call was made using a dialing mode other than Preview.
The telephone number dialed for this attempt. varchar(50), null varchar(80), null varchar(80), null int, null int, not null
The customer-defined phone number type associated with the phone number dialed. This is used for reporting purposes.
The IC User ID of the Agent who processed the call, as it is defined in Interaction Administrator.
Offset in seconds used to adjust UTC times based on the called party's time zone.
Offset in seconds used to adjust UTC times based on
ODS's time zone.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help previewpoptimeUTC datetime, null callplacedtimeUTC callansweredtimeUTC messageplaytimeUTC datetime, null datetime, null datetime, null callconnectedtimeUTC calldisconnectedtimeUTC length caresult datetime, null datetime, null int, null tinyint, null
In Preview mode, the time when the call record popped for the Agent to review. This is the time that Preview call data was presented to an Agent (not the actual call time.)
The time when the call was placed by Telephony
Services.
The time when the call was answered by the remote party or a device.
The time that a message was played to the contact, due to the campaign type or due to the absence of available agents.
The time that the call was connected to the Agent.
The time when the call was ended by the remote party or by the system.
Length of the call in seconds.
See also the description of the cadetail column. This integer number that indicates the result of call analysis.
Null values are allowed. The other possible values are listed below.
Value Meaning
0
1
Represents an unknown call result. Call analysis could not determine what the remote party was, but the call did succeed and connect. Dialer treats this as live voice.
Voice detected.
A human answered the call.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help cadetail varchar(255), null
2
3
4
5
6
The carrier sent a SIT tone or a
SIT message.
A Fax machine answered.
An Answering
Machine answered the call.
The call failed with an ISDN
Cause Code returned from the carrier.
Failure. The call failed in
Telephony
Services for some reason other than the above.
Call Analysis results for each call are written to the
CallHistory table along with the other information about
the call, such as Wrap-up Codes and Categories , call id,
and so forth. This allows reporting to be done not just on disposition, but also on call analysis results. This is important for customers whose call analysis is performed by Media Servers.
Two columns in CallHistory table facilitate this:
• caresult indicates the result of call analysis.
• cadetail provides a textual description of the call analysis result.
The cadetail (call analysis detail) column is text field up to 255 characters in length that contains extra information that supplements the caresult value.
For example, if caresult is 2 (SIT), cadetail would contain a description of the SIT tone/message. For a caresult of
5 (ISDN Cause Code) cadetail would contain a description of the ISDN cause code. For caresult 6
(Failure) cadetail would contain a description of the error returned from MakeCall. Null values are allowed, since some caresult codes do not generate detail information.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help isabandoned iscontact isdetect isrpc issuccess successresult
RuleGroupID bit, null bit, null bit, null bit, null bit, null float, null smallint, null
This flag indicates whether the call was abandoned
(1=Yes, 0=No). This value can be set by Dialer or by a script. See Interaction Scripter Developer Guide for details.
This flag indicates whether the call reached a live contact (1=Yes, 0=No). Contacts are defined in the
Dialer configuration node.
Signifies whether call analysis detected that the call was answered by a person. If call analysis is turned off, the value will always be 1 (true) since those calls are treated as live voice.
Signifies whether the call was a right party contact.
Signifies whether the campaign result was achieved, governed by the "interaction was successful" setting on the wrap-up Category.
This column is populated with the value of the successresult column on the contact.
Successresult is a customer-managed column in both the ContactList and CallHistory tables. Customers can use successresult to maintain running counters, such as a money counter for example. The value of
'successresult' can be NULL when records are added or updated.
The value of successresult in a CallHistory row will contain whatever was in the successresult column of the associated contact at the time the history row was written (when the record was dispositioned).
The ID assigned to the Rule Group that was set. You can find more details about the RuleGroupID, such as the
name of the Rule Group, in the CallHistory_RuleGroup table .
Provided for customer use. Not used by Dialer. varchar(255), null varchar(255), null
Provided for customer use. Not used by Dialer. customdata1 customdata2
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Feedback
Wrap-up Categories and Codes
Wrap-up Categories
Wrap-up Categories generically classify the result of a campaign call for reporting purposes. Unlike wrap-up Codes, which are user-defined on a campaign-by-campaign basis, the same set of wrap-up Categories is used for all campaigns. The standard wrap-up Categories and default wrap-up Codes used by Dialer are listed in the table below.
Wrap-up Codes
Wrap-up Codes are strings that indicate the completion status of a call step. Wrap-up codes are the disposition options that agents see in a script. For example, a user-defined wrap-up code might be "doesn't read the newspaper".
Wrap-up codes allow agents to disposition calls by choosing a call outcome tailored for the campaign. Under certain conditions (as when Dialer detects SIT tones) Dialer will assign a wrap-up Code to the call. But in most cases, wrap-up codes are assigned by agents.
For reporting purposes, custom wrap-up codes are always mapped to standard wrap-up Categories. For example, in a newspaper subscription campaign, the wrap-up code "doesn't read the newspaper" would be mapped to "Failure" (a wrap-up category). Likewise, "Not Interested" would also be mapped to "Failure". Wrap-up codes add granularity to reporting, while wrap-up Categories provide for standardized reporting across multiple campaigns.
Note: Custom wrap-up codes and categories can be defined in Interaction Administrator. For more information, see the People topic in Interaction Administrator Help in the CIC Documentation Library.
Keep in mind that if you do create custom wrap-up codes and you have more than ODS sharing the same
DialerConfig, you will need to make sure that exact copies of the custom wrap-up codes exist on both ODS systems.
If you do not have exact copies on both servers, calls will be dispositioned as Ambiguous. Creating the copies is a manual procedure as there isn't currently an automated synchronization routine for wrap-up codes.
Wrap-up Category
Default Wrap-up Category
Ambiguous
Busy
Deleted
Failure
Default wrap-up Codes (user-defined)
None
Ambiguous
Agent Connection Broken
Agent Logout
Agent Received a New Call
Busy - Busy
Busy - Busy Signal
Busy - Disconnect before Analysis
Busy - Not Reached
Busy - Remote Busy
Deleted
Deleted - Do Not Call
Failure
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Fax
Machine
Navigate
No Answer
No Lines
Non-Dialer Call
Not Reached
Phone number deleted
Phone number success
Policy Scheduled
Remote Hang Up
Rescheduled
Scheduled
SIT
SIT Callable
Failure - Timeout
Fax
Fax - System Hang up on Fax
Machine - Answering Machine
Machine - Failed to play recording
Machine - Machine
Machine - Recording played to Fax
Machine - Recording played to Machine
Machine - System Hang up on Fax
Machine - System Hang up on Machine
This special disposition allows agents to navigate to another script page.
No Answer
No Answer - Answering Machine
No Answer - Disconnect before Analysis
No Answer - No User Responding
No Answer - Timeout
No Answer - User Alerting No Answer
No Lines
No IP Response
Non-Dialer call
Not Reached
Not Reached - Disconnect before Analysis
Phone number deleted
Phone number success
Policy Scheduled
Remote Hang Up
Remote Hang Up - Contact Hang Up
Remote Hang Up after Transfer
Remote Hang Up in Attendant
Rescheduled
Scheduled
Scheduled - Callback
SIT
SIT Callable - Disconnect before Analysis
SIT Callable - Ineffective Other (see note that follows table)
SIT Callable - No Circuit
SIT Callable - No Route to Destination
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Skipped
Success
System Hang Up
Transferred
Wrong Party
What is Ineffective Other?
Dialer Manager Printable Help
SIT Uncallable
SIT Callable - Normal
SIT Callable - Protocol Error
SIT Callable - Reorder
SIT Callable - Temporary Failure
SIT Uncallable - Bad Number
SIT Uncallable - Disconnect Before Analysis
SIT Uncallable - Ineffective Other (see note that follows table)
SIT Uncallable - Invalid Number Format
SIT Uncallable - No Circuit
SIT Uncallable - No IP Response
SIT Uncallable - Number Changed
SIT Uncallable - Reorder
SIT Uncallable - Unassigned Number
SIT Uncallable - Unknown tone
SIT Uncallable - Vacant Code
Skipped - Agent Skip
Skipped - Do Not Dial
Skipped - Policy No valid Phone Number
Failed to play recording
Success
Success - Recording played to Fax
Success - Recording played to Live Voice
Success - Recording played to Machine
Success - System Hang up on Fax
Success - System Hang up on Live Voice
Success - System Hang up on Machine
System Hang Up
System Hang Up - Agent not available for callback
System Hang Up - Attendant Transfer failed
System Hang Up - Failed to play recording
System Hang Up - Failed to route call to agent
System Hang Up - Failed to send fax
System Hang Up after Transfer
System Hang Up in Attendant
Transferred
Wrong Party
Wrong Party - Wrong Number
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"Ineffective Other" is the special information tone returned if a call attempt does not complete due to improper user action. Improper user actions include:
• Dialing the wrong prefix or access code
• Inserting an incorrect amount of coins in a pay phone
• Screened line access denial
• Dialing irregularity
When this error occurs, announcements are played to indicate that the call cannot be completed as dialed, with instructions that tell the caller how to correct the problem.
Related Topics
How Wrap-Up Categories affect Status columns
Feedback
How Wrap-Up Categories affect Status columns
Here is how status is set in Contact List and PND tables for each wrap-up category.
Wrap-Up
Category
Ambiguous
Status written to Call
List
U
Status written to
PND
U
Busy
Deleted
Failure
Description of Wrap-Up Category
No return code was returned by the client application. This may result from a script that sets Agent status to available before the call is dispositioned, or by a client application crash. This Wrap-Up
Category code is assigned by
Dialer.
Line is busy. This Wrap-Up
Category code is usually assigned by Dialer.
"Take my name off of your list". This Wrap-Up Category code is usually assigned by the Agent who removes the number from the
Contact List so it is not called again.
Call was not successful in reaching the campaign goal. This Wrap-Up
Category code is usually assigned
C
U
U
C
C
C
Live
Party
Inc.
Attempts IsSuccess
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Fax
Machine
Navigate by the Agent.
Fax Machine detected. This Wrap-
Up Category code is usually assigned by Dialer.
Answering Machine detected. This
Wrap-Up Category code may be assigned by Dialer or by an Agent.
This special Wrap-Up Category code creates a button that navigates to another script page. This Wrap-Up
Category code is assigned by Dialer, and should only be assigned by
Dialer.
When Navigate is selected, the Add
New Disposition dialog prompts for a Script page to jump to, instead of for a Wrap-Up Category code.
No Answer
No Lines
Non-Dialer
Call
No answer to the call. This Wrap-
Up Category code is usually assigned by Dialer.
No Lines were available to place the call. This Wrap-Up Category code is assigned by Dialer, and should only be assigned by Dialer.
This Wrap-Up Category code is assigned by Dialer, and should only be assigned by Dialer. It indicates that the Agent received an inbound workgroup call or a DID call that was not generated by Interaction
Dialer.
Not Reached This code indicates that the Central
Office was unable to connect the call. This Wrap-Up Category code is assigned by Dialer, and should only be assigned by Dialer.
Phone
Number
Deleted
Indicates that a call was dispositioned as a 'Do not call' number.
This Wrap-Up Category code can be used to mark a phone number as
"U" (Unusable) to indicate that the call outcome was unsuccessful.
This Wrap-Up Category code can be used when a particular phone number is a wrong number, but the whole record should not be marked un-callable.
C
C
C
C
C
C
C from
U
C
C
C
C
C
C
U from blank
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
Phone
Number
Success
Policy
Scheduled
Indicates that the call was successful. Phone Number Success can be used to mark a phone number as "U" (Unusable) to indicate that the call outcome was successful.
This Wrap-Up Category code can be used for activities such as playing a
WAV file once to every phone number on a record.
This code indicates that a policy behavior for the workflow rescheduled the call for a later date.
This Wrap-Up Category code is assigned by Dialer, and should only be assigned by Dialer.
Remote
Hang Up
Rescheduled This Wrap-Up Category code is assigned by Dialer. It identifies a scheduled call that could not be placed, since the campaign was stopped or the specific Agent was not available to take the call.
Scheduled
Call was abandoned by the remote party.
Callback has been scheduled. This
Wrap-Up Category code may be assigned by an Agent or by Dialer.
SIT
SIT Callable
The SIT Wrap-Up Category code is generated by Predictive Dial COM applications.
SIT appears in the list of Contact
Wrap-Up Category codes and in the lists of Wrap-Up Category codes for
Policy Disposition Conditions and
Behaviors.
When creating disposition policies, the only option available is SIT (SIT
Callable and SIT Uncallable are assigned by Interaction Dialer).
Selecting SIT will catch both SIT
Callable and SIT Uncallable return results.
SIT Callable is a Wrap-Up Category set by Interaction Dialer. Interaction
Dialer examines the attributes of calls passed to it by Telephony
Services and then determines an appropriate Wrap-up code.
C from
U
S
S
C
C
C
R from
T
U from blank
C
C
C
C
U
C
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
SIT
Uncallable
Skipped
Success
SIT Uncallable is a Wrap-Up
Category set by Interaction
Dialer. Interaction Dialer examines the attributes of calls passed to it by
Telephony Services and then determines an appropriate Wrap-up code.
A preview call was skipped using
Interaction Scripter. This Wrap-Up
Category code is usually assigned by the Agent.
Call was successful as relates to the campaign goal. This Wrap-Up
Category code is usually assigned by the Agent, to indicate successful completion of the campaign goal.
System
Hang Up
Transferred
This category indicates that the call was terminated by the system due to no available Agents, high CPU utilization, etc. When Dialer places a call and then ACD processes the call, and there are no available agents to take the call the system disconnects the call before the remote party hangs up. This Wrap-
Up Category code is assigned by
Dialer, and should only be assigned by Dialer.
This category indicates that the call was transferred by the Agent. This
Wrap-Up Category code is usually assigned by the Agent.
Wrong Party Call has reached the wrong party. This Wrap-Up Category code is usually assigned by an Agent.
C
C
U
C
U
U
C
C
C
C
C
From
U
U
Feedback
Dialer-Assigned Wrap-Up Codes
The table below lists only those Wrap-Up Codes that Dialer sets, along with the Wrap-Up Category and the situation
in which it is set. For a full list of categories and codes, see Wrap-up Categories and Codes .
Wrap-Up
Category Wrap-Up Code
Ambiguous Ambiguous
Situation
No determination possible
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
Busy
Failure
Fax
Machine
Ambiguous -
Agent
Connection
Broken
Ambiguous -
Agent Logout
Ambiguous -
Agent Received a
New Call
Busy
Busy - Busy
Signal
Busy - Disconnect before Analysis
Busy - Not
Reached
Busy - Remote
Busy
Busy - SIT
Callable
Failure - Timeout
Agent was disconnected
Agent exited Interaction Scripter Client without dispositioning the call
Agent accepted a new call without dispositioning the previous call
No specific determination
Busy signal was received
Busy signal was initially received, but call disconnected before call analysis could be performed
Busy signal was received
Busy signal was received
Busy signal was received
Fax
Fax - System
Hang Up on Fax
Machine -
Answering
Machine
Machine - Failed to play recording.
Machine
Machine -
Recording played to Fax
Machine -
Recording played to Machine
Machine - System
Hang up on Fax
Machine - System
Hang up on
Machine
Call timed out
Fax machine
Fax machine that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, is hung up on (for a non-Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Answering machine detected
An Agentless policy or campaign behavior failed to play a message
Undetermined machine
Fax machine that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, receives WAV file (for a non-Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Answering machine that receives WAV file due to Agentless Policy Set
Behavior (for a non-Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Fax machine that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, is hung up on (for a non-Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Answering machine that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, is hung up on
(for a non-Agentless Campaign calling mode)
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
No Answer No Answer
No Answer -
Answering
Machine
No Answer -
Disconnect before Analysis
No Answer - No
User Responding
No Lines
Not
Reached
No Answer -
Timeout
No Answer - User
Alerting No
Answer
No Lines
No Lines - No IP
Response
Not Reached
Not Reached -
Disconnect before Analysis
Policy Scheduled Policy
Scheduled
Remote
Hang Up
SIT Callable
Call was not answered
Answering machine detected
Call disconnected before call analysis could be performed (for all Campaign calling modes) if the ISDN cause code is not set (happens rarely)
Unexpected call answering device (not answering machine, fax, voice, or unknown) (for all Campaign calling modes)
Call timed out (CO problem)
Call picked up, but no answer
There were no available lines
There was no IP response when placing a call
No ringback/dial tone for call
No initial ringback/dial tone, but call disconnected before call analysis could be performed
Call is scheduled via a callback policy behavior
Remote Hang Up Call disconnected
Remote Hang Up
- Contact Hang
Up
Call disconnected by remote party before going to an Agent
Remote Hang Up after Transfer
Transferred call was disconnected by remote party
Call disconnected by remote party after being transferred to Attendant Remote Hang Up in Attendant
SIT Callable -
Disconnect before Analysis
SIT Callable -
Ineffective Other
*
SIT Callable - No
Circuit
SIT Callable - No route to
Destination
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Disconnect before Analysis" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Ineffective Other" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "No Circuit" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "No route to Destination" (for all Campaign calling modes)
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SIT
Uncallable
Skipped
SIT Callable -
Normal
SIT Callable -
Protocol Error
SIT Callable -
Reorder
SIT Callable -
Temporary
Failure
SIT Uncallable -
Bad Number
SIT Uncallable -
Disconnect
Before Analysis
SIT Uncallable -
Ineffective Other
*
SIT Uncallable -
Invalid Number
Format
SIT Uncallable -
No Circuit
SIT Uncallable -
No IP Response
SIT Uncallable -
Number Changed
SIT Uncallable
- Reorder
SIT Uncallable -
Unknown Tone
SIT Uncallable -
Vacant Code
SIT Uncallable -
Unknown Tone
Skipped - Agent
Skip
Skipped - Do Not
Dial
Skipped - Policy
No valid Phone
Number
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Normal" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Protocol Error" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Reorder" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Temporary Failure" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Intercept" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Disconnect before Analysis" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Ineffective Other" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Invalid Number Format" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "No Circuit" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "No IP Response" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Number Changed" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Reorder" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Ambiguous" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Vacant Code" (for all Campaign calling modes)
IC_SitTypeDetected == "Unknown Tone" (for all Campaign calling modes)
Agent presses the Skip button in Base Scripter, or transfers a call after checking the "Disposition after transfer" box
Call is skipped by a ‘Do Not Dial' call routing policy behavior
There is no available phone number due to Policy Set Behavior setting custom Contact Columns
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
Success
System
Hang Up
Success - System
Hang up on Live
Voice
Success - System
Hang up on
Machine
System Hang Up
System Hang Up
- Agent not available for callback
System Hang Up
- Attendant transfer failed
System Hang Up
- Failed to play recording
System Hang Up
- Failed to route call to agent
System Hang Up
- Failed to send fax
Failed to play recording
Success
Success -
Recording played to Fax
Success -
Recording played to Live Voice
Success -
Recording played to Live Voice
Success -
Recording played to Machine
Success -
Recording played to Machine
Success - System
Hang up on Fax
Failed to play recording
Success
Fax machine that receives WAV file due to Agentless Policy Set Behavior (for an Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Live contact that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, receives WAV file (for an Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Live contact that receives WAV file due to Agentless Policy Set Behavior (for an Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Answering machine that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, receives WAV file (for an Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Answering machine that receives WAV file due to Agentless Policy Set
Behavior (for an Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Fax machine that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, is hung up on (for an
Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Live contact that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, is hung up on (for an
Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Answering machine that, due to Campaign Agentless settings, is hung up on
(for an Agentless Campaign calling mode)
Call disconnected by system without going to an Agent
Own-Agent callback when Agent not available
Transferring a call to an Attendant profile fails
An Agentless policy or campaign behavior failed to play a message
An Agentless behavior failed to route a call to an agent
An Agentless policy or campaign behavior failed to send a fax
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
System Hang up after Transfer
System Hang Up in Attendant
Transferred call was disconnected by the system
Call disconnected by system after being transferred to Attendant
*What is Ineffective Other?
"Ineffective Other" is the special information tone returned if a call attempt does not complete due to improper user action. Improper user actions include:
• Dialing the wrong prefix or access code
• Inserting an incorrect amount of coins in a pay phone
• Screened line access denial
• Dialing irregularity
When this error occurs, announcements are played to indicate that the call cannot be completed as dialed, with instructions that tell the caller how to correct the problem.
Feedback
WrapupCategory Table
When you create a custom wrap-up category, the wrapupcategory column in the CallHistory table will contain a GUID instead of the display name. The ININ_DIALER_40.WrapupCategory table contains the display name and the associated GUID. You'll use this lookup table to match the GUID to the display name for reporting purposes.
WrapupCategory Schema
Column Details Description
Id
Varchar(80)
Not Null
Stores the
WrapupCategory GUID.
DisplayName
NVarchar(255)
Null
Stores WrapupCategory name.
Feedback
WrapupCode Table
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
When you create a custom wrap-up code, the wrapupcode column in the CallHistory table will contain a GUID instead of the display name. The ININ_DIALER_40.WrapupCode table contains the display name and the associated GUID.
You'll use this lookup table to match the GUID to the display name for reporting purposes.
WrapupCode Schema
Column Details Description
Id
Varchar(80)
Not Null
Stores the WrapupCode
GUID
DisplayName
NVarchar(255)
Null
Stores WrapupCode name
(This is the name used to create the object not the label.)
Feedback
SIT Codes
SIT stands for Special Information Tone and is an international standard signal consisting of three rising tones that indicate that a call has failed. A SIT is usually followed by a recorded message that describes the problem. Just like a dial tone or busy signal, a SIT is an in-band signal intended to both be heard by a caller and to be detected by an automated dialer to indicate that the call failed.
When it comes to Dialer, SIT, SIT Callable, and SIT Uncallable are Wrap-up Categories that the program uses to disposition calls
As a code in Dialer, SIT is a Wrap-up Category/Code that is generated by Predictive Dial COM applications, and SIT appears in the list of Wrap-up Codes and in the lists of Wrap-up Codes for Policy Disposition Conditions and
Behaviors. When creating disposition policies, the only option available is SIT (you cannot select SIT Callable or SIT
Uncallable). In the case of disposition policies, selecting SIT will catch both SIT Callable and SIT Uncallable return results.
When Dialer makes a call and receives a SIT, Dialer examines the attributes of the call passed to it by Telephony
Services and looks for the IC_SitTypeDetected attribute, which designates the type of Tone that was detected.
If the attribute indicates an invalid call condition, Dialer sets the Wrap-up Category to SIT Uncallable and chooses the appropriate Wrap-up Code based on the detected Tone.
If the attribute indicates a valid call condition, Dialer sets the Wrap-up Category to SIT Callable and chooses the appropriate Wrap-up Code based on the detected Tone.
Feedback
Status Codes
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
The Wrap-Up Category assigned when a call is dispositioned directly affects the status code written to the contact list and PND table. Status codes are one-character alphabetical flags that indicate the overall status of a contact in a campaign. Dialer uses status code flags to determine whether to select a record for processing.
Status Codes
Code Meaning
C Callable contact.
R
S
Rescheduled contact. Assigned to records that were rescheduled because the designated agent was not logged on to take the call.
Scheduled call. When an agent schedules a call back, status is set to S to indicate that a callback has been scheduled, but has not been attempted yet.
T
U
Auto-rescheduled call (a scheduled call that was rescheduled by dialer, not an agent). This status is assigned to a scheduled callback that failed to reach a contact, and the maximum number of callback attempts has not been reached. When it is, the status will be changed to "A" to indicate that maximum retry attempts for busy, answering machine, no answer and so on, have been reached for the record. It will never be called again.
Unusable call record. This status designates a contact that will not be called again. Items are given a "U" status when the assigned Wrap-up Category code indicates Success, SIT Un-callable, Failed, or Wrong
Party.
It is important to understand how and where a record's status is assigned. If the wrap-up category applies to a single contact column, a status code is written to the Phone Number Detail (PND) table. The PND table breaks out each contact column into its own row that keeps track of a contact column specific status, attempts, and so on. If a row is marked with an un-callable status in the PND table, that phone number for that record will not be called again, but other contact numbers for that same record can still be called.
If the wrap-up category applies to the record as a whole (all contact columns in the record), then the status code is written to the status column of the contact list table.
Feedback
CallHistory RuleGroup Table
The ININ_DIALER_40.CallHistory_RuleGroup table contains details of the RuleGroupID that appears in the CallHistory and CampaignStat tables. More specifically, it contains the name of the Rule Group associated with the ID. In addition, the CallHistory RuleGroup table contains the RuleSetID. You can find more details about the RuleSetID, such as the name of the Rule Set, in the CallHistory RuleSet table.
Related topics
Feedback
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
CallHistory RuleGroup Schema
The CallHistory RuleGroup table contains details of the RuleGroupID that appears in the CallHistory and
CampaignStats tables.
Column
RuleGroupId
Details Description
PK, smallint The identification number assigned to the Rule Group for tracking purposes.
ActiveRuleGroupName nvarchar(80) The actual name assigned to the Rule Group.
RuleSetId FK, uniqueidentifier
The identification number assigned to the Rule Set for tracking purposes. The name of the Rule Set can be found in the CallHistory Rule Set Table.
Related topics
Feedback
CallHistory RuleSet Table
The ININ_DIALER_40.CallHistory_RuleSet table contains details of the RuleSetID, such as the name of the Rule Set, which appears in the CallHistory RuleGroup table.
Related topics
Feedback
CallHistory RuleSet Schema
The CallHistory RuleSet table contains details of the RuleSetID that appears in the CallHistory RuleGroup table.
Column
RuleSetId
Details Description
PK, uniqueidentifier
The identification number assigned to the Rule Set for tracking purposes.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
RuleSetName nvarchar(80) The actual name assigned to the Rule Set.
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AgentStats Table
The ININ_DIALER_40.AgentStats table keeps track of agent performance. This table is shared by multiple
Campaigns. It is in the CIC database, not the Dialer database.
Specifically, AgentStats stores the amount of time that agents spend in "Idle", "Connected", "Wrap Up" and "Do Not
Disturb" states. "Connected" time is further broken into stages so that the time an agent spends in each stage of the call is recorded. The stage information in this table is updated when an agent transitions from one stage of a call to another.
AgentStats Schema
The Outbound Dialer Server populates this table as it progresses through the contact list during the course of a campaign.
Column campaignname siteid
Details varchar(255), null varchar(80), not null
Description
The name of the Campaign as defined in Dialer Manager. odsoffset agenttimeUTC agentid stageid callid callidkey int, not null datetime, not null varchar(80), not null varchar(10), null varchar(11), null varchar(18), null
The name of the Outbound Dialer server that the agent was logged on to.
The offset of the ODS's time zone from UTC in seconds. This is used to translate the agenttimeUTC field to local time.
The time when the action described by this record happened.
The IC User ID of the agent who processed the call, as it is defined in Interaction Administrator.
Dialer uses this column to categorize non-Dialer call time as inbound or outbound (manually dialed). It populates the stageid column with the identifier 'ND-IN' for inbound non-
Dialer calls or the identifier 'ND-MO' for manually-dialed outbound non-Dialer calls. This information is used by the
Agent Utilization Summary report to summarize non-Dialer call time by inbound and outbound categories.
Numeric ID of this call object. For more information, see the discussion of callid in the Reporting Data Dictionary.
This internal, site-unique key identifies a call in the system. It is an 18 character alphanumeric strings whose format may change from release to release, though the values will always be unique. This field is not referenced in any report, but can be used by customers to cross-reference Dialer calls with the standard call data stored in the IC database. For more information, see the discussion of callidkey in the Reporting
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Dialer Manager Printable Help propertyname
Data Dictionary. varchar(255), not null A name that identifies the type of statistic that the record contains. The supported property values are:
Property Value
AwaitingCallback
BreakStart
Boolean flag indicating whether a callback was scheduled. This value is used for precisely dialed calls and agent owned callback.
Name of the campaign for which a break was taken. The AgentTime field specifies when the break began.
BreakStop
DNDTime
GlobalLogin
GlobalLogout
IdleTime
Inactive
Name of the campaign for which a break was taken. The AgentTime field specifies when the break ended.
Number of seconds that the agent spent in a Do Not Disturb status (on break for example).
The date and time that an agent was logged into all campaigns available to them, based on their workgroup membership.
The date and time that an agent was logged out of all campaigns they were previously logged into.
Number of seconds that the agent was idle between two calls.
Agent is logged into Dialer but not active in any campaigns.
Login
Logout
NonDialerCallTime
NotLoggedIn
PreviewTime
StageTime
Name of the campaign that an agent was activated in. The agenttimeUTC column specifies when this occurred.
Name of the campaign that an agent was deactivated from. The agenttimeUTC field specifies when this occurred.
Number of seconds that the agent spent on a non-Dialer call.
Agent is not currently logged in to
Dialer.
Number of seconds that the agent spent previewing the call.
Number of seconds that the call was in the stage identified by the stageid
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Dialer Manager Printable Help propertyvalue varchar(255), null
WrapUpTime field.
Number of seconds that the agent spent wrapping up a call.
The value of the statistic. All time-based values are expressed in seconds.
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CampaignStats Table
The ININ_DIALER_40.CampaignStats table contains summary statistics for each campaign running in Dialer. Each row will contain a set of statistics averaged over a configurable sample period. The default sample period is 60 seconds, but the user can change the sample period under the campaign configuration using the 'Statistics sample period' control. Columns that do not allow NULL values must have a value when records are added or inserted.
CampaignStats Schema
Column Name Details periodstarttimeUTC datetime, not null periodendtimeUTC datetime, not null odsoffset int, not null campaignname siteid event campaignstate varchar(255), not null varchar(80), not null varchar(20), null varchar(20), not null dialingmode filtersize recyclesize totalagents effectivetotalagents varchar(10), not null int, not null int, not null int, not null float, not null idleagents effectiveidleagents int, not null float, not
Description
Timestamp for the start of the sample period
Timestamp for the end of the sample period
The UTC offset of the ODS in seconds
The name of the campaign
The site name of the ODS for this row
Records significant campaign events that occurred during the sample period. Valid values: ‘recycle', ‘reset', ‘NewActive Group''
The state of the campaign at the end of the sample period. Valid values:
‘on', ‘off', ‘paused', ‘scheduledonly'
The dialing mode of the campaign at the end of the sample period.
Valid values: ‘preview', ‘predictive', ‘power', ‘agentless'
The filter size at the start of the sample period
The recycle size at the start of the sample period
The total number of agents that are active in the campaign
The total number of agents that are active in the campaign minus average non-Dialer agents (agents in this campaign that are currently on non-Dialer calls ().
The number of agents that are in an idle or finishing state in the campaign
The number of idle agents minus average non-Dialer agents
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Dialer Manager Printable Help nondialeragents dndagents totaldialercalls pace cpa adjcpa abandonrate
RuleGroupID priority null int, not null int, not null int, not null int, null float, null
The number of agents that are on non-dialer calls in the campaign
The number of agents in a DND state in the campaign
The total number of active calls in the campaign (pending + outstanding
+ connected)
The current pace value for the campaign
The current calls per agent being used by the campaign (for example:
1/ConnectRate) float, null float, null
The adjusted calls per agent being used by the campaign (for example the CPA adjusted by pace.)
The current abandon rate of the campaign smallint, null The ID assigned to the Rule Group that was set. (When an entry appears in the RuleGroupID column, an entry titled NewAcive Group will appear in Event column.) tinyint, not null
The campaign's priority among all running campaigns
The analytics table is written to via the DialerTranServer process server. It is treated like a log table to implement data retention. The table will be named Dialer.CampaignStats. Rows are written to the table only if the data in the row is different from the previous row. Rows are written to the table only if any of the following values are non-zero: calls placed, dispositions, abandons, detections, contacts, rpcs, or if a significant event occurs.
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Audit Table logs configuration changes
The Audit table (i3_AuditConfigChanges40) tracks changes made to configurations. Auditing authorizes each
Outbound Dialer Server to record which user changed an object, and the properties of the object that changed.
When Auditing is enabled, ODS servers send logging messages to the DialerTranServer process on the Central
Campaign Server. In turn, it writes records in the Audit table on the database server. The system uses one audit table
(per Central Campaign Server) that is stored on the database. Audit entries that are older than a configurable retention period are automatically removed from the Audit table.
Audit Table Schema
The Audit table tracks changes made to configurations. Auditing authorizes Dialer Manager (on each Outbound
Dialer) to record which user changed an object, and the properties of the object that changed.
When Auditing is enabled, Dialer Manager sends logging messages to the DialerTranServer process on the Central
Campaign server. In turn, it writes records in the Audit table on the database server. The system uses one audit table
(per Central Campaign server) that is stored on the database. Audit entries that are older than a configurable retention period are automatically removed from the Audit table.
Column
SQL Server
Data Type audittimeUTC PK, datetime2(2)
Oracle Data
type timestamp
Null
NOT
NULL
Description
The date and time when the change was made.
Technically the time when the audit entry was inserted into this table.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help sequenceId siteId siteOffset icuser ntuser app computer objectType objectId
PK, smallint nvarchar(80) int nvarchar(80) nvarchar(80) nvarchar(80) nvarchar(80) varchar(32) varchar(38) number(5) nvarchar2(80) number(10) nvarchar2(80) nvarchar2(80) nvarchar2(80) nvarchar2(80) varchar2(32) varchar2(38)
NOT
NULL
This sequence number is incremented for records that are inserted within the same second, to ensure that even if a batch of records are inserted at the exact same instant, they can be uniquely identified, even if the audittimeUTC values are the same.
NULL The Dialer site from which the change originated.
This will be null if the change was made by
CampaignServer.
NOT
NULL
The time zone offset of the Dialer site from which the change originated. This is the number of seconds that should be added to the audittimeUTC value to get the local time on the site.
NULL The IC user name of the user that made the change. This will be null if the change was made by CampaignServer.
NULL The Windows NT user name of the person who made listed configuration changes—the logged on user. This will be null if the change was made by CampaignServer.
NOT
NULL
The Interaction Dialer application that was used to make a change (Dialer Manager,
CampaignServer, etc.).
NOT
NULL
The name of the computer used to make the change.
NULL This is the descriptive name of the type of object that was changed. Examples include Campaign,
Policy Set, Contact Column and so on.
NULL The id of the object that was changed. This is the
GUID of the object. objectName nvarchar(255) nvarchar2(255) NULL The name of the object that was changed, if it has one. propertyName varchar(48) varchar2(48) NULL The name of the property that was changed if a specific property was changed. For some changes this will be a generic description. An example would be when a schedule is changed, since schedules don't have properties in the same way as other objects, the propertyName is simply Schedule. previousValue nvarchar(max) nblob NULL The value of the property or object before the change. This will be null if the entry is recording the creation of an object. updatedValue nvarchar(max) nclob NULL The value of the property or object after the change. This will be null if the entry is recording the deletion of an object.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help correlationId context bigint nvarchar(max) number(38) nclob
NOT
NULL
This arbitrary number correlates simultaneous changes, meaning if a client changes multiple properties in a single operation they will each get a separate row in the auditing table but will share the same correlationId.
NULL This field records data about the context of the object that was changed in a brief XML format. It always contains the object that was changed, and if that object logically belongs to another object then it will include the parent object(s), in order.
The purpose of this field is to allow reporting to display the hierarchy of objects so that when, for example, a rule is changed it is easy to see which rule set contains that rule.
The format of the objects in this field is:
<o name="(object name)" id="(object id)" type="(object type)" />
Note that the elements are not nested, they're simply listed in order from parent to child.
An example where the details of a rule action named 'Set Call Timeout' contained in a rule named 'Set timeout values' contained in a rule set named 'Change Campaign Values' would look like this:
<o name="Change Campaign Values" id="{AB3881F7-5762-4E9C-99C5-
1EB4AE262C50}" type="Rule Set" /><o name="Set timeout values" id="{61AB9BD5-
212D-427B-A686-A299A6A85D5B}" type="Rule"
/><o name="Set Call Timeout" id="{0C870E31-
0330-4845-984F-A3FB4527AA17}" type="Rule
Action" />
The data in this table is summarized by the Dialer Audit Report. The report indicates what was changed, when and where the change was performed, and by whom.
A multi-column primary key is defined on the table using audittimeUTC and sequenceId. As noted in the schema, object creations can be identified by rows where the previousValue is null, and object deletions can be identified by rows where the updatedValue is null.
Some object types have their values specially formatted to make changes easier to digest visually. Zones and schedules are the only objects that do this currently.
Feedback
Priority Dialing Detail Table
The Priority Dialing Detail table is auto-created by Dialer to track Priority Dialing records inserted into a call list. The table is named I3_<ContactList>_JIT. Dialer replaces <ContactList> with the actual name of the contact list).
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
See Priority Dialing for background information about this feature, which allows for prompt insertion of records at the front of the queue of records to be dialed, independent of Dialer's usual recycle logic. When Priority Dialing is enabled, Interaction Dialer checks at configurable intervals for newly inserted records in the call list, and queues them for immediate dialing.
The table contains only one column, which stores an I3_Identity. For performance reasons, Dialer watches this secondary table for inserted records, instead of the Call List itself. Just-in-time (Priority Dialing) records are created in this table only for call list records inserted (with a "J" status) while 1 or more Priority Dialing-active campaigns are dialing that call list.
The only action on insert is a trigger that inserts the i3identity into the JIT table. Everything else, such as addition of a record in the PND table, zone mapping and so on, happens as part of the contact query when dialer caches the record.
Priority Dialing Detail Table Schema
I3_<ContactList>_JIT
Column
I3_IDENTITY
Details Description
PK, bigint, not null
I3_IDENTITY is an integer value that uniquely identifies each row in the contact list.
Since Interaction Dialer creates and maintains this table automatically, customers should not modify it. Just in time records must be inserted into the call list instead, with a status of "J" to indicate that the record should be dialed immediately (just-in-time).
Feedback
Contact Column Details Table
Dialer generates a Contact Column Details (CCD) table for each contact list in use. This table represents the relationship between the call list table and the PND table with respect to the CCID.
The CCD table tracks the contact columns chosen for a contact list and the contact column ids assigned to those contact columns. The contact column ids tracked in the contact column details tables correspond to the i3_ccid field in the phone number details (PND) table, making the new table useful when customizing the PND table.
Tables are named using this convention: I3_<ContactList>_CCD.
Contact Column Details Table Schema
The contact column details table that is generated contains two columns, which track the contact columns chosen for a contact list and the contact column ids assigned to those contact columns. The contact column ids tracked in the contact column details tables correspond to the i3_ccid field in the phone number details (PND) table, making the new table useful when customizing the PND table.
Column column_name ccid
I3_<ContactList>_CCD
Details (SQL Server)
Sysname
Bigint
Details (Oracle)
Nvarchar2(30)
Number(20)
The primary key on the table is column_name. Neither column allows nulls.
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Feedback
Penetration Rate Tables
Penetration Rate tables store data that customers can use to generate custom penetration rate reports to show the number of contacts that were contacted (the numerator) contrasted with a number of records in a contact list (the denominator).
Feedback
I3_ContactListName_PEN Schema
This table stores the numerator used to calculate penetration rate. It contains one row for each completed call of the corresponding contact list table.
Column
UPLOADID
I3_IDENTITY
CONTACTSTATUS
Details int, not null
Description
A sequential number created every time a new contact list is uploaded or contacts are added to an existing contact list via the
Import Contact List Wizard. This new Upload ID is then assigned to the new contacts. bigint, null An integer value that uniquely identifies each row in the contact list. nchar(1), null One-character alphabetical flag that indicates the status of this contact.
PHONENUMBERCOL nvarchar(80), null nvarchar(80), null
Name of the contact list column that stored this contact.
PHONENUMBERSTATUS nchar(1), null Stores Phone Number Detail (PND) status, duplicating the
I3_STATUS field in the PND table (which contains call completion codes ‘U', ‘C' and so on.)
CAMPAIGN Campaign that dialed this contact.
CALLID nvarchar(80), null
The callid number of this call attempt. For more information, see the discussion of callid in the Reporting Data Dictionary.
WRAPUPCATEGORY
WRAPUPCODE nvarchar(80), null nvarchar(80), null
Wrap-up Categories generically classify the result of a campaign call for reporting purposes.
Wrap-up Codes are strings that indicate the completion status of a call step. Wrap-up codes are the disposition options that agents
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Dialer Manager Printable Help
CALLINGMODE
CALLPLACEDTIMEUTC
SUCCESSRESULT nvarchar(80), null
datetime, null Time when call was placed. float, null SUCCESSRESULT is a customer-managed column. Customers can use this column to maintain running counters, such as a money counter for example. SUCCESSRESULT in a row will contain whatever was in the SUCCESSRESULT column of the associated contact.
Penetration Rate Report Data and
Penetration Rate Tables ERD .
Feedback
I3PENETRATIONDATA Schema
This table contains the actual penetration data, specifically two rows per contact column (one for all values and one for unique values) plus one row per contact list to account for all contacts.
Column
UPLOADID
RANGEID
PENETRATIONTYPE
PENETRATIONSUBTYPE
PENETRATIONNAME
NUMBERITEMS
Details
PK, FK, int, not null
PK, FK, int, not null
PK, nvarchar(80), not null
PK, nvarchar(80), not null nvarchar(80), null int, null
Description
Foreign key references I3PenetrationRange
Foreign key references I3PenetrationRange
Whether it's for all contacts, a given contact column or a given unique contact column. Possible values include: Contacts, Phone
Number, Unique Phone Number.
Contains 'Total' or a phone number column. Possible values include: Total, Home, Mobile, Fax, etc.
Optional name.
The number of uploaded items.
See Penetration Rate Report Data and
Penetration Rate Tables ERD .
Feedback
I3PENETRATIONRANGE Schema
This table is reserved for future use.
Column
UPLOADID
RANGEID
VALUE
COLUMNNAME
Details
PK, FK, int, not null
PK, int, not null
Nvarchar(80), null
Nvarchar(80), NULL
Description
See Penetration Rate Report Data and
Penetration Rate Tables ERD .
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Feedback
I3PENETRATIONUPLOAD Schema
An integer value in this table is incremented every time a new row is added in this table. That occurs when contacts added to a contact list.
Column
UPLOADID
CONTACTLISTID
CONTACTLISTTABLE
UPLOADDATEUTC
Details pk, int, not null nvarchar(40), null nvarchar(80), null datetime, null
Description
See Penetration Rate Report Data and
Penetration Rate Tables ERD .
Objects in Interaction Dialer Manager
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Objects in Interaction Dialer Manager
Dialer Configuration Objects
Introduction to Interaction Dialer Manager
Configurations stored on the CCS
Dialer Objects
This section introduces Dialer objects—the building blocks of an Interaction Dialer configuration. The most important object in Interaction Dialer is a campaign. A Campaign is an encapsulation of properties that tell Interaction Dialer how to contact a list of people using a prescribed list of rules.
Campaigns tie together a contact list, a script, optional objects and required configuration settings.
Objects are the building blocks of campaigns. Before a campaign is configured, other items are configured first for reusability reasons. Once reusable items are set up, configuring a campaign is a simple matter of selecting building
blocks and setting a few parameters that are unique to the campaign.
From now on, let's call those preconfigured items objects instead of building blocks, because each building block is an instance of something (a schedule, for example). A campaign is itself an object; it contains other objects and settings that apply only to a campaign.
Campaigns refer to objects by reference. You can create many types of Dialer objects, each with its own set of properties. Later, when a campaign is defined, you select objects for the campaign to use—for example; a schedule tells Dialer when to run the campaign.
Object
The Building Blocks of a Campaign
Purpose
Required Tells Dialer which contact list to dial for the campaign.
Optional Tells Dialer when to run the campaign.
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Optional
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Tells Agents what to do. Scripts display information to agents and update the information in your contact list. Scripts are optional, since Dialer can conduct agentless campaigns, which do not use scripts. See Screen Pop and Agent Scripts .
Rules run actions at the campaign level, in response to events. A rule set is a collection of rules. A rule is a set of conditions that, when met, perform some actions. Among other things, these actions might send a notification, or change a campaign property.
A zone set is a collection of time zone objects, which allow campaigns to respect
time zone blocking—a feature that ensures contacts are called during permitted hours. The information in a zone set helps the Central Campaign server decide whether or not to select a record for outbound calling, based upon time of day.
For example, most call centers do not want to disturb customers who are sleeping. Time zone blocking can also prevent auto-scheduled calls and agentowned callbacks from being placed at inappropriate times. See About Time Zone
Blocking and Mapping for more information.
Tells Dialer what the steps of a campaign call are, so it can make better predictions and operate more efficiently. Stages provide details about agent flow through a script. A stage set must be created in Interaction Administrator, but stages are implemented in scripts. Typically, each page of a script will correspond to a
different stage. See Stages and Stage Sets for more information about this feature.
A set of skills can be used to make intelligent decisions when routing calls. Agents have skill proficiencies. The skill set allows skills to be assigned to contacts and dialed according to agent proficiencies, and then routed to an appropriate agent.
Assigning a Skill Set to a campaign implements skills-based dialing , a feature that
matches skill requirements in contact records with available agent's skills before calls are placed, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool.
Policies define conditions and behaviors that provide granular control over the processing of individual contact records. Similar to rules, policies define a set of conditions that, when met, perform some actions. The difference lies in the fact that policies apply to individual contact records whereas rules apply to campaigns as a whole. A policy can change the dialing behavior of an individual contact without having any effect on any other contact. It might also send a notification, disposition a call, or assign values to contact record fields.
Applies a SQL Filter to the selection of contact list records. Once Filters are defined
using the Contact List Filters view, they can be assigned to multiple campaigns.
A DNC Source is a list of phone numbers that should not be dialed.
Assigning a
DNC Source to a campaign allows DNC Scrubbing —a feature that prevents
matching contact numbers in the call list from being dialed.
All campaigns require a database connection to be functional. The connection object tells Dialer which UDL to use. A UDL file contains the information that a database needs to connect with applications and vice versa. Dialer is unaware of
UDL connections until you add them to its list of Database Connections. A database connection is required to configure a contact list. A default database connection is created when Interaction Dialer is installed. In many cases, this connection provides all of the database connectivity that a call center needs to run campaigns.
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extension to Interaction Administrator—the application used to manage both the Customer Interaction Center (CIC) and Interaction Dialer.
Dialer Objects
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Object Relationship Diagram
This diagram illustrates the relationships between Interaction Dialer objects.
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Scope
When configuring Interaction Dialer, pay particular attention to an object's scope—how it is used by other objects. Be aware of what will be affected by a change. For example, simple edits to a campaign configuration affect that campaign only, but changing a schedule affects all campaigns that use it. This concept of scope is very important when working with Rule Sets.
Related Topics
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Objects are the building blocks of Campaigns
Properties of a Campaign Object
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Introduction to Interaction Dialer Manager
This topic introduces the user interface used to manage Interaction Dialer settings, and where settings are centrally stored. It discusses alert messages that appear when there are edit conflicts, and what happens when a connection is interrupted by a network problem.
What is Interaction Dialer Manager?
Interaction Administrator is the primary application used to manage both the Customer Interaction Center and
Interaction Dialer. It empowers administrators to manage virtually every aspect of an IC server, from telephony hardware to the appearance and security of each user's CIC client workstation.
When Interaction Dialer is installed, a plug-in extension adds Dialer configuration views to Interaction Administrator.
This plug-in is called Interaction Dialer Manager (IDM). It adds the screens you will use to configure the properties of campaigns and other Dialer objects.
Views in IDM manage Dialer objects
Views configure an object of some sort that you can refer to in other objects. For example, you can define a database connection and refer to it when configuring a contact list. In IDM, object refers to a group of related settings that have been given a name. A Dialer object is merely a named set of configuration settings.
Some objects define sets of items. For example, a Zone Set defines individual time zones and when those zones can be dialed. The resulting set can be assigned to a campaign to prevent contacts from being called at inappropriate times.
Views manage entries. For example, the Zone Sets view manages all the Zone Set entries that you create. When you select an entry, it is opened for editing.
In Interaction Administrator, Interaction Dialer Manager is the set of containers below a parent Interaction Dialer container (1). Frequently-used views appear below this node. Less frequently-used views appear below the Advanced
Interaction Dialer node (2). Once a view is selected, entries appear in the top pane (3). Property settings for the selected entry are managed in the bottom pane (4).
Collectively, the entries (3) and settings (4) constitute a view (5). A view is the screen that appears when a node is selected.
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Anatomy of a View
The user interface is consistent and simple to understand. To open a view, select a Dialer container in Interaction
Administrator, or select a command in IC System Manager. Generally speaking, views in Dialer Manager have similar component parts:
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Entries Panel
All views have a panel at the top that lists previously saved entries. Buttons on the right side of this panel add, copy, paste, or delete configuration entries.
[Default Entry]
If the name of an entry appears within square brackets, it is a default entry. Any settings configured in this entry are automatically assigned to new entries added later. You cannot delete or rename a default entry. The views that provide default entries are: Database Connections, and Campaigns. The names of default entries are: [Default Connection], and [Campaign Defaults].
If you edit a default entry and change an attribute, subsequent new entries inherit its settings. Updating a
Default entry does not affect existing entries at all. Think of default entries as templates for newly created objects. This feature is very powerful, since administrators can customize default settings to meet any need.
Settings Panel
>The Settings Panel appears on Campaign views only. Other views may implement similar panels in future releases of
Interaction Dialer Manager. Controls on this panel set the running state of the selected entry. For example, the execution state of a campaign can be turned on, off, paused, or set to run in accordance with schedule settings.
Properties Panel
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>Configuration settings appear on this panel. Tabs group options for related features. Controls are sometimes grouped on expanders. Clicking an expander reveals or hides a set of related controls.
Save/Revert buttons
>To save changes made to any entry, click Save. To discard changes, click Revert.
Auto-save check box
>When Auto-save is checked, the user interface does not prompt to save changes, and the entry is saved automatically when you select a different object or leave the container. When Auto-save is cleared a message prompts for confirmation to save when you select another object or leave the container.
>
What does the red border around a configuration option specify?
Red borders identify configuration settings that are required, but not currently set to a value. If any options on a tab are required but not set, a red exclamation point is drawn on the tab to indicate that the user cannot save the object until required information is supplied.
Create or Edit an entry of any type
To create or edit any type of entry, the basic steps are:
1. Start Interaction Administrator. Then logon with IC credentials.
2. Select a Dialer container. This opens a view that manages a specific type of object (schedule, campaign, and so on)
3. In the Entries Panel, click Add to create a new entry, or select an existing entry. The properties of the new or existing entry will appear in the Properties Panel.
4. Configure settings as needed, using tabs to select features and expanders to manage the visibility of options.
5. Click Save.
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Configurations stored on the CCS
To configure Dialer settings using Interaction Administrator, Dialer Administrators logon to an Outbound Dialer
Server. The administrator of any Outbound Dialer Server (ODS) can modify settings for other ODS servers managed by the Central Campaign server (CCS).
Interaction Dialer configurations (campaigns, schedules, rule sets, and so on) for each ODS are stored centrally on the
CCS in an XML file named dialer_config.xml. Information in this file is updated when an administrator runs
Interaction Dialer Manager and saves a configuration change. The dialer_config.xml contains all of the campaign, time zone, policy, and rule configurations for all Outbound Dialer Servers coordinated by the CCS.
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Dialer_config.xml is stored in a directory on the Central Campaign Server. The default path is
C:\i3\ic\Server\Resources.
Do not manually edit dialer_config.xml. The Central Campaign server updates this file when Dialer configuration settings are modified in Interaction Administrator. Outbound Dialers don't directly update the configuration file.
Instead, they use Notifier Services connections to send configuration data to the Central Campaign server. The CCS watches for editing conflicts, and updates dialer_config.xml as needed. This allows configuration data to be updated by any Outbound Dialer server that is under control of the Central Campaign server.
As a best practice, backup dialer_config.xml frequently (daily if possible). This file contains critical configuration data that you might need to restore in an emergency.
Automatic backup of last loaded configuration
CampaignServer saves a backup copy of dialer_config.xml at startup, if it successfully loads configuration data from dialer_config.xml, it saves a backup copy of dialer_config.xml to a file named dialer_backup.xml. This backup contains the last good configuration, from the last time that the CampaignServer process was started. In the event that dialer_config.xml becomes corrupted (due to insufficient disk space, insufficient access rights, a power outage, and so on), an administrator can replace dialer_config.xml with the contents of the backup file.
To create the backup, the system first saves dialer_config.xml to a file named dialer_temp.xml. This ensures that enough disk space is available. Next, it deletes dialer_backup.xml and renames dialer_temp.xml to dialer_backup.xml.
If any of these backup steps fail, the error is accurately traced and sent to the event log before CampaignServer exits.
CampaignServer does not try to replace a bad file with its internally maintained backup.
Conflict Notification Alerts
If two administrators edit the same object concurrently, information is saved for the first person that applies a change, and Interaction Dialer sends a notification message to the second user:
"One or more properties for this campaign were changed by another user. Any current changes will need to be reapplied."
The conflict notification alert indicates that edits need to be recreated, since another user updated the record, overwriting the changes that were in progress.
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Contact List Management
Contact List Management Tools
DNC Scrubbing of Contact Lists
Contact List Management Tools
Interaction Dialer Manager provides many integrated tools that help customers manage contact list tables. The contact list is an essential component of any outbound dialing system because it contains customer information and phone numbers that are dialed in attempts to reach contacts.
• Each campaign in Interaction Dialer can use a different database connection for its contact list and history tables. Interaction Dialer supports both Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle relational database systems.
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• Each campaign can also have its own contact list, or contact lists can be shared among campaigns, potentially using filters to sub-select the records of interest for each campaign.
• Each contact list can have its own unique field structure, including an arbitrary number of phone number fields and other informational fields. When setting up outbound campaigns, sort criteria can be specified either from a predefined list of sort criteria or by entering custom criteria.
• Each phone number column in a contact list can be given a user-defined phone number type (for example cell, home, work, work 2, and so on.) This type is used to present type-specific statistics and can be used in calling policies to define different rules within a campaign for dialing different types of numbers (for example, to turn on answering machine detection for home numbers, but turn it off for work numbers). Time zone and number of attempts made is tracked per phone number for the same contact allowing for numbers in different time zones and balanced call coverage.
example might be: if the "AccountType" field is "Gold", then make sure this contact goes to an agent with a higher skill level. All call list data for a contact is made available on screen pop to an agent script or 3rd-party application for review and optionally update. Any updates are written back to the contact list.
• Records can be added to a running campaign's call list on the fly. That record can be tagged to be dialed right
away—see Priority Dialing feature overview.
• All data gathered during Interaction Dialer campaigns is written to database tables managed by Interaction dialer.
Built-in Contact Management Features
contact list objects that associate a contact list table in Dialer's database with other settings that define a campaign.
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A contact list entry defines the database connection used (1). This is a connection that was previously created using
specifying any details concerning the location of that file, or the hosting DBMS.
A contact list entry also defines which phone number columns that should be dialed (3) and the type of telephone number (4).Phone Number Types are user-defined strings associated with contact columns to identify a type of telephone number. Examples of phone number types might be "Work", "Home", or "Cell". Phone number types describe the purpose of phone numbers columns in a contact list. Phone number types are centrally defined in the
, so that they can be assigned to any contact list object. See Define Phone Number Types
and Associate a phone number column with a phone number type .
Beyond initially configuring Interaction Dialer, it is important to properly maintain contact lists. A contact list tends to be a living data source. It is continually growing and adjusting according to already contacted records and new records to be dialed.
Scrubbing against Do Not Call Lists
As a best practice and as required by telemarketing campaigns, Interaction Dialer customers can scrub their contact
Import, Export, and Query Features
Interaction Dialer Manager provides import, export, and query features that help an administrator manage records in a contact list.
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access file, or other data source. You can also export records from a call list to popular file formats and data sources.
• Functionality on the Data Query tab of a contact list entry can Query a contact list to display a list of results in a data grid, saving query results as a filter or apply actions directly to records displayed in the grid, committing changes back to the database.
It is possible to manually exclude contacts from being dialed, by querying a contact list in Dialer Manager, and setting the Status column of specific contact record to "E". This value indicates that the contact is "excluded from being dialed".
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Contact List Wizards
Interaction Dialer manages all data and tables associated with a campaign except the contact list table that contains the names, telephone numbers, and other data associated with people being called. Many customers find it technically challenging to create contact list tables and to import data into them. For this reason, Interaction Dialer
Manager provides wizards that simplify common contact list management tasks. Customers can create new contact lists, import data, or export data to popular data formats.
Buttons located near the contact list selection drop list invoke wizard operations:
new table is automatically assigned to the campaign. Afterward, customers need only select phone number columns to dial and optionally associate those columns with phone number types (work, cell, etc.)
the campaign. Create Table and Import Contacts both acquire records from a data source and insert them into a table. The difference is whether or not a new table is created. The Create Table wizard begins by prompting the user to name a new table. After that, the wizards pages are identical.
export data to a spreadsheet for analysis.
export data requires access to Dialer's database and the ability to stream large amounts of data.
Interaction Dialer Manager does not perform direct database access. Instead, it passes requests to IceLib, so that routine transactions are handled consistently. Since IceLib is not designed to stream large amounts of data into or out of a contact list, a streaming HTTP server is used instead. The streaming HTTP service runs as part of DialerTranServer on the Central Campaign Server.
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Multiple Phone Number Columns
Interaction Dialer can dial multiple telephone numbers to reach a contact. Furthermore, each phone number can be associated with a user-defined phone number type (work, home, cell, and so on). This enables statistics per phone number type, and enhanced management of phone numbers, such as time zone blocking, attempts counters, and
DNC status on a per phone number basis.
If multiple telephone number columns are added to the contact list, Interaction Dialer can be configured to dial these numbers in a prescribed order, until the contact is reached. In the event that a callback is scheduled, the number that was used to reach the contact will be dialed when the callback matures.
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• Contact list tables can contain as many telephone number fields as are needed. There is no limit to the number of phone numbers that can be stored for each contact.
• When more than one telephone number is configured, it may take longer to cycle through the contact list, since
Interaction Dialer may place more than one phone call to reach each contact.
• If a contact number is empty, the next prescribed telephone number is dialed. Not everyone has a cell phone or work number, for example.
• It is the customer's responsibility to add supplemental telephone number fields to the contact list table. Fields can use any valid attribute name.
• The order in which numbers are called is configurable.
• Scheduled callbacks use the number that initially reached the contact, unless the agent edited the callback number. If so, that changed number is written to the database and will be dialed when the callback matures, instead of the number that initially reached the contact.
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Custom Contact List Columns
• The number of columns in a contact list is limited only by database constraints
• Custom columns present data to agents and can be used by policies for automated decision-making
Adding Custom Columns
Any number of additional columns can be added to a contact list table. The only restriction is that the data type for new fields must be one of the following: char bigint nchar money datetime nvarchar int varchar
Other data types, such as float or binary are not supported. Custom fields can be passed to Interaction Scripter when the call record is popped on the agent's machine. Additional telephone number fields can be added to support multiple phone numbers per contact. Phone number columns should be a string type such as varchar.
Do not use spaces when naming custom contact list columns. Interaction Dialer does not support contact fields that have spaces in the field name.
Reserved column names
When constructing a contact list, customers should keep in mind not to use columns already reserved for use by
CallRecordSchedule tables. The Dialer Transaction Server performs a join operation on the schedule table and the contact table. Using the reserved column names listed below will result in syntax errors and will prevent dialer from dialing scheduled contacts. Avoid columns with the following names: agented schedtime campaignname siteid i3_identity status schedphone campaignid
Adapting existing tables as Contact Lists
Customers can use any existing contact list table with Interaction Dialer. When a table is selected for a Campaign configuration, Dialer adds required columns to the table if they do not exist. Dialer automatically adds the i3_identity column, which does not need to be a primary key.
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Required Columns added by Dialer attempts zone i3_attemptsabandoned i3_attemptsbusy status i3_attemptsfax i3_attemptsnoanswer i3_attemptsmachine i3_attemptssystemhangup i3_attemptsrescheduled i3_attemptsremotehangup i3_attemptscallable i3_siteid i3_attemptsdaily i3_identify i3_lastcalled_utc
Preserving Performance
As a best practice, customers are advised not to run queries or other database operations against the call list table when it is in use by Dialer. This can cause performance problems.
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DNC Scrubbing of Contact Numbers
• Flags numbers not to be dialed by matching contact list phone numbers against a Do-Not-Call list.
• The source of DNC data can be a third-party service (DNC.com) or a database table. Each campaign may have a different DNC scrubbing source.
• Collections customers can use a custom table for account "kills" or DNC.com for cell phone scrubbing.
• Initial bulk scrub of contact list is recommended but is optional.
• During campaign execution, batches of numbers are scrubbed just prior to placing the calls.
Feature Overview
As a best practice and as required by telemarketing campaigns, Interaction Dialer customers can scrub their contact lists against state and local Do-Not-Call (DNC) lists prior to dialing those lists. Scrubbing is often done against inhouse lists acquired from the government entities or using DNC.com, a third-party list cleansing service provided by the Contact Center Compliance Corporation.
Scrubbing prevents contact numbers from being dialed by a campaign. Dialer integrates directly with DNC.com and supports custom DNC data sources, which must be tables in Dialer's database.
and perform an initial bulk scrub of records in the campaign's contact list (see procedures below).
Scrubbing is a two-step process:
1. An initial, bulk scrub of the entire contact list is performed first. This typically removes 30-40% of the entries.
2. When the contact list is dialed by a campaign, Dialer performs just-in-time scrubbing to exclude contacts whose
DNC status changed between the time the contact list was bulk scrubbed and the time the contact is being dialed. Just-in-time scrubbing is performed when records are pulled into cache.
It is not uncommon for a list to be dialed for days or weeks, so changes in DNC status should be expected to occur. Just-in-time scrubbing is intended to remove relatively few numbers while initial bulk DNC scrubbing can remove as many as 40% of the entries in a contact list.
Just-in-time scrubbing is performed for scheduled calls too. Calls to custom numbers that are blocked by a custom DNC source are not logged.
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How scrubbed records are marked in the Contact List
Phone numbers blocked by DNC scrubbing are marked with a status of "P" in the campaign's Phone Number Detail table. "P" stands for "purge", to indicate that the number should not be called.
Phone Number Detail (PND) tables track the do-not-call status of multiple telephone numbers associated with a contact. Interaction Dialer creates and maintains a PND table automatically for each contact list in use which contains a row for each contact column, for each contact. PND tables are automatically created and managed by Interaction
Dialer. Each PND table tracks time zone, contact attempts, and rescheduling attempts for each phone number associated with a contact record.
DNC scrubbing does not modify the status field in a contact list, which indicates the overall status of a contact. It does modify the callable status of individual numbers, which are maintained in a Phone Number Detail table.
Related Procedures
Configure a DNC Source for DNC.com
Configure a Campaign to use a DNC Source
Bulk scrub a Campaign's Contact List
Related Views
Feedback
Priority Dialing
• Allows contact list records added on the fly to be dialed immediately without requiring a recycle
• Contacts are dialed as soon as agent(s) become available
• A Policy can carry out behaviors if the call type is a Priority Call
Feature Overview
Priority Dialing, also called Just-in-Time (JIT) dialing, is a feature that allows for prompt insertion of records at the front of the queue of records to be dialed, independent of Dialer's usual recycle logic. When Priority Dialing is enabled, Interaction Dialer checks at configurable intervals for newly inserted records in the call list. The query frequency is configurable from 5 seconds up to 5 minutes (300 seconds).
Priority Dialing should be used carefully. Depending upon the number of available agents, adding too many "J" records could overwhelm agents.
Settings for Priority Dialing are managed for Campaigns in the Priority Dialing frame:
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Priority Dialing records are records inserted in the call list with a "J" status. Found records are pulled into cache and immediately dialed, subject to normal agent availability and system overhead.
Technical Considerations
• Priority Dialing records are tracked using a table auto-created by Dialer named I3_<ContactList>_JIT. For performance reasons, Dialer watches this secondary table for inserted records, not the Call List itself.
Priority Dialing records are created only for call list records inserted with a "J" status while 1 or more Priority Dialingactive campaigns are dialing that call list. The only action on insert is a trigger that inserts the i3identity into the JIT table. Everything else, such as addition of a record in the PND table, zone mapping and so on, happens as part of the contact query when dialer caches the record.
• Only records with both a "J" status in the call list and a corresponding record in the I3_<ContactList>_JIT table are pulled for dialing.
• Priority Dialing activity is triggered on call list insertions only; this means it is not possible to make an existing record get priority dialed just by changing its status to "J". You would have to remove/reinsert it.
Because Priority Dialing is implemented using a trigger on the call list, some methods of inserting records may not be compatible by default. For example, the SQL Server BULK INSERT statement does not run triggers by default, so records inserted using a BULK INSERT statement would not be processed as Priority records.
• When a recycle occurs, orphaned _JIT records are cleared, and orphaned "J" statuses are changed to "C" (callable record). These recycle actions occur before other recycle functionality, so orphaned "J" records that get cleaned up may be immediately chosen by the recycle that converted them, subject to filter/sort criteria.
An "orphaned" record is one of the following:
• An i3identity in the JIT table with no corresponding call list record, or whose call list record has a status other than "J".
• A call list record with "J" status that has no row in the JIT table.
For example, an orphan can be created if someone inserts a Priority Dialing record and immediately changes its status. Orphans in both tables are cleared at recycle time.
Policies can carry out behaviors for Priority Calls
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A "Priority Call" call category in the Policy Set Item Condition configuration allows a policy to examine call category information for the current contact record, so that a policy can run behaviors if the call type is a Priority Call.
• Agent-owned callbacks will be dialed before Priority Dialing records, followed by campaign-wide scheduled calls, and then by regular Dialer calls.
• In some circumstances, precise dials are processed before priority calls.
• Policies can be used to precise dial priority calls to avoid abandoning them.
• Priority Dialing contacts are not queried as aggressively as regular and scheduled contacts. Dialer will cache only as many priority contacts as it estimates can be dialed before the next query. Therefore, if dialing pace picks up and it dials more than it planned, some regular or scheduled contacts may slip in before any further priority contacts. The feature is designed to leave priority records in the database rather than in Dialer's cache, if they're not being immediately dialed, so that records remain available in case there is a faster-dialing ODS that can choose them.
When regular records (or scheduled calls) are queried, Dialer is biased toward over-querying, so that if the pace goes up before the next query, Dialer won't run out of records to dial. In the case of J records however, the bias is set in the other direction; which means it will only query exactly as many J records as it thinks it can dial, rather than erring on the side of extra as the regular/scheduled queries do.
The math that calculates how many calls Dialer determines it can place before the next query does not change based on the call type. Therefore pacing will generally affect "J" records exactly the same way that pacing affects other records. However "J" records will be queried less aggressively than other types. This is to leave as many "J" records in the database as possible, so that other Dialer servers can choose them.
• Note that the "priority call" status that you are able to use in Policies is only retained as long as Interaction Dialer holds the record in memory from the first load. The best explanation of this is by example:
Consider two priority calls (A and B): both are inserted as priority records. Both records are retrieved by the same priority contact query for the same campaign, which has a disposition policy in place that checks for "priority call" category. Call A connects, is answered, processed, and dispositioned as "Success". Since this all occurred while the call was still in Dialer's cache, the disposition policy runs, because the call still has "priority call" status. Call B, however, gets no answer when it is dialed, so Dialer reschedules it according to the customary reschedule delay and autoschedule settings. Dialer then unloads the call from cache, changing it to an auto-rescheduled status.
At this point, since dialer has deleted the call from memory, and the call list now only contains the auto-rescheduled status, the "priority call" categorization is lost. Later, when Dialer re-caches call B to try again, the result this time is a
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Success disposition. The "priority call" category disposition Policy will not run, because Dialer has no memory that this was a priority record. On the second load, it just looks like a regular callable (‘C') record.
In short, Dialer will never set a contact to "J" status, ever. When Dialer writes a contact back to the database and drops it from memory, the contact's "priority call" status is forever lost, and the contact effectively becomes a regular contact from that point.
Particulars of "J" status contacts:
• Policies can analyze records by call category. "J" contacts are initially assigned to the "Priority Call" category.
• The "Priority Call" category is removed when the record leaves Dialer's cache. It may return to "Normal" category at any time after the initial dialing attempt. This depends on Dialer's caching behavior, agent availability, and other factors.
• To keep track of the Priority Dialing status beyond the initial dialing attempt, you must set an attribute.
• The configured filter for the campaign is also applied to "J" records.
• "J" records have a separate sort used only for them.
• Aside from the differences mentioned above, "J" records are treated exactly like "C" (callable) records in terms of dialing behavior, and are subject to all the same campaign settings and processing that regular calls are (skills, rescheduling, and so on.)
• All numbers of a "J" record will be dialed. This is a key feature distinction between Priority Dialing and scheduled call insertions. A scheduled call inserts a just in time call. Priority Dialing inserts a JIT contact, which may have multiple telephone numbers.
Feedback
Campaign Management
Properties of a Campaign Object
Campaign Management Features and Controls
Interaction Dialer adds campaign management features to CIC. In practical terms, this means that call center supervisors can define any number of campaigns, and control their execution manually, or run campaigns in accordance with schedules.
Campaigns can be automated, using Rules that run in response to changing campaign conditions, or Policies that provide low-level control over the processing of individual contact records. Policies evaluate conditions and invoke special behaviors. Policies can be applied before a call is made, immediately after call analysis results are obtained, or when a call is finished. Rules apply to the campaign as a whole.
Stages are another campaign management feature. Supervisors can enhance the efficiency of predictive dialing by defining the stages of a campaign call. Stages identify each segment of a call that statistics can be collected upon. There are two types of stages: predictive and non-predictive. A predictive stage describes an activity that
Interaction Dialer's patented staging algorithm measures as part of its predictive algorithm. Non-predictive stages are ignored by the predictive dialer, but are useful for reporting purposes.
Supervisors can monitor campaign and agent statistics in real-time using graphical or statistical views. Supervisors can also set Alerts that notify when conditions exceed user-defined thresholds (campaign goal met, queue backing up, and so on.)
Interaction Dialer's campaign management controls include:
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• Call lists, which provide the source of contacts, can be imported and scrubbed using internal or third-party DNC
• Time zones, which control when calls are placed (see Time Zone Blocking
• Call Scheduling controls manage callbacks and reschedule calls based on call analysis results.
• Staging, a patented method for optimizing predictions. See Stages and Stage Sets
• Dialing controls including dialing mode, call analysis controls, line usage, recycles through the list, caller name/ID
Regulatory Compliance , and automation topics, including Policies and Rules.
• Call routing including Skills-Based Dialing And Routing, ACD Weighting , and
Precise
• Inbound/outbound blending settings.
• Policy and Rule definition, which provides call, and campaign-level automation.
• Script selection and definition.
Related Topics
See Supervisory Tools to learn about views and Dialer statistics in IC Business Manager.
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Campaign Creation
• A Campaign is an encapsulation of properties that tell Interaction Dialer how to contact a list of people using a prescribed list of rules.
• Campaigns are the central feature configured in Interaction Dialer.
• Properties of a campaign are configured using Interaction Dialer Manager (IDM), an extension to Interaction
Administrator—the application used to manage both the Customer Interaction Center (CIC) and Interaction Dialer.
• Customers can create any number of campaigns with separate settings per campaign.
A Campaign ties together a contact list, a script, and various other configuration objects to accomplish a particular objective for a client, initiative or promotion. Each campaign dials a specific contact list, which may be filtered to select a target audience. Dialer agents interact with a campaign-specific script. The configuration of a campaign defines the calling mode, script to use, and other particulars. Campaigns can use schedules, rules, and policy sets to automate processing. In general, campaigns define how a particular contact list is to be processed.
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Interaction Dialer Manager is the user interface for defining and managing campaigns. Access to configuration options is governed by licenses. System administrators have full control over access rights so that different levels of authority can be given to different users to create, modify, and view just what is needed.
Related Topics
Objects are the building blocks of Campaigns
Properties of a Campaign Object
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Objects are the building blocks of Campaigns
Before a campaign is configured, other items are configured first for reusability reasons. Once these basics are set up, configuring a campaign is a matter of selecting building blocks in Interaction Dialer Manager, and assigning them to campaigns. Let's call those objects from now on, because each building block is an instance of something (a schedule, for example). A campaign is itself an object; it contains other objects and settings that apply only to a campaign. The diagram below shows objects that a campaign can reference.
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Campaigns refer to objects by reference
objects for the campaign to use. For example, a schedule tells Dialer when to run the campaign. The building blocks of a campaign are:
Object
Description and related feature overview
Required Tells Dialer which contact list to dial for the campaign.
Optional
Tells Dialer when to run the campaign.
Optional Tells Agents what to do. Scripts display information to agents and update the information in your contact list. Scripts are optional, since Dialer can conduct agentless campaigns, which do not use scripts. See Screen Pop and Agent Scripts .
Optional Rules carry out actions at the campaign level, in response to events.
Optional Assigning a Zone Set to a campaign implements time zone blocking, a feature that prevents calls from being placed to particular time zones, during particular times of day.
Information in a zone set helps the Central Campaign server decide whether or not to
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Related Procedures
select a record for outbound calling, based upon time of day.
For example, most call centers do not want to disturb customers who are sleeping. Time zone blocking can also prevent auto-scheduled calls and agent-owned
callbacks from being placed at inappropriate times. See Time Zone Blocking for more
information.
Optional Tells Dialer what the steps of a campaign call are, so it can make better predictions and
operate more efficiently. See Stages and Stage Sets for background information, and
Stage Sets View for user interface details.
Optional Assigning a Skill Set to a campaign implements skills-based dialing, a feature that matches skill requirements in contact records with available agent's skills before calls are placed, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool.
Optional Policies define conditions and behaviors that provide granular control over the processing of individual contact records.
Optional
Applies a SQL Filter to the selection of contact list records.
Optional
Assigning a DNC Source implements DNC Scrubbing for the campaign—a feature that
prevents contact numbers from being dialed by a campaign by scrubbing the contact list against a do-not-call database prior to dialing.
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Properties of a Campaign Object
The Campaigns container manages settings for each campaign. A campaign object is a collection of properties that tell Interaction Dialer how to process a contact list. The campaign defines how agents interact with the contacts in the list (if at all) and specifies how the campaign server should connect to the various data tables used during campaign processing. The properties of campaigns include:
• Contact list to dial, and how it should be sorted and filtered to select a subset of records.
• Whether to prevent do-not-call contact numbers from being dialed.
• Mode used to conduct outbound dialing (Predictive, Power, Preview, or Agentless)
• Workgroup of participating agents
• Script to guide agents through the stages of a campaign call
• How the campaign should automatically schedule callbacks when it is unable to reach a targeted party for some reason.
• Whether to adhere strictly to CIC's Dial Plan, or use one specific line group for campaign calls.
• Whether to use Time Zone Blocking, a feature that prevents calls from being placed to specific time zones, at inappropriate times of day.
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• What this campaign considers an abandoned call to be.
• Outbound Caller Name and ID.
• Pacing adjustment to apply in response to real-time abandonment statistics for the campaign.
• Whether the campaign should examine skills in contact list records, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool.
• Actions to take after call analysis has figured out what is at the other end of a placed call.
• Whether to control the processing of individual contact records using Policies.
• Whether to control the processing of the campaign using Rules to evaluate statistics, events, and time
Campaigns have many additional properties. For details, see Campaign Properties Panel
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The Campaign is an object too
Each Campaign object references other objects and has unique properties of its own. To configure a campaign, you must select at minimum, a contact list to dial, a workgroup, and a script, if the campaign requires agents. You must also specify whether to adhere strictly to CIC's Dial Plan or use one specific line group for campaign calls.
Most Dialer features are configured within the context of a Campaign. To fine-tune a campaign, assign optional objects to it, such as a schedule, filters, rule set, zone set, stage set, policy set, and timezone map. These objects can be assigned concurrently to other campaigns.
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For example, you can configure a campaign to place outbound calls only when agents with selected skills are available, just by selecting a Skill Set for the Campaign to use.
If your call list doesn't include time zone definitions, you can assign a Zone Set and a Timezone Map data set. Interaction Dialer will automatically map time zones for you based on each contact record's area code.
Properties unique to Campaigns
Campaigns have some properties that are not based on other objects. Each campaign has a name, a workgroup that
discusses campaign properties in detail.
• For example, you can set what contacts see as Caller ID Name and Number, by filling in two fields on the
Campaign view.
• Or, you can configure how Dialer should handle each possible dialing outcome, based on call analysis. Call
Analysis is a platform feature that detects Busy, No Answer, Answering Machine, Fax Machine, Disconnects, Live Voice,
Special Information Tones (SIT) and more. It reports the result of each contact attempt to Interaction Dialer.
• To use this information, a Campaign can be configured to handle any dialing situation. You don't have to configure call analysis itself; just what actions the campaign should take based on call analysis results. For example,
Dialer might send a Fax if the call is answered by a Fax machine. Other options include whether or not to automatically reschedule a call, when to reschedule a call, and how many times to reschedule that specific phone number before removing it from the list to dial.
• Campaigns can even be configured to conduct agentless campaigns. Agents are not required for outbound customer satisfaction surveys, service reminder calls, appointment reminders, order process completions, and emergency notification messages.
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Contact List Filters
• Filters control which contact list records are dialed for campaigns
• Filters can be changed dynamically using Rules
• Filters can be applied to the selection of callback records, but callbacks are not filtered by default
Feature Overview
Interaction Dialer supports the use of Filters to select a subset of records to process from a contact list. Each filter sets up the WHERE clause of the SQL statement used to select contact list records for the next cycle of calling. The syntax of SQL filters conforms to standard SQL WHERE-clause syntax. SQL stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is a standard language that creates, manages, and retrieves information in databases.
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In most call centers, the person who understands SQL is not the person who manages campaigns. For this reason, the
subset of records from the contact list.
Instead of prompting for SQL language, users select columns from the contact list and enter criteria to match against each column. For example, a STATE column could select only records for Indiana, as shown in the figure above.
The use of predefined filters helps a Call Center capture the expertise of its in-house SQL experts, by saving filters as named entries that can be assigned to campaigns as needed.
• Filters can be generic or specific to a particular campaign. The same filter can be assigned to more than one campaign, so long as the filter is compatible with each campaign's database.
• Multiple filters can be assigned to the same campaign.
• Customers can filter against any column in the contact list database, including custom fields.
• A filter has no effect unless it is selected for use by a campaign. Afterward, only those records that match the filter are selected for processing by that campaign.
When an SQL filter is active, only those records that match the filter criteria are selected for processing by a campaign. Customers can filter against any column in the contact list database, including custom fields such as
Customer Number, or Last Ship Date. For example, to pull only those telephone numbers that start with 317, the filter might be: PhoneNumber LIKE '317%'.
Campaign-level Filters
filters for the campaign to use.
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SQL Filters are optional. A filter is not used by any campaign until it is added to the Selected Filters list in the Filters section of the campaign configuration
, which is on the Contact List tab of a Campaign configuration.
Optionally filter the selection of Scheduled Callback Records
Customers can optionally apply Filters to the selection of scheduled Callback records, whether scheduled by agents or auto-scheduled by Dialer when it is unable to reach a contact. By default, filters are not applied to callback records.
Filtering can be applied to either type of callback by setting Filter Callbacks options on the Campaign configuration.
Apply Filters using Rules
The Set Campaign Property Rule Action can change the filter used by the campaign, in response to a condition of
some sort—such as a statistic, event, or time. See the Rule Sets view for more information.
Related Topics
Sort Criteria
• Control order in which contact list records are dialed (at the campaign level)
• Sort order can be changed dynamically using rules (by testing a condition while the campaign is running)
Defining the Sort Order for a Campaign
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Sort Criteria can be specified when the campaign is defined, to reorder the contact list based on any combination of columns you select. This constructs an ORDER-BY clause that takes effect when the campaign is recycled (or stopped and restarted). See Sort Criteria .
Using Rules to Sort after evaluating a statistic, event, or time
Rules invoke Actions to perform work of some kind. You can use Rules to apply Sort actions to campaigns, when conditions that control execution of the rule are met. This makes it possible to sort the campaign dynamically in response to an environmental condition. In the example below, a rule changes the sort order when the campaign is recycled for the first time.
The Sort action is a Campaign Property Action. Other types of actions run handlers, send email, change campaign
properties, and so on. See Rule Sets view for more information.
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Zone Sets
• Zone Sets help a Campaign comply with legal and conventional rules
• Reduce agent idle time
Campaigns can reference Zone Sets
Campaigns can use Zone Sets to stay within legal and conventional rules by quickly assigning the parameters the campaign needs to track acceptable dial times in various time zones. This ensures that contacts are only called during periods of time that are appropriate for their time zone.
Specifically, if the zone column in your contact list stores each contact's time zone, you can use Interaction Dialer's
feature to prevent calls from being placed at inappropriate times. A related feature called Time
Zone Mapping can be used if your contact list does not contain zone entries.
The Zone Sets view manages Zone Sets:
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If you do not assign a Zone Set to a campaign, no time zone blocking occurs when that campaign is active.
When a campaign is assigned a Zone Set, its zone entries define when each time zone can be called. Each Zone Set is a collection of time zone entries that specify when it is appropriate for an Outbound Dialer to call a particular time zone—relative to the local time of the Central Campaign server. Zone Sets are optional, but in practice they are frequently used.
Related Topics
Contact Times: Schedules and Zone Blocking
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Skill Sets
Interaction Dialer campaigns can be configured to perform skills-based routing . By ensuring that correctly skilled agents are available prior to initiating any outbound calls, the Interaction Dialer solution is perfect for state-based licensing campaigns, language requirements, contact optimization, selling and collections specialties, and many other applications.
more information.
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DNC Sources
management feature that compares telephone numbers in a contact list with a list of do-not-call (DNC) numbers. This process flags numbers in the call list so that they are never dialed. Do-not-call lists are acquired from the government entities or using DNC.com, a third-party list cleansing service provided by the Contact Center Compliance
Corporation.
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Scrubbing is a two-step process:
1. An initial, bulk scrub of the entire contact list is performed first. This typically removes 30-40% of the entries.
2. When the contact list is dialed by a campaign, Dialer performs just-in-time scrubbing to exclude contacts whose
DNC status changed between the time the contact list was bulk scrubbed and the time the contact is being dialed. Just-in-time scrubbing is performed when records are pulled into cache.
It is not uncommon for a list to be dialed for days or weeks, so changes in DNC status should be expected to occur. Just-in-time scrubbing is intended to remove relatively few numbers while initial bulk DNC scrubbing can remove as many as 40% of the entries in a contact list.
Just-in-time scrubbing is performed for scheduled calls too. Calls to custom numbers that are blocked by a custom
DNC source are not logged.
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Policy Sets
Policies give a campaign fine control over the processing of individual contact records, and allow for implementation of legislative requirements that involve per-contact behavior. Policies also fire notification events based on individual contact results.
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Policies provide low-level control over the processing of individual contact records, whereas Rules provide control over
campaigns.
Policies evaluate Conditions that in turn, apply Behaviors to the processing of individual campaign records. Each behavior modifies the processing of an individual contact record. For example, a behavior might prevent a contact from being dialed, or require that the call is routed to an Agent who has a specific skill set.
A collection of Policies is called a Policy Set. Policy Sets are optional but quite powerful. They allow business logic to decide whether to place a call, dedicate an agent to be available via skills-based dialing, set call attributes for recording and post-call processing, send notifications to supervisors, and a host of other options.
A Policy is made up of Conditions and Behaviors. Conditions determine when the Policy applies. Behaviors embody what event occurs when the Conditions are evaluated to "True" (either all of them or any of them depending on a
Boolean configuration option). The conditions and behaviors in a Policy Set are evaluated in top-down order.
A policy can be defined as a Pre Call, Call Analysis, or Disposition evaluation type:
• Pre Call evaluation policy objects are evaluated before the call is made.
• Call Analysis objects are evaluated immediately after the Call Analysis result is determined, but before the call is sent to an agent or is dispositioned.
• Disposition objects are evaluated after the call is finished and is ready to be dispositioned.
Related Topics
Automation Rules and Contact Policies
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Rule Sets
Rules allow you to optionally automate your campaigns. Rules evaluate a statistic, time, or event to determine whether to carry out an Action that affects the processing of campaigns. A collection of Rules is called a Rule Set.
When a Rule condition is met, it invokes Actions to perform work of some sort. An Action can update a campaign property, send an Email, run a handler, write an Event Log entry, page someone, or pass control to a different Rule
Group. For example, a statistic-based rule might send an Email when a campaign goal is achieved (for example Total
Calls > 1000).
In the example above, a rule automatically stops a running campaign at 4:00 p.m., but only weekdays.
Related Topics
Automation Rules and Contact Policies
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Campaign Execution Controls
Campaigns have execution states that are selectable in Interaction Dialer Manager and from within Supervisor views in IC Business Manager.
Command Campaign Execution State
Turn Campaign
On
No calls are placed for a campaign until that campaign is turned on. Outbound calling begins once agents change to available status. When a campaign is turned on, the contact list will be processed from the top.
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Turn Campaign
On for scheduled calls only
A campaign can be on for scheduled calls only. In this execution state, Dialer places only calls that were rescheduled by agents. Priority dials are still made, but no regular calls are placed. This mode ignores the campaign schedule, if one is assigned. Auto-scheduled calls are not placed in this mode.
Pause/Un-Pause
Turn Campaign
Off
Recycle
Campaign
Reset Campaign
A running campaign can be paused. This suspends outbound dialing for the campaign. The campaign will continue to run until agents complete active calls. No new calls will be placed. The record cache is preserved so that the system can resume processing the contact list.
A campaign can be un-paused by clicking the Pause button a second time. This will resume outbound dialing from the point the campaign was paused. Agents will not need to logon again when the campaign resumes.
A campaign can be off. This stops outbound dialing once the cache is empty. This execution mode ignores the campaign schedule. If you stop a campaign instead of pausing it, agents must log on when the campaign is turned back on. Outbound calling will resume once agents change to available status.
A campaign can be recycled. Recycle refers to the process of restarting the call selection process at the beginning of the contact list. This happens automatically after all records are processed, or manually in response to a campaign reset command. A recycle period is the time that Interaction Dialer needs to process all records in a contact list.
A campaign can be reset. The contact list will be processed from the top to reach parties that were not contacted in a previous pass. If major settings have been changed (DSN,
Sorting or Filters, and so on), the campaign is reset and restarted with the new configuration. This command also sets the count of recycles back to zero.
Managing the execution state of campaigns in Dialer Manager
Call center supervisors can manage the state of campaigns using simple visual controls in Interaction Dialer
Manager's Campaigns view. See Campaign Execution Panel for details.
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Managing the execution state of campaigns from IC Business Manager
When a call center supervisor is monitoring Dialer views in IC Business Manager, the supervisor can control campaign execution in three ways:
• By using campaign execution controls on the Dialer Campaign Details view :
• By using shortcut menu commands in IC Business Manager's Dialer Overview view:
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• By selecting Dialer Campaign Actions from the Actions menu:
Selecting Dialer Campaign Actions opens the Dialer Campaign Actions dialog. It offers the same execution controls that appear on the Campaigns page in Interaction Dialer Manager.
Note: the Actions menu only appears if the view is added to the default workspace in IC Business Manager.
Related Procedures
Screen Pop, Scripting and Staging
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Screen Pop, Scripting and Staging
Screen Pop and Agent Scripts
Screen Pop and Agent Scripts
Predictive, power, and preview campaigns are only as good as the agent's ability to accomplish goals. Accordingly, the script is an integral part of the campaign configuration. Each campaign has a script that defines the agent experience. Screen pop occurs when a call is routed to an agent, telling the agent who they are talking to, and displaying data about the contact.
Interaction Dialer supports scripting options that make it easy for developers and non-developers to create scripts that guide agents through the stages of a campaign call. To optimize Dialer's patented method of optimizing dialing predictions, campaigns can implement Stage Sets. Staging breaks a call down into measurable segments based on agent transition through a script.
Screen Pop
CIC and Interaction Dialer agents typically have telephone headsets and calls are auto-connected. When an outbound call is delivered to an Interaction Dialer agent, several things happen concurrently:
1. The agent hears a configurable whisper tone played to announce the call, if system handlers on the IC system have been customized to play whisper tone. Whisper tone is an optional audio message played to the agent immediately before the agent is connected to a live person. Whisper tone cannot be configured in Interaction Dialer Manager.
2. Screen pop occurs. The script associated with the campaign populates the agent's display with information pertaining to the call, the customer, and the campaign, based on behavior defined in the script. The script guides agents through the stages of each call, and allows agents to record the call outcome. This is called dispositioning the call. Screen pop can also drive a custom third-party application that has been integrated with Dialer using IceLib APIs.
Information collected or modified by the agent is routed back to campaign database tables.
3. An optional, pre-recorded, agent-specific greeting can be played to the contact. This recording provides a consistent welcome to the called party, and gives the agent more time to review on-screen information about the contact.
Campaign Scripts
The script displays contact information, provides call controls, and allows agents to log call results.
• To streamline agent interactions with contacts, Interaction Dialer provides screen pop options ranging from display of call list data to integration with in-house or third-party applications.
• Screen pop occurs when a call is routed to an agent, telling the agent who they are talking to, and displaying data about the contact.
• Simple but effective base scripts can be configured directly in Interaction Dialer Manager using the Scripts view.
• Programmers can create custom scripts using the Interaction Scripter API, or Interaction EasyScripter, a packaged script authoring and execution environment.
• Programmers can integrate third-party .NET applications for Interaction Dialer using the Interaction Center
Extension Library (IceLib) API and IceLib.Dialer APIs.
Scripts run in special Client applications
Scripts never run in a web browser, even though scripts are based on web technologies, and in the case of
EasyScripter, are developed using a web application. The client applications supported by Interaction Dialer are:
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• Interaction Scripter .NET Client displays base scripts configured in Interaction Dialer Manager or custom
scripts developed using the Interaction Scripter API.
• Interaction EasyScripter Client displays scripts created using Interaction EasyScripter. Agents cannot run an
EasyScripter script by pointing a browser at a script file on a web server. Having said that, developers can run the
CallScripter application (hosted on a web server) in a web browser and run the scripts there. But within CallScripter,
IC- and Dialer-related functionality is unavailable. For full functionality, EasyScripter scripts must run in the Interaction
EasyScripter Client.
• Custom client applications can be developed using the Dialer IceLib API from Interactive Intelligence.
Call Dispositioning
Every outbound call that Interaction Dialer places is dispositioned by an agent or by Interaction Dialer itself. This provides an indication of what happened to each call placed.
• Unsuccessful contact attempts (busy, no answer, SIT, and so on) are automatically dispositioned by the system.
• Dialer agents disposition calls by pressing buttons defined in the script (for example success, subscribed to magazine, failure, not interested, and so on).
• Dispositions are grouped for overview and detailed reporting purposes. New dispositions can be added for a specific campaign as needed.
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Campaign Scripts
Interaction Dialer supports scripting options that make it easy for developers and non-developers to create scripts that guide agents through the stages of a campaign call. Customers have multiple ways to develop scripts for
Dialer campaigns, plus an option to develop custom integrations using the latest .NET technology.
Base Scripts
No programming required. Configured in
Screen pop contact details to agent.
Configurable call controls: hold, mute, record, transfer, disconnect, request break, Place call (preview only), skip call (preview only)
Easy to configure – fixed page layout
Configurable text at top of each page with
Shows contact's local time.
Multiple pages with
Custom Scripts
Custom script written using Interaction
Scripter API.
Fully configurable interface based on
HTML and JavaScript.
Supports screen pop, custom call controls and disposition options.
Customize screens to have any desired appearance and layout.
Requires customersupplied web development tool and web development expertise.
License included with each Dialer seat.
To develop a custom
EasyScripter
Custom script created using
Interaction EasyScripter.
Web-based structured script development and execution environment.
Includes a wide range of controls and presentation capabilities, including screen pop of contact details.
Logical branching and version control.
Separately licensed.
To develop custom scripts using Interaction EasyScripter, a product purchased separately from Interaction Dialer, refer to the Interaction EasyScripter
Developer Guide installed with
Interaction EasyScripter.
Custom Applications
Custom client application created using Dialer IceLib
API.
.NET API used for integrating thirdparty applications with Interaction
Dialer.
Can be used to create custom client applications similar to Interaction
Scripter Client.
Requires .NET programming expertise and API expertise.
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Configurable list of dispositions per page.
License included with each Dialer seat. script for Interaction
Scripter Client using
HTML and JavaScript, refer to the Interaction
Scripter Developer's
Guide.
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Interaction Scripter .NET Client
Base scripts run in Interaction Scripter .NET Client—the desktop application that Dialer agents use to interact with campaign calls. Custom scripts developed using Interaction Scripter API also run in this client application.
Interaction Scripter .NET Client populates the agent's display with information pertaining to the call, the customer, and the campaign, based on behavior defined in a script. Information collected or modified by agents is routed back to campaign database tables.
Interaction Scripter .NET Client provides page narration, navigation, data editing and call disposition options to the agent. Scripts are pushed to agent desktops automatically. No interaction at the agent desktop is required to deploy or update scripts.
Think of Scripter Client as a "browser" that runs a script when a call is sent to an agent. It provides required telephony functionality that standard web browsers do not offer. When this program is displaying a campaign form, it is called the Dialer Client. It may be called Scripter Client when it displays a custom campaign script. Regardless of the term
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Campaign scripts make agents more productive, assure a consistent message, provide for complete data collection, and streamline agent interactions with customers. The process of producing and maintaining campaign scripts can be challenging, since script programming can demand significant time and programming expertise. Fortunately,
Interaction Dialer provides a plethora of scripting options that reduce the burden of creating scripts.
• Web developers can use HTML and Javascript , or a
drag-and-drop script development environment to create sophisticated custom scripts.
Interaction Scripter Client supports any combination of base and custom scripts when multiple campaigns are running. Agents receive exactly the information and options they need to process each call.
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Base Scripts
disposition calls, and pages of text that tell agents what to say during each call. The scripts you can configure in
Interaction Dialer Manager are called base scripts. No special programming expertise is required to create base scripts.
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Advanced Interaction Scripter
Web Developers can create more sophisticated
custom scripts using Advanced Interaction
Scripter—an optional script-creation API from
Interactive Intelligence based on HTML and
JavaScript.
Call Center Supervisors provide developers with the narrative that agents will read to customers, with logical branching paths that agents will use to navigate through a call, with numbers assigned to stages in the campaign, and with database fields that must be updated when forms are filled out.
From this information, very advanced scripts can be developed.
For more information, refer to the Interaction Scripter Developer's Guide.
Interaction EasyScripter
Sophisticated custom scripts can also be created using a drag-and-drop scripting environment. Interaction
EasyScripter from Interactive Intelligence is an OEM implementation of the CallScripter 4 scripting product. It leverages the ease of use and power of CallScripter 4, and extends CallScripter to provide seamless support of inbound CIC and outbound Interaction Dialer servers.
Interaction EasyScripter is not documented here, since it is a separately purchased product. For more information, refer to the Interaction EasyScripter Developer Guide installed with Interaction EasyScripter. To learn more about
Interaction EasyScripter, see the Product Literature page on the Interactive Intelligence website.
Stages and Stage Sets
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Stages and Stage Sets
• Dialer offers a patented method of optimizing dialing predictions, implemented using Stage Sets
• Staging breaks a call down into stages based on agent transition through script or other user interface
• Stages are configurable per campaign and are automatically tracked per agent and per campaign
To reduce abandonment rates and increase customer satisfaction, Interaction Dialer's stage-based prediction feature accurately paces and predicts each agent's script transitions with a staging algorithm—so innovative it's backed by a
U.S. Patent.
What is a Stage?
A stage categorizes a general task that agents perform while talking to a contact. Each stage is a discrete part of a campaign phone call, such as pitching a product or service, or collecting order information. Stages can be thought of as completing actions performed by agents to process a call.
A Stage can be specified for each page of a base or custom script.
Consider, for example, a telemarketing campaign designed to sell newspaper subscriptions. Campaign calls could be broken down into four general script pages:
1. Sales Pitch - On this page, the agent asks the customer to buy the newspaper subscription. Every agent performs this action as the first step of each call. At the end of the Sales Pitch page, the agent transitions to another page, based upon the customer's response to the Sales Pitch.
This page represents that Call Connected ,
or default stage, of the call. The first stage of the call is Stage 0 by default. Stage 0 cannot be deleted.
2. Callback - If the customer requests to be called back at another time, the script moves to the Callback page. Likewise, this would represent the Callback stage of the script. During this stage, the agent logs the date and time when the customer would like to be contacted again, and hangs up.
3. Failure - If the customer does not wish to subscribe, the script flows into a Failure page, represented by a Failure page in
Dialer, so that a wrap-up code can be recorded to explain why the customer was not interested.
Since wrap-up codes are campaign-specific, the agent might log "doesn't read a newspaper", "subscribes to a different
Things to notice:
The script actually contains 5 pages. However, the Call
Waiting page is only displayed when the agent is not connected to a contact. Its sole purpose is to show that the agent is logged in and available, but not speaking to a customer at the moment. Therefore, it is not a stage of the call.
Three pages represent the end of the script. After the
Failure, wrap-up, or Callback pages, the call completes and the agent is returned to the Call Waiting page. Because we know that the call will end during these stages of the call, we call them terminating stages.
The amount of time that an agent is on a particular page of a script varies for each page. The tasks on those pages simply take different amounts of time to complete.
Knowing which stage each agent is in would certainly help
Dialer's predictive algorithm accurately predict when a call
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Dialer Manager Printable Help newspaper", or something similar. The agent would then terminate the call. Even if the customer hangs up without giving a reason, the script flows through this page so that the agent can log that.
4. Wrap-up - If the customer wishes to subscribe, the call transitions to a wrap-up stage, so that the agent can log the customer's address, method of payment, and other details, before hanging up. will end.
Stage Transitions
Stage transitions occur as agents navigate through scripts executing in Interaction Scripter Client.
Scripts present text for agents to read to the party called, and may prompt the agent to collect information. Scripts always provide visual controls that agents can use to disposition a call, or navigate from screen to screen.
Transitions occur when an agent navigates to a page that belongs to a different stage. The script assigns the appropriate stage number to that segment of the call. Scripts should be designed such that no special action on the agent's part is required to manage stage transitions.
Different calls may transition to different stages. For a given call, some stages may not be entered. For example, not everyone will want to subscribe to a newspaper so the Wrap Up stage won't be entered for every call.
Whenever a Stage Set is assigned to a campaign, its script should have the same set of stage numbers.
Benefits of using Stages
Configuring a campaign to use stages offers important advantages:
• Improved performance from Dialer's predictive algorithm. If Interaction Dialer can use a stage near the end of a call, rather than the entire duration of a call, it can more accurately predict when agents will become available for another call. Stages provide this granularity.
By making predictions based on only the terminating stages of each script, predictive dialing uses more pertinent information to make predictions resulting in a more productive call center. For this reason, it is important to implement stages for all predictive campaigns.
• The Agent Overview view, provides agents' real-time stages status so that supervisors can observe the current stage for each agent.
Feedback
The [Call Connected] Stage
Every Stage Set has a default stage, whose stage number is zero. This is the stage in which the campaign call begins.
Unlike other stages, which may or may not be transitioned to, the default stage is always entered.
The default stage is defined automatically when a new Stage Set is created. It is named [Call Connected]. The default stage always has a value of zero. You cannot rename or delete the default stage nor can you change its stage number from zero to anything else.
The default stage starts when the call is first connected to the agent. It ends when the agent:
• Starts a new stage
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• Completes the current call
• Transfers the current call
From a scripting point of view, Stage 0 starts when the call is connected and one of the following Dialer event notification messages is called:
• IS_Event_DataPop
• IS_Event_NewPredictiveCall
• IS_Event_PreviewDataPop
The default stage ends when the agent completes the call by invoking an IS_Action_* operation such as
IS_Action_Disconnect, or enters a new stage using IS_Action_Stage.
The Interaction Scripter commands required for using stages are:
<META NAME =<IS_ACTION_STAGE>
And within a Scripter tag:
IS_ACTION_STAGE.STAGE=1;
IS_ACTION_STAGE.CLICK();
For more information, refer to the Interaction Scripter Developer's Guide.
Feedback
Terminating Stages
A stage is considered to be a terminating or completing stage if a significant number of calls are likely to end in that stage. This can affect the overall accuracy of the predictive algorithm in subtle ways.
The Outbound Dialer server maintains statistics only for predictive stages. When a call ends in a non-predictive stage, the Dialer doesn't factor the length of that call into its predictive algorithm. This can reduce the accuracy of the Dialer if many calls terminate in a non-predictive stage.
Scripts should be written in such a way that there are definitive terminal pages that disposition calls. For example, a
Product", and so on. A Wrap-up page might disposition a call with a wrap-up Code such as, "Sale". These two pages would have predictive stages assigned to them.
Feedback
Stages are defined by Stage Sets
A stage is a discrete activity within a phone call, such as pitching a product or service, or collecting order information.
Since a call has multiple stages, a collection of stage entries is called a Stage Set. This section explains why it is advantageous to use Stage Sets.
Stage Sets enhance the efficiency of predictive dialing by defining each segment of a call that statistics can be collected upon. Each stage categorizes a general task that agents perform while talking to a contact. Stages can be thought of as completing actions performed by agents to process a call. Stages usually correspond with pages of a campaign script.
groups (called Stage Sets) that can be assigned by name to one or more campaigns. A Stage Set is nothing more than
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Dialer Manager Printable Help a set of stages that have been given a name. Each campaign can have its own Stage Set. However, a Stage Set can be assigned to more than one campaign. Stage Sets are optional, but in practice they are often used.
The Stage Sets view in Dialer Manager.
The basic attributes of a stage
• Stage name: This user-defined label categorizes one or more tasks that agents perform in the course of a campaign call. This name can contain spaces, numbers and special characters.
• Stage number: When an agent transitions to a different stage, the campaign script sends the stage number (an integer value) to the Outbound Dialer server, to tell it that the agent has entered a new stage. Stage numbers are used in campaign scripts to transition an agent from one stage to another.
When creating stages of a Stage Set, you must coordinate stage names (and numbers) with the person who is creating custom campaign scripts for campaign(s) to which this Stage Set will be assigned. The script developer uses stage numbers in scripts that transition agents to different stages when new HTML pages are opened in the
Interaction Scripter predictive client.
The Outbound Dialer Server doesn't use stage names internally. Instead, it uses the Stage number to keep track of stages. When an agent transitions to a new stage, the campaign script sends the stage id (an integer value) to the server, to tell it that the agent has entered a new stage.
• Predictive attribute: Every stage has a predictive attribute that indicates whether or not the Outbound Dialer server should collect statistics while agents are in that stage. All terminating stages should be marked as predictive. The predictive attribute should be set for stages that lead to a disposition of the call record (terminal stages).
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The Outbound Dialer server tracks the amount of time that each agent spends in predictive stages. While a campaign is active, the Outbound Dialer server monitors agent performance at each predictive stage and maintains statistics that allow it to predict the probability that the call will complete in the current stage. The server estimates how long each agent will take to complete that stage of the call.
The Outbound Dialer server does not monitor or factor in time that each agent spends in non-predictive stages.
Non-predictive stages are ignored by the predictive dialer, but are useful for reporting purposes.
A predictive stage describes an activity that Interaction Dialer's patented staging algorithm measures as part of its predictive algorithm.
The predictive algorithm is a calculation that determines if a call should be made. The calculation is based on a number of factors, including agent status, stage completion measurements and ContactList quality.
Stage Sets are dynamically referenced by Campaigns
A Stage Set has no effect until it is assigned to a predictive campaign. Afterward, Dialer's pacing algorithm analyzes
As each agent progresses through scripts or other applications, stage transitions are communicated to Interaction
Dialer. Each agent's average time in each stage is tracked and presented on real-time tracking interfaces. These average stage times are also used by the pacing algorithm to estimate the likelihood of an agent ending a call at any given time, thus optimizing the likelihood of an accurate prediction.
Related Procedures
Contact Times: Schedules and Zone Blocking
Feedback
Contact Times: Schedules and Zone Blocking
Calling only at appropriate times
Scheduled execution of Campaigns
It is important to manage when campaigns run and when contacts are dialed. These are not the same! Campaigns have unique requirements; agent availability may vary throughout the day, and no one wants to dial contacts at inopportune times. Fortunately, Interaction Dialer can evaluate each contact's time zone to dial at appropriate times
should be called. Time zone blocking is configured by assigning a Zone Set to a campaign.
initial digits of each phone number with a database of numbers and time zones. This database is called a timezone
map. Timezone maps are configured using the Timezone Map Data view .
By assigning a schedule object to a campaign, you can control when a campaign is on or off. When a campaign is
turned on, agents are able to logon. See Scheduled execution of Campaigns .
Calling only at appropriate times
Few call centers want to disturb customers who are sleeping. Calling contacts at any inappropriate time is inefficient and wastes money. Each outbound campaign can be configured to dial contacts at appropriate times, based on the
time zone information. This feature is called Time Zone Blocking .
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Time Zone Blocking lets the Central Campaign server decide whether to select a record for outbound calling, based upon the contact's time of day. Time zone blocking also prevents auto-scheduled calls and agent-owned callbacks from being placed at inappropriate times.
How Dialer obtains a Contact's time-of-day
Each contact's time-of-day is inferred from time zone information that Interaction Dialer obtains by reading the zone column of the contact list for the time zone associated with the contact, or by looking up initial digits of a telephone number in a time zone map database to obtain the time zone corresponding to an individual telephone number.
or has no time zone data at all. It is especially useful when contacts have multiple telephone numbers that may be in different time zones.
Time Zone Mapping obtains the time zone of each contact number, by looking up initial digits of the number in a database, instead of relying on the contact record to provide a time zone for the contact as a whole. The time zone map data set can be purchased from a third-party, or it may be a database table managed by the customer.
To set up time zone mapping, configure a data source that translates a phone number's area code and exchange into a time zone. These data sets are called "time zone map data sets". Once a time zone map data set has been defined, time zone mapping can be enabled on a campaign-by-campaign basis. When enabled, automatic mapping is performed for contact numbers that do not have an associated time zone.
Zone Sets define when calls can be placed to a time zone
Time Zone Blocking and Time Zone Mapping both use Zone Sets to indicate when a time zone can be dialed. Each entry in a zone set identifies one time zone, and when that zone can be dialed—on which days of the week at specific times of day. A zone set can contain any number of zone entries. A zone set can be used by multiple campaigns.
The information in a zone set (when each zone can be dialed), combined with the contact's time zone (read from the contact list or looked up from a database), gives Dialer the information it needs to select records to dial.
How to implement Time Zone Blocking
To ensure that calls are placed only at appropriate times:
1. Create a zone set with entries for each time zone used by contacts.
2. Assign that zone set to a campaign.
3. Optionally configure a time zone map data set .
be applied.
Calling only at appropriate times
Feedback
Introduction to Zone Sets
• Time Zone Blocking controls when calls can be placed based to each contact's time zone. It works by comparing the contact's time zone with Zone Set entries that define when that zone can be called.
• Zone Sets define for each time zone, days of week and times of day when dialing is allowed.
• Campaigns can share the same Zone Set, or use different Zone Sets.
Feature Overview
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A Zone Set is a Dialer building block object that defines when individual time zones can be called. Zone Sets have no effect unless they are assigned to a campaign. This implements the Time Zone Blocking feature.
Time Zone Blocking prevents calls from being placed at inappropriate times. Zone Sets helps the Central Campaign server decide whether to select a record for outbound calling, based upon time of day. Time zone blocking also prevents auto-scheduled calls and agent-owned callbacks from being placed at inappropriate times.
To use Time Zone Blocking, the zone column in the contact list should contain each contact's time zone, or zones for
each phone number can be looked up using an time zone mapping data set.
A Zone Set contains multiple zone entries, one of which must match the contact's time zone. For each zone entry in a
Zone Set, days of the week and specific times of day are defined. When the contact's time zone matches a Zone Set entry, the server can determine whether or not to select the contact record for dialing.
The Dialer Transaction server applies zone blocking to all calls that are sent to Interaction Dialer. Blocking is applied to campaign calls, auto scheduled calls, and agent-owned callbacks. The Dialer server performs one final check for zone blocking prior to dialing each contact.
How the zone column is used:
Each record in a contact list contains a zone column. This column can store a string of alphanumeric characters that identify the time zone of contact. The zone field is an arbitrary user-defined string that can be up to 25 characters in length. Most call centers use time zone abbreviations (like those listed below) to identify the time zone associated with each telephone number in a contact list.
Abbreviation
AST
ADT
EST
EDT
CST
CDT
MST
MDT
PST
PDT
HST
AKST
AKDT
Time Zone
Atlantic Standard Time
Atlantic Daylight Time
Eastern Standard Time
Eastern Daylight Saving Time
Central Standard Time
Central Daylight Saving Time
Mountain Standard Time
Mountain Daylight Saving Time
Pacific Standard Time
Pacific Daylight Saving Time
Hawaiian Standard Time
Alaska Standard Time
Alaska Standard Daylight Saving Time
multiple campaigns. No blocking occurs if the campaign is not associated with a Zone Set.
Important: Interaction Dialer requires that the Outbound Dialer server and the Central Campaign server are in the same time zone. Zone blocking is not supported when the ODS and CCS are not in the same time zone, since the
ODS uses the ODS time zone when doing zone blocking.
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Each entry in a Zone Set matches the name of a zone in the contact list, and also specifies when it is appropriate to contact a particular time zone—relative to the local time (system clock) on the Central Campaign Server.
The name of a zone entry must correspond to the name of a zone in the contact list table, or to the name of a zone returned by time zone mapping.
When the Central Campaign server needs to select records from the contact list, it will create a list of zones that are currently blocked based on the current Central Campaign server time. For each record that the Central Campaign server selects from the database, a check will be performed against the Contact's Zone column and the list of blocked zones.
If the Zone entry is not found in the list, the record is available to be called.
• Time Zone Blocking is performed by the DialerTransServer process, which runs on the Central Campaign server. The CampaignServer maintains a list of blocked zones in memory. It derives this information from the Zone
Set assigned to the campaign.
• When the DialerTransServer selects a record from the contact list, it compares zone values in the call record to its list of blocked zones. If a match is found, the call record is excluded from the selection.
This comparison determines whether or not calls are placed based upon time of day information.
Items to Remember
• Each campaign may be assigned a Zone Set that contains zone entries which define when it is appropriate to contact the party.
• Zone Sets are optional. If you do not assign a Zone Set to a campaign, no Time Zone Blocking occurs when that campaign is active.
• The name of each Zone Set entry must match the name of a zone in the contact list table. If the zone field in a contact list record does not match any of the zone entries in the Zone Set, no call blocking occurs for that record.
• Time ranges in the Zone Set are always expressed relative to the Central Campaign server's local time.
Related View
Related Procedures
Assign a Zone Set to a Campaign
Time Zone Blocking
• Time Zone Blocking uses the contact's time of day (time zone) to prevent dialing at inappropriate times.
• Zone Sets specify when calls can be placed to particular time zones.
Feedback
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Feature Overview
record for outbound calling, based upon time of day. This feature is called Time Zone Blocking.
Time Zone Blocking prevents calls from being placed to particular time zones, during particular times of day.
For example, most contact centers do not want to disturb customers who are sleeping. Time zone blocking also prevents auto-scheduled calls from being placed at inappropriate times. Most importantly, this configuration is essential in keeping your system compliant with legislation regarding approved call times. We will cover compliance in more detail later.
Here's how Time Zone Blocking works: Each record in the contact list table contains a time zone field. This field contains a string of alphanumeric characters that uniquely identify the time zone of the targeted party. The zone field is an arbitrary user-defined string that can be up to 25 characters in length. Most call centers use time zone abbreviations (like those for North America listed below) to identify the time zone associated with each telephone number in a contact list.
Zone
CDT
MST
MDT
PST
PDT
AKST
AKDT
NST
NDT
AST
ADT
EST
EDT
CST
HST
HDT
Description
Newfoundland Time
Newfoundland Time
Atlantic Time
Atlantic Time
Eastern Time
Eastern Time
Central Time
Central Time
Mountain Time
Mountain Time
Pacific Time
Pacific Time
Alaska Time
Alaska Time
Hawaii/Aleutian
Time
Hawaii/Aleutian
Time
Offset from UTC
-3.5 hours
-3.5 hours
-4 hours
-4 hours
-5 hours
-5 hours
-6 hours
-6 hours
-7 hours
-7 hours
-8 hours
-8 hours
-9 hours
-9 hours
-10 hours
-10 hours
Observe
Daylight
Savings Time
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Time Zone Blocking occurs when a Zone Set is assigned to a campaign. No blocking occurs if the campaign is not associated with a Zone Set. A single Zone Set can be shared by multiple campaigns.
Each entry in a Zone Set specifies when it is appropriate to contact a particular time zone, relative to the local time
(system clock) on the Central Campaign Server. The name of a zone entry must correspond to the name of a zone in the contact list table.
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When the Central Campaign server needs to select records from the ContactList, it will create a list of zones that are currently blocked, based on the current Central Campaign server time. For each record that the Central Campaign server selects from the database, a check will be performed against the Contact's Zone column and the list of blocked zones.
If the Zone entry is not found in the list, the record is available to be called.
Time Zone Blocking is performed by the DialerTranServer process, which runs on the Central Campaign server. The
CampaignServer maintains a list of blocked zones in memory. It derives this information from the Zone Set assigned to the campaign.
When the DialerTranServer selects a record from the contact list, it compares zone values in the contact record to its list of blocked zones. If a match is found, the call record is excluded from the selection. This comparison determines whether or not calls are placed based upon time of day information. Some key items to consider are:
• Each campaign may be assigned a Zone Set that contains zone entries which define when it is appropriate to contact the party.
• Zone Sets are optional. If you do not assign a Zone Set to a campaign, no time zone blocking occurs when that campaign is active.
• The name of each Zone Set entry must match the name of a zone in the contact list table. If the zone field in a contact list record does not match any of the zone entries in the Zone Set, the Default Zone is used.
• Time ranges in the Zone Set are always expressed relative to the Central Campaign server's local time.
Feedback
Defining Time Ranges
The time selection control makes it easy to specify when outbound dialing may occur for a specified time zone.
There is, however, one caveat.
The Central Campaign server interprets zone entries relative to the time it obtains from its system clock.
This means that zone entries must be defined using the
Central Campaign server's local time, rather than using the time zone to which that entry refers.
Time zone ranges must be defined using the time zone of the Central Campaign server, rather than the time
zone to which that entry refers.
Hawaii
(CST-4 hrs)
1:00 AM
2:00 AM
Alaska
(CST-3 hrs)
2:00 AM
3:00 AM
United States Time Zone Chart
Pacific Standard
Time (PST)
Mountain
Standard Time
(MST)
(CST-2 hrs)
3:00 AM
4:00 AM
(CST-1 hr)
4:00 AM
5:00 AM
Central Standard
Time (CST)
Eastern Standard
Time (EST)
(CST)
5:00 AM
6:00 AM
(CST+1 hr)
6:00 AM
7:00 AM
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Use this chart to compare the time zone of your Central Campaign server to other time zones, so that you can define time zone entries easily. Remember, zone entries must be defined using the time zone of the Central Campaign server.
• Use the table to locate start and end times for a specified time zone.
• Locate the corresponding time for your Central Campaign Server.
• Create a new zone entry, and select the corresponding time values using the time selection control. For example,
1:00 A.M. Hawaii corresponds to 2:00 A.M. Alaska Time, and so on.
U.S. Time Zone offsets using UTC
If the US Time Zone table doesn't list a needed time zone, you can refer to the following table to find out how to calculate the difference between zones using Universal Time offsets. If you know the UTC time of the Central
Campaign server, you can calculate the difference between two time zones using the table below.
Local Time
Subtract
from UTC
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Atlantic Daylight
Atlantic Standard
Eastern Daylight
Eastern Standard
Central Daylight
Central Standard
Mountain Daylight
Mountain Standard
Pacific Daylight
Pacific Standard
Alaskan Daylight
Alaskan Standard
Hawaiian Standard
Nome
International Date Line West
International Time Zone offsets using UTC
Add this offset for international zones:
Local Time
CET - Central European
FWT - French Winter
MET - Middle European
MEWT - Middle European Winter
SWT - Swedish Winter
EET - Eastern European, USSR Zone 1
BT - Baghdad - USSR Zone 2
ZP4 - USSR Zone 3
ZP5 - USSR Zone 4
ZP6 - USSR Zone 5
WAST - West Australian Standard
CCT - China Coast, USSR Zone 7
JST, Japan Standard, USSR Zone 8
EAST - East Australian Standard GST
NZST - New Zealand Standard
3 hours
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Add to UTC
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NZT - New Zealand 12 hours
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is a world standard for regulating clocks and time.
Feedback
Example Time Zone Scenario
Consider, for example, the following scenario:
• The Outbound Dialer server in Chicago (CST) is running the Interaction Dialer Manager administrative interface.
• You have created a zone entry named PST, and want to allow dialing between noon and 3 PM Pacific Standard
Time (PST).
• The Central Campaign server is located in the Eastern Standard Time (EST) zone.
In this scenario, three time zones are involved (Pacific, Central, and Eastern). However, the time zone of the Outbound
Dialer server can be ignored, since it does not coordinate time zone blocking.
You must consider the time zone you want to set (PST) and the time zone of the Campaign server (EST). The PST zone entry must be entered in Eastern Standard Time, since that is where the Central Campaign Server is located.
As you can see from the time zone comparison chart below, 12:00-3:00 PST corresponds to 3:00-6:00 EST.
Pacific
Standard
Time (PST)
3:00 AM
4:00 AM
5:00 AM
6:00 AM
7:00 AM
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
Eastern
Standard
Time (EST)
6:00 AM
7:00 AM
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
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10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
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1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
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9:00 PM
Since the Central Campaign server is in the EST time zone, you would select (and set) 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the time selection control. This allows the Campaign server to dial the PST zone between noon and 3 p.m. PST.
Zone entry for the example scenario
Here's how the example entry would appear in the Zone Sets View. The time span is 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday EST, the zone of the CCS.
Use the Time Zone Chart to help when setting up time zone blocking for a time zone that is different from the time zone in which the Central Campaign server is located.
Related View
Time Zone Mapping
Time Zone Mapping
Feedback
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• Ensures that contacts are only called at appropriate times, by mapping telephone numbers to time zones in realtime, based on initial digits in the contact telephone number (for example area code and exchange in North America), instead of using the zone column of each contact record to identify the contact's time zone. To determine the zone, the initial digits of the contact number are looked up in a time zone map data source.
• This feature is targeted at North American time zones, but support is available for NANP mapping tables purchased from third-party vendors.
• Number mapping tables can be loaded for use in other international countries or regions as needed. Several vendor-provided data sets are supported. A generic ININ open format can be used to load other datasets, such as inhouse tables, or datasets from additional vendors.
• Mapping is done automatically if turned on and only if a time zone is not already defined for the phone number.
This feature is enabled on a per-campaign basis.
• Time zone mapping associates a zone with each contact number. The zone of each contact number is stored in the
Phone Number Detail (PND) table, apart from the contact list. PND tables are automatically created and managed by
Interaction Dialer.
Feature Overview
Dialer can be configured to automatically map individual phone numbers in a contact list to a time zone so that calls to those numbers will be conducted at an appropriate time.
To implement this feature, you first configure a data source that translates a phone number's area code and exchange into a time zone. These data sets are called "time zone map data sets". Once a time zone map data set has been defined, time zone mapping can be enabled on a campaign-by-campaign basis. When enabled, automatic mapping is performed for contact numbers that do not have an associated time zone.
Each contact list record can have multiple Contact Columns. For example, a contact list might have PhoneNumber,
CellPhone, and WorkPhone columns. Dialer supports automatic mapping of each telephone number per contact, against custom or commercial time zone mapping data sets, to set the zone entry for each number in the Phone
Number Detail (PND) table. Phone Number Detail tables track the do-not-call status of multiple telephone numbers associated with a contact. However, each PND table tracks time zone, contact attempts, and rescheduling attempts for each phone number associated with a contact record. PND tables are automatically created and managed by
Interaction Dialer.
Automatic time zone mapping allows discrete time zone information to be used for each contact number. As before, customers can populate zone columns in the contact list table. When data sets for time zone mapping are configured, Dialer provides per-campaign options that control how broadly automatic mapping is applied. For each campaign, you can choose to:
• map phone numbers that have no zone information. This will cause only those phone numbers not associated with a zone to be mapped.
• map phone numbers that have no zone information and numbers that had previously been automatically mapped. If the time zone map data set has been updated, the latest zone from the data set will be used in place of the zone entry that was previously written to the campaign's PND table. The PND table will be updated with the latest zone for this telephone number.
• map all phone numbers, regardless of their current zone settings
Related View
Feedback
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Time Zone Mapping Procedure
To implement the Time Zone Mapping feature:
campaigns.
2. When configuring a campaign, check the Automatically Map Time Zones box and select an option to control how broadly automatic mapping is applied.
Feedback
Custom time zone map data sets
When third-party data sets are used, Dialer's time zone mapping feature is primarily targeted at North American telephone numbers. This is because commercial data sets support telephone numbers in the North American
Numbering Plan (NPANXX), which covers the United States, and in some cases, Canada.
Open Data Set Format
International customers are not excluded from using time zone mapping. Interaction Dialer supports an open data
set format that customers can use to create custom time zone map data sets. It is easy to define zone mappings for areas other than North America.
The open data set format is a text file with an extension of .dat or .txt. The text file must conform to the following structure:
PHONE NUMBER + TAB + ZONE NAME
• PHONE NUMBER should be entered without hyphens or parenthesis. Wildcarding is allowed using the '*' character. Once a wildcard digit is used, all digits to the right of the wildcard must also be wildcards.
Formatting should follow the "Standardized Number" formatting from the Dial plan. For example: +1317 for 317 numbers.
• ZONE NAME is a string used to associate a zone set zone with the phone number. The zone name must match the name of a zone defined using the Zone Sets Container.
• There must be a tab character between the Phone Number and Zone Name fields.
Zones in the data set must be in the Zone Set too
When a custom zone map data set is used, the zone set assigned to the campaign must contain the same zones. If the time zone field in the custom mapping file does not correspond to the zones in a Zone Set then the contacts will be dialed according to the Default Zone, making the time zone mapping useless.
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Scheduled execution of Campaigns
one time, or any mix of times and dates when the campaign should begin and end.
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Each campaign can have a schedule assigned to it. The same schedule can be used by multiple campaigns. Controls on the Campaigns views allow the campaign to be started, stopped, paused, or run in accordance with its assigned schedule.
How Schedules are evaluated
The CCS evaluates schedule entries to determine whether to start or stop a campaign. To understand the schedule evaluation process, suppose that Central Campaign server must evaluate four schedule entries to decide whether to activate a campaign. Each entry is intended to start or stop the campaign from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. However, entries refer to different days of the week, and some days overlap. Let's follow the process that Campaign server uses to decide whether or not to activate the campaign.
In this example, Campaign server evaluates all entries, and turns the campaign OFF, based upon the Type of the last matching entry (#3).
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The Campaign server creates an internal flag (True or False variable) so that it can remember whether to switch the campaign on or off, based upon the Type of the last entry that matches its date/time criteria. Since Campaign server has not processed any entries yet, it sets this flag False by default.
Campaign server follows these steps to evaluate the schedule:
1. It evaluates the first entry to see if the current time (Wednesday, 9:25 a.m.) falls within the start and stop range of the entry. The first record does not match, since Wednesday is not in the Sunday through Tuesday range.
2. It reads the next record, and finds a match. It sets its internal flag to the entry's Type value, which is ON, or True.
3. Since all records must be evaluated, it reads the next record. This record also matches its criterion. It sets the flag
OFF (False), since that entry is intended to stop the campaign.
4. The fourth record is not a match. Since the last match set the flag OFF, it concludes that this schedule sets the campaign inactive.
Related Procedures
Assign a Schedule to a Campaign
Configure campaign to Dial according to schedule
Automation Rules and Contact Policies
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Automation Rules and Contact Policies
Differentiate when to use Rules vs. Policies
Understand Rule Sets and Rule Groups
Understand Policy Conditions and Behaviors
Introduction to Rules and Contact Policies
Powerful customization options make it easy to automate campaigns and the processing of individual contact records. Rule Sets provide high-level control over campaigns. Policy Sets provide low-level control over individual contact records.
Rules
Rules evaluate conditions to determine whether to carry out an action that affects the processing of a campaign. The conditions of a rule can reference system statistics, time of day, and events that occur in the system, such as a call list being recycled or a campaign starting.
Rule actions affect the processing of a campaign. For example, Actions can pause a campaign, recycle its contact list, change the dialing mode, apply a filter, log agents out of the campaign and into a different one, send an Email, run a handler, pass control to a different set of rules, and more. Rules are grouped into Rule Sets which can be assigned to multiple campaigns as needed.
Policies
Policies evaluate conditions that in turn, apply behaviors to the processing of individual contact records.
Each behavior affects the processing of an individual contact. For example, a behavior might prevent a contact from being dialed, or require that the call is routed to an agent who has a specific skill set.
Policies can be evaluated before the call is placed (precall), after call analysis, or after the call is dispositioned. Policies are grouped into Policy Sets which can be assigned to multiple campaigns as needed.
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Example Rules:
• Change the dialing mode of a running campaign to predictive mode when there are more than 10 active agents or back to power mode when the number of agents falls below 10.
• Change the messaging behavior of a campaign after 5pm when more people are home.
• Send congratulatory email to workgroup when a statistical milestone is reached.
Example Policies:
• Turn answering machine detection on for a home number and off for a business number
• Select a specific message to play to an answering machine based on an attribute of the contact just called.
• Send an email message to supervisors when a significant sale has been recorded.
• Dial the work number first before 5pm and the home number first after 5pm.
• Choose to dial a number precisely (to guarantee that the call will not be abandoned) if the contact is in California and has ever been abandoned in the past.
Rules and policies allow an administrator to tweak the behavior of Interaction Dialer according to current conditions.
For example, when the abandonment rate reaches a certain level, adjustments can be made to the way calls are placed. Or, should previous attempts fail to reach a contact, an administrator can use contact policies to handle failed contacts differently.
Rules and contact policies optimize the Dialer environment by automating adjustments to the system. A significant portion of Dialer administrator's time is rightfully devoted to configuring rules and policies. In the long term, automation frees the administrator's time, while implementing business logic tailored to specific needs.
Related Topics
Feedback
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Differentiate when to use Rules vs. Policies
• Rules implement if/then/else logic at campaign level.
• Conditions evaluate statistics, system events, or the current date and time.
• Rule actions can dynamically modify running campaigns, send messages, change filters, and so on.
• Rules apply to campaigns as a whole. Rules do not affect the processing of individual contact records.
• Rules are grouped into Rule Sets for use with many campaigns.
• Policies implement if/then/else logic at the contact level, before, during, and after the call to control dialing and call routing.
• Policies are powerful. Business logic in a policy can decide whether to place a call. It can analyze agent availability to begin precise dialing. It can set attributes for recording and post-call processing, or send notifications. Policies can modify dialing modes; make decisions based on contact data, update contact list data, and more.
• Policies are grouped into Policy Sets for use with many campaigns.
Do I need a Rule or a Policy?
When creating conditional actions, the first decision is whether to assign that object as a rule or as a policy. Ask yourself these questions:
• Should this change apply to all records (Rule) or only the current record (Policy)?
• Does the condition evaluate a contact record field? (Policy)
• Does the action assign a value to a contact record field? (Policy)
• Will the action activate another campaign? (Rule)
• Should the action also apply to subsequent campaigns? (Rule)
Always test rules and policies before activating them on a production Dialer system. If after going live, a Rule Set or
Policy Set does not behave as intended; it can be adjusted or deactivated with changes taking effect immediately.
Changes to rules or policies take effect immediately after being applied. A restart is not necessary.
Understand Rule Sets and Rule Groups
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Rule Sets are collections of rules that can be associated with campaigns. It is important to note that Rule Sets, but not individual Rules, are assigned to campaigns. Rule Sets are optional.
Rule sets are, quite literally, sets of rules. When rules are assigned to a campaign, many rules may be assigned. So, these rules are assembled into a rule set. This provides the logical group of rules for assignment purposes.
To create a Rule Set:
2. Click the Add button ( ) in the list of Rule Set entries at the top of the view.
carries out one or more actions. An action can update a campaign property, send an email message, run a handler, write an event log entry, or change rule groups.
Rule Groups
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Within a rule set, there are rule groups. Rule groups create subsets of rules to designate which rules are active at any given time. Even though many rules might be assigned to an object, it might not be desirable to let all of those rules be active all the time. So, rules within a rule set might be associated with a rule group.
Only one rule group is active at any given time. Any rules not contained in that rule group sit dormant until their rule group is activated. Rule groups are activated via a rule.
Rule groups are optional. If rule groups are not employed, then all rules within a rule set will be active all the time.
Rule groups are defined on the Groups expander portion of the
Rule Sets view. See Add a Rule Group.
Rule groups contain rules. Rules are the actual logic of a condition that, when met, triggers some action.
A rule may reside in all groups, many groups, or just one group.
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Understand Policy Conditions and Behaviors
A Policy is a per-contact rule. Policy Sets provide fine control over the processing of individual contact records, and allow for implementation of legislative requirements that involve per-contact behavior. Policies also fire notification events based on individual contact results. Policy Sets are optional, but in practice they are frequently used. Policy Set
objects are created in the Policy Sets view in Interaction Dialer Manager.
A Policy is made up of conditions and behaviors. Conditions determine when the Policy applies. Behaviors embody what event occurs when the conditions are evaluated to 'True' (either all of them or any of them depending on a
Boolean configuration option).
more than once. In this case, the number of abandons would be the policy condition and the behavior could be to skip the call, mark the call so it is never called again, or schedule the call for a "precise" callback (one that cannot be abandoned).
Another example might be to prevent calls to California from ever being abandoned. To do this, you could create a policy with a condition of State = CA, and set its behavior to precisely dial the contact. When the policy condition is true, an agent will be "set aside" before Dialer places this call, ensuring that the call will not result in an Abandon.
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Precision Dialing selects an available agent—one whose status is Available when there are no further ACD calls that might be routed to that agent. Next, the Dialer checks to see if any precision dial calls are queued. If so, it marks the agent as "Awaiting Callback" and places the call. When the call connects it is blind transferred directly to the agent. If the call does not connect, the agent is returned to an Available status and new calls are generated.
Policies make it easy to precision dial any contact in the contact list. No changes to contact list data are required.
Instead, create a policy that specifies conditions when precise dialing needs to occur. Dialer will process calls normally until a policy condition deems that the call needs to be dialed precisely.
Control when conditions are evaluated by setting the Policy's evaluation type
A policy condition can be evaluated before the call is made, when a call analysis result is available, or after the call is finished. Each policy is defined with a particular policy evaluation type that determines when conditions in the policy are evaluated. The possible evaluation types are Pre Call, Call Analysis, and Disposition. Policy evaluation type is determined according to the tab under which the policy is created. This timeline illustrates when each policy type will be evaluated, per contact list record:
In Interaction Dialer Manager, policy evaluation type is configured after a policy entry is added, before any of its conditions are defined, by selecting a PreCall, Call Analysis, or Disposition tab. In the example below, the Details tab was selected since the example policy behavior precisely dials contacts in California.
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The options for configuring conditions and behaviors are the same, regardless of which evaluation type tab is selected. Evaluation type merely determines when the policy should be evaluated.
Policy
Evaluation
Type
Details
Call Analysis
Disposition
Description and Usage
Evaluated before the call is made. Precall policies allow changes to the way the call is dialed, and any other processing before the record is dialed.
Evaluated immediately after the Call Analysis result is determined, but before the call is sent to an agent or dispositioned, or right after the call is placed if Call Analysis is off. Call Analysis is an IC process that analyzes a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a fax machine, or an answering machine, and whether or not an agent is available to process the call.
Call analysis policies allows control of deliver of the call to an agent, early disposition of a call, and rescheduling according to call analysis results. Call analysis policies are not available to preview campaigns.
Evaluated after the call is finished and the disposition is ready to be updated in the ContactList.
This is the final opportunity to make adjustments to the contact record or rewrite a disposition.
The next figure illustrates how the precise dialing behavior would be set for the policy example that precisely dials contacts in California.
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In this example, a PreCall policy defined with an Attribute Condition (State = "CA") that states that if the contact is from California, apply a Call Routing Behavior that requires Precision Dialing for this contact. Precision Dialing will not place this call unless an agent is available.
In a similar way, Policies can carry out behaviors for Priority Calls (records inserted into the contact list on the fly). A
"Priority Call" call category in the Policy Set Item Condition configuration allows a policy to examine call category information for the current contact record, so that a policy can carry out behaviors if the call type is a Priority
Call. See Priority Dialing for details.
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Availability of Policy Conditions and Behaviors
Conditions Behaviors
Conditions determine whether a policy object applies to an individual contact record.
You can define different types of conditions based upon whether the policy is PreCall, Call Analysis, or Disposition type.
Behaviors determine what happens when the conditions are evaluated to true.
Behaviors are conceptually similar to Rule Actions, and in some cases, Behaviors perform the same type of work as
Actions do. For example, both Rule Set Actions and Policy
Set Behaviors can send an Email message. The difference is that Rule Sets provide control over campaigns, while
Policy Sets provide control over the processing of individual contact records.
Numerous conditions and behaviors are available for use with contact policies. The available conditions and behaviors vary according to the type of policy configured. Certainly, it does not make sense to evaluate the result of call analysis before the call is even dialed. For this reason a Call Analysis condition is not available to PreCall policies. Likewise, it does not make sense to choose not to dial a call after the interaction has already completed. Accordingly, Disposition policies cannot have Call Routing behaviors.
The table below lists the conditions that are available for each evaluation type.
Policy Evaluation Type
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Condition Type
Abandon
PreCall
Attribute
Call Analysis
Call Attribute
Call Category
Disposition
Duration
Phone Number Details
Phone Number Type
Statistic
Time
The behaviors available for each evaluation type are:
Call Analysis
Behavior Type
Agentless
Attribute
Call Analysis
Call Attribute
Call Routing
Callback
Calling Party
Contact Columns
Custom Handler
Disposition
Event Log Message
Number to Dial
PreCall
Policy Evaluation Type
Call Analysis
Disposition
Disposition
Policies in Preview Dialing Mode
Special considerations apply when policies are used in a preview mode campaign .
Pre-call policies are evaluated before the preview data pop is sent to an agent on a preview campaign. Call Analysis policies are ignored, and all disposition policy conditions and behaviors apply to preview campaigns.
• Call Analysis policy behavior type is ignored.
• Call Routing policy behavior type does not pop data to agent if "Do Not Dial" is selected. ACD options are not applicable in preview mode.
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• For contact columns policy behaviors, the first column in the list specifies the number dialed when
"PlacePreviewCall" is invoked.
Related Topics
Skills-Based Dialing and Routing
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Skills-Based Dialing and Routing
Skills-Based Routing vs. Skills Based Dialing
How Skills-Based Dialing Works
Skills-Based Dialing and Call List Sorting
Configure Skills-Based Dialing
This section explains the difference between skills-based dialing and skills-based routing. It helps you understand
Dialer's skills-based dialing process, which is more effective than ACD routing alone.
Skills-Based Routing vs. Skills Based Dialing
One feature that makes IC so effective in the contact center environment is the powerful Automatic Call Distribution
(ACD) system. In the inbound center, matching agents with interactions that use their specific skill sets provides not only shorter talk times, but also produces more efficient interactions and greater customer satisfaction.
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Skills-Based Routing involves an already connected call. Skills are associated with interactions (required skills) and with agents (available skills). The ACD subsystem matches these skills up to route an interaction to the best available agent. Dialer can use ACD-based skills-based routing to route a live caller to the best available agent.
Skills-based routing works well in a predictive or power dialing environment when all agents have the skill(s) and can accept the call. It does not work as well, however, when skills are used to select from a subset of agents, that is when a call requires a specific skill set that is possessed by only certain members of the group. This latter use of skills-based routing can result in excessive abandons and a poor dialing experience, especially if no one from the required subset is available when the call connects. The solution is to use skills-based dialing instead.
Skills-Based Dialing is available for preview, power, and predictive campaigns. To understand this feature, it is important to differentiate between skills-based routing and skills-based dialing. Skills-based dialing looks ahead to choose contacts to be dialed:
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Skills-based dialing selects only contacts in the call list that can be handled by the available agent pool. Skills are evaluated before contacts are dialed. The mixture of contacts' required skills and agents' anticipated availability and skills is dynamic and must be managed similarly to pacing. Some examples of outbound situations in which only a subset of agents will have a skill include:
• State-based licensing—wherein lenders and insurers must be licensed in states into which they are attempting to sell.
• Specialized selling or collections—when a subset of agents are trained or allowed to handle particular products or customers.
• Language skills—when the contact has special language requirements.
Once a contact with an appropriate skill requirement is selected to be dialed and a live person contacted, that contact's skills are associated with the connected call. The call is then routed to the most appropriate available agent using skills-based ACD routing.
Note: When skills-based dialing is used, contacts with null skill values are never dialed.
• Skills-based routing is based on several elements (depending on the type of ACD queue selected.) Common attributes include skill level, cost (agent), priority (interaction), and time available. Agents and interactions collect points for each configured element, and the agent/interaction with the overall highest score is selected.
• Skills-based dialing focuses on agent skill proficiency and predicted availability. Dialer uses sorting and skill requirement to filter agents who are eligible/ineligible to process a specific contact call.
Feedback
ACD Weighting by Campaign
• Control skills-based routing of outbound calls for campaign
• ACD Weighting is especially useful with blended campaigns.
About ACD
Interaction Dialer uses CIC's Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) very effectively. It routes telephone calls, chat calls, emails, and generic objects (collectively referred to as interactions) based on agent availability, skill levels, costs, priority and other attributes.
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For comprehensive information about ACD, refer to the IC ACD Processing Technical Reference in the Technical
Reference Documents section of the CIC Documentation Library on your CIC server.
Interaction Center's ACD quickly finds the best match between agent and interaction by calculating agents' scores and interaction scores. Scores are calculated by a subsystem on the CIC server called the ACD Server. This subsystem's job is to quickly calculate agent and interaction scores, even when there are many interactions in an ACD queue.
Interaction Center's ACD is designed to work in two scenarios:
1. When there are many interactions waiting to be answered and an agent becomes available. In this case,
Interaction Center selects the best interaction for that agent to answer, using a formula that calculates each interaction's score.
This Interaction score formula takes into account interaction skill requirements, priority, the amount of time an interaction has been in the ACD queue or the CIC system. If there are many interactions waiting to be answered and an agent becomes available, a score is calculated for each interaction. The Interaction with the highest score is assigned to that agent.
2. When there are many agents available to take an interaction. In this situation, Interaction Center chooses the best agent to take the interaction.
ACD does this by calculating a score for each agent, called the Agent score formula. If multiple agents are available when an interaction arrives in an ACD queue, the agent with the highest score receives that interaction. Agent scores take into account an agent's skills, cost, amount of time that agent has been available, and other custom attributes you define.
How campaign settings affect ACD routing
By configuring the criteria analyzed by ACD formulas, you can customize ACD routing for each outbound campaign.
One way is to configure on a per-campaign basis, numeric values (called "weights") that affect ACD routing.
For example, if you are concerned with matching calls to agents with the best skill for that call, you can increase Agent
Skill Level weight more than other weight parameters, which include call priority, time held in queue, overall time the call has been in the system, agent cost, and agent availability time.
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This information helps the ACD Server pick the best agent to receive an interaction, when there are many agents available to take an interaction.
Related Topics
Outbound ACD Routing Controls (Campaign settings)
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How Skills-Based Dialing Works
This topic provides a technical walkthrough of the skills-based dialing feature. The Skill Sets container maps skill values in a custom contact list column to IC skills. Skill Sets also establish minimum required Agent skill proficiency, and a dialing ratio for controlling the relative amount of each skill to dial. In general, Interaction Dialer will dynamically determine how many calls to place of each skill requirements according to the skill assignments of logged on agents.
The dialing ratio may be thought of as a "multiplier" to affect the number of certain records (based on skill requirements) to cached. Since Dialer updates the cache dynamically, leaving the dialing ratio at "1" will generally give the best results.
Dialer maintains an Active Agent Skill Table, an internal table of agents who are logged on and active for each skill combination. Skill combinations that have 0 agents logged on and active have no entry in the table.
The table below shows an example Active Agent Skill Table for 10 total agents and 6 skill combinations. The number of fractional agents for each skill combination is on the right with the total number of agents with the skill in parentheses.
Total Agents: 10
Active Agent Skill Table
AZ, Home 2.5 (4)
IN, Home
IN, Life
TX, Auto
TX, Home
TX, Life
1.5 (4)
1.5 (4)
1 (2)
1.5 (4)
2 (5)
Dialer uses the Active Agent Skill Table to determine how many calls to cache for each skill combination. Dialer tailors its call list queries based on the current cache level and the desired cache level. The table below shows how many records Dialer will maintain in its cache for each skill combination, assuming 400 records are needed in the cache. The total number of records in the cache will be allowed to exceed 400 to ensure that there are always plenty of callable records for each skill combination.
Calls in Cache: 400
Contact Cache Totals
AZ, Home 100
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IN, Home
IN, Life
TX, Auto
TX, Home
TX, Life
60
60
40
60
80
The contact cache is only cleared when the campaign is turned off or restarted. If there are contacts in the cache that can no longer be dialed because the agents that could accept those calls have gone on break or logged out, then these calls will remain in cache until agents become available for them or the campaign is turned off or restarted.
Dialer also keeps a table of how many agents are idle for each skill combination. Skill combinations that have 0 agents logged on and active will have no entry in the table. The graphic below shows an example table for 3 idle agents and
4 skill combinations. The number of fractional idle agents for each skill combination is on the right with the total number of idle agents with the skill in parentheses.
Idle Agents: 3
Idle Agent Skill Table
IN, Home
IN, Life
0.25 (1)
1.25 (3)
TX, Home
TX, Life
0.25 (1)
1.5 (3)
Dialer will then use the Active Agent Skill Table to determine how many calls should be proceeding for each skill combination. When an agent becomes idle (or has a prediction) Dialer will use the agent's skills and the number of proceeding calls for the agent's skill combinations to determine how many calls to place. The figure below shows how many records Dialer will have proceeding for each skill combination based on the Idle Agent Skill Table, assuming 4 calls per agent.
Proceeding Calls: 16
Calls per Agent: 4
IN, Home
IN, Life
1
5
TX, Home
TX, Life
1
5
The Dialer Overview view in Interaction Supervisor will display the number of remaining records for each skill.
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Skills-Based Dialing and Call List Sorting
Sorting is done first, and then the contact list cache is broken up by skill. This means that skills take priority over sorting. For example, consider a sort criterion of attempts ascending, and skills A and B. The call list cache would look like this (where the numbers 0, 1, and 2 are the attempts count for each record):
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E
M
P
T
S
A
T
T
SKILL A
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
Initial Cache
E
M
P
T
S
A
T
T
SKILL B
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
If there are more Skill A agents than Skill B agents (and thus Dialer will be dialing through the Skill A records faster) then after a while of dialing the cache might look like this:
SKILL A
A
T
T
E
M
P
T
S
2
2
2
E
M
P
T
S
A
T
T
SKILL B
0
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
Consequently, Dialer will be dialing Skill A records that have an attempt of 2, while also dialing Skill B records that have attempt of 0. While this snapshot may appear to violate the criteria, Dialer is adjusting to the staffing as intended for this scenario.
Feedback
Skills and Scheduled Calls
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Campaign wide scheduled calls are treated like regular calls. Dialer uses the Active Agent Skill Table to determine how many calls need to be in the schedule call cache for each skill combination. Dialer will tailor its schedule of call list queries based on the current cache level and the desired cache level. The number of scheduled records in the scheduled cache will be similar to the contact cache for non-scheduled calls.
Agent owned callbacks will not respect skills. If a call is scheduled for a particular agent, then the call will be placed for that agent if the agent is logged on, regardless of what skills the agent has or what skills are defined on the contact list record.
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Skills-Based Preview Dialing
In preview dialing, an agent becoming available prompts the Dialer to supply that agent with the next contact on the call list. The agent then clicks a button to place the call to the contact.
Skills-based routing of preview contacts uses a combination of generic objects and Dialer's skills-based routing capabilities. A generic object represents the contact to be preview-dialed, allowing that contact to be routed by ACD.
The scripting side of Dialer accepts a generic object and uses information in that object to place the call.
Skills-based dialing in preview mode uses the Active Agent Skill Table and the Contact Cache previously described.
When an agent becomes idle, Dialer selects a call from the cache that matches the agent's skill combination. ACD routing is not performed with preview calls.
Note: The case of no contacts with appropriate skills for an available agent is reported via the Dialer Health View and messaging. These alerts also occur in the reverse scenario: no agent is available for a contact with the specified skill.
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Procedure to Configure Skills-Based Dialing
Three views are used when configuring Skills-based dialing:
• Skills view—defines skills that agents may have.
• Skill Sets view—maps a skill column in the contact list to skills defined in IC.
• Campaigns view—associates Skill Sets with a campaign.
For step-by-step assistance, see Configure Skills-Based Dialing .
Supervisory Tools
Feedback
Supervisory Tools
Dialer views in IC Business Manager
Interaction Dialer's tight integration with CIC makes it easy for contact center supervisors to view campaign statistics in real-time or run reports that summarize call activity and many other metrics.
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Dialer views in IC Business Manager
Interaction Supervisor, a module in IC Business Manager, is CIC's real-time performance monitoring system. Interaction Supervisor displays metrics and sends notifications when user-defined thresholds are reached. It satisfies the demanding requirements of executives, supervisors, managers, and IT professionals who need immediate operational information and automatic notification when special events occur.
Views reveal what's going on in a contact center or business, by monitoring an assortment of entities, including Dialer campaigns and agents, queues, processes, and the health of Outbound Dialing Servers. Each view displays a general class of statistics. You can customize a view to include or exclude data items, and set alerts that notify of events triggered by statistical changes.
Supervisor views indicate the performance of workgroups and activity in their associated queues, by displaying average wait times, talk times, calls currently in queue, and many other metrics. Since Supervisor is event-driven, its information is always up-to-date.
Alerts enhance Interaction Supervisor's ability to report real-time information. An alert notifies when a statistic enters a user-defined threshold, is within bounds, or is no longer within a range of values. Alerts are immensely useful to contact center supervisors.
Installation of Interaction Dialer adds additional views to IC Business Manager. Views in the Interaction Dialer category include:
Icon View Details
Statistical information for Dialer Agents broken down by Dialer campaigns.
Appearance
This view displays a roll-up of campaigns and their status. It allows an administrator to sort and filter the campaigns displayed in the view, alter the campaign's priority, and even start, stop, pause, recycle, or reset a campaign.
Shows detailed statistics about a campaign.
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Shows the health and status of campaigns and Interaction Dialer in general.
Shows statistics and an overview of the
Dialer campaigns and their agents.
Dialer Real-time Agent Management
This view makes it easy for Call Center
Supervisors to move or remove logged on Agents from a Campaign if they are logged on without Login Campaign
Security rights.
Gives detailed information about Dialer penetration rates.
Displays Phone Number Type summary statistics for the site, campaign and interval selected.
Statistics broken down by skill per each
Dialer campaign.
Displays overview statistics for Stages for a specific Dialer campaign, site and agent.
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Shows wrap-up category statistics in a chart.
Shows wrap-up code statistics in a chart.
Displays callable records grouped by time zone.
Alerts
When an alert becomes active, it can play a sound, change the color of text or an icon, send an E-mail, start a custom handler or display a Supervisor message. The Interaction Supervisor Help provides comprehensive background information about alerts and procedures for setting them. To open this help system in IC Business Manager, select
Interaction Supervisor from the Help menu. Then click Manage Alerts in the help table of contents.
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Related Procedures
Add a Dialer view in IC Business Manager
Dialer views in IC Business Manager
Feedback
Add a Dialer view in IC Business Manager
1. Start IC Business Manager and logon.
2. Select an existing workspace from the Workspaces tab, or create a new workspace to host the view.
3. Select New > View from the File menu. The Create New View dialog appears, listing views by category or product.
4. Select Categories from the Group By drop list. Then click Dialer Statistics. A list of Dialer views appears in the list on the right.
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Tip—if Product is selected in the Group By list, click Interaction Dialer to display views you can add.
5. Select a view to add by clicking an item in the Views list.
6. Click OK.
7. If the view requires parameters to be set, other dialogs appear at this time to prompt for view settings.
8. When you finish selecting parameters, the view will appear in the workspace.
Views are automatically disabled if the connection with CIC server goes down for any reason. A 'spinner' cursor is shown in all Supervisor views, indicating that no data is being received. Views are automatically enabled once the connection is restored.
The Interaction Supervisor Help for IC Business Manager explains how to work with views and alerts. To open this help system in IC Business Manager, select Interaction Supervisor from the Help menu.
Feedback
Agent Overview
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The Agent Overview compares the performance of multiple agents across sites and campaigns. This view displays
View Options
Site
>This control allows you to select agents from a single ODS server, or all sites. The view is automatically updated when you make a selection.
Campaign
>This control changes the currently monitored campaign. When clicked, it displays a drop list of campaigns to choose from. The view is automatically updated when you make a selection.
Shortcut Menu Commands
Shortcut menu items appear if you right-click a data row in the grid.
Edit alerts…
>Adds or edits an alert. An alert notifies when a statistic is in or out of a chosen range, based on statistical items or values on the IC Server. An active alert can change the color of the display, play a wave file, display an icon in your system tray, send electronic mail, or invoke a handler.
>Selecting this shortcut command opens the Edit Alerts dialog, which is customized for the type and combination of statistics currently selected.
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Add/Remove statistics…
>Opens a dialog allowing the selection of statistics in the current view to be changed.
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Campaign Command Center
Campaign Command Center
Feedback
This view displays a rollup of campaigns and their status. It allows an administrator to sort and filter the campaigns displayed in the view, alter the campaign's priority, and even start, stop, pause, recycle, or reset a campaign.
Campaign Name
>This column displays the name of each campaign.
Workgroup
>This column displays the name the workgroup.
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Campaign Mode
>This column displays the dialing mode that determines how contacts are dialed.
Priority style="margin-bottom: 4.5pt;">This column displays the campaign's current priority.
TIP: In addition to displaying the current priority, you can alter the campaign's priority by double clicking in any cell in this column to activate it. Then, type or select a new value.
Campaign Progress
>This column displays a progress bar that indicates overall campaign progress, calculated by subtracting from 100% the number of recycle items remaining divided by the number filter items.
Campaign Actions
Buttons in this column invoke actions that control the execution of campaigns.
Button Action Description
Start Turns on the campaign.
On for
Scheduled
Calls Only
Turns on the campaign for scheduled calls only and only places agentscheduled calls. Ignores the campaign schedule.
• Auto-scheduled calls are not placed.
• Priority dials are still made.
• No regular calls are placed.
• When this campaign state is switched to, any cached contacts that the campaign will no longer call (regular calls, queued precise calls) are flushed from the cache back to the database.
Stop Stops outbound dialing once the cache is empty. Ignores the campaign schedule. If you stop a campaign (by selecting Stop), rather than by clicking
Pause, agents must log on when the campaign is restarted by clicking this button again. If you click the Pause button, you can resume the campaign by clicking Pause again, and agents won't need to log on. Outbound calling will resume once agents change to available status.
Pause/Resume Temporarily stops all outbound dialing activity for the campaign. All active calls complete, but no new calls are generated. This command is used to temporally halt a campaign without requiring agents to log back in once processing resumes. When a campaign is Paused, no calls are placed, but the record cache is maintained. To resume the campaign, press Pause again. Agents will not need to log on when the campaign resumes.
Recycle
Campaign
Recycle refers to the process of restarting the call selection process at the beginning of the contact list. This can happen automatically after all records are processed or manually in response to a Reset Campaign command. A recycle period is the time that Interaction Dialer needs to process all records in
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Reset
Campaign a contact list.
Resets a running campaign, The contact list will be processed from the top to reach parties that were not contacted in a previous pass. If major settings have been changed (DSN, Sorting or Filters, and so on), the campaign is reset and restart with the new configuration. This command also sets the count of recycles back to zero.
Active Policy Sets
>List of Policy Sets assigned to the campaign that are enabled. A Policy Set is a top level Dialer object composed of one or more contact policies. A policy is a per-contact rule. Contact policies provide low-level control over the processing of individual contact records. A policy is made up of conditions and behaviors. Conditions determine when the policy applies. Behaviors define the work performed when a policy condition is true.
Active Filters
>List of Filters assigned to each campaign. Filters are predefined SQL statements that select a subset of records to process from a contact list.
Contact Columns
>List of columns in the campaign's contact list that contain telephone numbers.
Active Rule Group
>This column lists the Rule Group that is currently active. Rules evaluate a statistic, time, or event to determine whether to carry out an Action that affects the processing of a campaign. Rule Groups identify subsets of rules in a
Rule Set that can be activated (turned on or off) together by an action.
Active Agents
>The number of agents who are currently active in a campaign. This number corresponds to the number of agents that are logged on and not on break.
Recycle Contacts Remaining
>The number of contacts left in the current recycle for this campaign. This value indicates the number of records in the Contact List that must be processed before the list is recycled. In other words, this is the number of phone calls that must be placed before the next recycle of the Contact List can occur. This number will decrease as the numbers of calls placed for the current recycle increases. This includes only records that are callable when considering both the active Filter and the Zone Set associated with the campaign.
Recycles Remaining
>The number of recycles that need to be carried out in order for the campaign to complete. The maximum number of recycles is configured for each campaign and dictates how many times the dialer will go through the list before completing or moving on to the next campaign. If a campaign is configured to recycle indefinitely then the remaining recycles statistic is not used; the dialer will continually reprocess contacts from the list.
Warning - 200 campaign limit!
When you are viewing your existing campaigns, you need to be aware that the Campaign Command Center is unable to display more than 200 campaigns at any one time. If you have more than 200 campaigns, you can use
the campaign list.
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Feedback
Filter and Sort the Campaign List
To make it easy to find just the campaign data you want to see in the Campaign Command Center, you can use the filtering and sorting features to reduce the size of and reorganize the campaign list. The filtering feature allows you to reduce the number of campaigns that display in the campaign list and the sorting feature allows you to reorganize the campaigns that display in the view.
Filters
There are two different types of filters and five columns on which you can filter. The first type of filter provides you with a text box into which you can type any keyword text you want. The second type of filter provides you with a drop-down list from which you can select a specific keyword item.
The following column headers contain text box filters:
• Campaign Name
• Workgroup
• Active Rule Group
The following column headers contain drop-down filters:
• Campaign Mode
• Campaign Actions
When you use any one of these filters individually, you hide all campaigns except those that match your selection.
When you combine any of the filters, you can create more refined views of the campaign list.
If you enter keywords in two or more text boxes or select items from the two drop-down lists, you can broaden the view to include all campaigns containing any of the keywords/items or all of them. If you enter a keyword into a text box and select an item from a drop-down list, you can narrow the search to include only those campaigns that contain both the keyword and the item.
Sort
You can sort the data in the Campaign Command Center's campaign list before or after you use filters. Two of the columns - Campaign Progress and Campaign Actions - are not sortable. You can sort any of the other columns in either ascending or descending order by clicking the column header. A triangle icon next to the column header indicates the direction of the sort.
Dialer Campaign Details
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Dialer Campaign Details view
Feedback
This view displays operational statistics about any single campaign, a configurable graph of campaign details, and live information about agents by period, shift, recycle and campaign. Presented are statistics per campaign including agent rollup statistics and Wrap-up Category summary statistics.
Campaign Performance Statistics
Statistics at the top of the view are updated in real-time to indicate the overall performance of the campaign. See
a campaign. For example, you can Start, Stop, or pause a campaign from this view, without having to open a campaign configuration in Interaction Dialer Manager.
Campaign Details Graph
time, or percent time) and an interval (period, shift, recycle, or campaign).
Agent Statistics
a single agent, since the view is scoped to summarize the overall status of the campaign and site.
Feedback
Interval Definitions
In several of the Dialer views in IC Business Manager, you can select an Interval, which specifies the length of time for the collection of statistics. An interval can be measured as Period, Shift, Recycle, or Campaign.
Period
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Any user-defined interval delimited by specific start and stop times.
Shift
An interval defined in Interaction Administrator to represent a standard work day.
Recycle
†
An interval defined by the amount of time that has elapsed between when the Contact List was last recycled and the present.
Campaign
An interval defined by the amount of time that has elapsed between when the active campaign began running and the present.
† While Recycle can be designated as an Interval, it actually refers to the process of restarting the call selection process at the beginning of the contact list. This can happen automatically after all records are processed, or manually in response to a Reset Campaign command. A Recycle period is the time that Interaction Dialer needs to process all records in a contact list.
Dialer Health View
Feedback
Dialer Health View
The Dialer Health View displays the health and status of campaigns and Interaction Dialer in general, thus providing you with a tool that you can use to troubleshoot and track various issues that occur in Dialer. Dialer Health view presents information in the Dialer Status Messages and the Dialer History Messages panels.
• Dialer Status Messages: In this panel, you'll find diagnostic information about the current condition of campaigns. Dialer dynamically updates the information in this panel to display new messages and to remove messages that no longer apply.
• Dialer History Messages: In this panel, you'll find event and status messages that were logged by the Central
Campaign Server, Outbound Dialer Servers, and by other internal processes such as DialerTran. You must manually update the information in this panel by clicking the Refresh button. When you do, the most recent messages posted to Dialer history will appear in the panel.
Note: The top and bottom panels are not related. The top panel displays diagnostic information about current conditions. The bottom panel is a historical log of past events
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You can double-click a line in either panel and you'll see the Message Details window, which will provide more detailed information about a particular message.
Related Topics
Feedback
Dialer Status Messages
In the Dialer Status Messages panel, you'll find diagnostic information about the current condition of campaigns.
Messages are added to this list when:
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• Global Maximum calls have been hit.
• Line group with little or no lines.
• Running campaigns in predictive mode with < 5 agents.
• The Line group specified does not exist.
• Current abandon rate has been exceeded (10% over for target, absolute threshold for strict).
• Dialer isn't dialing because it is waiting for something: (waiting on dialerTranU / recycle / get contacts, and so on.)
• The Pace is manually adjusted.
Dialer dynamically updates the information in this panel to display new messages and to remove messages that no longer apply.
Columns
The Dialer Status Messages panel contains the following columns. You can sort the messages by any column in either ascending or descending order by clicking the column headier.
Severity
>The value in this column indicates the seriousness of the event condition. For example:
• >Error indicates a significant problem, such as loss of data or loss of functionality.
• >Warning indicates an event that is not necessarily significant, but may indicate a possible future problem.
For example, when disk space is low, a Warning will be logged.
• >Information describes the successful operation of an application or subsystem.
Time
>Time stamp that indicates when the event occurred.
Process Name
>Name of the server process that sent the status message.
Machine Name
>Name of the ODS associated with this message.
Campaign
>Name of the campaign associated with this message - if known.
Message
>Text of the message entry. style="margin-left: 0px;">
Messages
The following table lists all of the messages, in alphabetical order, that you might see in the Dialer Status Messages panel. The {xxx} indicates content that will be filled in by Dialer at the time the message is generated.
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Dialer Status Messages Details
Automatic time zone mapping is unavailable for campaign {xxx}
Automatic time zone mapping is unavailable for campaign {xxx} because the time zone source data could not be initialized.
Automatic time zone mapping source data file {xxx} is not accessible
Missing map data set file. Mapping will be attempted, but some phone numbers may not get mapped properly.
OR
No CCS dial plan is available for phone number standardization.
The server {xxx} has depleted its contact cache for campaign {xxx}. This condition is caused by the following conditions: - Undersized database server hardware -
Excessive load caused by external applications or reporting programs - Poor call list connect rate (high contact consumption rate) See {xxx} for more information.
OR
Campaign {xxx} contact cache has been depleted on server {xxx}
The Dialer Tran Server has not responded to a request for contacts in over {xxx} seconds. This symptom is caused by the following conditions: - Undersized database server hardware - Excessive load caused by external applications or reporting programs - Poor call list connect rate (high contact consumption rate)
See {xxx} for more information.
OR
The server {xxx} has depleted its contact cache for campaign {xxx}. This condition is caused by the following conditions: - Undersized database hardware Excessive load caused by external applications or reporting programs - Poor call list connect rate (high contact consumption rate). See {xxx} for more information.
Campaign {xxx} is using a Policy
Set that contains one or more invalid Contact Column
Behaviors.
Campaign {xxx} is using a Policy Set that contains one or more Contact Column
Behaviors that reference contact columns not used by the campaign. The invalid contact columns are: {xxx}
Campaign max lines reached
This campaign has reached its configured maximum lines: {xxx}. This indicates that the dialing rate is being limited. If this message occurs frequently and the connect rate is normal then consider increasing the maximum lines setting on this campaign.
Campaign Statistics, Call History, and Agent Activity inserts are accumulating in PMQueue.
The number of Campaign Statistics, Call History, and Agent Activity inserts enroute to the database are increasing. Average insertion time is {xxx} milliseconds. The number of pending inserts is {xxx}. This condition is caused by the following circumstances: - The database server hardware is undersized -
Applications running on the CCS are consuming CPU - Reporting applications are locking the campaign stats, call history, or agent stat tables.
Contact List updates are accumulating in PMQueue.
The number of Contact List updates en-route to the database is increasing. Average insertion time is {xxx} milliseconds. The number of entries pending updates is {xxx}. This condition may cause interruptions in dialing
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CPU - Reporting applications are locking the contact list table. See {xxx} for more information.
Dialer Configuration load error Unable to load Dialer config XML file. Dialer will switch to use the backup file.
Dialing Restrictions have been applied to all campaigns on server {xxx}
Dialing Restrictions have been applied to campaign {xxx} on server {xxx}
Dialing activity for all campaigns on server {xxx} currently requires a line capacity greater than the specified number of lines. The specified maximum number of lines is {xxx}. See {xxx} for more information.
The current abandonment rate {xxx} exceeds the configured abandonment rate target {xxx} for campaign {xxx}. The dialer will reduce pacing aggression until abandons have subsided. If this condition persists, add Attempts to the sort criteria for the campaign. Alternatively, set Max Lines per Campaign on the campaign configuration to a lower value. See {xxx} for more information.
OR
The campaign {xxx} has fewer than 6 active agents. Dialing predictive campaigns with less than 6 agents may cause decreased agent utilization and increased abandon rate. Use preview mode for smaller workgroups. See {xxx} for more information.
OR
The current abandonment rate {xxx} exceeds the configured strict abandonment rate {xxx} for campaign {xxx}. The dialer will reduce pacing aggression and switch to power mode until abandoned calls have subsided. If this condition persists, add Attempts to the sort criteria for the campaign. Alternatively, set Max Lines per Campaign on the campaign configuration to a lower value. See {xxx} for more information.
Disposition Custom Stored
Procedure calls are accumulating in PMQueue.
The number of Disposition Custom Stored Procedure calls en route to the database is increasing. Average insertion time is {xxx} milliseconds. The number of entries pending updates is {xxx}. This condition may cause delay or loss of work required by the custom stored procedure(s). This symptom is caused by the following circumstances: - The database server hardware is undersized -
Applications running on the CCS are consuming CPU - Reporting applications are locking the contact list table. See {xxx} for more information.
DNC Scrubbing failed for campaign {xxx}
DNC Scrubbing failed for campaign <{xxx}> using DNC Source <{xxx}>. The error was: <{xxx}>
High non-Dialer agent reservation for campaign {xxx}
Incorrect database provider specified in connection {xxx}
Campaign {xxx} is reserving a high percentage of its active agents for non-Dialer calls. This can cause dialing to slow down and in some cases stop completely.
The database provider {xxx} is not recommended for use with dialer. Please use
Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server or Oracle Provider for OLE DB. See
{xxx} for more information.
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Max call rate reached
No automatic time zone mappings are present
No time zone map data sets configured for automatic time zone mapping
Dialing is being restricted by the configured Dialer Maximum Call Rate setting. If this situation persists, consider increasing that limit.
No automatic time zone mappings are present. Automatic time zone mapping will be unavailable for all campaigns.
No time zone map data sets configured for automatic time zone mapping. Automatic time zone mapping will not be performed.
Recycle in progress for campaign
{xxx}
Campaign <{xxx}> is recycling its contact list. Dialing performance may be affected until the recycle operation completes.
The agent {xxx} logged into campaign {xxx} on server {xxx} has none of the required skills.
The agent {xxx} logged into campaign {xxx} on server {xxx} has none of the required skills, so no calls will be placed for this agent.
The agent {xxx} logged into campaign {xxx} with a persistent connection, but no persistent connection wav file was specified in the campaign.
The agent {xxx} logged into campaign {xxx} with a persistent connection, but no persistent connection wav file was specified in the campaign. Defaulting to silence.
The campaign {xxx} contains no callable contacts.
The configured Zone Set {xxx} specified for Campaign {xxx} is blocking all callable contacts. Callable records being blocked: {xxx}. See {xxx} for more information.
OR
There are no callable contacts available for Campaign {xxx}. No contact records are in a callable status. Records may not be callable because: - Contacts have been scheduled to be called at a later date. - Contacts have been completed with a contact reason code - Contacts are being cached by one or more dialers. See
{xxx} for more information.
The campaign {xxx} on server
{xxx} has been paused.
The campaign {xxx} will not be started on server {xxx}
The campaign {xxx} on server {xxx} has been paused because TS API calls are failing. The most likely cause of the TS API failures is that TS Server is not running.
The line group {xxx} selected for dialing on campaign {xxx} is invalid or contains no lines on server {xxx}. Please select another line group. See {xxx} for more information.
OR
The workgroup {xxx} selected for campaign {xxx} is invalid or contains no agents. Please select another workgroup. See {xxx} for more information.
The connection {xxx} does not have a default database or is not a udl file that can be used by
The connection {xxx} does not specify a default database or is not a valid udl file. The connection must include a udl file and specify a default database. See
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The connection {xxx} has a collation type that does not match the collation type of the
TempDB database.
The connection {xxx} references database {xxx} which has a collation type
{xxx}. The collation type of tempdb is {xxx}. These collation types must be identical. See {xxx} for more information.
The user {xxx} has been placed on break from campaign {xxx} on server {xxx}.
The user {xxx} has been placed on break from campaign {xxx} on server {xxx}, because a TS API call failed. Campaign {xxx} will continue dialing (up to the pause error threshold) for other agents if this TS problem is specific to this user.
Unknown status message received.
A status message reported by one or more of the Dialer subsystems could not be displayed. Client support libraries may be out of sync with server components. DialerStatusMessage m_ID:{xxx}. See {xxx} for more information.
Related Topics
Feedback
Dialer History Messages panel
In the Dialer History Messages panel, you'll find event and status messages that were logged by the Central Campaign
Server, Outbound Dialer Servers, and by other internal processes, such as
DialerTran. You must manually update the information in this panel by clicking the Refresh button. When you do, the most recent messages posted to Dialer history will appear in the panel.
Columns
The Dialer History Messages panel contains the following columns. You can sort the messages by any column in either ascending or descending order by clicking the column headier.
Type
>This value in this column identifies the type of message. For example:
• >Error indicates a significant problem, such as loss of data or loss of functionality.
• >Warning indicates an event that is not necessarily significant, but may indicate a possible future problem.
For example, when disk space is low, a Warning will be logged.
• >Information describes the successful operation of an application or subsystem.
Time
>Time stamp that indicates when an event occurred.
Site
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>Name of the ODS associated with this message.
Campaign
>Name of the campaign associated with this message - if known.
Agent
>Name of the call center agent associated with this message - if applicable.
Message
>Text of the message entry.
Messages
The following table lists all of the messages, in alphabetical order, that you might see in the Dialer History Messages panel. The {xxx} indicates content that will be filled in by Dialer at the time the message is generated.
Dialer History Messages Details
A COM exception occurred.
A Notifier request failed.
A COM exception has occurred. Error: {xxx}
A Notifier request failed. Error: {xxx}
A system status message was removed from the status view.
The following system status error was removed from the status view: {xxx}
A warning error was reported by a Policy.
A warning was reported by Policy: {xxx}. Message: {xxx}
A Win32 exception occurred.
ACD workgroup not active on server.
Active Group Change
A Win32 exception has occurred. Exception: {xxx}
The ACD workgroup {xxx} is not active on this IC server. Please add or enable this ACD workgroup before trying to start the campaign.
Active group changed from {xxx} to group {xxx}
Active station lookup failed.
An error occurred while trying to lookup the active station for Agent: {xxx}. Error:
{xxx}. The error may indicate a problem with Client Services, please check the event log on the IC server for further errors.
Agent set active group from {xxx} to {xxx} Agent Active Group Change
Agent not active, action ignored
A requested action will be ignored because the associated agent is not active in the campaign.
Agent not found in cache
The listed agent could not be located in the dialer cache. This may be due to the
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Agent not logged in, Action ignored agent recently logging off or being forced out of the campaign after a connection failure. Please ensure that the agent is logged into the campaign or that they are logging out correctly. If the errors persist please contact Interactive
Intelligence Support.
A requested action will be ignored because the associated agent is not logged into the campaign.
Agent Ping Failed
The listed agent has been automatically logged out of the campaign. The automatic logout was due to the loss of connection between the agent's scripter application and the Dialer process. If the agent exited the application without logging out then these errors should be expected, otherwise there may be network or custom application problems. If the errors persist please contact
Interactive Intelligence Support.
Agent status changed to an ACD available status before a disposition was received.
Scripting applications should prohibit agents from becoming available prior to dispositioning outbound calls.
Agent {xxx} has changed to an ACD available status prior to call disposition.
An agent has attempted to disposition an interaction that the agent does not own.
An agent dispositioned a call that the agent does not own. This may be because the agent is not answering or the agent has transferred the call to another agent logged into the campaign. The action that was attempted on Call
ID {xxx} will be ignored.
An error occurred while validating a table.
An error occurred validating a campaign table. Error: {xxx} Table: {xxx}
An error was reported by a Policy. An error was reported by Policy: {xxx} Message: {xxx}
An event log message was reported by a rule action.
An exception has occurred.
An information message was reported by a Policy.
An unknown exception has occurred.
An error was reported by a rule action. nRule: {xxx} nRule Action: {xxx} nError
Message: {xxx}
An exception has occurred. Error: {xxx}
An information message was reported by Policy: {xxx}. Message: {xxx}
An unknown exception has occurred while performing operation: {xxx}
Attempt blocked. Automated calls may not be attempted on
Manual Calling Server.
When using the Manual Calling Server feature, automated called cannot be placed.
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Behavior item failed to complete without error.
The behavior: {xxx} failed to run properly. The error that was encountered: {xxx}
Blended pause lifted for campaign
The blended pause for the listed campaign has been lifted.
Call ID not found within contact attributes.
Call Id attribute is not present in the attributes to be updated to the database. The Call Id is needed to find the contact data associated with this interaction. Unable to process completion for campaign.
Call List has recycled.
Campaign has been reset.
Call List has recycled. Number of recycles remaining: {xxx}. Contact records for new recycle: {xxx}.
Campaign has been paused due to an error.
Campaign {xxx} has been paused because the contact columns could not be loaded. Ensure that the Campaign Server is running and then set the campaign's status to Manual On. If this error occurs frequently please contact Interactive
Intelligence Support.
Campaign has been reset. The reset action occurs when an Administrator manually selects 'Reset Campaign' from the administrative plug-in or automatically via a Rule Action associated with the running campaign.
Campaign ID not found with contact attributes.
Campaign not found in cache.
Contact data does not contain a Campaign Id attribute.
Campaign initialization failed.
Campaign Server was unable to commit table properties to the configuration file. Initialization for campaign: {xxx} has been aborted. Error: {xxx}
Campaign is not 'Manual On' or
'On'
Campaign status is not 'On' or 'Manual On'. Campaign will not be started.
Campaign is now in a forced power dialing mode.
The campaign is now in forced power dialing mode. Current abandon rate of
{xxx} has exceeded max rate of {xxx}
The listed campaign could not be located in the dialer cache. Please ensure that the campaign is turned on. OR Contact data does not contain a Campaign Id attribute. If the errors persist please contact Interactive Intelligence Support.
Campaign Pause
Campaign Pause lifted.
The campaign has been paused. Dialing will continue only when the pause has been lifted.
The campaign pause has been lifted from Interaction Administrator and dialing for the campaign will now resume.
Campaign paused due to
Blended activity
Predictions made for the listed campaign will now be paused. The number of inbound calls {xxx} is greater than the configured maximum {xxx} for workgroup:
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{xxx}.
Campaign Server access to the management object failed.
The campaign server management interface pointer could not be obtained.
Restarting the Interaction Center service may be required to correct this error. If this error persists please contact Interactive Intelligence Support.
Campaign Server failed to access the configuration file.
The Campaign Server was not able to read or write the xml configuration file
'dialer_config.xml'. Ensure that this file exists, is not read-only, and is parsable by
Internet Explorer. Also ensure that there is adequate disk space to write to this file. If this error persists please contact Interactive Intelligence Support.
Campaign Server has reached the maximum number of threads allowed.
This typically means that all processing threads are hung. Contact Interactive
Intelligence Support immediately. A restart of the Interaction Center Service may be required.
Communication with the
Campaign Server failed
A failure occurred while registering this Dialer site with the Campaign
Server. This typically means that the Campaign Server is not started or active. Please ensure the IC service has been started and is active on the Central
Campaign Server Machine.
Contact does not have a valid
Phone Number
Database connection error
The contact associated with Row ID {xxx} does not have a callable phone number.
A connection to the database could not be established. Please verify that the connection: {xxx} is valid before using with any campaign. Typically, this error means that an invalid UDL file has been used or the file that was in use has been deleted.
Date Format could not be parsed The data passed in for a date value could not be parsed. Date value: {xxx}
Dialer Tran Server has started The Dialer Tran Server has started successfully
Dialer Tran Server not started.
Dialer Tran Server restarting.
The Dialer Tran Server could not start due to an error connecting to Notifier.
The Dialer Tran Server is restarting because too many processing threads are hung.
Dialing Compliance
Attempt blocked - Automated calls may not be attempted on Manual Calling
Server
Dialing has been paused due to high CPU utilization
All campaigns have been paused due to a High-CPU utilization issue. Once the
CPU utilization drops below the configured point, campaign dialing will continue.
Dialing has continued due to drop in CPU utilization
All campaign dialing has continued due to the CPU utilization dropping below the configured maximum.
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Enabling Period Stats Failed
An error was received while trying to enable period stats for the
Workgroup:<{xxx}>. Please ensure this workgroup is active and defined as ACDenabled.
The configured error threshold for a campaign has been exceeded. Error threshold exceeded
Event interface not found in GIT
An event interface object was not found in Global Interface Table. Typically this indicates problems with Interaction Administrator. Additional Information: {xxx}
Forced Power mode restriction has been lifted.
Normal dialing has been restored for the listed campaign. The forced power dialing restriction has been removed. Current Abandon rate {xxx} Max Abandon rate of {xxx}
Insert / Update contains no Data Insert or update operation was aborted because there was no data to process.
Interaction not found in cache
The interaction could not be located in the dialer cache. This may be due to multiple completions being sent from a single scripter for a single call. The action that was attempted on Call ID {xxx} will be ignored.
Line group is not active on the server.
The line group {xxx} is not active on this IC server. Please add or enable this line group before trying to start the campaign.
Malformed call list update
Marking call as Ambiguous
A call list update was badly formed: {xxx}
A call that was placed and routed to an agent was not completed. Marking the
Interaction as Ambiguous.
Memory allocation failed
No Lines Available
A memory allocation failed while trying to create a new object. Please check the memory use on this machine via the Task Manager or Performance Monitor.
New tables have been created for campaign.
One or more of the following tables were created for the referenced campaign:
{xxx}
There are no lines available for Line group: {xxx}. The current request will be ignored.
Object identifier not found.
Policy Set failed to load
Property load failed.
Object Identifier was not found while attempting the requested operation.
Object Identifier: {xxx}. The operation will be ignored.
A policy set could not be loaded by the campaign server. The evaluation of this policy will be ignored.
An error occurred while trying to load the property: {xxx} from the Campaign
Server. This may indicate a problem with the Campaign Server or a versioning problem with the Interaction Dialer binaries.
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SQL operation failed
Statistics request failed for a column or statistic.
Table validation failed.
The campaign has recycled.
The campaign has reset.
The campaign pace has been adjusted manually.
An SQL Operation failed to complete. Please check the configuration of the campaign and associated connection.
Campaign Server request for statistics data failed for the following column or statistic: {xxx}. Ensure that the DialerStatRepeater subsystem is running and not reporting any errors. Evaluation of this statistic will be ignored for 30 seconds. If this error persists please contact Interactive Intelligence Support.
The table {xxx} could not be initialized or validated. Ensure that the table structure has not been altered and that it is accessible to Interaction Dialer.
The campaign was recycled by Rule {xxx} of RuleSet {xxx}
OR
The campaign was recycled by user {xxx} using application {xxx} on workstation
{xxx}.
The campaign was reset by Rule {xxx} of RuleSet {xxx}
OR
The referenced campaign was reset by user {xxx} on workstation {xxx} using {xxx}.
The campaign pace was adjusted manually. The new pace was set to
{xxx}. Enable configuration change auditing and execute the Audit Report to view configuration changes applied to the system.
The Query for contacts left in recycle failed
The query to return the number of remaining contacts failed.
The scheduled date is invalid
The scheduled date passed in from the script was invalid. The scheduled time value was equal to {xxx}. Setting the callback for 24 hours from now.
Unable to evaluate a rule set item.
An error occurred while attempting to evaluate rule item {xxx} for rule set {xxx}
Unable to retrieve the number of contacts left in the current recycle.
Unable to retrieve the number of contacts left in the current recycle.
Warnings occurred while processing database update.
Related Topics
Warnings were generated while processing a database update. Error(s): {xxx}
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Dialer Overview
This view displays information about campaigns, wrap-up categories per campaign, and agents per campaign.
The top pane shows important
campaign statistics . In addition, you can
control campaign execution directly from this pane by selecting a row for a campaign, and then right-click to
display a context menu. See Campaign
Execution Control for more information.
The graph pane displays Dialer wrap-up statistics
for a time interval (period, shift,
recycle, campaign) and agent(s) selected.
The pane in the lower right displays information about the stage an agent is currently in. You can use this to compare the performance of multiple agents across sites and campaigns in a workflow.
The Interaction Supervisor Help for IC
Business Manager explains how to work with views and alerts. To open this help system in IC Business Manager, select
Interaction Supervisor from the Help menu.
Feedback
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Dialer Real-time Agent Management
Feedback
Call Center Supervisors can use this view to move agents between campaigns in order to optimize the use of available agents. Supervisors can select a campaign, see what agents are logged into the campaign, see what agents are available and then log Agents into or out of a campaign. This gives Supervisors the ability to alter the agent pool participating in a campaign.
It is important to keep in mind that if a Supervisor wants to be able to log agents in and out of campaigns, the agents themselves cannot have the Logon Campaign right.
Note: For more information on the Logon Campaign right, see the Security Rights topic in the Interaction
Administrator help system.
Campaign
>Selects the campaign whose agent participation you want to manage.
Available Agents
>Lists names of agents and the active campaigns they are currently receiving calls for.
Logged On Agents
>Lists the names of agents participating in the currently selected campaign.
Log On
>Logs any agents selected in the Available Agents list into the campaign.
Log Off
>Logs off any agents selected in the Logged On Agents list out the campaign.
Feedback
Penetration Rate view
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The Penetration Rate view provides details about Dialer penetration rates.
View Options
Contact List
>This control allows you to select a contact list to view data about.
Phone Number column
>Use this control to select a single column in the contact list that contains phone numbers. You may optionally select
[All Phone Number Columns] to select all columns designated as storing phone numbers.
Uploads
>Allows selection of penetration rate data for records uploaded to the contact list. If you uploaded records to the contact list, you can select from this list.
Penetration Criteria
>Click Select to open the Penetration Criteria dialog. This dialog allows you to filter the selection of penetration rate records based on wrap-up codes, calling modes, and campaign, or report any attempt to dial contact records. When you finish making selections, click OK to dismiss the dialog.
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>
Start Date
>Sets a date and time used to select penetration rate records. The drop list down arrow displays a calendar. The up and down buttons increment or decrement the day, month, day of month, year, hour, minute, or second selected.
Frequency
>Scopes the frequency of data to hourly, weekly, daily, or monthly intervals.
Calculation Mode
Selects the method used to calculate penetration. Selections include Call List Penetration, Phone Number Penetration,
Call List Saturation, and Phone Number Saturation. style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Calculation
Mode style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Use Case style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Formula style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Call List
Penetration style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Ensure all records in a given list have been attempted at least once. style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Count of
Unique Attempts / Count of Call List
Records style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Maximum
Value = 100% style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginstyle="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginstyle="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-
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Number Penetration style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Call List
Saturation style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Phone
Number Saturation bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Ensure at least
1 dialing attempt for every phone number on every record. bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Count of
Unique Phone Attempts / count of
Phone Numbers style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Maximum
Value = 100% style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Show average penetration level of records. 500% would indicate that each account had been attempted 5 times on average. style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Count of Total
Call Attempts / Count of Call List
Records style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;"> style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Maximum
Value = None. style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Show average penetration level of phone numbers.
500% would indicate that each phone number had been attempted
5 times on average. style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Count of Total
Call Attempts / Count of Phone
Numbers style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;"> style="margin-top: 3.0pt; marginbottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Maximum
Value = None.
Penetration Rate (result)
>Displays penetration data returned by the query. Columns include Time, Penetration count, Total Records, and
Percentage.
Related Topics
Penetration Rate Report Data .
Feedback
Phone Number Type Overview
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Site
>Selects the name of the Outbound Dialer server or [All sites].
Campaign
>Selects the name of a Campaign.
Interval
>Selects a statistic collection interval .
Phone Number Type
>A customer-defined phone number type (home, cell, work, etc.). See Define Phone Number Types .
Contacts
>The total number of contacts that have been made to this phone number type.
Attempts
>The total number of times this phone number type has been attempted.
Skill Overview
Feedback
predictive, power, and preview modes. It displays contacts by Skill Set to indicate which agent skills are needed. As with most views, you can click a column header to sort by that column.
View Options
Site
>This control allows you to select agents from a single ODS server, or all sites. The view is automatically updated when you make a selection.
Campaign
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>This control changes the currently monitored campaign. When clicked, it displays a drop list of campaigns to choose from. The view is automatically updated when you make a selection.
Shortcut Menu Commands
Shortcut menu items appear if you right-click a data row in the grid.
Edit alerts…
>Adds or edits an alert. An alert notifies when a statistic is in or out of a chosen range, based on statistical items or values on the IC Server. An active alert can change the color of the display, play a wave file, display an icon in your system tray, send electronic mail, or invoke a handler.
>Selecting this shortcut command opens the Edit Alerts dialog, which is customized for the type and combination of statistics currently selected.
>
Add/Remove statistics…
>Opens a dialog allowing the selection of statistics in the current view to be changed.
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Feedback
Stage Overview
Site
>Selects the name of the Outbound Dialer server or [All sites].
Campaign
>Selects the name of a Campaign.
Interval
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Selects a statistic collection interval .
Agent
>Selects a single agent or [All Agents]
Wrap-up Category Chart View
Feedback
This view shows wrap-up category statistics in a chart. Wrap-up categories classify the result of a contact attempt. Unlike wrap-up codes, which are user-defined, the same standard wrap-up category codes are mapped to
all campaigns. See also: Wrap-up Codes and Categories
Site
>Selects the name of the Outbound Dialer server or [All sites].
Campaign
>Selects the name of a Campaign.
Statistic
>Selects a Dialer wrap-up statistic .
Interval
>Selects a statistic collection interval .
Feedback
Wrap-up Code Chart View
This view shows wrap-up code statistics in a chart. Wrap-up codes are strings that indicate the completion status of a call step. Wrap-up codes are the disposition options that agents see in a script.
Site
>Selects the name of the Outbound Dialer server or [All sites].
Campaign
>Selects the name of a Campaign.
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Statistic
>Selects a Dialer wrap-up statistic .
Interval
>Selects a statistic collection interval .
Wrap-up Category
>See Wrap-up Codes and Categories
Zone Overview
Feedback
This time zone view displays callable records grouped by time zone. It summarizes dialing operations across multiple time zones to see how many contacts remain by zone. This is important for staffing at the start and end of days.
Supervisors can use this view to monitor whether Dialer has enough leads to dial for a particular zone. It indicates whether enough records per zone are available to keep the Outbound Dialer busy. It displays counts for each zone in the Zone Set assigned to campaigns. The campaign must be active in order for this view to show data. Zone
Overview does not show data for a campaign that is inactive.
Campaign
>Selects which campaign to show callable records grouped by time zone.
Zone
>The name of each time zone in the Zone Set. A Zone Set is a collection of zone entries. Each entry specifies when it is appropriate for an Outbound Dialer to call a particular time zone.
Status column
>This column indicates whether or not time zone blocking is in effect for a zone. If a zone is unblocked, Dialer can dial records for that zone.
Callable Records column
>The number of records in the call list that have a "C" (callable) or blank Status column.
Scheduled Records column
>The number of records in the call list that Dialer has sent back as scheduled. These calls will be placed according to call schedule times. The status for these records is "S", "O", "R", or "T".
Cached Records column
>The number of records that are currently held in memory by the Outbound Dialer. This is an assortment of records that were pulled from the schedule table or standard campaign calls that have been pulled to dial.
Total Records column
>The sum of callable, scheduled, and cached records.
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Dialer Statistics
Summarize the activity of a specific Dialer agent.
Totals that pertain to a campaign or site.
Summarize Dialer's performance as a whole.
Summarize the details of a specific phone number.
Summarize the details of a specific skill.
Summarize the activity for a specific Dialer stage.
Summarize the dispositions of Dialer calls
Feedback
Dialer Statistics
Dialer phone number detail statistics
Related Topics
Dialer Views in IC Business Manager
Statistic Condition Type (Contact Policy)
Feedback
Dialer agent statistics
These statistics summarize the activity of a specific Dialer agent.
Abandon Rate (by calls)
The percentage of total Dialer calls handled by this agent which were classified as abandons.
Abandon Rate (by contacts)
The percentage of total Dialer calls handled by this agent which were contacts and were classified as abandons.
Abandon Rate (by detections)
The percentage of Dialer calls handled by this agent which reached a live party and were classified as abandons.
Average Break Time
The average amount of time this agent spends on break.
Average Dialer Talk Time
The average amount of time this agent spends on each Dialer call.
Average Idle Time
The average amount of time this agent spends idle.
Average Non-Dialer Talk Time
The average amount of time this agent has spends on each non-Dialer call.
Average Talk Time
The average amount of time this agent has spent on each call.
Contact Rate
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The percentage of total Dialer calls handled by this agent which were classified as contacts.
Contacts Per Hour
The number of Dialer calls resulting in a contact which this agent handles per hour.
Dialer Calls
The number of Dialer calls this agent has completed.
Idle Periods
The number of times this agent has been idle.
Logged In Time
How long the agent has been logged into the campaign.
Non-Dialer Calls
The number of non-Dialer calls this agent has completed.
Percent Break Time
The percentage of this agent's time which has been spent on break.
Percent Dialer Talk Time
The percentage of this agent's time which has been spent on Dialer calls.
Percent Idle Time
The percentage of this agent's time which has been spent idle.
Percent non-Dialer Talk Time
The percentage of this agent's time which has been spent on non-Dialer calls.
Stage
The stage the agent is currently in.
Station
The station this agent is logged into.
Status
The agent's current status.
Successes Per Hour
The number of successful Dialer calls this agent handles per hour.
Successes Rate (by calls)
The percentage of total Dialer calls handled by this agent which were classified as successes.
Successes Rate (by contacts)
The percentage of Dialer calls handled by this agent which were contacts and were classified as successes.
Time in Stage
How long the agent has been in the current stage.
Time in Status
How long the agent has been in the current status.
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Total Abandons
The number of calls this agent has completed that were classified as abandons.
Total Break Time
The total amount of time this agent has spent on break.
Total Breaks
The number of times this agent has been on break.
Total Contacts
The number of calls this agent has completed that were classified as contacts.
Total Detections
The number of calls this agent has completed that were detected as a live speaker.
Total Dialer Talk Time
The total amount of time this agent has spent on connected Dialer calls.
Total Idle Time
The total amount of time this agent has spent idle.
Total Non-Dialer Talk Time
The total amount of time this agent has spent on connected non-Dialer calls.
Total Successes
The number of calls this agent has completed that were classified as successes.
Total Talk Time
The total amount of time this agent has spent on Dialer and non-Dialer calls.
Feedback
Dialer campaign statistics
Campaign statistics pertain to a campaign or site. These statistics are sometimes special values which represent "roll up" statistics across all entries of a type. When a campaign is reset, Dialer campaign statistics are reset to 0.
Afterwards, its statistics reflect data collected in the duration of time since that reset occurred.
Abandon Rate
The current abandon rate for this campaign. This is the ratio of system-identified abandons to system-detected live persons, as was determined by call analysis, for the period. The formula is (system-calculated abandons / system-
Active Agents
The number of agents currently active in this campaign. This number corresponds to the number of agents that are logged on and not on break.
Active Calls
The number of calls active within Dialer. This includes pending calls, outstanding calls, and connected calls.
Adjusted Calls Per Agent
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The number of calls Dialer needs to place on average, at this moment, to get a connection, adjusted by the pace.
Agents on Break
The number of agents logged into this campaign that are currently on break.
Cached Contacts
The number of contacts currently in Dialer's cache.
Calls Per Agent
The number of calls Dialer needs to place on average, at this moment, to get a connection.
Calls Per Hour
The number of calls this campaign will place in an hour.
Connected Calls
The number of calls currently connected in this campaign. This statistic includes calls that are connected and calls that are disconnected but are awaiting completion information to be sent by agents who are currently in a follow-up state.
Current Pace
This value reports the current pace of a campaign. The aggression level (pace) determines the speed with which the predictive algorithm tells the server to place outbound calls. The faster the pace, the more rapidly the Outbound
Dialer server places calls. For example, if the pace level is high, the predictive algorithm tells the server to place calls very quickly.
This value may have been adjusted in response to "Max Abandon Rate" settings, and other criteria, such as Contact
List quality. Pace ranges from -100 (not aggressive) to +100 (very aggressive). When the pace setting is 0, the pace is entirely determined by the predictive algorithm's statistical averaging. The Outbound Dialer server may change this pace setting at any time, if a maximum abandon rate is not set.
Effective Idle Agents
The number of idle agents with campaign priority taken into account.
Estimated Completion
The estimated length of time it will take this campaign to complete the current recycle. More specifically, Estimated
Completion time is the value representing the number of seconds remaining in the campaign. The value is calculated using the formula: (recycle size * 3600)/(calls per hour). The number of seconds remaining is then added to the current UTC time to create a future duration value.
In some cases, this future duration value cannot be accurately calculated and as such the Estimated Completion will not display a value. The rules for the Estimated Completion value are as follows:
• When the first agent logs in and a call is completed, Estimated Completion will update if an estimation can be made.
• If a campaign is estimated to complete in 60 seconds or less, Estimated Completion will display N/A since this time isn't significant enough for an estimation.
• When a campaign is completed, Estimated Completion will display N/A for that campaign.
• When all agents log out of a campaign, Estimated Completion will display N/A for that campaign.
Filter
The SQL Filter configured for a campaign, specifying which Contact List records should be dialed.
Filter Size
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The number of callable contacts in the contact list for this campaign. Specifically, the number of records in the
Contact List that are callable after application of a Filter, but ignoring the Zone Set settings. This is used to diagnose the effect the Filter has on the number of callable records. This statistic is also used to determine how effectively the list has been penetrated (regardless of recycle) left in the list. Once this number becomes small, the list has been sufficiently penetrated and a new filter should be applied, or a different campaign should be started.
Idle Agents
The number of agents logged into this campaign that are currently idle.
Last Error
The most recent error associated with this campaign.
Last Warning
The most recent warning associated with this campaign.
Non-Dialer Agents
The number of agents in this campaign that are currently on non-Dialer calls.
Priority
The configured priority of this campaign.
Proceeding Calls
The number of calls currently proceeding in this campaign. These are calls that are currently being dialed or in the process of call analysis. Once a live speaker has been found (based on whether call analysis and answering machine detection has been enabled) the call will be routed to an agent via ACD. A Proceeding call will be considered
Connected once an agent is physically connected to the call.
Recycle Blocked
The number of contacts that will not be dialed because they are currently zone blocked. This can be used to diagnose the effect the Zone Set is having on the number of callable records. Once a time zone becomes active (calls can be placed to this zone) the count of records in this zone will be subtracted from this value and added to the Recycle Size
(no recycle is required in order for the newly active records to be picked up).
Recycle Size
The number of contacts left in the current recycle for this campaign. This value indicates the number of records in the
Contact List that must be processed before the list is recycled. In other words, this is the number of phone calls that must be placed before the next recycle of the Contact List can occur. This number will decrease as the numbers of calls placed for the current recycle increases. This includes only records that are callable when considering both the active Filter and the Zone Set associated with the campaign.
Recycles Remaining
The number of recycles that need to be carried out in order for the campaign to complete. The maximum number of recycles is configured for each campaign and dictates how many times the dialer will go through the list before completing or moving on to the next campaign. If a campaign is configured to recycle indefinitely then the remaining recycles statistic is not used; the dialer will continually reprocess contacts from the list.
Sort
The sort order used by a campaign. Specifically, the SQL sort criteria configured for a campaign that specifies the sort order in which Contact List records should be dialed. Sort Criteria contains comma-separated values that indicate the current sort order of the Contact List and works exactly like the ORDER BY clause of an SQL selection statement. An example might be: 'PhoneNumber, Name DESC'.
Status
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The running status of a campaign.
Total Agents
The number of agents currently logged into this campaign.
Workgroup
The workgroup used by this campaign.
Feedback
Dialer overall statistics
These high-level statistics summarize Dialer's performance as a whole.
Active Agents
The number of agents currently active in Dialer, across all campaigns.
Calls Per Agent
The number of calls Dialer needs to place on average, at this moment, to get a connect.
Calls Per Hour
The number of calls Dialer will place in an hour.
Connected Calls
The number of calls currently connected in Dialer, across all campaigns.
Proceeding Calls
The number of calls currently proceeding in Dialer, across all campaigns.
Total Agents
The number of agents currently logged into Dialer, across all campaigns.
Dialer phone number detail statistics
Statistics summarizing the details of a specific phone number.
Attempts
The total number of times this phone number type has been attempted.
Attempts Abandoned
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been classified as abandons.
Attempts Answering Machine
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been classified as answering machines.
Attempts Busy
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been classified as busy.
Attempts Fax
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been classified as fax.
Feedback
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Attempts No Answer
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been classified as no answer.
Attempts Remote Hangup
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been classified as remote hangups.
Attempts Rescheduled
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been rescheduled.
Attempts System Hangup
The total number of attempts to this phone number type which have been classified as system hangups.
Contact Rate
The contact rate for this phone number type. The rate is calculated using the number of contacts and the total number of attempts.
Contacts
The total number of contacts that have been made to this phone number type.
Feedback
Dialer skill statistics
These statistics summarize the details of a specific skill. Skill statistics help supervisors manage skills-based dialing in predictive, power, and preview modes.
Finishing Agents
The number of finishing agents active in the campaign with this skill combination.
Cached Contacts
The number of contacts requiring this skill combination which are currently in Dialer's cache. This is an assortment of records that were pulled from the schedule table or standard campaign calls that have been pulled to dial.
Callable Contacts
The number of contacts requiring this skill combination which are callable. These records in the call list have a "C"
(callable) or blank Status column.
Idle Agents
The number of idle agents active in the campaign with this skill combination.
Total Agents
The number of agents active in the campaign with this skill combination.
Outstanding Contacts
The number of contacts requiring this skill combination which are currently being called. These calls are proceeding
(i.e. dialing).
Scheduled Contacts
The number of contacts requiring this skill combination which are scheduled. These calls will be placed according to call schedule times. The status for these records is "S", "O", "R", or "T".
Total Contacts
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The total number of contacts requiring this skill combination. This is a sum of callable, scheduled, and cached records.
Feedback
Dialer stage statistics
Statistics summarizing the activity for a specific Dialer stage.
Average Time
The average time a call spends in this stage.
Completed Calls
The number of calls that were completed while in this stage.
Percent Completed
The percentage of the calls that enter this stage that are completed in this stage.
Total Calls
The number of calls that entered this stage.
Total Time
The total time calls have spent in this stage.
Feedback
Dialer wrap up statistics
Statistics summarizing the dispositions of Dialer calls.
Average Time
The average amount of time this agent spends on Dialer calls with this wrap-up category and code.
Percent Calls
The percentage of the total calls this agent has completed which they completed with this wrap-up category and code.
Percent Time
The percentage of the time this agent has spent on calls for this wrap-up category and code to the total time the agent has spend on calls.
Total Calls
The number of calls this agent has completed with a specific wrap-up category and code.
Total Time
The total time this agent has spent on Dialer calls with a specific wrap-up category and code.
Feedback
How Call Analysis detections affect Abandon Rate
This topic provides supplemental information about Call Analysis Detections as they affect calculation of the Abandon
Rate statistics. The method used to calculate Abandon Rate can directly affect agent idle time and the speed of
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Dialer Manager Printable Help outbound dialing. The Detections option calculates abandon rate in a way that plans for less-than-perfect Call
Analysis. The best way to understand this option is to consider a real-world scenario.
Suppose that 250 numbers are dialed, and that 150 of those calls are auto-dispositioned. The remaining 100 calls are classified as live people by Call Analysis. Dialer routes those 100 calls to agents, but 3 of those 100 calls are abandoned because there are no available agents to take the call. Of those 3 abandoned calls, 2 were actually live people and 1 was really an answering machine.
The other 97 calls are dispositioned by agents. Of the 97 dispositioned by agents, 78 calls were actually live people and 19 are not live people and are marked as such by agents (17 answering machines, 2 SITs). Agents almost always correctly identify a live person versus an answering machine, so their "call analysis" is very accurate.
Using the standard mapping of what is a contact and what is not (as configured in Interaction Administrator), the number of contacts is 81 (78 plus the 3 abandoned calls, since System HangUp is a wrap-up Category). In this case the abandoned rate as calculated by Dialer is (3 / 81) * 100 = 3.7%.
This is not the actual abandon rate, since Call Analysis is not perfect. If it were perfect, no answering machines would go to agents or get abandoned. So, the actual abandon rate is (actual live people abandoned / actual live people detected) or (2 / 78) * 100 = 2.6%.
Poor call analysis at a Dialer site affects abandon rate, since the number of contacts decreases while the possibility of an abandoned call from calls routed stays the same. This can cause contact rate to decrease and abandon rate to increase, leading to slower dialing and more agent idle time.
To alleviate this situation, use the "Based on Detections" option to make the "best effort" calculation possible with current technology. This approach considers that the system thought that 100 calls were live people, and 3 of those system-detected live people were abandoned. It recognizes that the system has no way to know that 1 of those 3 system-detected live people that were abandoned was really an answering machine. Therefore, due to a computer's less-than-perfect ability to detect live people, the best calculation of abandon rate in Dialer would be:
(system-calculated abandons / system-detected live people) * 100 or
(3 / 100) * 100 = 3%.
The Detections calculation returns a value (3%) that is lower than the abandon rate that would usually be calculated by
Dialer (3.7%), and which is closer to a perfectly calculated abandon rate (2.6%) which cannot be determined, due to less-than-perfect ability to detect live people.
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Dialer Reports
Interaction Reporter
Dialer reports run in IC Business Manager's Interaction Reporter module. Interaction Reporter is an IC Business
Manager application that allows managers to run pre-defined reports, using filters to configure report parameters.
Report Filters can be saved to run reports again. Users can annotate, print, and export any report.
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Dialer Reports display detailed information on Agent success on Dialer calls and Dialing algorithm statistics. The following Dialer Reports are available in Interaction Reporter:
Agent Success Results
>This report displays detailed information about an Agent's success on Dialer calls that were routed to the agent.
Call History
>This report displays detailed information for all dialing results from call history.
Campaign Disposition Summary
>This report contains an analysis of call dispositions, by Agent-assigned dispositions and Dialer-assigned dispositions, with wrap-up category and wrap-up code breakdown.
Campaign Statistics
>This report displays dialing algorithm statistics by interval including record and agent counts,pace, and campaign events.
Campaign Success Results
>This report displays a campaign analysis by interval, including: Agent, Dials, Contacts, Successes, Right Party
Contacts (RPC), and actual results.
Call Analysis
>This report displays a breakdown of call analysis results in summary, by hour of day, and by detailed result.
Agent Utilization
>This report displays time usage information by agent across all campaigns, including: talk, ACW, non-Dialer, idle, break, preview.
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Agent Disposition Summary
>This report displays detailed information about agent-assigned call dispositions, with an analysis of call counts and call lengths by disposition.
Agent Utilization by Campaign
>This report displays time usage information for agents, by campaign, on Dialer-related tasks.
For more detailed information on Dialer reports, see the Interaction Reporter Help in IC Business Manager.
Data Source used for Reporting
Dialer reports use the same IC Data source as all other reports in Interaction Reporter, which is IC Report Logs. This data source is already configured for CIC using the IC Data Sources container in Interaction Administrator. No additional configuration is required to run Dialer reports.
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Penetration Rate Report Data
Feature Overview
Customers can develop penetration rate reports to show the number of contacts that were contacted (the numerator) contrasted with a number of records in a contact list (the denominator). The penetration rate calculation is simple but input criteria must be carefully considered.
For instance, there are several ways to define what a "penetrated" contact is. This could mean one of a contact's phone numbers had been dialed, the contact was reached, and Dialer obtained a final disposition (Success or Failure) or the call was dispositioned with a given wrap up code or category or a set of them. That's for the numerator.
Likewise, the denominator might be more complicated than the number of contacts. Some customers may desire to use the number of entries in a given contact column, the number or unique entries in a given contact column, or even a range of values in an arbitrary contact list column.
Requirements
It is necessary to uniquely identify each contact list upload to group contacts that were uploaded together. This establishes a correspondence between the state of a contact list at a certain point in time and call completion data.
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This identifier, called UploadId hereafter, is a sequential number stored in the contact list. A new UploadId is created each time new contact columns are assigned to a contact list. (By default, the UploadId identifier is assigned a value of -1.) Each contact in a contact list is assigned an UploadId. Contact lists are scanned regularly to ensure that all contacts have an UploadID. This covers contacts that were added manually or by priority dialing; the Just In Time (JIT) stored procedure.
The denominator can be:
• The number of contacts in a contact list table.
• The number of non-null, non-empty phone numbers in a given contact column of a contact list table.
• The number of non-null, non-empty and unique phone numbers in a given contact column of a contact list table.
• Ranges of values in an arbitrary column of the contact list, combined with any of the above (to be implemented in a future SU)
The numerator can be the number of contacts that:
• Had been dialed
• Had been dialed by a given campaign or set of campaigns
• Had been dialed by a given site or set of sites
• Had been dialed and calls were completed with a given set of wrap up categories
• Had been dialed and calls were completed with a given set of wrap up category/code pairs
• Any combination of the above
Example Reports
The example below uses "pseudo-SQL" to illustrate a simple report that calculates penetration rate by comparing the number of dialed contacts to all contacts:
SELECT count(1) FROM numerator WHERE UploadId = @N / SELECT NumItems FROM I3PenetrationData WHERE
UploadId = @N AND PenetrationType = 'Contacts'
Another report might compare the number of successes to all contacts:
SELECT count(1) FROM numerator WHERE UploadId = @N AND WrapUpCategory = 'Success' / SELECT NumItems
FROM I3PenetrationData WHERE UploadId = @N AND PenetrationType = 'Contacts'
A more complicated report could be created for an administrator who wants to know how many unique contact home phone numbers had penetrated with wrap up categories 'Success' or 'Failure' assuming that the column name of the home phone number is 'PHONENUMBER':
SELECT count(1) FROM numerator WHERE UploadId = @N AND WrapUpCategory IN ('Success', 'Failure') AND
PhoneNumberColumn = 'PHONENUMBER' /
SELECT NumItems FROM I3PenetrationData WHERE UploadId = @N AND PenetrationType = 'Unique Phone Number'
AND PenetreationSubType = 'PHONENUMBER'
Upload Identifier (UploadId)
The upload identifier (UploadId) is a sequential number created every time a new contact list is uploaded or contacts are added to an existing contact list using the Import Contact List wizard. Upload ID is then assigned to the new contacts. This assignment is performed using a column named "i3_upload_id" in the contact list. In parallel, a new row is added in the Upload table. Whenever a new contact column is added using the contact list configuration, it is associated with all existing upload IDs associated with the current table name/contact list ID pair. The numerator and the denominator data must reside in the same DBMS. See Penetration Rate Tables ERD .
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DialerTranServer is responsible for storing call results and for managing penetration data tables using the same database connection as the one used for the contact list. The call results are stored in a new table called
I3_<ContactList>_PEN. This table resides in the same database as the contact list. It contains a subset of the current
CallHistory table. A new row is added in this table for every call completion. This makes it possible to base reports on actual observation or experimental data.
Penetration Rate Tables ERD
The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) below shows all tables involved with penetration rate and their relationship.
Legend:
• PK =
Primary Key
• FK =
Foreign Key
• Bold =
Character
Fields.
Required columns cannot be
NULL.
Penetration Rate Table
Contact List table
I3_<ContactList>_PEN table
I3PenetrationUpload table
I3PenetrationRange table
Description
The contact list is listed to show its relationship with the other tables and the existence of the new column named i3_upload_id. Most contact list columns are not shown for brevity sake.
This is the numerator. It contains one row for each completed call of the corresponding contact list table.
An integer value in this table is incremented every time a new row is added in this table. That occurs when contacts added to a contact list.
This table is reserved for future use.
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I3PenetrationData table This table contains the actual penetration data, specifically two rows per contact column (one for all values and one for unique values) plus one row per contact list to account for all contacts. The fields are:
To ensure the integrity of penetration data, Dialer polls Contact list tables every 30 minutes. If any Upload IDs are assigned a value of -1 (the default value), new Upload IDs are created and assigned to those contacts. This helps ensure that priority calls have Upload IDs.
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Regulatory Compliance
Federal Do Not Call Registry
Internal Do Not Call Lists and Additional DNC Resources
Managing DNC in Interaction Dialer
Compliance in the Outbound Collections Contact Center
Common Compliance Challenges and Additional Considerations
Overview
This chapter provides background information about the Federal Do-Not-Call Registry and Telemarketing Sales Rule. It lists American states that maintain individual do-not-call (DNC) lists, and explains modifications that states made to federal telemarketing rules. It explains how to manage Do-Not-Call lists, which are called DNC Sources in Interaction
Dialer.
You will learn how to perform an initial bulk scrub of contact lists to prevent unwanted numbers from being dialed.
Afterward, Dialer's just-in-time scrubbing feature will exclude contacts whose DNC status changed between the time the contact list was bulk scrubbed and the time the contact is dialed.
This chapter explains how Filters can be used to dial only call those records that meet a certain criteria. Sorting is discussed too, should you need to dial the list in a certain order. While these tasks can be accomplished through back end procedures on the database management system, they are simplified through the use of Filters and Sort Criteria in Interaction Dialer.
Federal Do Not Call Registry
Legislative Timeline
Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Exemptions to Federal Regulations
Legislative Timeline
Unlike inbound ACD systems, use of predictive dialers is governed by certain state and federal statutes, depending on the purpose of the outbound dial. For companies who engage in telesales, compliance with Do Not Call registries has emerged from an internal best practice into State and Federal regulation.
Although the Federal Do Not Call Registry was enacted in October 2003, legislation preceded the registry by over a decade:
1991 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) drafts the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
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1992
1994
1995
1999
2003
2007
In December, the TCPA is enacted.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) begins drafting the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), an addendum to the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act.
The TSR is enacted.
After reviewing the effect of the TSR for five years, the FTC proposes the creation of a National "Do Not
Call" list.
Following a series of hearings from consumers groups and businesses who engaged in telemarketing, the TSR is amended in January to include the Federal Do Not Call Registry.
In June, the FTC begins taking requests from consumers to be enrolled on the Do Not Call registry.
There are over ten million phone calls the first day.
On October 1st, the Federal Do Not Call list officially goes into effect. There are over 50 million consumers who are pre-enrolled.
By Q4, nearly 150 million consumers have enrolled both household and mobile numbers on the Federal
Do Not Call List.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Created by the FCC in 1991, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was developed in response to the increase in telephone sales in marketing/business practices and the increase in consumer complaints. Key provisions of the TCPA for businesses who made such calls included:
• Limit telemarketing calls to the period between 8 A.M. and 9 P.M. (local time for the number dialed.)
• Maintain an internal "Do Not Call" list and honor any request to not be called again. A person's name must be kept on the list indefinitely.
• Have a clearly written policy (with regard to TCPA procedures), available to anyone upon request.
• Have a clearly defined training program for personnel making the telephone solicitations.
• Service bureaus (including outsourced marketing centers) must forward all requests to be removed from a list to the company on whose behalf they are calling. It is that company, not the service bureau, who is held legally liable under the TCPA. The "Do Not Call" request must also be honored by any affiliate or subsidiary of the company if there is a reasonable expectation on the part of the consumer that the request would apply also to the affiliate or subsidiary.
Telemarketing Sales Rule
In 1994, the U.S. Congress estimated that, despite the TCPA, consumers lost nearly $40 billion annually due to telemarketing fraud. Congress stated that interstate telemarketing fraud had become an issue of "such magnitude" that existing government resources were overwhelmed and insufficient to adequately protect consumers.
In 1995, the Federal Trade Commission exercised its jurisdiction over fraud over state lines and developed the
Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) as part of the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Prevention Act. Using the guidelines set forth in the TCPA, the TSR made the following provisions:
• Required telemarketers to make specific disclosures of material information
• Prohibited misrepresentations
• Set payment restrictions for the sale of certain goods and services
As technology progressed, the TSR was amended in 2003 to also include:
• Telemarketing companies transmitting of Caller ID information
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• Maximum percentage limits for abandoned outbound calls
• Requirement telemarketing companies to retain certain business records for two years
• Creation of the National "Do Not Call Registry"
Exemptions to Federal Regulations
Although the vast majority of organizations who market using outbound dialing are covered by the TCPA, TSR and
Federal Do Not Call Registry, there are situations in which these Federal laws do not apply.
The FTC does not have jurisdiction over banking, common carriers (including telephone companies and airlines), nor not-for-profit organizations. These industries therefore do not fall under the auspices of the TSR. Outsourced companies marketing for these companies are subject, however, to TSR compliance.
Other exemptions to the Federal regulations include:
• An organization with whom the consumer has an established business relationship (EBR.) An EBR is defined as a consumer inquiry, application, purchase or transaction regarding products or services offered by the person or entity involved. The EBR is in effect for eighteen months following the last business transaction or three months after the last inquiry or application.
• Organization has received prior written permission from the consumer.
• Calls which are not commercial or do not include unsolicited advertisements (including surveys and political campaigning)
• Business-to-Business calls; business phones may not be registered on the Federal Do Not Call Registry.
Some States maintain their own "Do Not Call" registries and may have telemarketing governances that are more
restrictive than Federal regulations. See State Do Not Call Lists.
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State Do Not Call Lists
States Maintaining Separate Do Not Call Lists
State Do Not Calls Laws that Exceed Federal Guidelines
State DNC/Telemarketing Rule Contacts
States Maintaining Separate Do Not Call Lists
When the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule was amended in 2003 to include the Federal Do Not Call Registry, many
States had already drafted and enacted their own registry.
Although many States merged their requests with the Federal DNC, a number of individual States continue to maintain their own lists. These States and the date that the Do Not Call registry went into effect are below:
State
Alabama
Alaska
Arkansas
California
States Maintaining Do Not Call Lists
Date Effective State
1999 Maine
1996
2000
2003
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Missouri
Date Effective
2001
2003
2003
2001
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Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
2002
2001
1991
1999
2001
2002
2002
2002
New York
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Wisconsin
2001
2002
2000
2002
2000
2002
2003
State Do Not Calls Laws that Exceed Federal Guidelines
As discussed on the previous pages, several States continue to maintain separate Do Not Call registries to cover their residents. While most State telemarketing laws are very similar to Federal guidelines, there are a number of States who maintain stricter telemarketing rules. Examples of these States/laws are:
Indiana: Telemarketers may not place calls to anyone on the State's list, regardless of customer status. This includes calls to people with whom the company has an established business relationship, unless they have received specific permission from the customer to receive calls.
Florida: Florida bans automated phone calls by computer, although autodialers with prerecorded messages are allowed in the Federal guidelines with the following exemptions: any emergency phone lines (911, hospital emergency lines, physician/medical service lines, health care facilities, poison control centers, fire protection or law enforcement agencies), pagers and mobile phones.
Colorado: Under State law, Colorado residents may take claims against alleged violators in small claims court.
Massachusetts: Like Florida, MA does not allow any solicitations via recorded message. Massachusetts also bans calls after 8pm (one hour earlier than the Federal law.)
New Jersey: Similar to Indiana, New Jersey does not allow carte blanche with calls placed under the "existing business relationship." New Jersey allows calls to these customers, but no new product/service or upsell may be solicited.
Some States allow more exemptions than the Federal laws stipulate. Mississippi, for example, does not require State
DNC compliance from the following types of businesses (as long as they are licensed in the State of Mississippi): real estate agents, insurance agents, motor vehicle dealers, securities brokers and investment advisors, newspapers, and funeral homes.
State DNC/Telemarketing Rule Contacts
States vary widely in the amount charged to non-exempt businesses for Do Not Call registries. Each State also establishes its own timeline for how often businesses must renew their DNC registrations.
Similarly, States can differ greatly in penalties assessed for Do Not Call non-compliance. Wisconsin, for example, lists a first offense at $100 per minute of call. Conversely, New Jersey may assess upward of $10,000 per violation.
In order to maintain compliance with State Do Not Call registries and regulations, it is suggested that each be reviewed individually.
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Internal Do Not Call Lists and Additional DNC Resources
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Regulatory Information for Company Do Not Call Lists
The final registry of do not contact numbers is the internal company-kept list. The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule stipulates that internal lists supersede exemptions to National and State Do Not Call regulations.
Following are considerations for maintaining company Do Not Call lists:
• Requests may be made by customers at any time and must be honored, regardless of pre-existing business relationship. In many States, different regulations apply for collection/informational calls, however the TSR mandates that any call with the ultimate purpose of selling a product/service be subject to exclusion at the customer's request.
• In addition to pre-existing business relationships, customer removal requests likewise supersede any previous written permission to contact.
• The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, enforced by the FCC, requires that businesses keep all direct customer
DNC requests on file for five years.
• Companies should maintain the internal DNC with care, and document the customer DNC request process. The
Department of Justice has successfully sued companies for violating their own internal DNC registries, on behalf of the FTC. In several of these cases, the FTC further evidenced lack of "effective procedures" to document and maintain these lists within the company.
Additional US DNC Information
Although there are several links through State websites (as well the FTC site), the Federal Do Not Call List may be accessed at http://www.telemarketing.donotcall.gov
. This site includes valuable information for companies who make telephone solicitations.
In addition to the fifty States and the District of Columbia, the National Do Not Call registry also covers the following
US territories:
• Puerto Rico
• U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John)
• North Mariana Islands (Saipan, Tinian, and others)
• American Samoa
• Guam
Full area code DNC lists are updated on the National registry daily, and are generally available for download after 8:00
A.M. (EST) daily.
Toll-free numbers (500, 800, 866, 877, 880, 881, 882 and 888) are also covered by the National Do Not Call registry.
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Organizational Responsibility for Federal Do Not Call Registry
The chart below provides information by organization regarding the Federal Do Not Call Registry:
Type of
Organization
Seller who
Who Must Pay?
Seller
Who Must
Complete the
Certification?
Seller
Who May
Download the
Information?
Seller
Who Owns the
Subscription
Account
Number
(SAN)
Seller
May the
Organization
Transfer the
SAN?
Yes to one or
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Seller who uses
Telemarketer
TM or Service
Provider (SP)
Either Seller or
TM/SP on behalf of Seller
Either Seller or
TM/SP on behalf of Seller
Either Seller or
TM/SP on behalf of Seller
Seller
Telemarketer or
Service
Provider on behalf of Seller
Client
Telemarketer or
Service
Provider with
"independent access"
Exempt
Organizations
(EO)
TM/SP on behalf of Seller/Client or no one (if using existing
SAN)
TM/SP
No payment required or
TM/SP if engaging in nonexempt telemarketing activities on behalf of EO
TM/SP on behalf of
Seller/Client
AND for themselves
TM/SP
EO or TM/SP on behalf of EO
TM/SP on behalf of
Seller/Client
TM/SP
EO or TM/SP on behalf of
EO
Seller/Client
TM/SP
EO
A covered seller is subject to Federal Trade Commission's amended Telemarketing Sales Rule. more TM/SP
Yes, to one or ore TM/SP
No –
Seller/Client owns the SAN
No
Yes to one or more TM/SP
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International Do Not Call Legislation
When developing outbound dialing campaigns that span international borders, it is necessary to ensure compliance with Do Not Call legislation for each country included on your calling list.
Although Do Not Call regulations are still in their infancy in much of the world, many countries have passed or have pending legislation for no-contact registries. These include (but are not limited to):
• Australia
• Canada
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France
• Pakistan
• India
• Israel
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Do Not Call regulations are controlled and enforced by the country of the dialed party, regardless of where the phone call originated. Similar to the US, the European Union has also drafted legislation to cover all member countries.
An excellent resource for EU marketing legislation is the Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing
( http://www.fedma.org
). Collections regulations are often available by the body regulating fair trade within member countries.
Rather than develop specific registries, many countries have chosen to append telemarketing stipulations to existing privacy laws. These regulations include allowable hours of outbound dialing, clauses regarding prior business relationships and, very importantly, international transportation/storage of customer contact data. It is advisable to check with individual countries for the most current legislation prior to beginning any international campaign.
• Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing, European Union - Tel +322777603; http://www.fedma.org
• Direct Marketing Association, United Kingdom - Tel +(44) 02077664401; http://www.dma.org.uk
• Institute of Direct Marketing, United Kingdom - Tel +(44) 0181 9775705; http://www.theidm.co.uk
• Union Francaise du Marketing Direct, France - Tel +(33) 1 4256 3886)
• Dansk Markedsforingsforbund, Denmark - Tel +(45) 33 118 787
• Associazione Italiana per il direct marketing, Italy - Tel +(39)229014157
• Chambre de Commerce, Luxembourg - Tel +(352) 42 39 39 ext 810
• Direct Marketing Instituut Nederland, Netherlands - Tel 0031206429595
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India - Tel 91-11-2321 1934, 2323 3466, 2322 0534, 2321 3223; http://www.trai.gov/
• Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, Canada - Tel 1 877-249-2782; http://www.crtc.gc.ca/
• Do Not Call Register, Australia - Tel 1300 792 958; http://www.donotcall.gov.au/
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Managing DNC in Interaction Dialer
DNC Overview
Configure a DNC Source for DNC.com
Configure a Campaign to use a DNC Source
Perform an Initial Bulk Scrub of the Contact List
Just-in-Time Scrubbing
DNC Overview
lists acquired from government entities or by using DNC.com, a third-party list cleansing service provided by the Call
Center Compliance Corporation. Dialer integrates directly with DNC.com and also supports custom DNC data sources.
The custom data source must be a table that exists in Dialer's database.
Scrubbing is a two-step process:
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• An initial bulk scrub of the entire contact list is performed first. This typically removes 30-40% of the entries.
• When the contact list is dialed by a campaign, Dialer performs just-in-time scrubbing to exclude contacts whose
DNC status changed between the time the contact list was scrubbed/loaded and the time the contact was evaluated for dialing. Just-in-time scrubbing is performed when records are pulled into cache.
It is not uncommon for a list to be dialed for days or weeks, so changes in DNC status should be expected to occur.
Just-in-time scrubbing is intended to remove relatively few numbers while initial DNC scrubbing can remove as many as 40% of the entries in a contact list. Just-in-time scrubbing is performed for scheduled calls too.
Phone Number Detail tables store DNC status of individual phone numbers. PND tables to track the do-not-call status of multiple telephone numbers associated with a contact. Interaction Dialer creates and maintains a PND table automatically for each contact list in use which contains a row for each contact column, for each contact. Customers should not modify PND tables, since they are automatically created and managed by Interaction Dialer.
Each PND table tracks time zone, contact attempts, and rescheduling attempts for each phone number associated with a contact record. Each PND table is a child table (of a contact list) that manages these details for each individual phone number. This approach allows a DNC status to be maintained for individual telephone numbers associated with a contact.
Phone numbers that are blocked by DNC scrubbing are marked with a "P" status in the Phone Number Detail table.
The letter "P" stands for "purge", to indicate that the number should not be called.
Note that DNC scrubbing does not modify the status field in a contact list, which indicates the overall status of a contact, but not the callable status of individual numbers, which are maintained in a Phone Number Detail table.
Scrubbing is performed using the DNC source associated with the campaign. All contact numbers associated with a campaign can be scrubbed. If all of the numbers for a contact are flagged not to be called, then Dialer will never dial the contact, since the contact has no callable numbers.
Configuring DNC consists of 3 steps, documented in the section that discusses the DNC Sources view .
1. Configure a DNC source. See Configure a Custom DNC Source
or Configure a DNC Source for DNC.com
2. Associate the DNC source with the campaign. See Configure a Campaign to use a DNC Source .
3. Perform an initial bulk scrub of the contact list. See Bulk scrub a Campaign's Contact List .
Just-in-time Scrubbing
DNC scrubbing consists not only of a bulk scrub, but also includes a just-in-time scrubbing component. DNC scrubbing will be performed automatically whenever the campaign runs, so long as a DNC source is associated with the campaign.
Interaction Dialer will perform just-in-time scrubbing when records are pulled into cache. When Dialer queries contacts from the contact list for its cache, that batch of contacts will be scrubbed before being given to Dialer. For each contact, any callable numbers will be scrubbed and marked as appropriate. This ensures that numbers added to
DNC lists after the initial scrub will still be blocked from being dialed.
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Filters and Sort Criteria
Contact List Subsets
Creating Filters
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Filter Callbacks
Contact List Subsets
A very common request is to take the contact list and only call those records that meet a certain criteria. Perhaps the list should even be dialed in a certain order, contingent upon that criteria or another. While these tasks can be accomplished through back end procedures on the database management system, they are simplified through the use of Filters and Sort criteria in Interaction Dialer.
Filter Criteria
A filter is a condition that can be applied to a contact list to dial only a specific subset of the list. It is the
‘WHERE' clause of a SQL query.
Sort Criteria
A sort criteria consists of designating one or more contact list columns to use to order list. It is the ‘ORDER
BY; clause of a SQL query.
By providing this level of control, Interaction Dialer administrators have flexibility in selecting records for dialing.
Creating Filters
• Create the filter. See Define a Contact List Filter .
• Apply the filter. See Assign Filters to a Campaign .
In many call centers, the person who understands SQL ORDER BY syntax is not the person who defines or manages campaigns. Your company's Database Administrator is probably very familiar with SQL, whereas Call Center
Supervisors may not possess SQL expertise.
The use of saved Filters helps a Call Center capture the expertise of its in-house SQL experts, by saving filters as named entries that Supervisors can assign to campaigns as needed. Filters can be generic or specific to a particular campaign. The same filter can be assigned to more than one campaign, so long as the filter is compatible with each campaign's database.
Filters are optional. A filter has no effect unless it is selected for use by a campaign. Afterward, only those records that match the filter are selected for processing by that campaign.
When you modify a filter, changes are automatically applied to all campaigns that reference the filter object. However, changes to a filter do not take effect until the campaign is recycled or reset.
Filter Callbacks
Typically, filters only apply to the regular records in the contact list, not to scheduled calls. However, scheduled calls can optionally be forced to adhere to an active filter. Within a campaign's configuration, there are 2 check boxes that govern filtering of callbacks.
Customers can optionally apply filters to the selection of scheduled Callback records, whether scheduled by agents or auto-scheduled by Dialer when it is unable to reach a contact. By default, filters are not applied to callback records.
Filtering can be applied to either type of callback by setting Filter Callbacks
options on a Campaign configuration .
• Agent Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of callbacks scheduled by agents.
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• Auto-Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of auto-scheduled callbacks. Auto-scheduled callbacks are created up by the system when it is unable to reach a targeted party for one of the following reasons:
Call was abandoned
Line was busy
Fax Machine Detected
No answer
Answering Machine detected
Remote Hang Up
System Hang Up
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Sort Criteria
called. Depending on the type of campaign, any variety of sort criteria might be beneficial.
Sorting is optional. To sort by a column, select it in the Available Items list. Then select ASC for an ascending sort, or
DESC or a descending sort. Finally, click Add. Your selections are displayed in the Selected Items list. You can modify the order of criteria using Move Up and Move Down buttons.
Examples:
• Sort descending by outstanding balance so that those collections contacts with the largest balanced are dialed first.
• Sort ascending by attempts. The contact list keeps track of how many times Interaction Dialer has attempted to dial a contact. By sorting on this field, contacts that have not yet been dialed would be dialed first. After those who had not been dialed have been called, Dialer would next dial those that have only been called once...
• Sort ascending by date of last contact to first dial those customers we have not contacted in the longest period of time.
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Compliance in the Outbound Collections Contact Center
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
State Legislation Resources
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) became law on March 20, 1978. While the intent of the legislation was to dissuade the use of misleading or harassing collection practices by the creditor, section 805 (Communication in
Connection with Debt Collection) outlines specific guidelines for calling. In short, debt collectors are prohibited from communicating with a consumer:
"...at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8 o'clock antemeridian and before 9 o'clock postmeridian, local time at the consumer's location."
In general, creating zone sets for the hours of 8am-9pm complies with the FDCPA. Be aware, however, that the
Federal guidelines do not supersede individual State guidelines, if the State laws stipulate more restrictive calling hours.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently urging modifications of the FDCPA, to update the legislation to include guidelines regarding mobile phones and text collection practices.
There have been multiple instances of litigation that cite the FDCPA regarding the use of false/hidden ANI (caller ID information) and questionable frequency of calls (complaints of harassment.) Make sure to check the most recent iteration of the Federal laws, and local statutes for your entire customer base to ensure Dialer is configured in compliance with all laws.
State Legislation Resources
As mentioned in the DNC module, there are often occasions where merely understanding Federal guidelines for outbound dialing is not sufficient. Many States have enacted legislation that further restricts creditor contact.
Similar to DNC lists, collections legislation is seldom static. To keep Dialer use in compliance, it is incumbent upon your organization to remain cognizant of modifications and additions to current regulations, and to likewise keep the Dialer configuration in compliance with local, State and Federal laws.
The following pages contain the URL for each US State's collection legislative code. Please verify, especially with those sites that are not maintained by the government, that the content is the most recent, prior to making any operational/configuration changes in Interaction Dialer Manager.
State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
URL http://www.legislature.state.al.us/ http://www.legis.state.ak.us/ http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ http://198.187.128.12/colorado/
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Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/Statutes.asp
http://www.delcode.state.de.us/ http://www.flsenate.gov/statutes/ http://www.legis.state.ga.us/ http://www.hawaii.gov/ http://www3.state.id.us/idstat/TOC/ http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/ http://www.legis.state.ia.us/ http://www.kslegislature.org/cgi-bin/statutes/ http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/KRS/TITLES.HTM
http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/tsrssearch.htm
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/ http://mlis.state.md.us/ http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/ http://www.michiganlegislature.org/ https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes http://www.mscode.com/01index.htm
http://www.moga.state.mo.us/statutes/C425.HTM
http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/mca_toc/ http://statutes.unicam.state.ne.us/ http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/ http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/ http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/ http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Statutes/ http://www.legis.nd.gov/cencode/t13.html
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/laws.cfm
http://www.oscn.net/ http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/697.html
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/consumers http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/ http://www.scstatehouse.gov/
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South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming http://legis.state.sd.us/statutes/index.aspx
http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/laws http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/ http://www.le.state.ut.us/~code/ http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/ http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/ http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/ http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/ http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/Statutes http://legisweb.state.wy.us/titles/statutes
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Common Compliance Challenges and Additional Considerations
Top Five Compliance Challenges
Additional Compliance Considerations
Top Five Compliance Challenges
Although Interaction Dialer provides the tools to make outbound dialing campaigns successful, the complexity of telemarketing rules mandates that strong technology is coupled with a strong, documented process.
A study conducted by Ken Sponsler, General Manager of Consulting and Audit Services for PossibleNOW, Inc. summarizes the main five challenges that outbound contact centers face with regard to Do Not Call legislation:
1. Knowledge of the rules
2. Possessing Written Compliance Guidelines
3. Meeting Record Keeping Requirements
4. Possessing Mutually Supportive Due Diligence
5. Having a Defendable Position
Knowledge of the rules
As we've seen in earlier modules, telemarketing rules are constantly revised and may differ widely from region to region. To further compound the issue, contact centers are also frequently bound by other compliance measures that vary by industry. For example, a health insurance contact center may be regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS), among others. These regulations may create more strict rules for outbound centers. CMS, for instance, allows telemarketing calls to Medicare recipients for enhanced services, but stipulates that enrollment in these services is allowable only via inbound calls. Depending on the services offered, an agent may or may not be required to be licensed in the state they are calling.
The scope of compliance can seem overwhelming, and often even a dedicated compliance staff may be unaware of
Do Not Call regulations, especially if the company conducts business in several States and countries. Thorough
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Possessing Written Compliance Guidelines
As mentioned in the Internal Do Not Call module, the documentation of your internal process to comply with the
Telemarketing Sales Rule and Telephone Consumer Protection Act is imperative in the event of an audit or complaint.
Ken Sponsler suggests that beyond the general process of downloading lists each month, this document contain descriptions of the compliance rules, assignment of responsibility, training process, monitoring process and enforcement methodology. In short, define the rules, create a plan for compliance, and test the effectiveness of the plan at regular intervals.
Meeting Record Keeping Requirements
Depending on the industry, many campaign-related records may be required to be maintained for two years, while
Do Not Call records (especially internal) may be required to be stored for up to 10 years. Sponsler poses these questions for a status check: if your organization were to be investigated for an alleged violation from two years ago, could you produce records of Do Not Call "scrubbing" activity, or proof of dialing hours, even if these records were associated with a customer with whom you no longer did business
Possessing Mutually Supportive Due Diligence
This is especially important for outsourced contact centers. Due diligence includes monitoring and enforcement by both the contact center and client, and records that clearly state customer transactional history, to comply with the
Established Business Relationship requirement by both Federal and State guidelines.
Having a Defendable Position
This should act as the framework for developing compliance standards within your organization. In the example given earlier in the chapter regarding a contact center that was sued on behalf of the FTC, lack of process was strongly noted in the decision rendered by the Department of Justice. Clear internal guidelines for rule compliance, training, monitoring and enforcement will greatly assist in lessening liability if a complaint is lodged.
To begin drafting internal compliance procedures, ensure all responsible parties are able to answer the following questions:
• Is our outbound activity regulated by the FCC, FTC or both?
• In companies with several divisions, how many versions of the Federal Do Not Call Subscription Account Number
(SAN) are we required to purchase?
• Is your company located in a State that requires telemarketers and sellers to register?
• How do the States in which you do business define "Established Business Relationship"? Are you aware of the Do
Not Call regulations by State in reference to the EBR?
Feedback
Additional Compliance Considerations
The previous discussion included compliance information that is specific to Interaction Dialer. Compliance in the outbound contact center is a broad subject that is not exclusive to predictive dialer configuration. The following information is provided for consideration when beginning any new outbound campaign.
Recording Laws
In any contact center, there exists a need to record conversations, even if only for quality assurance purposes.
Depending on the type of industry, multiple regulations exist that govern the right to record, and the retention of the
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• Consent-to-Record Laws
• Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR)
• Truth-in-Lending Act
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act (Sarbanes-Oxley)
Mobile Phones
The increasing use of mobile phones adds a new layer of complexity with DNC compliance. Primarily, there are two overriding issues:
• Increasing frequency of consumers using mobile phones in lieu of land lines
• Time zone blocking
Mobile number given as main contact: When the Federal DNC list was originally conceived cellular phone numbers tended to be kept very private (generally due to the cost-per-minute involved.) Customers seldom noted these numbers as "Home" when giving out information to businesses, applying for credit, and so on. As mobile plans have decreased in cost, and cellular phone use has become nearly ubiquitous, many consumers have disconnected their home land lines and opted for mobile use only.
This change in consumer behavior has caused some problems with DNC compliance. Conventional wisdom was that mobile numbers were exempt from telemarketing/collections calls, much as they are not publicly published in phone directories. The TFCC used the language "prior express consent" in regard to contacting consumers via the mobile number. Due to more and more individuals solely using mobile phones and thus offering these numbers with other personal information to businesses, the FCC is revisiting the question of contact lists that include mobile phone information.
While the legislation has not officially been edited, multiple forums have been held at the Federal level, and the FCC has clarified its language, originally found in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA): "Persons who knowingly release their phone numbers have in effect given their invitation or permission to be called at the number which they
have given, absent instructions to the contrary." The statement is further clarified that this applies in such instances that, "the called party has in essence requested the contact by providing the caller with their telephone number for use in
normal business communications." The FCC also noted that "normal business communications" involves active consent, i.e. it is still not acceptable to capture the ANI of a mobile number and use it for further contact; the customer must give permission for the number to be used, either verbally or by the means stated above.
Time Zone Considerations: With the increasing use of mobile phones, we are experiencing a shift in another area: the association between area code and time zone. Whereas land lines are, by definition, associated directly with the area code, cellular phone users are not required to reside in the area code associated with their number. This situation becomes problematic in attempting to maintain mandated callable hours, especially if the area code of the mobile number is assigned to a different time zone than where the user actually is.
Existing Business Relationship
As mentioned earlier in the chapter, the Existing Business Relationship (EBR) clause has been noted in legislation beginning in 1991. When the Do Not Call registry began, this exemption was very valuable to companies in that they were allowed to contact, regardless of DNC status, customers who had inquired/applied to them within the last three months, or had purchased a product from the company within the last eighteen months. This exemption opened a much larger market to outbound centers, and provided the means to communicate with their customers.
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While the EBR has always been required to cease if a customer asks not to be contacted (that is placed on a company's internal DNC), other litigation has occurred in recent years that questions the definition of "Existing
Business Relationship." Of main concern are direct offers/promotions in which consumers are asked for personal information, which is taken as passive consent to contact, that is a "relationship" between the consumer and the company. While most of these marketing tactics are still admissible, several courts have decided that using "veiled" or
"concealed" language on the original offer constitutes a violation of DNC regulations. They are referring to the small print, where the consumer is notified that by participating in the promotion, they are giving consent to be contacted by the company, even if subsequent calls are not directly related to the offer. Often this verbiage appears intentionally small, so that a consumer is likely not to read it, or, in some cases that have been litigated, this information has not appeared on the same page as the consumer information request.
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Outbound Caller Name and ID
• Controls what shows up on called party phones per-campaign or per-call (using contact policies)
• Construct caller name/ID from call list columns using policies if wanted
• Phone carrier must pass caller name/ID through
Feature Overview
The ability to send Caller ID information is often required for telemarketing. Interaction Dialer provides complete control of over the caller name and ID that is visible to contacts. The name and number out-pulsed when a call is placed can be controlled at the campaign (contact list) level and may be overridden at a per-call level. This is a
regulatory compliance feature.
To set caller name and ID at the campaign level, set the Calling Party Name and Calling Party Number campaign properties.
To override at a per-contact phone number level, policies can be used. Dynamic control of caller ID can have a major impact on contact rates and is often needed when dialing on behalf of multiple clients.
Related Procedures
Configure Caller ID for a Campaign
Configure Caller ID using a Policy
Call Timeout
Feedback
Call Timeout
outbound call will stay in the waiting queue (waiting for an agent to become available) before the Outbound Dialer server disconnects it, plays the no available agent wave file, or transfers the call to the no available agent attendant profile.
For example, a campaign with a call in the waiting queue and a Call Timeout of 3 will wait three seconds before disconnecting the call. If this setting is too low, contacts who answer calls will be hung up on.
Related Procedure
Configure Call Timeout for a Campaign
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Configure Call Timeout for a Campaign
1. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Campaigns.
2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Select the Basic Configuration tab.
4. If necessary, expand the Dial Settings expander.
5. Scroll down to Call Timeout . Use the spin control to specify the length of time (in seconds) that an outbound call will stay in the waiting queue (waiting for an agent to become available) before the Outbound Dialer server disconnects it, plays the no available agent wave file, or transfers the call to the no available agent attendant profile.
6. Click Save ( ).
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No Answer Timeout
connected or answered) will stay active before Telephony Services disconnects the call.
You can configure this setting for campaigns, or dynamically change it per-call using a policy, to control how long a contact's phone should ring before the call is disconnected. By default the system waits 20 seconds for the contact to answer. The range of acceptable values is 1-100 seconds.
Related Procedures
Configure No Answer Timeout for a Campaign
Feedback
Configure No Answer Timeout for a Campaign
1. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Campaigns.
2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Select the Basic Configuration tab.
4. If necessary, expand the Dial Settings expander.
5. Scroll down to No Answer Timeout . Use the spin control to specify how long a call in a Ringing state (not connected or answered) will stay active before Telephony Services disconnects the call. By default the system waits 20 seconds for the contact to answer. The range of acceptable values is 1-100 seconds.
6. Click Save ( ).
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Regulatory Compliance Features
• Campaign configuration features help telemarketers and collections agencies comply with regulations.
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• Collections campaigns can use skills-based dialing and routing with agents who are trained to handle specific products or customers.
• Contact lists can be scrubbed prior to dialing. Caller ID can be set for each campaign and overridden on a per-call basis. Legislative messages can be played when no agents are available.
• Abandon Rate settings allow customers to manage abandonment rate calculations, control how abandons affect the pace of outbound dialing, and to specify on a per-campaign basis, what is considered an abandoned call. Other settings control no answer timeouts, time zone blocking, and whether or not configuration changes are recorded for auditing purposes.
Overview
Interaction Dialer provides options that help organizations stay in compliance with government and conventional regulations and to be good corporate citizens. In providing these options, Interactive Intelligence has considered and continues to review a wide range of regulations including the US FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), the US FTC's
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the UK OfCom's Persistent Misuse Statements, and many other government and locale requirements.
Regulatory compliance options for telemarketing, collections, and other types of campaigns are fully supported. These options include flexible time zone management, abandoned rate definition and control, DNC
scrubbing, caller ID and name specification
at the campaign and call level, call and screen recording ,
controls, legislative message handling, opt-out controls, and more.
a call is considered abandoned, targets rates), control over caller ID name and number ,
legislative messages in case of no available agent, and more.
Pre-scrubbing and just-in-time scrubbing of do-not-call (DNC) numbers is supported using any combination of customer-supplied DNC lists, third-party DNC scrubbing, and on-the-fly exclusion of specific numbers programmatically (for example: specific collection accounts or call-in DNC requests). Just-in-time DNC scrubbing checks the supplied list or third-party DNC service just prior to placing calls allowing numbers to be added at any
time while dialing. For details, see the DNC Scrubbing feature overview.
Time zones can be configured to match both real-world time zones and business or convention driven time
zones. See Time Zone Blocking .
A collections campaign can use skills-based dialing or routing with agents who are trained or allowed to handle certain products or customers:
• Skills-Based Dialing examines skills in contact records, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool. Skills-based dialing is available for preview, power, and predictive campaigns.
• Skills-Based Routing sends an already connected call to an agent that has required skills, such as the ability to speak the contact's language, required product familiarity, and so on.
Interaction Dialer can record all details of calls placed including configuration changes, specific numbers and call times, and whether or not a call was abandoned. This data provides a clear audit trail for proof of good faith efforts, if
needed. See Configuration Change Auditing tab of the Global Dialer Settings view.
Feedback
DNC Scrubbing
As a best practice and as required by telemarketing campaigns, Interaction Dialer customers can scrub their contact
Contact Numbers feature overview.
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Feedback
Abandon Rate Management
Dialer dynamically adjusts the pace of outbound dialing in response to abandonment statistics. You can:
• Control how abandonment rate is calculated (per dial or contact)
• Control how abandons affect pacing (strict or target)
• Specify what is considered an abandoned call
An abandoned call is a call that is answered but disconnected before any conversation takes place. Options for
a Campaign configuration.
Settings on the Abandon Rate Pacing Adjustment expander affect the pace of outbound dialing in response to realtime abandon statistics. This helps customers to maintain compliance with Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) or other similar regulations.
Legislative messages
• Play fixed or dynamic message when no agent available to satisfy TSR's "Safe Harbor" provisions
Minimum Rings
Call Detail Documentation
• Called number, date/time, result, message played, etc. written to call history table for each call placed.
Call and Screen Recording
Feedback
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• Interaction Recorder, a CIC add-on product, is a common companion to Interaction Dialer for reliable recording of all, random, or specific calls based on given contact, agent, time, campaign or other attributes. Both calls and screens can be recorded by Interaction Recorder.
• In any business, and especially in regulated industries such as healthcare and financial services, recording
Product Overview
Call recording is a common and required function of many outbound call centers. Interaction Dialer takes advantage of Interaction Recorder, a pre-integrated add-on to Customer Interaction Center and Interaction Dialer, to provide seamless recording of all calls, random calls, or calls that match some set of conditions, such as calls from a specified number, at a certain time, to a certain agent, for a certain campaign, and so forth.
Interaction Recorder also provides agent screen recording, if wanted. Interaction Recorder has built in agent scorecard definition and tracking capabilities to allow for quality monitoring and scoring of recordings.
Interaction Recorder covers every aspect of recording and file management, centralized in one intuitive interface for managers and authorized users alike. It provides multichannel media recording for calls, IVR, web chats, emails and faxes.
Interaction Recorder is a single-vendor, all-in-one solution. Interaction Recorder is a built-in function of CIC's core platform technology and requires only simple licensing to enable its full recording capabilities. The single administration interface in CIC makes configuring Interaction Recorder settings and users just as easy, eliminating the dual administration issues of many proprietary recording systems.
Typical applications of Interaction Recorder include:
Dispute resolution Recorded interaction details and reports help resolve customer disputes, and also provide evidence in regulatory compliance situations to protect against potential fines and legal costs.
New agent training
Agent improvement training
Process improvement
Supplement training programs both for in-center and remote agents using screen recordings and easily distributed call recordings. Recorded interactions inform new agents about "right" and "wrong" ways to handle interactions.
Use call and screen recordings to emphasize best practices for even the most experienced agents.
Determine ways to better manage agents and interaction processes. Recordings also provide benchmarks for improving agent skill sets and how skills apply to various interaction types.
Key Features
• Interaction Recorder provides synchronized playback of screen and audio recordings, including work items not requiring direct customer interaction such as processing a claim or conducting research
• A single, simple interface for configuring multiple policies: what interactions are recorded, where they are stored, and who can access, play, score and export them
• Flexibility to store and play files locally to reduce bandwidth utilization
• Rules-based recording by entity, workgroup, role, or individual
• Screen recording for synchronized playback of the screen and audio recording
• Multimedia recording for calls, web chats, emails and faxes
• Categorization to archive and quickly retrieve recording files in large volumes
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• Records agents and business users alike
• Security and PCI compliance via the encryption, policy management, pausing when sensitive information is collected, and storing recordings locally for cloud-based deployments of call recording files, audio and information about each call
Product Information Page
http://www.inin.com/ProductSolutions/Pages/Interaction-Recorder.aspx
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Dialer Manager User Interface
You can configure Interaction Dialer campaigns and features using Interaction Dialer Manager (IDM), a plug-in for
Interaction Administrator. You can also configure campaigns and features using Interaction Dialer Administrator, which is a plug-in for IC Business Manager. While the host application (Interaction Administrator or IC Business
Manager) are different, the controls and features in Interaction Dialer Manager and Interaction Dialer Administrator are identical. Both provide access to each of the main Interaction Dialer views: Campaigns, Scripts, and Contact Lists.
They also provides access to the Advanced Interaction Dialer container, which contains a host of specialized
Interaction Dialer views. The majority of this documentation will focus on configuring Interaction Dialer from within
Interaction Administrator.
This section explains the options on each Interaction Dialer Manager view. A view is a configuration screen that appears when you click a Dialer container in Interaction Administrator. IDM views configure Interaction Dialer objects . The Dialer Manager views are:
Interaction Dialer views
Manages Campaign entries. Each entry is a collection of properties that tell Interaction
Dialer how to process a contact list.
Manages the base scripts that pop on agent desktops when calls are routed to agents.
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Manages contact list entries. Each contact list entry is a collection of properties that convey to Interaction Dialer details about the database table where contact phone numbers are stored.
Advanced Interaction Dialer views
Manages database connections that allow a campaign to specify a contact list, without specifying any details concerning the location of that file.
Manages Filter entries. Each entry defines the WHERE clause of a SQL statement that selects a subset of records from a contact list. Filters are optional.
Manages Rule Sets that automate campaigns. Rules evaluate a statistic, time, or event to determine whether to carry out an Action that affects the processing of a campaign.
Rule Sets are optional.
This view manages Schedules. A schedule is a collection of time settings that determine when campaigns are running (on), not running (off), or partially on (placing only scheduled calls). Schedules are optional, but in practice they are often used.
This view manages Skill Sets. Each Skill Set maps a skill column in the Contact List to skills defined in IC. A Skill Set manages skills from a Campaign's point of view—by
identifying which IC skills will be used to select contacts to dial. See Skills-based Dialing
for more details. Skill Sets are optional.
This view manages Policy Sets, which provide low-level control over the processing of individual contact records. Policies control dialing/routing on a contact-by-contact basis before or after dialing. Business logic in a policy decides whether to place a call, and can set attributes that affect recording and post-call processing. Policies can also send notifications such as email messages. Policy Sets are optional.
The Stage Sets view manages the stages of a campaign call. Stages identify each segment of a call that statistics can be collected upon. Stage names and other attributes are saved in groups (called Stage Sets) that can be assigned to one or more
campaigns. For background information, see Stages and Stage Sets . Stage Sets are
optional, but in practice they are often used.
This view manages settings that apply to all Outbound Dialer Servers known to the
Central Campaign Server.
This view manages Zone Sets. A Zone Set is a collection of zone entries. Each entry specifies when it is appropriate for an Outbound Dialer to call a particular time zone— relative to the local time of the Central Campaign server. Zone Sets are optional, but in practice they are frequently used.
This view manages DNC Sources. A DNC Source provides a list of telephone numbers that should not be dialed. Interaction Dialer can scrub contact lists against Do-Not-Call
(DNC) lists to prevent contact numbers from being dialed by a campaign. DNC
Scrubbing is optional, but strongly encouraged.
This view manages time zone map data sets for use with Dialer. When a campaign is configured to use a zone set, use of a time zone map dataset can be enabled to enhance time zone blocking, a feature that prevents contacts from being called at
undesirable times. See Time Zone Mapping for details. Timezone Map data is optional.
Exports the Dialer_Config.xml file to a development server or imports sections of
Dialer_Config.xml from a development system to a production server.
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Feedback
Campaigns view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Campaigns container
Overview
The Campaigns view manages Campaign entries. Each campaign entry is a collection of properties that tell
Interaction Dialer how to process a contact list. A campaign defines how agents interact with contacts (if at all) and specifies the dialing mode, sort order, and other items. For each entry, you can control campaign settings (such as the whether the campaign is running or not) and edit campaign properties, such as which contact list is dialed, or the script used by the campaign.
The Campaigns view is divided into three panels:
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remove campaign entries.
accordance with a schedule, or in a manually operated state. Here you can recycle the contact list, recycle the campaign, and test to ensure that campaign settings are valid.
specific campaign goals. Related settings are organized on tabs in a scrolling list on the left.
Related Features
Objects referenced by Campaigns
Related Procedures
Feedback
Campaign Entries Panel
Let's examine the Campaign Entries panel in detail. It displays a list of campaign entries and buttons used to add, copy, paste, or remove campaign entries. Fields above the list of entries filter the list by any combination of campaign
name, workgroup, or calling mode .
Name
>Use the Name field to pare down the list, by specifying all or part of a campaign name, to display only matching entries. Click the funnel icon to specify whether filter text is contained within, starts, or matches campaign entry names.
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Workgroup
>Pares the list by workgroup name. You can click the funnel icon to specify whether filter text is contained within, starts, or matches campaign entry names.
Calling Mode
>Selects campaign entries for a specific dialing mode (agentless, power, predictive, or preview).
List of Campaign entries
>Each row in this list corresponds to a campaign. Clicking a row opens that entry for editing. For each entry, four columns of information are listed:
• Campaign Name
• Name of the Workgroup assigned to the Campaign
• Calling Mode used by the Campaign
• Status of the Campaign. This indicates whether it is running or not.
Add
>Adds a new campaign entry.
Copy
>Places a copy of the selected entry on the Clipboard.
Paste
>Pastes the contents of the Clipboard as a new entry.
Delete
>Deletes the selected entry. You are asked to confirm the delete operation:
Feedback
Campaign Execution Panel
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1
2
3
4
The Campaign Execution Panel displays the name of the campaign entry, followed by options that control the execution of the campaign. Campaigns can be Off, On and On with scheduled calls only. In that last mode, only scheduled and priority calls are generated. The contact list does not get recycled while the campaign is in scheduled only mode.
Campaign Execution Controls
Textual status indicator
Graphical Status indictor
Start
On for Scheduled
Calls Only
This control displays the execution state of the campaign. If a schedule has control over the campaign, status will be On or Off. When a campaign is running under manual control
(not in accordance with a schedule) its status will be Manual
On, Manual Off, or Pause.
Visually indicates whether or not the Campaign is running under Auto or Manual control or in accordance with a schedule.
Turns the campaign on.
Turns the campaign on for scheduled calls only. Places only agent-scheduled calls. Ignores the campaign schedule.
• Auto-scheduled calls are not placed.
• Priority dials are still made.
• No regular calls are placed.
• When this campaign state is switched to, any cached
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5
6
7
8
9
Stop
Pause/Resume
Recycle
Campaign
Reset Campaign
Run Test contacts that the campaign will no longer call (regular calls, queued precise calls) are flushed from the cache back to the database.
Stops outbound dialing once the cache is empty. Ignores the campaign schedule. If you stop a campaign (by selecting
Stop), rather than by clicking Pause, agents must log on when the campaign is restarted by clicking this button again.
If you click the Pause button, you can resume the campaign by clicking Pause again, and agents won't need to logon.
Outbound calling will resume once agents change to available status.
Temporarily stops all outbound dialing activity for the campaign. All active calls will complete, but no new calls will be generated. This command is used to temporally halt a campaign without requiring agents to log back in once processing is resumed. When a campaign is Paused, no calls are placed, but the record cache is maintained. To resume the campaign, press Pause again. Agents will not need to logon when the campaign resumes.
Recycle refers to the process of restarting the call selection process at the beginning of the contact list. This can happen automatically after all records are processed, or manually in response to a Reset Campaign command. A recycle period is the time that Interaction Dialer needs to process all records in a contact list.
Resets a running campaign, The contact list will be processed from the top to reach parties that were not contacted in a previous pass. If major settings have been changed (DSN, Sorting or Filters, and so on), the campaign is reset and restarted with the new configuration. This command also sets the count of recycles back to zero.
Tests the campaign configuration to verify database connection, contact list, sort and filter criteria. Sort and filter criteria are appended to create a SQL statement. If the campaign is configured to use skills-based dialing, skill settings are automatically included for evaluation in the SQL selection statement.
If the test fails, diagnostic information is displayed to indicate what went wrong.
If the statement is carried out successfully, then campaign test results are displayed. Test results return three sets of information:
Test Result Description style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right:
0.1in;">Campaign Call
Information about the call list, including:
• Total records in the contact list table
• Number of callable records
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List Statistics after filtering
• Number of records blocked by filters
• Number of un-callable records
• Number of records with no phone numbers
• Number of scheduled calls
• Number of skill combinations in the contact list that are not dial-able style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right:
0.1in;">Data Sample
A sample of callable record phone numbers, used to validate the phone number column selection.
The data sample lists contact, sort, and filter columns to validate sort and filter criteria. The data sample is sorted and filtered exactly as your contact list will be when dialed. However, data for scheduled calls is not returned. style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Skill
Sets Required
A list of Skill Sets required by the campaign. This breakdown of callable records by skill makes it easy to verify skill configurations assigned to the campaign.
Campaign Properties Panel
The properties of a campaign include:
• Contact list used by the campaign
• Script used by the campaign
• Calling Mode (Predictive, Power, Preview, or Agentless)
• Which Outbound Dialer servers participate in the campaign
• How to sort the contact list or filter the selection of records
• Which Zone Set assigned to the campaign, or whether time zone mapping is performed
• How callbacks are scheduled
• How pacing is adjusted for abandoned calls
• Many other settings discussed in subsequent topics.
How properties are organized on this screen
Feedback
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The Campaign Configuration panel configures a campaign to meet a specific campaign goal. This panel is divided into several sections. It uses tab controls and expandable screen sections (called expanders) to group related settings.
Clicking an expander hides or shows a set of options. The table below lists sections of the form, so that you can easily navigate to a specific area of interest.
Tab
Expanders on Tab
General settings for Campaign Name, Workgroup, Group, and Script
None
Attempt Control
Abandon Rate
Pacing Adjustment
Set campaign's dialing mode, dialing servers, call analysis options, and whether to adhere strictly to CIC's Dial Plan or use one specific line group for campaign calls.
Select zone set to use for Time Zone Blocking and time zone mapping
options.
Select contact list, sort/filter criteria, DNC source, and whether to
enable Priority Dialing , which allows contact list records added on the
fly to be dialed immediately.
Control how many additional times Dialer will traverse the contact list after dialing it an initial time.
Set maximum attempt thresholds to limit the number of contact attempts after which a contact will no longer be called, or allow unlimited per-number, per-record, and per-day contact attempts.
Set the status that Dialer will put the agent into when a Dialer call disconnects but has not been dispositioned.
Configure campaign to automatically schedule callbacks when it is unable to reach a targeted party for some reason.
Set number of minutes to wait if the agent who owns a callback is unavailable at the scheduled callback time.
Set options that convert agent-owned callbacks to system-wide callbacks when agents are unavailable.
Comply with Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) or other similar regulations by adjusting the pace of outbound dialing in response to real-time abandon statistics.
Specify what this campaign considers an abandoned call to be.
Outbound ACD
Routing Controls
Configure criteria analyzed by ACD formulas, to optimize ACD scoring and routing for a campaign.
Sets workgroup-specific thresholds that automatically disable and enable prediction in blended environments.
Configure a campaign to view skills in contact list records, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool.
Configure a wave audio file to play when remote Scripter Client users logon to establish a persistent connection.
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Settings for Schedule , Policy Sets , Rule Set , Stage Set and Call Analysis
Feedback
Basic Configuration Tab
Options on the Basic Configuration tab configure essential campaign settings. This tab contains the following three sections:
the agent script.
to CIC's Dial Plan or use one specific line group for campaign calls.
• Timezone Settings : Configure Time Zone Blocking and Mapping features.
>
Feedback
Campaign Name, Workgroup and Script Settings
Options in this section set the campaign name, the workgroup, and specify the agent script.
Display Name
>The display name of the campaign. This field is read-only unless you are composing a new campaign entry. Type a unique descriptive name that reflects the purpose of the campaign. This name becomes the name of the campaign entry, and will appear later in Supervisor views and reports.
Workgroup
>Selects the ACD workgroup that participating agents belong to. This workgroup must exist on each Outbound
Dialer server if the campaign runs across multiple ODS servers.
Group
>Optional. Group is a descriptive string that describes the customer or campaign. This field is optional, since
Interaction Dialer does not use this information internally. However, a Group designation is useful when several campaigns are related in some way. For example, if your call center conducts several campaigns for the same client, you might store the name of the client in the Group field. If you run several campaigns for Globe Newspaper, you might type "Globe" into this field.
Base Script
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>Options in the Scripting frame select a base or custom script for the campaign to use. Every campaign (except agentless campaigns) has a script that displays contact information to an agent. Scripts prompt for data entry, tell agents what to say, and provide navigation options that agents use to transition between calls or stages of a call.
>To use a previously defined base script, click Base Script. If the adjacent drop is list empty, you need to define a base
>Base Scripts display columns from the contact list for agents to fill in. Contact columns can appear as text, numeric fields, radio buttons or drop down lists. No knowledge of HTML or scripting is required to create a base script. Base scripts are easy to customize, but are more limited than custom scripts.
Custom Script URL
Select Custom Script if a script was developed for the campaign using the Interaction Scripter API. Then enter the
URL of the first HTML page displayed by the script in the text box that is adjacent to the Custom Script radio button.
Advanced Interaction Scripter is a licensable API that web developers use to create custom scripts using
HTML and JavaScript language extensions. Custom scripts of this type can meet virtually any campaign requirement.
>
>Custom scripts can be hosted by a web server, or a network file server. We recommend that you store scripts on a network file server. Regardless of location, the specified path must be accessible from any Interaction Scripter workstation that will run the campaign script. Accordingly, this path is specified using UNC notation or using a network file-mapping scheme that all workstations that run this campaign will recognize.
• For example, you would use familiar web notation to define the location of scripts that are hosted on a web server. For example: http://www.servername.com/path/filename.htm.
• To specify the location of files on a network file server using UNC notation, place two backslashes in front of the server name. For example: \\servername\path\filespec.htm.
Warning: Using the file:// prefix or specifying a local path in the Custom Script URL text is not supported.
Using either of these methods to specify the location of a custom script will result in a non functioning script.
If Interaction EasyScripter was used to develop a script for the campaign, select Custom Script. In this case, you should leave the Custom Script URL blank. The contents of that field are ignored for EasyScripter campaigns.
Interaction EasyScripter 4.0 from Interactive Intelligence is an OEM implementation of the CallScripter scripting product. CallScripter is a web application that helps a contact center produce scripts that walk contact center agents through interactions with customers. Interaction EasyScripter capitalizes on the ease of use and power of CallScripter to provide seamless support of inbound CIC and outbound Interaction
Dialer servers. Interaction EasyScripter is sold and licensed separately from CIC, Interaction Dialer, and
Interaction Scripter.
Keep script open between calls
>When checked, does not unload the script between calls.
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Feedback
Dial Settings
Options on this section set the campaign's dialing mode, dialing servers, call analysis options, and whether to adhere strictly to CIC's Dial Plan or use one specific line group for campaign calls.
Calling Mode
Sets the mode used to conduct outbound dialing. The table below describes available dialing modes. Select the mode that is appropriate for the needs of your campaign. The terms "dialing mode" and "calling mode" are interchangeable.
Mode
Predictive
Power
Preview
Agentless
Description
Predicts agent availability and places calls based on internal statistics. Predicts the number of calls that must be made in order to provide each agent with a connected party at the moment the agent becomes available. Uses an advanced statistical pacing algorithm tuned over many years of real-world use. This mode takes advantages of another patented staging algorithm to optimize predictions.
Dials from the campaign list only when an agent is available to process the call. Waits for an agent to become available before placing outbound calls. Calculates the number of calls to place in order to reach a live party.
Presents the agent with information about the targeted party before the call is actually placed. When ready, the agent manually starts the call by clicking a button in the predictive client application. If configured, the agent has the option to reschedule the call, or skip to the next data pop. Preview mode is not in the list of calling modes assigned to a campaign.
Preview mode is always set using policies.
Mixed media agentless campaigns can play a .wav file to answering machines, send faxes to fax machines, and route calls answered by live recipients to an Interaction Attendant profile.
Interaction Attendant is an easy-to-use graphical interface used for inbound IVR and autoattendant menus and for outbound IVR and messaging applications. Using an Interaction
Attendant profile allows in-house development of simple messaging applications or more complex outbound IVR menus, giving called parties the option to talk to an agent, remove their name from a list, and so on.
Interaction Dialer Manager does not allow a campaign's calling mode to be changed from agentless to another mode, while the campaign is active.
Note: If you are running Interaction Dialer using the Manual Calling feature license, then the only calling mode that will actually function is the Preview Calling Mode. However, the Preview Countdown feature is not supported on a
Manual Calling Server.
Enable preview countdown
>This option is available in Preview mode only. When checked, it forces a preview call to be placed automatically if the agent does not dial the contact within a configurable number of seconds. If this option is not enabled, an agent on preview call can remain idle in preview pop for an infinite amount of time.
This feature makes it possible to limit preview time without having to code preview time limits in a custom script.
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• A countdown timer is visible to agents using base scripts.
• A Policy behavior can override the timeout value. For example, a contact might be so important, a Policy
might give the agent extra time to review account details. See Preview Dialing behavior type .
• A rule allows the timeout value to be changed during the course of a day, if required by business needs.
• Agents cannot stop a countdown, but they can skip preview calls as before, if Preview Skip is allowed by the campaign.
Seconds
>Sets a timeout value that determines how long agents can remain idle before a call is automatically placed to the contact being previewed. This value can be dynamically changed by rules and policies assigned to the campaign.
Campaign Priority
>When a single agent is active in (logged into) multiple campaigns, each campaign will generate interactions for the agent. Therefore, campaigns can be assigned a configurable priority number—an integer between 1 and 100, inclusive, that Dialer uses to decide how many calls to place for each campaign for each agent.
>Over time, more calls per agent are placed for higher priority campaigns, proportionally to each campaign's priority number. To make this determination, Dialer divides each agent into partial agents based on which campaigns the agent is active in and the priority of each campaign.
Campaign priority works much like the dialing ratios for skills. Therefore campaign 1 would have 90/350, then 80/350, then 70/350, and so on, in terms of percentages. For example, if 100 agents are all signed into 5 campaigns, and each campaign has a priority of 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, Dialer will distribute calls as follows:
User1
User2
User3
User4
CampaignA
(Priority 50)
Yes (50/185 of an agent)
CampaignB
(Priority 25)
Yes (25/185 of an agent)
Yes (25/35 of an agent)
CampaignC
(Priority 100)
Yes (100/185 of an agent)
CampaignD
(Priority 10)
Yes (10/185 of an agent)
Yes (10/35 of an agent)
Yes (10/10 of an agent)
Total Agents on
Campaign
Yes (50/75 of an agent)
0.9369 Agents logged on
Yes (25/75 of an agent)
1.182754 Agents logged on
.5405 Agents logged on
1.339768 Agents logged on
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Even though CampaignC had the highest priority, the agent distribution in the campaigns were such that it actually ended up with the fewest amount of agents logged on. Similarly, CampaignD ended up with the highest number of agents, despite being the lowest priority. In the end, there are a total of 4 agents logged onto the campaigns, but the
Priority determines the distribution that the agents have when they are logged onto multiple campaigns.
Max Lines per Campaign
>This control sets the maximum number of lines that each Outbound Dialer server can use to conduct the campaign. Each Outbound Dialer will strive to maintain this many calls concurrently to utilize the maximum number of lines. The maximum value is the sum of the "Maximum Calls" value for all Outbound Dialing Servers, as specified in
Global Dialer Settings.
Initial Calls per Agent
>This setting affects the number of calls that will be placed when an agent goes idle. Dialer uses this value when a campaign is started or reset to determine the number of calls to place on a prediction or agent idle request until contact rate information becomes available. The valid range of values is any integer between 1 and 100. The default is 3.
Statistics sample period
>Sets the amount of time the system should wait (in seconds) between inserts to the Campaign statistics table, if any statistics changed since the last insert. The default is 60 seconds.
Dial Plan
>Options in the Dial Line Information frame configure Dialer to adhere strictly to CIC's Dial Plan, or to use one specific line group for campaign calls. If Dial Plan is selected, the Dialer uses a different "make call" method that evaluates the Dial Plan for line and line group selection.
Location
Selects a Dial Plan location that was previously defined outside of Dialer Manager, using the Regionization >
Locations container in Interaction Administrator. The location setting refers to IC's regionalization concept, which consists of defining multiple physical locations where IC users have SIP devices. Each location defines endpoints (lines, stations and server) and the codec mappings that enable the endpoints at these various locations to communicate.
These locations then, tie in to the regionalized dial plan configuration, which enables IC administrators to filter and define local dialing plans for each location while retaining the most economical dialing between all sites. A location allows incoming calls to be routed to stations and perform dial plan operations on remote gateways for emergency calls and/or toll bypass.
Note—for more on locations and regionalization, see IC Regionalization and Dial Plan Technical Reference, in the
Technical Reference Documents section of the CIC Documentation Library on the CIC server.
>Each Location defines a set of physical endpoints (SIP endpoints and lines) that share common Dial Plan characteristics. A Location also specifies the codec map between the endpoints (i.e., SIP stations, SIP lines, and the IC server). It may further define a home-site IC server, a peer-site IC server, or an Interaction Media Server for processing voice (RTP) traffic instead of the IC server.
>Common examples of a Location include:
• A small satellite office (in the same town or another city or state) with all SIP phones serviced by the IC server at headquarters
• A group of remote employees that use SIP phones over the corporate VPN
• A remote peer-site office with its own IC server in a multi-site configuration
• A gateway in an obsolete (closed) office with no phones, but used to redirect incoming phone calls to an old number.
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>The [Default Location] is used in all cases where no location is specified (e.g., for all SIP devices that are not assigned to any location). The [Default Location] is set in the Locations container. It is not set in Dialer manager.
Line Group
>Selects one specific line group to use for this campaign's calls.
Use All Dialing Servers
>Configures the campaign to dial on all outbound dialing servers instead of those in the list of selected dialing servers.
Dialing Servers
>Use this part of the form to specify which Outbound Dialing Servers will participate in the campaign. An Outbound
Dialing Server (ODS) is a CIC Server with Interaction Dialer installed. a. Select a server in the Available Servers list on the left. b. Click Add. The server name will move to the Selected Servers list. These servers will dial when the campaign is running.
Bulk Call API
>This option configures Dialer to use a high performance bulk call placement API that provides higher call
procedures: Enable Bulk Call API for a Campaign and Adjust Dialer Maximum Call Rate.
Call Analysis
>Call Analysis is an IC process that analyzes a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a Fax machine, or an Answering Machine, and whether or not an agent is available to process the call. This option determines whether Call Analysis is performed for the overall campaign (independently of any policies that use Call Analysis).
Detect Answering Machine
>This checkbox determines whether Call Analysis should detect Answering Machines for the overall campaign, independently of any policies that use Call Analysis.
No Answer Timeout
>No Answer Timeout is the length of time (in seconds) that a contact's phone should ring before the call is disconnected. By default the system waits 20 seconds for the contact to answer. Setting this value controls how long a call in a Ringing state (not connected or answered) will stay active before Telephony Services disconnects the call.
Call Timeout
>Call Timeout is the length of time (in seconds) that an outbound call will stay in the waiting queue (waiting for an agent to become available) before the Outbound Dialer server disconnects it, plays the no available agent wave file, or transfers the call to the no available agent attendant profile.
>For example, a campaign with a call in the waiting queue and a Call Timeout of 3 will wait three seconds before disconnecting the call. If this setting is too low, contacts who answer calls will be hung up on.
Calling Party Name
>This field sets the name that contacts will see as Caller ID information. Call Centers with multiple clients can set this property to identify the company for whom they are conducting a campaign.
Calling Party Number
>This field sets the telephone number that contacts see as Caller ID information. Call Centers with multiple clients can set this property to associate a telephone number with a campaign. The Number field can accept the E.164 number format for international telephone numbers. (i.e. the number can be prefixed with a + (plus sign) to indicate that the number includes an international country calling code.)
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Disable Non-Dialer statistics
>To decrease idle times for blended sites, check the Enable box next to Disable NonDialerStats. This tells Dialer not to reserve any agents for non-Dialer calls. By default, this feature is not in effect, which allows more idle time between outbound calls, freeing agents to take inbound interactions.
Copy Dialer Attributes to Call Attributes
Copies all Dialer attributes (database columns about the contact) to interaction attributes. This allows other programs, such as Interaction Attendant, to access all database fields from the contact list, as well as extra attributes such as
IS_Attr_CampaignID. Be sure to check this box if the call will be transferred to an Attendant profile, so that Attendant will have the contact data available for its use.
This setting has no effect on Dialer calls unless they are transferred to an Outbound Attendant profile, and only those transferred interactions have Dialer attributes assigned to them.
Feedback
Timezone Settings
Zone Set
>If your contact list stores each contact's time zone, you can use Interaction Dialer's Time Zone Blocking feature to prevent calls to those contacts from being placed at inappropriate times. This drop list selects a Zone Set for the campaign to use.
A Zone Set contains multiple zone entries which are matched to the time zone of your contact. For each zone entry in the set, time intervals specify when it is appropriate for the server to dial this zone.
For Time Zone Blocking to occur, the name of the zone in the contact record must match the name of a zone entry in the Zone Set, and the Zone Set must be assigned to the campaign. No blocking occurs when a campaign is not associated with a Zone Set. A single Zone Set can be shared by multiple campaigns. The use of Zone Sets is optional, however.
If this drop list is empty, you can create a zone set using the Zone Sets view.
Consider Zone column in Contact Record
>Once you select a Zone Set, the Consider Zone column in Contact Record toggle is activated. By default, this toggle is set to No.
When the toggle is set to No, Dialer will only use time zone data that it finds in the Phone Number Detail table to determine whether or not to select the contact record for dialing.
When the toggle is set to Yes, Dialer will use data that it finds in the Zone column of the contact record and in the Phone Number Detail table to determine whether or not to select the contact record for dialing.
Use Default Zone if Contact Record is missing
>Once you set the Consider Zone column in Contact Record toggle to Yes, the Use Default Zone if Contact Record is missing toggle is activated. By default, this toggle is set to No.
When the toggle is set to No, Dialer will only use time zone data that it finds in the Phone Number Detail table to determine whether or not to select the contact record for dialing.
When the toggle is set to Yes, Dialer will refer to the Default Zone if finds that the Zone column of the
Contact List record is blank. Dialer will then use data from the Default Zone, which is setup as a part of the
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Zone Set that you have selected, and the Phone Number Detail table to determine whether or not to select the contact record for dialing.
Automatically map time zones
appropriate times, by mapping telephone numbers to time zones in real-time, based on initial digits in the contact telephone number (e.g. area code and exchange in North America), instead of using the zone column of each contact record to identify the contact's time zone. To determine the zone, the initial digits of the contact number are matched to a time zone map data source.
When automatic mapping is enabled, Dialer provides three options that set how broadly automatic mapping is applied to this campaign. The options are:
Map phone numbers not set to a zone. This restricts time zone mapping to telephone numbers that have no zone information. Only phone numbers not associated with a zone will be mapped.
Map phone numbers not set to a zone or set. This option maps phone numbers that have no zone information and numbers that had previously been automatically mapped. If the time zone map data set has been updated, the latest zone from the data set will be used in place of the zone entry that was previously written to the campaign's PND table. The PND table will be updated with the latest zone for this telephone number.
Since time zone data sets are often updated quarterly, this option ensures accuracy by automatically updating zone information in PND tables. When automatic mapping is performed, zone data in PND tables is updated if the zone field in the PND table is empty, or if the zone entry does not match the result of the lookup operation.
If lookup against a time zone map data set returns a different zone from the zone in the PND table, the zone in the data set is presumed to be newer and is used instead. When zone entries match the lookup value, zone data in the
PND table is not updated. Zone data is updated only when values change.
Map all phone numbers. This option maps all phone numbers, regardless of their current zone settings. Please use this option with caution, since it will cause all phone numbers to be remapped every recycle, which can take a long time.
Map phone numbers to time zones now
>Time zone mapping is performed automatically when the call list recycles. Since the initial mapping of a call list and
PND table data can take a while, customers can press this button to manually initiate time zone mapping. It manually initiates time zone mapping without waiting for a recycle. This reduces the amount of time that time zone mapping will require when the next recycle occurs. When time zone mapping is manually invoked, further activity in Dialer
Manager is blocked until the mapping finishes.
Feedback
Configure Caller ID for a Campaign
To configure Outbound Caller Name and ID for a campaign:
1. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Campaigns.
2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Select the Basic Configuration tab.
4. If necessary, expand the Dial Settings expander.
5. Scroll down to Calling Party Name. Type the name you want contacts to see.
6. In the Calling Party Number box, type the telephone number you want contacts to see.
7. Click Save ( ).
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Feedback
Contact List Tab
Options on this tab select a contact list, contact columns to dial, set sort order, filter criteria, priority dialing, and DNC options.
Contact List
>This drop list selects the table containing phone numbers to call during the course of the campaign. This table can include additional data items that are presented to agents when a call is received. When the call ends, the campaign script can forward database updates to this table.
>The list displays only contact tables that are owned by the user specified in the UDL file or ODBC configuration. This ensures that Dialer's DialerTranU subsystem has the capability to alter tables and create new tables when necessary. Tables that Dialer generates (CallHistory, AgentStats, Recycle, CallRecordSchedule, etc.) do not appear in this list.
Customize Contact Columns checkbox
>This checkbox determines whether the campaign uses its associated contact list's contact columns as they are defined on the contact list, or a customized list of contact columns (a partial list or changed order of columns). The box is unchecked by default so that columns defined on the contact list are used.
>When checked, controls that allow contact columns to be selected and reordered are enabled. The Campaign will use a customized list of contact columns.
Contact Columns
>Controls to select contact columns and change sort order. See Customize Contact Columns checkbox.
Sort Criteria
>This part of the form allows you to optionally sort the contact list. The new sort order will take effect when the campaign is recycled or stopped and restarted. To set up a sort, select one or more columns in the list on the left, optionally using the Filter Columns field to narrow down column names. You can select multiple contiguous items by shift-clicking the list. Non-contiguous items can be selected by holding down the Windows and Control keys while clicking.
>Select ASC or DESC to denote whether to sort the selected fields in ascending or descending order. Then click Add.
>Next, use the Move Up/Move Down buttons to reorder fields in the Selected Columns list. This changes the sort order as the contact list will be sorted by topmost fields first when a campaign starts or is recycled. For example, to sort by City within State, you would position State above City. You can remove selections from the Selected Columns list by pressing the Remove button.
Filters
Filters are predefined SQL statements that select a subset of records to process from a contact list. A filter selects records to dial in the next cycle of calling. A campaign can use multiple Filters. The record selection code in each Filter is surrounded by parenthesis and ANDed together in the SQL WHERE clause for the recycle. For more information, see
require SQL expertise to create and knowledge of columns in the contact list, call center administrators may need assistance from the database administrator who manages the DBMS server and contact lists used by Interaction
Dialer.
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>Filters are optional. A filter is not used by a campaign until it is added to the Selected Filters list in this section of the campaign configuration. To configure a campaign to use filters, select filter names in the list on the left, optionally using the Filter Filters field to narrow down long lists of names.
>You can select multiple contiguous items by shift-clicking the list. Non-contiguous items can be selected by holding down the Windows and Control keys while clicking. Then click Add.
>Filters that appear in the Selected Filters list will be applied to the selection of records when the campaign is recycled.
>You can remove selections from the Selected Filters list by clicking the Remove button. You can change the order in which filters are evaluated using the Move Up and Move Down buttons. Records for topmost filters are evaluated first, followed by subsequent filters in the list.
Phone Number Filters
>Phone Number Filters allow the record selection query to use columns from the PND table as well as the contact list table.
Filter Callbacks
>The Agent Scheduled and Auto-Scheduled checkboxes apply Filter criteria to the selection of callback records. By default, filters are not used when the system selects scheduled callback records. These checkboxes optionally force scheduled calls to adhere to an active filter.
• Agent Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of callbacks scheduled by agents.
• Auto-Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of auto-scheduled callbacks. Autoscheduled callbacks are created up by the system when it is unable to reach a targeted party for one of the following reasons:
Call was abandoned
No answer
Remote Hang Up
Line was busy System Hang Up
Answering Machine detected Fax Machine Detected
Priority Dialing Settings
Priority Dialing - Enable checkbox style="margin-left: .5in;">Enables Priority Dialing for the campaign and allows configuration settings in the Priority
Dialing frame to be edited. See Priority Dialing for background information about this feature.
Query Frequency
Determines how often (in seconds) that Interaction Dialer should check the contact list for newly inserted priority contact records (records that have a "J" status). The query frequency is configurable from 5 seconds up to 5 minutes (300 seconds).
Sort Criteria
These sort options establish a sort order for Priority Dialing records. Priority Dialing records can have a separate sort that orders them independently of the overall sort order applied to the contact list. The configured sort will determine the order of records cached for dialing.
If you do not apply sort criteria, Priority contacts are not in any particular order. They will be dialed in an order that resembles last-in-first-out, because each contact query inserts priority records at the front of the dialing queue. If you set up a sort, the new sort order will take effect when the "J" records are queried for immediate dialing.
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To set up a sort, select one or more columns in the list on the left, optionally using the Filter Columns field to narrow down column names. You can select multiple contiguous items by shift-clicking the list. Noncontiguous items can be selected by holding down the Windows and Control keys while clicking.
Select ASC or DESC to denote whether to sort the selected fields in ascending or descending order. Then click Add.
Next, use the Move up/Move down buttons to reorder fields in the Selected Columns list. Topmost fields in the list are sorted first, followed by subsequent sort fields. You can remove selections from the Selected
Columns list by pressing the Remove button.
DNC Source
>Selects a previously-configured Do-Not-Call (DNC) source to scrub this Campaign's contact list against. If no DNC sources have been defined, use the Configure DNC Source command to define one. Afterwards you can assign that
feature.
Perform Bulk DNC Scrub button
>Initiates a bulk scrub. See Bulk scrub a Campaign's Contact List .
DNC Excluded Column Identifier
Selects a column from the call list database to use as the basis to exclude a call from being dialed. Usually this is an
account number column, imported from a CRM database. The DNC Exclusion Column type must match the Campaign
DNC Exclusion column in the database.
Note: Do not set the DNC Excluded Column Identifier to a phone number column. Doing so will prevent a campaign from dialing.
Recall Control Tab
Feedback
Recall Control Tab
The Recall tab offers these expanders:
• Attempt Control : Limit the number of contact list iterations allowed before a campaign ends, or the number of times a contact can be called.
targeted party for some reason.
callback time, whether to convert agent-owned callbacks to campaign-wide callbacks, and whether to use autoschedule settings for agent callbacks
Attempt Control
Options on this expander control how many times Dialer will traverse the contact list after dialing it an initial time. You can also set thresholds that limit the number of contact attempts allowed, after which a contact will no longer be
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Dialer Manager Printable Help called—or allow unlimited per-number, per-record, and per-day contact attempts. You can also set the status that
Dialer will put the agent into when a Dialer call disconnects but has not been dispositioned.
Max Times to Recycle
>This setting determines the number of additional times that Dialer will go through the contact list after dialing it an initial time.
Checking Unlimited allows an infinite number of recycles. The spin control sets the maximum number of times the Outbound Dialer Server should cycle through the contact list before ending the campaign. This sets the maximum number of times (plus 1) that this campaign should cycle through the contact list in an effort to reach contacts that could not be reached before. When this threshold is reached, the Outbound Dialer server will end the campaign after one more recycle. style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;border:none; padding:0in'>A recycle operation is the act of starting over at the beginning of the list and going through it again, so restarting the contact list 4 times results in 5 total times through the list since the first time through the list doesn't require a recycle operation.
>For example, a campaign with Max times to recycle = 4 will cycle through its contact list no more than five times. The campaign terminates when the campaign achieves call connect with everyone on the contact list, or after the campaign has been recycled five times, whichever comes first.
Minimum minutes before next dial
>This setting establishes a minimum amount of time that must pass before Dialer may attempt to dial the same contact. It can be used to conform to regulatory requirements. The number of minutes sets the minimum period of time between dials to the same record. Other contacts will be dialed during that interval. This setting applies to regular outbound calls. It does not apply to scheduled calls.
Max Attempts
Max attempt thresholds set the number of contact attempts after which a contact is no longer called. You can conversely allow unlimited per-number, per-record, and per-day contact attempts.
>Per Number limits the number of times that each individual telephone number within a contact record will be dialed.
Contact attempts that exceed the configured limit are marked as do-not-call records in the PND table used by the campaign. The status for the number is set to "A" in the Phone Number Detail table to prevent the number from being attempted again. "A" indicates that maximum retry attempts for busy, answering machine, no answer etc. have been reached for a telephone number. It will never be called again. You can check Unlimited to allow any number of dials.
>Per Record limits the total number of times that a contact record will be dialed. Contact attempts that exceed this limit are marked as do-not-call records in the contact list table used by the campaign. The status for the record is set to "A" to prevent the record from being dialed again. You can check Unlimited to allow any number of dials.
>Per Day restricts the number of contact attempts that can be performed in a 24-hour period. The value you specify sets the maximum number of times a contact will be attempted in a day. You can check Unlimited to allow any number of contact attempts.
Follow Up Status
>Selects the status that Dialer will put the agent into when a Dialer call disconnects but has not been dispositioned yet. A typical selection might be "Follow Up". The list allows selection of any agent status defined in IC.
>This setting interacts with the wrap-up settings on the workgroup. For example, when the workgroup associated with a Dialer campaign has wrap-up settings defined, those settings will only be used for inbound interactions. Outbound interactions will always use this Follow Up Status setting.
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Feedback
Auto-Scheduled Callbacks
The options on this expander configure a campaign to automatically schedule callbacks when it is unable to reach a targeted party for some reason. By default, no callbacks are scheduled.
Enable
>Check this box to enable scheduling of callbacks for specific reason results. For example, to automatically call back contacts whose line was busy, check the Enable box for "Busy".
Disposition
>This column lists wrap up categories that can be auto-scheduled. For each category, you can control how long the system waits before contacting a party again, and the maximum number of retries.
Time in Minutes
>Sets number of minutes that the system should wait before calling the party again. The range of values for each row is 0 to 10080 minutes.
Number of Calls
>Sets maximum number of attempts that a telephone number will be called for a particular wrap up category before the number is flagged in the PND table not to be called again. Once this limit has been reached, the number will be given a status of "A" in the PND table so that it is not called again. "A" indicates that maximum retry attempts for busy, answering machine, no answer etc. have been reached for the phone number. Dialer will never call this number again.
Ignore recycles for Auto-Scheduled calls
>Check this box to prevent auto-scheduled callbacks from occurring when the contact list recycles. When checked, auto-scheduled calls are only placed after the specified wait time expires, even if the contact list recycles.
>The auto-scheduled call record is flagged with a status of "O" (auto-scheduled call) to ensure that future recycles of the contact list do not dial this entry. If the setting is not checked then auto-scheduled calls will be placed during the next recycle, possibly before the scheduled time comes due.
>A call scheduled after the last recycle has completed will still be called back, as will agent-owned and campaign wide callbacks as long as agents are logged in. Auto-scheduled calls made after campaign completion will be rescheduled until the max attempts threshold is reached for one of the attempt types, or until the call is connected to a logged in agent.
Feedback
Agent Callbacks
Options on this expander set number of minutes to wait if the agent who owns a callback is unavailable at the scheduled callback time. You can optionally set convert agent-owned callbacks to system-wide callbacks when agents are unavailable.
Reschedule Delay
>Sets number of minutes to wait if the agent who owns a callback is unavailable at the scheduled callback time. The default is 60 minutes. You can set any value from 0 to 10080 minutes.
>Connected parties may ask an agent to call back at a particular time. When this happens, the agent uses Interaction
Scripter to schedule a callback. This is known as an agent-owned callback, since the agent owns the task of contacting the party again.
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>For example, if Reschedule Delay is set to 15minutes and the agent is not available, then the system waits for 15 minutes. At the end of the delay period, the system checks to see if the agent is available:
>If the agent is available at the appointed time, the contact is called again.
>If the agent is unavailable at the appointed time, the system again waits for the number of minutes specified in the Reschedule Delay field.
If the agent is available but is busy with another call, Dialer will queue the callback.
Scheduled Callbacks settings, if any are in effect.
If the agent is still not available, the delay process is repeated until a maximum attempts threshold is reached.
Note: When the max attempts per day value has been reached, Dialer will automatically reschedule the call according to the amount of time specified in Reschedule Delay setting. Dialer will continue rescheduling the call until it is no longer the same day and the agent is logged in.
Convert to campaign-wide callback if agent unavailable after __ attempts
>When checked, you can convert an agent-owned callback to a system wide callback, if the agent who owns the callback is unavailable after a configurable number of attempts. The callback will be assigned to the first available agent participating in this campaign once the attempts threshold is reached. This ensures that the contact will be called back, should agents become unexpectedly unavailable for long periods.
Use Auto-Schedule settings for agent callbacks
Check this box to control whether or not the campaign's auto-Schedule settings are applied to agent-owned callbacks. The table below indicates how callbacks will be rescheduled under different conditions, based on
reschedule delay (described above) or in accordance with the Auto-Scheduled Callbacks settings.
Condition
Agent-owned callback is abandoned
Agent-owned callback returns busy, no answer, machine, or fax
Agent-owned callback fails due to no-lines condition
The required agent is not logged in
When this setting is checked, the callback will be rescheduled based on: auto-schedule settings auto-schedule settings reschedule delay reschedule delay
When this setting is un-
checked, callback will be rescheduled based on: reschedule delay reschedule delay reschedule delay reschedule delay
settings are enabled, the call will be rescheduled according to the Reschedule Delay setting. There is currently no way to stop rescheduling agent-owned callbacks.
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Remove from Dialer cache if not called within __ minutes
This setting removes agent-owned callbacks from the cache of records to be dialed, if the agent is unavailable or logs out while the callback is in cache. A scheduled agent-owned callback could sit in cache for an extended period of time if the agent is busy taking inbound calls, is on break, or is busy with other scheduled callbacks.
When this box is checked, the agent is permitted a configurable amount of time to reach the intended contact. If the callback can't be placed within that time period, then the agent-own callback is converted to a campaign-wide callback, meaning that any available agent could receive the call.
Feedback
Abandons Tab
The Abandons tab offers these expanders:
• Abandon Rate Pacing Adjustment : Comply with Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) or other similar regulations by adjusting the pace of outbound dialing in response to real-time abandon statistics.
• Abandon Call Definition : Specify what this campaign considers an abandoned call to be.
Abandon Rate Pacing Adjustment
Options on this expander affect the pace of outbound dialing in response to real-time abandon statistics. This helps customers to maintain compliance with Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) or other similar regulations.
Type
Selects the type of pacing adjustment to apply, in response to real-time abandonment statistics for the campaign:
No Adjustment When this option is selected, the Outbound Dialer server will place outbound calls at the frequency determined by its predictive algorithm, ignoring the maximum abandon rate percentage. In this mode, Pace most directly affects the Abandon Rate.
Strict Max Rate This option provides an optional measure of control over Abandon Rate calculation, by forcing Dialer to adhere to the maximum Abandon Rate Percentage. When this option is selected, Abandon Rate is analyzed for the whole day (from midnight to midnight), and abandon rate is recalculated after every call.
If the current abandon rate exceeds the Max Abandon threshold, the campaign stops making predictions and drops into Power calling mode. Predictive dialing resumes automatically when Abandon Rate for the day falls below the Max Abandon rate. The campaign will transition back into predictive mode if it was configured as predictive in the first place. The calculation of strict abandon rate is reset to 0 each day at midnight.
Target Rate Target abandon rate is not as strict. Dialer does not use a fixed interval to adjust abandon rate pacing. Dialer will adjust the pace up or down to try to hit the target abandon rate. It uses both recent and past abandon rate numbers to determine when and how much to adjust the pace.
Abandon Rate percentage
>This percentage sets a maximum abandon rate for the campaign. This is the maximum percentage of abandoned calls that the Outbound Dialer will allow before it automatically lowers the pacing. Pacing is lowered automatically if
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Dialer Manager Printable Help the percentage of abandoned calls exceeds this threshold. If the abandonment rate drops well below the target rate, pacing is increased automatically.
This control allows decimal point values to be specified, for greater precision when entering a target abandon rate.
This can help customers to better comply with TSR rulings by leaving less margin for error in their dialing. For example, Max. Abandon Rate can be set to 2.5 instead of 3.
Calculation method drop list
Selects the method used to calculate abandon rate—based on calls placed, total contacts reached, or a ratio of call analysis detections:
Based on Calls Abandonment rate is calculated by dividing the number of abandons by the total number of calls placed.
Based on
Contacts
Based on
Detections
A more restrictive industry standard, wherein the abandonment calculation is total abandons divided by total contacts made.
An abandon rate calculation mode that is based on whether call analysis detected a live party or not. It works by comparing the total number of system-calculated abandons to the number of system-detected live people. This calculation can reduce agent idle time
while speeding up dialing. For more details, see Calculating Abandon Rate Based on Call
Auto Pace Limit
>Sets the maximum threshold for Pace auto-adjustments—how high Dialer can adjust the pace.
Feedback
Abandon Call Definition
Options on this expander specify what this campaign considers an abandoned call to be.
Include remote hang up as abandon After | Always | Never __ seconds
Decide whether calls disconnected by the contact are evaluated as abandoned calls by selecting:
Never
Always
After
No remotely disconnected calls are considered as Abandoned.
All calls disconnected by a remote party are abandoned calls.
Tells Dialer to classify as abandons, all calls disconnected by a remote party after a specified
number of seconds. When this option is selected, you must specify a time interval.
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Note that these settings apply only to calls that are remotely disconnected prior to getting to an agent. Once the call is routed to an agent, the "No Available Agent" determines whether or not the call is marked abandoned. Additionally, if a call is marked abandoned for any reason, it is set and cannot be undone by another setting.
If no agents are available to take a call, the "Remote Hang Ups" and "System Hang Ups" settings are applied to calls that never go to an agent and the "No Available Agent" setting affects calls that do go to agents.
Include system hang up as abandon Always | Never
Always or Never determine whether or not this campaign will interpret system-disconnected calls as abandoned calls.
Include no available agent as abandon After | Never
Specifies whether calls abandoned due to "No Available Agents" are considered by the pacing algorithm as abandoned calls, if at all:
Never
After
Tells Dialer not to consider disconnects due to agent unavailability as abandons.
Tells Dialer to wait to see if an agent will enter an available status. If you select After, you must also set an interval in seconds to wait for an Agent to enter an available status. If no Agent becomes available during this interval, the call is considered to be abandoned.
A "No Available Agent" configuration only affects if and when a record is marked as an abandoned call. It has nothing to do with actions taken against the call object itself (disconnecting it, routing it, etc.)
The Call Timeout setting determines how long the call is left on hold before taking action on it. When that time
configuration, which can be to hang up, play a wave file, or transfer it to an Attendant profile.
Feedback
Calculating Abandon Rate Based on Call Analysis Detections
Here is more information about the "Based on Detections" calculation method you can use to adjust the pace of outbound dialing based on abandonment rate.
The method used to calculate Abandon Rate can directly affect agent idle time and the speed of outbound dialing. The Detections option calculates abandon rate in a way that plans for less-than-perfect Call Analysis. The best way to understand this option is to consider a real-world scenario.
Suppose that 250 numbers are dialed, and that 150 of those calls are auto-dispositioned. The remaining 100 calls are classified as live people by Call Analysis. Dialer routes those 100 calls to agents, but 3 of those 100 calls are abandoned because there are no available agents to take the call. Of those 3 abandoned calls, 2 were actually live people and 1 was really an answering machine.
The other 97 calls are dispositioned by agents. Of the 97 dispositioned by agents, 78 calls were actually live people and 19 are not live people and are marked as such by agents (17 answering machines, 2 SITs). Agents almost always correctly identify a live person versus an answering machine, so their "call analysis" is very accurate.
Using the standard mapping of what is a contact and what is not (as configured in Interaction Administrator), the number of contacts is 81 (78 plus the 3 abandoned calls, since System HangUp is a wrap up category code). In this case the abandoned rate as calculated by Dialer is (3 / 81) * 100 = 3.7%.
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This is not the actual abandon rate, since Call Analysis is not perfect. If it were perfect, no answering machines would go to agents or get abandoned. So, the actual abandon rate is (actual live people abandoned / actual live people detected) or (2 / 78) * 100 = 2.6%.
Poor call analysis at a Dialer site affects abandon rate, since the number of contacts decreases while the possibility of an abandoned call from calls routed stays the same. This can cause contact rate to decrease and abandon rate to increase, leading to slower dialing and more agent idle time.
To alleviate this situation, use the "Based on Detections" option to make the "best effort" calculation possible with current technology. This approach considers that the system thought that 100 calls were live people, and 3 of those system-detected live people were abandoned. It recognizes that the system has no way to know that 1 of those 3 system-detected live people that were abandoned was really an answering machine. Therefore, due to a computer's less-than-perfect ability to detect live people, the best calculation of abandon rate in Dialer would be:
(system-calculated abandons / system-detected live people) * 100 or
(3 / 100) * 100 = 3%.
The Detections calculation returns a value (3%) that is lower than the abandon rate that would normally be calculated by Dialer (3.7%), and which is closer to a perfectly calculated abandon rate (2.6%) which cannot be determined, due to less-than-perfect ability to detect live people.
Call Types and Routes diagram
"Detections" includes everything that Call Analysis decided was a Live Person as this is the "best effort" that our technology is able to perform. Abandons might include mistakenly detected Machines, but Machines that go to
Agents are not included in Contacts (due to accurate analysis). Contacts include Abandons, so it is inconsistent to include Machines. Live People that Call Analysis detects as Machine will not be included in either calculation, but this falls within "best effort" of our Call Analysis technology.
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Related Topics
See Calculation Method drop list on the Abandon Rate Pacing Adjustment expander
campaign.
Feedback
Skills and ACD Tab
The Skills and ACD tab offers these expanders:
• Outbound ACD Routing
configures ACD Weighting for a campaign.
handled by the available agent pool. Skills-based dialing is available for preview, power, and predictive campaigns.
configures a wave file for the campaign to play when remote agents establish persistent
connections.
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Outbound ACD Routing Controls
Settings on this expander configure criteria analyzed by ACD formulas, to optimize ACD scoring and routing for a campaign. These numeric values (called "weights") can significantly customize ACD routing. For feature overview
information, see ACD Weighting by Campaign .
Available Time Interval
>Increase this value to route interactions to agents who have been available the longest. This value (in seconds) increments the Agent Available value by one every time this interval passes. When an agent becomes available, the time is measured. The longer an agent is available, the higher his or her agent score will be.
>When an agent's score is calculated, the amount of time the agent has been available (in seconds) is divided by the
Available Time Interval. Any resulting fraction is discarded. The higher the value that results from this division, the higher the agent's score will be.
>The value you set in the Available Time Interval is the interval at which an agent's Available Time is increased by one.
For example, an agent who has been available 2 minutes in a system where the Agent Available Time Interval is 30 would have an Agent Available Time value of four (2 minutes = 120 seconds; 120 / 30 = 4).
>At three minutes, the agent would have an Agent Available Time value of six (3 minutes = 180 seconds; 180 / 30 =
6). If you calculate an agent's score entirely on Agent Available Time, the agents who are off the phone longest will have higher scores.
>Availability is only reset when an agent disconnects from an ACD interaction, or when follow-up time expires.
Available time is not reset when an agent is off-hook for non-ACD purposes such as using their headset to record a new prompt.
Priority Level field
>This setting assigns a priority value to each outbound interaction. If you are concerned with matching calls with the highest priority to agents, then increase the weight for Priority Level more than the weights for Skills, Time in Queue, or Time in System.
Weight Settings
Weight settings apply to the workgroup used by the campaign.
Skills
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>If you are concerned with matching calls to agents with the best skill for that call, then increase the weight for Skills more than the weights for Priority, Time in Queue, or Time in System.
Agent Skill Level
>This setting establishes the level of importance for Agent Skill in the agent score formula. Agent skill levels are assigned in Interaction Administrator on a User or Workgroup level. If Agent Skill is more important for you than
Agent Cost, Agent Available Time, or some other custom attribute, weight this parameter more than the other weight parameters.
Priority
>The priority level assigned to this call. If you want priority taken into account when calculating interaction scores, you should also increase the weight for Priority.
Agent Cost
>The level of importance for Agent Cost in the agent score formula. Agent Cost is an attribute assigned to an agent in
Interaction Administrator. Use a positive value in this parameter to assign the call to the agent with the highest cost.
Use a negative value in this parameter to assign the call to the agent with the lowest cost.
Time in Queue
>If you are concerned with matching calls that have been holding in this queue the longest to agents, then increase the Weight for Time in Queue more than the weights for Skills, Priority, or Time in System.
Agent Available Time
>The level of importance for Agent Available Time in the agent score formula. If you want to assign this call to the agent who has been off the phone the longest, weight this parameter more heavily than Weight for Agent Skill and
Weight for Agent Cost.
Time in System
>The amount of time (in seconds) before increasing the Time in System by value by one. This increases a call's score and the likelihood that it will be assigned to an agent.
Feedback
Inbound Workgroup Configuration
Options on this expander set overall low- and high-level threshold settings for inbound workgroups. These thresholds automatically disable and enable prediction in blended environments.
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The Plus button allows a selection of ACD workgroups to be specified. Afterward you can optionally set low or high threshold values on a workgroup-specific basis. Workgroups with these names must exist on each Outbound Dialer server that is participating in the campaign.
Note—Interaction Dialer evaluates both low- and high-level thresholds for inbound workgroups and overall low- and high-level thresholds. If either set of thresholds is exceeded, predictive dialing will be enabled or disabled accordingly.
Low Level
>Sets a low level threshold for inbound calls, for all inbound workgroups in the campaign. This threshold re-enables predictive dialing in blended environments. If the number of inbound waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is less than this value, then the server will resume making predictions. This control allows values in the range 0-1000.
High Level
>Sets a high level threshold for inbound calls, for all inbound workgroups in the campaign. This threshold disables prediction in blended environments. If the number of incoming waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is greater than this value, then the server will stop making predictions. This control allows values in the range 0-1000.
Set Limits
>Check this box when you want to define threshold limits for a specific workgroup. This will enable Low and High spin controls.
Low
>This control sets Incoming Low Threshold for this workgroup. This threshold re-enables prediction in blended environments. If the number of inbound waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is less than this value then the server will start making predictions.
High
>This control sets Incoming High Threshold for this workgroup. This disables prediction in blended environments. If the number of incoming waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is greater than this value, the server will stop making predictions, so that agents can catch up.
Feedback
Skills-based Dialing
Options on the this expander configure a campaign to look at skills in contact list records, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool. Skills-based dialing is available for preview, power, and predictive campaigns. These options are disabled when Agentless dialing mode is selected.
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The user interface assigns Skill Sets to the Campaign object, so that skills-based dialing will occur. In order for two skills sets to be compatible and used together, they must use different column names and different ACD skills. The database values do not have to be different.
Available Skill Sets
to a particular skill, a forbidden icon ( ) appears next to that skill.)
Add/Remove buttons
>These buttons move selections from one list to the other. To assign a Skill Set to the Campaign, select it in the
Available Skill Sets list. Then click Add.
Selected Skill Sets list
>This list contains the names of Skill Sets that this campaign will evaluate when selecting records from the contact list. To disable skills-based dialing for a campaign, move all entries to the list on the left.
Related Features
See Skills Based Dialing feature overview.
Feedback
Persistent Connection
This campaign setting configures a wave audio file to play when remote Scripter Client users login to establish a persistent connection. This wave file should play a tone, or say something such as "connection established" to inform the agent that a persistent connection has been established.
A persistent connection allows agents to disconnect one call, keep the receiver off hook, and place or receive the next call via the client, using the same connection between their telephone and the server. The Interaction Center automatically reconnects new calls using the existing phone connection.
Audio File
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>Selects the wave file played to agents when persistent connections are made.
Upload New
>Opens dialog allowing selection of a file to upload.
Related Features
Feedback
Automation Tab
The automation tab assigns an optional Schedule, Policy Set, Rule Set, or Stage Set to the campaign. Other options on this tab configure Dialer to take specific actions based on call analysis results. For example, Dialer can send a fax if a fax machine is detected, of play a wave file to an answering machine.
Schedule
Schedules control when a campaign is on or off (running or not). To assign a schedule to this campaign, select from the Schedule drop list. Schedules are optional.
Policy Sets
records. A single campaign can use multiple Policy Sets. Policy Sets are applied to the calls placed by the Campaign in the order configured here. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the order of policy selections in the
Selected Items list. Topmost items are evaluated first.
A padlock icon ( ) next to a Policy Set indicates that it is a locked policy. Once a locked policy set is saved on a campaign, it can only be removed by a user with the "Lock Policy Sets" security right.
A forbidden icon ( ) next to a Policy Set inidicates that the current user does not have permission to this object.
When an item is forbidden, it cannot be removed from the list.
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Rule Sets
a Rule Set from the drop list. Rule Sets are optional.
Stage Set
talking to a contact. Each stage identifies a step (completing action) of a campaign call, such as a sales pitch or wrapup. A Stage Set is a collection of stages that have been given a name. Stage Sets are optional.
Once a Stage Set is assigned to a campaign, the Stage Set is dynamically referenced. From then on, the campaign dynamically references the contents of the selected Stage Set. If a stage is removed from the Stage Set, this change is immediately adopted by the campaign. Dynamically referenced stages make maintenance easier. If you update a
Stage Set, you don't have to update all campaigns that reference that set.
However, adding or removing stages from a stage set can potentially cause campaign scripts to become out of sync with stage numbers defined in a Stage Set. If you update a Stage Set, you must coordinate your changes with script developers.
It is extremely important that you accurately define and use stages for your predictive campaigns. The predictive algorithm cannot accurately predict an agent's availability unless predictive stages have been defined for terminating stages.
Call Analysis
Call Analysis is the term for analyzing a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a fax machine, or an answering machine, and whether or not an agent is available to process the call.
has figured out what is at the other end of a placed call. This allows you to configure the processing that will occur when a call is answered by a live person, answering machine, or fax.
Call Analysis
Result
Live Person
No Available
Agent
Predictive
Connect to Agent
Dialing Mode
Power
Connect to Agent
Preview
No Action
Available
No Action
Available
Agentless
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
No Action Available
Answering
Machine
Fax
Hang Up
Play File
Route To
Attendant Profile
Hang Up
Play File
Route To
Attendant Profile
Connect to Agent
Hang Up
Play File
Route To
Attendant Profile
Hang Up
Play File
Route To Attendant
Profile
Hang Up
Play File
Route To Attendant
Profile
Connect to Agent
Hang Up
Play File
Route To Attendant
Profile
No Action
Available
No Action
Available
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
Hang Up
File
Attendant Profile
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Connect to Agent Connect to Agent
Configurable Actions based on Call Analysis Results
• Connect to Agent. Route the call to an available ACD agent.
• Hang Up. Configures Dialer to disconnect when a live person, answering machine, or fax machine answers the call.
• Play File. Plays a wave audio file to the contact, or sends a fax file to a fax machine. Any standard wave audio
(.wav) file can be used, such as files created using Windows Sound Recorder. However, the G-711 .wav format is recommended, since it uses the fewest resources and does not need to be translated to another format by the system.
A fax document consists of one or many pages of data contained in an .i3f format file. Fax files are created using the
Interaction Fax application.
The path to fax and wave files must be the same on any Outbound Dialer server that will run the campaign. In other words, the file must exist in the same location on each participating server, or all servers must point to the same network location and each Outbound Dialer must have read access to the specified path. In addition, the wave file directories must be included in the virtual directory configuration of Prompt Server.
• Route To Attendant Profile. Pass the call to an Outbound Interaction Attendant profile. Interaction Attendant is
Interactive Intelligence's IVR solution. Outbound Interaction Attendant profiles are created by running the outbound version of Interaction Attendant.
When you select the Play File or Route To Attendant Profile actions, you'll need to configure additional settings:
File
>The name and path to the wave file.
Attendant Profile
>The name and path to the Attendant Profile
Max Retries spin control
>This option is for Fax machines only. It sets the maximum number of Fax retry attempts made before the contact is considered to be a failure.
Repeat spin control
>Sets a wav file to be repeated a configurable number of times. Use this feature to play custom hold audio while leaving a call on hold waiting for an agent to become available. To do so, set the No Available Agent call analysis result to "File", select a wave file to play, and set the number of times that the wave file should repeat. For example a repeat setting of 1 will cause the wave file to play twice in total. There is a 10 second pause between each play.
Allow ACD: Connect to Agent if one becomes available
>This feature can be used to make a legislative message interruptible or not when an Agent is not initially available to take the call. agentless campaigns can play a .wav file or Attendant Profile to play if no Agent is available when a live person is reached. This is accomplished by selecting "No Available Agent" and the action to "File" or "Attendant
Profile". Afterward you can control whether or not routing to an Agent will occur, using the "Connect to Agent if one becomes available" checkbox.
• When this option is checked, the called party is immediately rerouted to the newly available Agent.
• When this option is unchecked, no ACD routing occurs, and the call is disconnected after the .wav file plays or it is processed by Attendant.
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Seconds of Silence
>This option is for Answering Machines only. It sets the total number of seconds that each Outbound Dialer should wait before playing a wave file to an answering machine.
Feedback
Define a Campaign
To define a new campaign, follow the steps below. Feel free to skip optional steps. You can always edit the campaign later to fine tune it.
Settings on the Basic configuration tab
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Campaigns container.
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new campaign entry.
essential campaign settings are defined.
Type a descriptive name in the Name field. This name will become the name of the campaign when the campaign entry is saved, replacing the default "New Item".
4. Use the Workgroup field to select the ACD workgroup that participating agents belong to. This workgroup must exist on each Outbound Dialer server if the campaign runs across multiple ODS servers.
5. Optionally fill in the Group field by typing a descriptive string that describes the customer or campaign. This field is optional, since Interaction Dialer does not use this information internally. However, a Group designation is useful when several campaigns are related in some way. For example, if your call center conducts several campaigns for the same client, you might store the name of the client in the Group field. If you run several campaigns for Globe
Newspaper, you might type "Globe" into this field.
6. Next, select a base or custom script for the campaign to use. All campaigns except agentless campaigns use a script to display contact information to an agent. Scripts prompt for data entry, tell agents what to say, and provide navigation options that agents use to transition between calls or stages of a call. Base scripts are defined in Dialer
Manager. Custom scripts are created by web developers. If you are creating an agentless campaign, you can skip this setting. a) To use a previously defined base script, click Base Script. If the adjacent drop is list empty, you need to
to this campaign. b) Select Custom Script if a script was developed for the campaign using the Interaction Scripter API or
Interaction EasyScripter. Then enter the URL of the first HTML page displayed by the script in the text box that is adjacent to the Custom Script radio button.
7. Click the Dial Settings expander if necessary to expose its options.
8. Select the mode used to conduct outbound dialing from the Calling Mode drop list.
9. Optionally set Campaign Priority. When a single agent is active in (logged into) multiple campaigns, each campaign will generate interactions for the agent. Therefore, campaigns can be assigned a configurable priority number—an integer between 1 and 100, inclusive, that Dialer uses to decide how many calls to place for each campaign for each agent.
Over time, more calls per agent are placed for higher priority campaigns, proportionally to each campaign's priority number. To make this determination, Dialer divides each agent into partial agents based on which campaigns the agent is active in and the priority of each campaign.
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10. Set Max Lines per Campaign only if you are configuring an agentless campaign. This control sets the maximum number of lines that each Outbound Dialer server can use to conduct the agentless campaign. Each Outbound Dialer will strive to maintain this many calls concurrently to utilize the maximum number of lines.
11. Optionally increase the value of Initial Calls Per Agent. This setting affects the number of calls that will be placed when an agent goes idle. Dialer uses this value when a campaign is started or reset to determine the number of calls to place on a prediction or agent idle request until contact rate information becomes available. The valid range of values is any integer between 1 and 100. The default is 3.
12. Optionally change the value of statistics sample period. This setting sets the amount of time the system should wait (in seconds) between inserts to the Campaign statistics table, if any statistics changed since the last insert.
13. Use settings in the Dial Line Information frame to configure Dialer to adhere strictly to CIC's Dial Plan, or to use one specific line group for campaign calls. If Dial Plan is selected, the Dialer uses a different "make call" method that evaluates the Dial Plan for line and line group selection. For more information about these options, see location and line group for a campaign configuration.
14. Use Dialing Servers controls to specify which Outbound Dialing Servers will participate in the campaign. An
Outbound Dialing Server (ODS) is a CIC Server with Interaction Dialer installed. a. Select a server in the Available Servers list on the left. b. Click Add. The server name will move to the Selected Servers list. These servers will dial when the campaign is running.
15. Optionally enable use of Bulk Call API by this campaign—a feature that can provide significantly faster outbound
these related procedures: Enable Bulk Call API for a Campaign and Adjust Dialer Maximum Call Rate .
16. Check the Call Analysis box if you want this campaign to use Call Analysis—an IC process that analyzes a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a Fax machine, or an Answering Machine, and whether or not an agent is available to process the call. This option determines whether Call Analysis is performed for the overall campaign (independently of any policies that use Call Analysis).
17. Check Detect Answering Machine if Call Analysis should detect Answering Machines for the overall campaign, independently of any policies that use Call Analysis. This option is unavailable unless the Call Analysis box is checked.
18. The No Answer Timeout setting is optional. It allows you to configure a length of time (in seconds) that a contact's phone should ring before the call is disconnected. By default the system waits 22 seconds for the contact to answer. Setting this value controls how long a call in a Ringing state (not connected or answered) will stay active before Telephony Services disconnects the call. This option is unavailable unless the Call Analysis box is checked.
19. The Call Timeout setting is optional. It configures the length of time (in seconds) that an outbound call will stay in the waiting queue (waiting for an agent to become available) before the Outbound Dialer server disconnects it, plays the no available agent wave file, or transfers the call to the no available agent attendant profile. For example, a campaign with a call in the waiting queue and a Call Timeout of 3 will wait three seconds before disconnecting the call. If this setting is too low, contacts who answer calls will be hung up on. This option is unavailable unless the Call
Analysis box is checked.
20. Optional. The Calling Party Name and Number text boxes prompt for Caller ID information that will be visible to
21. Optional. To decrease idle times for blended sites, check the Enable box next to Disable NonDialerStats. This tells Dialer not to reserve any agents for non-Dialer calls. By default, this feature is not in effect, which allows more idle time between outbound calls.
22. To specify a contact list, select the table containing phone numbers to call during the course of this campaign. To
display this option, you may need to expand the Contact List tab .
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23. Optional. The Sort Criteria part of the form allows you to optionally sort the contact list. The new sort order will take effect when the campaign is recycled or stopped and restarted. To set up a sort: a) Select one or more columns in the list on the left, optionally using the Filter Columns field to narrow down column names. b) Select ASC or DESC to denote whether to sort the selected fields in ascending or descending order. c) Click Add. d) Use the Move Up/Move Down buttons to reorder fields in the Selected Columns list. This changes the sort order as the contact list will be sorted by topmost fields first when a campaign starts or is recycled. For example, to sort by City within State, you would position State above City. You can remove selections from the Selected Columns list by pressing the Remove button.
24. Optional. Filters are predefined SQL statements that select a subset of records to process from a contact list. A filter selects records to dial in the next cycle of calling. See the Filters feature overview for background information.
If the list of available filters is empty, no filters were previously defined using the Contact List Filters view. Since filters require SQL expertise to create and knowledge of columns in the contact list, call center administrators may need assistance from the database administrator who manages the DBMS server and contact lists used by Interaction
Dialer.
Filters are optional. A filter is not used by a campaign until it is added to the Selected Filters list in this section of the campaign configuration. To configure a campaign to use filters: a) Select filter names in the list on the left, optionally using the Filter Filters field to narrow down long lists of names. b) Click Add. Filters that appear in the Selected Filters list will be applied to the selection of records when the campaign is recycled.
You can remove selections from the Selected Filters list by clicking the Remove button. You can change the order in which filters are evaluated using the Move Up and Move Down buttons. Records for topmost filters are evaluated first, followed by subsequent filters in the list.
25. Optional. The Agent Scheduled and Auto-Scheduled checkboxes apply Filter criteria to the selection of callback records. By default, filters are not used when the system selects scheduled callback records. These checkboxes optionally force scheduled calls to adhere to an active filter.
• Agent Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of callbacks scheduled by agents.
• Auto-Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of auto-scheduled callbacks. Autoscheduled callbacks are created up by the system when it is unable to reach a targeted party for one of the following reasons:
Call was abandoned
No answer
Line was busy
Answering Machine detected
Dialer Hang Up
Fax Machine Detected
Remote Hang Up
26. Optional. If you enable Priority Dialing for the campaign, configuration settings in the Priority Dialing frame can
be edited. See Priority Dialing for background information about this feature.
Query Frequency—determines how often (in seconds) that Interaction Dialer should check the contact list for newly inserted priority contact records (records that have a "J" status). The query frequency is configurable from 5 seconds up to 5 minutes (300 seconds).
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Sort Criteria—these options establish a sort order for Priority Dialing records. Priority Dialing records can have a separate sort that orders them independently of the overall sort order applied to the contact list. The configured sort will determine the order of records cached for dialing.
If you do not apply sort criteria, Priority contacts are not in any particular order. They will be dialed in an order that resembles last-in-first-out, because each contact query inserts priority records at the front of the dialing queue. If you set up a sort, the new sort order will take effect when the "J" records are queried for immediate dialing.
To set up a sort: a) Select one or more columns in the list on the left, optionally using the Filter Columns field to narrow down column names. b) Select ASC or DESC to denote whether to sort the selected fields in ascending or descending order. Then click Add. c) Use the Move up/Move down buttons to reorder fields in the Selected Columns list. Topmost fields in the list are sorted first, followed by subsequent sort fields. You can remove selections from the Selected
Columns list by pressing the Remove button.
27. Optional. DNC Source selects a previously-configured Do-Not-Call (DNC) source to scrub this Campaign's contact list against. See DNC Scrubbing of Contact Numbers for background information about this feature. If no
campaign.
28. Optional. Use settings on the Timezone Settings expander to configure Time Zone Blocking features. Select a
Zone Set for the campaign to use. If your contact list stores each contact's time zone, this activates Dialer's Time
Zone Blocking feature, which prevents calls to those contacts from being placed at inappropriate times. If this drop list is empty, you can create a zone set by selecting the Zone Sets view.
A Zone Set contains multiple zone entries which are matched to the time zone of your contact. For each zone entry in the set, time intervals specify when it is appropriate for the server to dial this zone.
29. Optional. Check the Automatically map time zones box to enable Time Zone Mapping for the campaign. This feature ensures that contacts are only called at appropriate times, by mapping telephone numbers to time zones in real-time, based on initial digits in the contact telephone number (e.g. area code and exchange in North America), instead of using the zone column of each contact record to identify the contact's time zone. To determine the zone, the initial digits of the contact number are matched to a time zone map data source. a) When automatic mapping is enabled, Dialer provides three options that set how broadly automatic mapping is applied to this campaign. The options are:
• Map phone numbers not set to a zone. This restricts Time Zone Mapping to telephone numbers that have no zone information. Only phone numbers not associated with a zone will be mapped.
• Map phone numbers not set to a zone or set. This option maps phone numbers that have no zone information and numbers that had previously been automatically mapped. If the time zone map data set has been updated, the latest zone from the data set will be used in place of the zone entry that was previously written to the campaign's PND table. The PND table will be updated with the latest zone for this telephone number.
Since time zone data sets are often updated quarterly, this option ensures accuracy by automatically updating zone information in PND tables. When automatic mapping is performed, zone data in PND tables is updated if the zone field in the PND table is empty, or if the zone entry does not match the result of the lookup operation.
If lookup against a time zone map data set returns a different zone from the zone in the PND table, the zone in the data set is presumed to be newer and is used instead. When zone entries match the lookup value, zone data in the PND table is not updated. Zone data is updated only when values change.
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• Map all phone numbers. This option maps all phone numbers, regardless of their current zone settings. Please use this option with caution, since it will cause all phone numbers to be remapped every recycle, which can take a long time. b) If desired, click Map phone numbers to time zones now. Time zone mapping is performed immediately upon configuration. Since the initial mapping of a call list and PND table data can take a while, customers can press this button to manually initiate time zone mapping. It manually initiates time zone mapping without waiting for a recycle. This reduces the amount of time that time zone mapping will require when the next recycle occurs. When time zone mapping is manually invoked, user activity is blocked until the mapping finishes.
30. Click Save ( ) to save campaign configuration settings.
Recall Control tab
the number of contact list iterations allowed before a campaign ends, or the number of times a contact can be called. a. If necessary, expand the Attempt Control expander . b. Optionally set Max Times to Recycle to the number of additional times that Dialer will go through the contact list after dialing it an initial time. You can check Unlimited to allow an infinite number of recycles.
A recycle operation is the act of starting over at the beginning of the list and going through it again, so restarting the contact list 4 times results in 5 total times through the list since the first time through the list doesn't require a recycle operation. c. Optionally set Minimum minutes before next dial to a minimum amount of time that must pass before
d. Optionally set Max Attempts to the number of contact attempts after which a contact is no longer called. You have the option to allow unlimited per-number, per-record, and per-day contact attempts:
• Per Number limits the number of times that each individual telephone number within a contact record will be dialed. Contact attempts that exceed the configured limit are marked as do-not-call records in the PND table used by the campaign. The status for the number is set to "A" in the Phone
Number Detail table to prevent the number from being attempted again. "A" indicates that maximum retry attempts for busy, answering machine, no answer etc. have been reached for a telephone number.
It will never be called again. You can check Unlimited to allow any number of dials.
• Per Record limits the total number of times that a contact record will be dialed. Contact attempts that exceed this limit are marked as do-not-call records in the contact list table used by the campaign.
The status for the record is set to "A" to prevent the record from being dialed again. You can check
Unlimited to allow any number of dials.
• Per Day restricts the number of contact attempts that can be performed in a 24-hour period beginning from the time of the last call (UTC). The value you specify sets the maximum number of times a contact will be attempted in a 24-hour time period. You can check Unlimited to allow any number of contact attempts e. Optionally set Follow Up Status to the status that Dialer will put the agent into when a Dialer call disconnects but has not been dispositioned yet. A typical selection might be "Follow Up". This drop list allows selection of any agent status defined in IC.
32. Optional. Configure the campaign to automatically schedule callbacks when it is unable to reach a targeted party for some reason:
a. Expand the Auto-Scheduled Callbacks expander .
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Dialer Manager Printable Help b. Check the Enable column to enable scheduling of callbacks for specific results. For example, to automatically call back contacts whose line was busy, check the Enable box for "Busy". The Disposition column lists wrap up category codes that can be auto-scheduled. For each wrap up category, you can control how long the system waits before contacting a party again, and the maximum number of retries. c. Set Time in Minutes to the number of minutes that the system should wait before calling the party again. d. Set Number of Calls to the maximum number of times that a telephone number will be called for a particular wrap up category code before the number is flagged in the PND table not to be called again. Once this limit has been reached, the number will be given a status of "A" in the PND table so that it is not called again. "A" indicates that maximum retry attempts for busy, answering machine, no answer etc. have been reached for the phone number. Dialer will never call this number again. e. Repeat steps b-d for other Disposition codes, as needed. f. Optionally check Ignore recycles for Auto-Scheduled calls to prevent auto-scheduled callbacks from occurring when the contact list recycles. When checked, auto-scheduled calls are only placed after the specified wait time expires, even if the contact list recycles.
the agent who owns a callback is unavailable at the scheduled callback time, whether to convert agent-owned callbacks to campaign-wide callbacks, and whether to use auto-schedule settings for agent callbacks. a. Set Reschedule Delay to a number of minutes to wait if the agent who owns a callback is unavailable at the scheduled callback time.
Connected parties may ask an agent to call back at a particular time. When this happens, the agent uses
Interaction Scripter to schedule a callback. This is known as an agent-owned callback, since the agent owns the task of contacting the party again.
If the agent is unavailable at the appointed time, the system waits for the number of minutes specified in this field. At the end of the delay period, it checks to see if the agent is available. For example, if Reschedule delay = 15, and the agent is not available, the system waits for 15 minutes.
If the agent is available, the contact is called again. If the agent is not available, the delay process is repeated until a maximum attempts threshold is reached—see Attempt control expander . If the agent is logged in but is busy with another call, Interaction Dialer will queue the callback. If the agent is available,
but the party cannot be reached, the call may be rescheduled using settings on the Auto-Scheduled
Callbacks expander , if any are in effect.
b. Optionally check Convert to campaign-wide callback if agent unavailable after __ attempts. When checked, you can convert an agent-owned callback to a system wide callback, if the agent who owns the callback is unavailable after a configurable number of attempts. The callback will be assigned to the first available agent participating in this campaign once the attempts threshold is reached. This ensures that the contact will be called back, should agents become unexpectedly unavailable for long periods. c. Optionally check Use Auto-Schedule settings for agent callbacks. This setting controls whether or not the campaign's auto-Schedule settings are applied to agent-owned callbacks. The table below indicates how callbacks will be rescheduled under different conditions, based on reschedule delay (described above) or in
accordance with auto-schedule settings enabled on the Auto-Scheduled Callbacks expander .
When this setting is checked, the callback will be rescheduled based on:
When this setting is un-
checked, callback will be rescheduled based on: Condition
Agent-owned callback is abandoned auto-schedule settings reschedule delay
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Agent-owned callback returns busy, no answer, machine, or fax
Agent-owned callback fails due to no-lines condition
The required agent is not logged in auto-schedule settings reschedule delay reschedule delay reschedule delay reschedule delay reschedule delay
If the box for Use Auto-Schedule settings for agent callbacks is checked, and none of the auto-schedule
Reschedule Delay setting. There is currently no way to stop rescheduling agent-owned callbacks.
34. Click Save ( ) to save changes made on the Recall Control tab.
Abandons tab
abandonment statistics, or if you want to specify what this campaign considers an abandoned call to be. a. To adjust the pace of dialing, expand the Abandon Rate Pacing Adjustment expander . b. Use the Type drop list to select to the type of pacing adjustment to apply in response to real-time abandonment statistics for the campaign:
No
Adjustment
When this option is selected, the Outbound Dialer server will place outbound calls at the frequency determined by its predictive algorithm, ignoring the maximum abandon rate percentage. In this mode, Pace most directly affects the Abandon Rate.
Strict Max Rate This option provides an optional measure of control over Abandon Rate calculation, by forcing Dialer to adhere to the maximum Abandon Rate Percentage. When this option is selected, Abandon Rate is analyzed for the whole day (from midnight to midnight), and abandon rate is recalculated after every call.
If the current abandon rate exceeds the Max Abandon threshold, the campaign stops making predictions and the campaign drops into Power calling mode. Predictive dialing resumes automatically when Abandon Rate for the day falls below the Max
Abandon rate. The campaign will transition back into predictive mode if it was configured as predictive in the first place. The calculation of strict abandon rate is reset to 0 each day at midnight.
Target Rate Target abandon rate is not as strict. Dialer does not use a fixed interval to adjust abandon rate pacing. Dialer will adjust the pace up or down to try to hit the target abandon rate. It uses both recent and past abandon rate numbers to determine when and how much to adjust the pace. c. Optionally set Abandon Rate percentage to a maximum abandon rate percentage for the campaign.
This is the maximum percentage of abandoned calls that the Outbound Dialer will allow before it automatically lowers the pacing. Pacing is lowered automatically if the percentage of abandoned calls exceeds this threshold. If the abandonment rate drops well below the target rate, pacing is increased automatically.
Note that this control allows decimal point values to be specified, for greater precision when entering a target abandon rate. This can help customers to better comply with TSR rulings by leaving less margin for error in their dialing. For example, Max. Abandon Rate can be set to 2.5 instead of 3. d. Use the Calculation method drop list to set the method used to calculate abandon rate—based on calls placed, total contacts reached, or a ratio of call analysis detections:
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Based on Calls Abandonment rate is calculated by dividing the number of abandons by the total number of calls placed.
Based on
Contacts
Based on
Detections
A more restrictive industry standard, wherein the abandonment calculation is total abandons divided by total contacts made.
An abandon rate calculation mode that is based on whether call analysis detected a live party or not. It works by comparing the total number of system-calculated abandons to the number of system-detected live people. This calculation can reduce
agent idle time while speeding up dialing. For more details, see Calculating Abandon
Rate Based on Call Analysis Detections .
e. Optionally set Auto Pace Limit to the maximum threshold for Pace auto-adjustments. This controls how high Dialer can adjust the pace.
36. Click Save ( ) to save changes made on the Abandons tab.
Skills and ACD tab
wave file when remote agents establish a persistent connection.
a. To configure ACD Weighting , expand Outbound ACD Routing Controls if necessary. Settings on this
expander configure criteria analyzed by ACD formulas, to optimize ACD scoring and routing for a campaign.
These numeric values (called "weights") can significantly customize ACD routing. b. Set the value of Available Time Interval. Increase this value to route interactions to agents who have been available the longest. This value (in seconds) increments the Agent Available value by one every time this interval passes. When an agent becomes available, the time is measured. The longer an agent is available, the higher his or her agent score will be.
When an agent's score is calculated, the amount of time the agent has been available (in seconds) is divided by the Available Time Interval. Any resulting fraction is discarded. The higher the value that results from this division, the higher the agent's score will be.
The value you set in the Available Time Interval is the interval at which an agent's Available Time is increased by one. For example, an agent who has been available 2 minutes in a system where the Agent Available Time
Interval is 30 would have an Agent Available Time value of four (2 minutes = 120 seconds; 120 / 30 = 4).
At three minutes, the agent would have an Agent Available Time value of six (3 minutes = 180 seconds; 180 /
30 = 6). If you calculate an agent's score entirely on Agent Available Time, the agents who are off the phone longest will have higher scores.
Availability is only reset when an agent disconnects from an ACD interaction, or when follow-up time expires.
Available time is not reset when an agent is off-hook for non-ACD purposes such as using their headset to record a new prompt. c. Set the Priority Level. This setting assigns a priority value to each outbound interaction. If you are concerned with matching calls with the highest priority to agents, then increase the weight for Priority Level more than the weights for Skills, Time in Queue, or Time in System. d. Set weight settings that apply to the workgroup used by the campaign:
Skills
Agent Skill
If you are concerned with matching calls to agents with the best skill for that call, then increase the weight for Skills more than the weights for Priority, Time in Queue, or Time in System.
This setting establishes the level of importance for Agent Skill in the agent score formula.
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Level
Priority
Agent skill levels are assigned in Interaction Administrator on a User or Workgroup level.
If Agent Skill is more important for you than Agent Cost, Agent Available Time, or some other custom attribute, weight this parameter more than the other weight parameters.
The priority level assigned to this call. If you want priority taken into account when calculating interaction scores, you should also increase the weight for Priority.
Agent Cost The level of importance for Agent Cost in the agent score formula. Agent Cost is an attribute assigned to an agent in Interaction Administrator. Use a positive value in this parameter to assign the call to the agent with the highest cost. Use a negative value in this parameter to assign the call to the agent with the lowest cost.
Time in
Queue
If you are concerned with matching calls that have been holding in this queue the longest to agents, then increase the Weight for Time in Queue more than the weights for
Skills, Priority, or Time in System.
Agent
Available
Time
Time in
System
The level of importance for Agent Available Time in the agent score formula. If you want to assign this call to the agent who has been off the phone the longest, weight this parameter more heavily than Weight for Agent Skill and Weight for Agent Cost.
The amount of time (in seconds) before increasing the Time in System by value by one.
This increases a call's score and the likelihood that it will be assigned to an agent.
settings for inbound workgroups. These thresholds automatically disable and enable prediction in blended environments. a. Use the Low Level spin control to set a low level threshold for inbound calls, for all inbound workgroups in the campaign. This threshold re-enables predictive dialing in blended environments. If the number of inbound waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is less than this value, then the server will resume making predictions. This control allows values in the range 0-1000. b. Use the High Level spin control to set a high level threshold for inbound calls, for all inbound workgroups in the campaign. This threshold disables prediction in blended environments. If the number of incoming waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is greater than this value, then the server will stop making predictions. This control allows values in the range 0-1000. c. To set thresholds for individual inbound workgroups, click Add. Select workgroups, then click Add. Click
OK. d. Check Set Limits. This will enable Low and High spin controls. e. Use the Low spin control to set an incoming low threshold for a workgroup. This threshold re-enables prediction in blended environments. If the number of inbound waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is less than this value then the server will start making predictions. f. Use the High spin control to set an incoming high threshold for this workgroup. This disables prediction in blended environments. If the number of incoming waiting calls for the specified ACD workgroup is greater than this value, the server will stop making predictions, so that agents can catch up.
Dialer to look at skills in contact records, and dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool. Skills-based dialing is available for preview, power, and predictive campaigns.
The goal of skills-based dialing is to balance the contacts being dialed with the capabilities of the available agents who could receive calls. This requires sub-selecting only those contacts in the call list that could be handled by the available agent pool before attempting to dial those contacts. The mix of contacts' required skills and agents' anticipated availability and skills is very dynamic and is managed in real time similarly to pacing. Once a contact with an appropriate skill requirement is selected to be dialed and a live person contacted, that contact's skills are
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Dialer Manager Printable Help associated with the connected call for use by CIC's ACD in using skills-based routing to get the call to the most appropriate available agent.
To use this feature, contact lists must be populated with skill sets per contact (e.g. state code, language indicator, etc.) to be matched up with the associated campaign's agent pool skill sets.
set. Afterward you can assign it to this campaign. b. Click Add. The Skill Set name appears in the Selected Skill Sets list. Dialer will select records from the contact list that match these skills, only if available agents have these skills. c. Repeat steps a-b to assign additional skill sets, if necessary.
Connection expander.
A persistent connection allows agents to disconnect one call, keep the receiver off hook, and place or receive the next call via the client, using the same connection between their telephone and the server. The Interaction
Center automatically reconnects new calls using the existing phone connection.
This wave file should play a tone, or say something such as "connection established" to inform the agent that a persistent connection has been established.
Select a file from the Audio File drop list. If this is empty, click Upload New to upload a file to the server.
41. Click Save ( ) to save changes made on the Skills and ACD tab.
Automation tab
Set. Other options on this tab configure Dialer to take actions based on call analysis results. For example, Dialer can send a fax if a fax machine is detected, of play a wave file to an answering machine. a. To assign a schedule to this campaign, select from the Schedule drop list. Schedules control when a
create one, and then assign it to this campaign.
Important—schedules take effect only when a campaign's status is set to dial according to schedule.
Interaction Dialer schedules dictate and control the time segments when your campaigns will run—weekly, one time, or any mix of times and dates when the campaign should begin and end. b. To assign a Policy Set to this campaign, select a Policy Set in the Available Policy Sets list. Then click Add.
add a policy. Afterward you can assign it to this campaign.
Policies implement if/then/else logic at the call level. Policies control dialing and routing on a contact-bycontact basis before, during, or after a call. Business logic in a policy decides whether to place a call, determine agent availability (precise dialing), set attributes for recording and post-call processing, or send notifications. Policies are grouped into Policy Sets for use with many campaigns. c. To assign a Rule Set, select from the Rule Set drop list. Rules implement if/then/else logic at the
this campaign.
pacing algorithm to make better predictions.
Stages identify each segment of a call that statistics can be collected upon. A stage categorizes a general task that agents perform while talking to a contact. Each stage is a discrete part of a campaign phone call,
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e. The remaining options optionally configure a campaign to take actions based on call analysis .
Call Analysis is the term for analyzing a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a fax machine, or an answering machine, and whether or not an agent is available to process the call.
what is at the other end of a placed call. This allows you to configure the processing that will occur when a call is answered by a live person, answering machine, or fax.
For each call analysis result (live person, no available agent, answering machine, or fax) you can select one of the following actions, if the dialing mode allows:
• Connect to Agent. Route the call to an available ACD agent.
• Hang Up. Configures Dialer to disconnect when a live person, answering machine, or fax machine answers the call.
• Play File. Plays a wave audio file to the contact, or sends a fax file to a fax machine. Any standard wave audio (.wav) file can be used, such as files created using Windows Sound Recorder. However, the
G-711 .wav format is recommended, since it uses the fewest resources and does not need to be translated to another format by the system.
A fax document consists of one or many pages of data contained in an .i3f format file. Fax files are created using the Interaction Fax application.
The path to fax and wave files must be the same on any Outbound Dialer server that will run the campaign. In other words, the file must exist in the same location on each participating server, or all servers must point to the same network location and each Outbound Dialer must have read access to the specified path. In addition, the wave file directories must be included in the virtual directory configuration of Prompt Server.
• Route to Attendant Profile. Pass the call to an Outbound Interaction Attendant profile. Interaction
Attendant is Interactive Intelligence's IVR solution. Outbound Interaction Attendant profiles are created by running the outbound version of Interaction Attendant.
Based on your selection, you may be prompted to set these additional options:
Max Retries spin control style="margin-left: .75in;">This option is for Fax machines only. It sets the maximum number of Fax retry attempts made before the contact is considered to be a failure.
Repeat spin control style="margin-left: .75in;">Sets a wav file to be repeated a configurable number of times. Use this feature to play custom hold audio while leaving a call on hold waiting for an agent to become available. To do so, set the No
Available Agent call analysis result to "File", select a wave file to play, and set the number of times that the wave file should repeat. For example a repeat setting of 1 will cause the wave file to play twice in total. There is a 10 second pause between each play.
Allow ACD: Connect to Agent if one becomes available style="margin-left: .75in;">This feature can be used to make a legislative message interruptible or not when an Agent is not initially available to take the call. Agentless campaigns can play a .wav file or Attendant Profile to play if no
Agent is available when a live person is reached. This is accomplished by selecting "No Available Agent" and the action to "File" or "Attendant Profile". Afterward you can control whether or not routing to an Agent will occur, using the "Connect to Agent if one becomes available" checkbox.
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• When this option is checked, the called party is immediately rerouted to the newly available
Agent.
• When this option is unchecked, no ACD routing occurs, and the call is disconnected after the
.wav file plays or it is processed by Attendant.
Seconds of Silence style="margin-left: .75in;">This option is for Answering Machines only. It sets the total number of seconds that each
Outbound Dialer should wait before playing a wave file to an answering machine.Connect to Agent
43. Click Save ( ) to save changes made on the Automation tab.
44. The new campaign is ready to run. By default, it waits in a manual off condition until you change its execution
status. To run it manually or in accordance with a schedule, see Start a Campaign .
Feedback
Start a Campaign
A new campaign waits in a manual off condition until you change its execution status:
1. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Campaigns.
2. Select a campaign in the list of entries.
3. Click the Basic Configuration tab.
4. Use Campaign Execution Controls to set the status of the campaign. The controls are:
Campaign Execution Controls
Textual status indicator
Graphical Status indictor
Start
This control displays the execution state of the campaign. If a schedule has control over the campaign, status will be On or Off. When a campaign is running under manual control (not in accordance with a schedule) its status will be Manual On, Manual Off, or
Pause.
Visually indicates whether or not the Campaign is running under Auto or Manual control or in accordance with a schedule.
Turns the campaign on.
On for Scheduled
Calls Only
Turns the campaign on for scheduled calls only. Places only agent-scheduled calls. Ignores the campaign schedule.
• Auto-scheduled calls are not placed.
• Priority dials are still made.
• No regular calls are placed.
• When this campaign state is switched to, any
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6
7
8
9
Stop
Pause/Resume
Recycle
Campaign
Reset Campaign
Run Test cached contacts that the campaign will no longer call (regular calls, queued precise calls) are flushed from the cache back to the database.
Stops outbound dialing once the cache is empty.
Ignores the campaign schedule. If you stop a campaign
(by selecting Stop), rather than by clicking Pause, agents must log in when the campaign is restarted by clicking this button again. If you click the Pause button, you can resume the campaign by clicking Pause again, and agents won't need to login. Outbound calling will resume once agents change to available status.
Temporarily stops all outbound dialing activity for the campaign. All active calls will complete, but no new calls will be generated. This command is used to temporally halt a campaign without requiring agents to log back in once processing is resumed. When a campaign is Paused, no calls are placed, but the record cache is maintained. To resume the campaign, press
Pause again. Agents will not need to login when the campaign resumes.
Recycle refers to the process of restarting the call selection process at the beginning of the contact list. This can happen automatically after all records are processed, or manually in response to a Reset
Campaign command. A recycle period is the time that
Interaction Dialer needs to process all records in a contact list.
Resets a running campaign, The contact list will be processed from the top to reach parties that were not contacted in a previous pass. If major settings have been changed (DSN, Sorting or Filters, etc.), the campaign is reset and restarted with the new configuration. This command also sets the count of recycles back to zero.
Tests the campaign configuration to verify database connection, contact list, sort and filter criteria. Sort and filter criteria are appended to create a SQL statement. If the campaign is configured to use skills-based dialing, skill settings are automatically included for evaluation in the SQL selection statement.
If the test fails, diagnostic information is displayed to indicate what went wrong.
If the statement executes successfully, then campaign test results are displayed. Test results return three sets of information:
Test Result Description style="margin-top:
3.0pt; margin-bottom:
3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in;
Information about the call list, including:
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0.1in;">Campaign Call
List Statistics style="margin-top:
3.0pt; margin-bottom:
3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right:
0.1in;">Data Sample style="margin-top:
3.0pt; margin-bottom:
3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right:
0.1in;">Skill Sets
Required
• Total records in the contact list table
• Number of callable records after filtering
• Number of records blocked by filters
• Number of un-callable records
• Number of records with no phone numbers
• Number of scheduled calls
• Number of skill combinations in the contact list that are not dial-able
A sample of callable record phone numbers, used to validate the phone number column selection. The data sample lists contact, sort, and filter columns to validate sort and filter criteria. The data sample is sorted and filtered exactly as your contact list will be when dialed. However, data for scheduled calls is not returned.
A list of Skill Sets required by the campaign. This breakdown of callable records by skill makes it easy to verify skill configurations assigned to the campaign.
4. Click Save ( ).
Related Topics
Feedback
Copy a Campaign
You can duplicate a campaign by selecting it in the list of campaign entries, copying it to the clipboard, and pasting it as a new entry.
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Campaigns container.
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2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Click Copy ( ) to copy the selected entry to the clipboard.
4. Click Paste ( ) to paste the contents of the clipboard.
5. In the Name field, change New Item to a more meaningful campaign name.
6. Change campaign settings as desired.
7. Click Save ( ).
Paste a Campaign
The Paste (
) button pastes a campaign entry from the clipboard to the list of campaign entries. See Copy a
Feedback
Feedback
Remove a Campaign
Removing a Campaign deletes it permanently from the list of Campaign entries.
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Campaigns container.
2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Click Delete ( ). You are asked to confirm this operation, since it cannot be undone.
4. Click Yes to confirm.
Scripts view
Scripts view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Scripts container
Feedback
Overview
Every campaign has a script that pops on the agent desktop when a call is sent to an agent. Scripts run in Interaction
Scripter Client—the desktop application that Dialer agents use to interact with campaign calls. Scripts display updatable data items and call disposition options.
The scripts you can configure in Interaction Dialer Manager are called base scripts. Base scripts are easier to create than custom scripts, because they are constructed by composing entries in Dialer Manager's Scripts container, instead of by programming web pages.
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Custom scripts require a programmer to write JavaScript and HTML in accordance with guidelines published in the
Interaction Scripter Developer Guide. Base scripts don't require any special expertise. Anyone can create them.
Scripts view user interface
The Scripts user interface displays script entries at the top of the screen, with buttons for adding, copying, pasting, or deleting entries. The rest of the screen is devoted to managing details of an entry. The Scripts view has two tab pages.
of Interaction Scripter Client.
• The Pages tab defines pages, the contact column controls that appear on each page, and buttons for
dispositioning the call or navigating between pages.
What's in a Base Script?
A base script defines settings that affect the appearance and functionality of the Interaction Scripter Client. For example, a script defines whether a Request Break button is offered.
A base script defines columns from the contact list that the agents see as page controls in Interaction Scripter Client.
Page controls display contact columns are text boxes, radio buttons, numeric fields, drop lists, or date/time controls.
The script determines whether each control is editable by the agent. Data updated by agents is written back to the contact list after the call is dispositioned.
specific information to be presented from the contact list. To create attractive pages, the text portion of a base script can contain simple HTML markup.
Base scripts define call disposition buttons that agents can press to transition to the next call.
A base script has one or more pages. Each page is a screen that agents can view in Interaction Scripter Client. Every page can have distinct page controls, text, call disposition and navigation buttons. Each page is assigned a stage number. Stages identify each segment of a call that statistics can be collected upon. Stages are saved in groups
(called Stage Sets) that can be assigned by name to one or more campaigns. Stages help the server make more accurate predictions by measuring the amount of time that each agent spends in tasks of a call.
Scripts define navigation buttons that jump to another page in the script. This makes it easy for agents to navigate a multi-page script.
Here's how it comes together. A base script is assigned to a campaign. When a call for that campaign is routed to an
information is presented to the agent before a call is placed. The agent can review data and then place a call to the contact, or optionally skip to the next contact. The agent may also request a break. The user interface provides standard telephony options found in most software phones. Agents can record, mute, transfer, hold, and disconnect calls, for example.
While a campaign is active, the Outbound Dialer server monitors agent performance at each predictive stage and maintains statistics that allow it to predict the probability that the call will complete in the current stage. The server estimates how long each agent will take to complete that stage of the call. This helps it estimate when and how many calls it should place to keep agents busy.
Feedback
Miscellaneous tab
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The Miscellaneous tab manages options that control the appearance and functionality of the Interaction Scripter .Net client.
Name
>When a new Script is added, this field sets the display name of the Script.
Contact List style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>Selects a contact list, so that columns from that list can be selected for display as page controls later. Note that selecting a contact list does not tie the script to any particular contact list. This selection merely allows the user interface to provide a list of contact columns to select from.
Note—when a contact list is selected for the purpose of displaying its columns in a script, any contact list used with that script must have the same columns. Since the contact list assigned to a campaign might be different from the one that the script refers to, care should be taken to ensure column compatibility since Dialer does not validate this association.
>See also: Page Controls expander .
Display expander
Request Break button
>When checked, Interaction Scripter client will display a button that agents can click to request a break.
Preview Skip button
24-Hour Time Format
>This option determines the time format displayed in Interaction Scripter when agents schedule a call back. When this option is checked, time is displayed 24-hour notation.
Allow expander
Editing of Number to Dial
>When checked, the number to dial can be edited for a Preview campaign.
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Entry of Callback Number
>Check to allow Agents to specify the callback number when scheduling a call.
Agent Callbacks
>This option determines whether scheduled callbacks are "agent-owned". In other words, it determines whether a scheduled callback is routed to a specific agent, or to any available agent in the participating ACD workgroup.
Call Control expander
Pickup Alerting Calls
>This option allows administrators to specify whether alerting calls should be automatically picked up by the base script. When this option is checked and an alerting call arrives on the agent's queue, it will be automatically answered if the agent is in an available status. When this option is unchecked, agents must manually pick up calls by clicking a button.
Auto-disconnect Call upon Disposition
>Check to disconnect the call automatically once a call disposition button is clicked. If the agent is allowed to disconnect the call, Base Scripter will display a "Wrap-up" page so that the agent can finish the call before Scripter sets their status to available. While wrap-up is underway, the agent's status is "Follow-Up".
Pages tab
Feedback
Pages tab
The Pages tab manages pages in the script. Every script has a Default Page, which corresponds to the "Call
Connected" stage (Stage 0). Controls at the top of the view (1) add new pages, (2) display a menu of existing pages, which is the same as clicking a tab (3).
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script page.
General expander
Feedback
General expander
The General expander configures text for the agent to read, and assigns a stage number to the page.
Static Text
Text typed here will appear at the top of the page for the agent to read. Use it to include instructions, phrases for the agent to say, or reference information. You can type plain text, insert macros, and even format text using
simple HTML tags. See Script Page Example .
style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>If you enter plain text (with or without macro variables), your text will be centered on the agent's display. But you can format your text using simple HTML tags. For example, you can make text bold or italic using <b>Bold</b> and <i>Italic</i> tags.
As a rule of thumb, you can format text using the HTML tags that can appear in the <body> section of a web page. However, HTML or JavaScript that would cause page navigation (such as JavaScript's location.href property) is not supported. Many excellent HTML tutorials are available online. One good reference is w3schools.com.
There are several ways to override the default centering of text. One way is to enclose the text in a div tag:
<div style="text-align: left;">This sentence is left-aligned.</div>
You can use inline styles to control the font, position, size, and color of text. For example:
<p style="color:sienna;margin-left:20px">This paragraph uses inline style formatting.</p>
References to graphics can be inserted, if the graphic is hosted on a web server somewhere. This example displays a logo graphic on the page:
<img src="http://www.server.com/logo.gif">
You can insert hyperlinks, but take care to open the linked web page in a second window. To do this, code the hyperlink using target = "_blank" to prevent navigation to a page with no way to return and disposition the call.
Interaction Scripter Client does not provide a Back button, and it does not recognize keyboard shortcuts for returning to the previous page in the browser history. Here's how to code a hyperlink:
<a href="http://www.inin.com/" target="_blank">Interactive Intelligence</a>
The target attribute specifies where to open the linked document.
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If you forget the target attribute, the user will not be stranded with no way to go back and disposition the call.
Interaction Scripter Client guards against this problem by inspecting the source. It automatically adds target="_blank" to links that don't have a target attribute.
Insert Macro button ( )
>Opens dialog used to insert a macro variables into the static text of a Rule Action, Policy Behavior, or Base
Stage
>This control sets the ID number of the stage corresponding to this script page. The steps of a campaign call are called stages. The predictive algorithm maintains agent performance statistics for each stage while a campaign is running. Stages facilitate the prediction process and to allow the Dialer to better determine an agent's progress within a call. For this reason, a page in a base script can be associated with stage numbers defined for a campaign using the Stage Sets view. Stage 0 is the default number of the first stage.
To identify the stage number that corresponds to a page in your script, you must look to see which Stage Set is assigned to the Campaign, and then examine its Stage Set to find out what stages have been defined.
1. To do this open the Campaigns view. Edit the campaign that will be used with this script, and note the name of the Stage Set assigned to it.
2. Next, open the Stage Sets view, and select that Stage Set entry. Look at the stage numbers associated with each stage. Choose the number of the stage that corresponds to this script page.
3. Return to the Pages tab of the Scripts container. Use the number control to assign a Stage ID number to this script page. If you are not sure, or the Campaign does not use a Stage Set, set the Stage number to 0.
Background
>Opens a color picker that sets the background color of the text region.
>
Foreground
>Opens a color picker that sets the foreground text color of the text region.
Macros
Macros are variables that can be inserted into:
• The static text of a Base Script
Feedback
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• Event ID and Event Data fields of a "Run Handler" Rule Action
• From, To, Subject, and Message fields of an "Email" Rule Action
• Message field of an "Event Log" Rule Action.
• Various Policy Behaviors
At runtime, the current value of a property or statistic is dynamically inserted into the text, replacing the macro token.
Macro names must be enclosed in square brackets. If existing text within square brackets matches the name of a macro, that text will be processed as if the macro were intentionally inserted. Customers should take care to avoid casual use of macro keywords. The suffix ":?" indicates that the macro accepts parameters.
Macro Name
AbandonmentRateByCalls
Macro available in
Base Script
Rule
Action
Policy
Behavior
AbandonmentRateByContacts
AbandonmentRateByDetections
ActiveAgents
ActiveCalls
ActiveGroup
Agent ID
Agent Name
AgentStatus
AnsweringMachineRate
BusyRate
Description
Percentage of Abandoned calls based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total Calls as the divisor.
Percentage of Abandoned calls based on the total number of contacts. Uses Total Contacts as the divisor.
Percentage of Abandoned calls based on the total number of calls identified as contacts by call analysis. Uses Total Detections as the divisor.
Total number of active agents participating in the campaign.
Total number of active calls awaiting disposition.
Name of the active Rule Set Group is substituted for this macro tag.
This allows generic Actions to be written and Copy/Pasted between
Rules.
ID of Agent assigned to the active call.
Name of agent assigned to the call.
Status of agent assigned to the call.
Percentage of Answering Machine calls based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total Machine and Total Calls.
Percentage of busy calls based on the total number of calls placed.
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Call ID
CallAttribute:?
Uses Total Busy and Total Calls.
Inserts the Call ID of the active call.
Inserts the value of an interaction attribute. In this context, the word attribute refers not to a database column, but to information about an interaction that travels with it throughout the Interaction
Center. Attributes are created by a variety of entities, including the
Interaction Center itself. For example, the Telephony Services subsystem creates many default call object attributes when a call object is created. Handlers, IC applications, and programs developed using various system
APIs can create and modify attributes.
Attributes are name/value pairs. To retrieve the value of an attribute, specify its name in the macro. The syntax is
[CallAttribute:attribute_name] For example to get the name of the workgroup queue containing the interaction, the macro would be:
[CallAttribute:Eic_WorkgroupName]
Attribute names are not casesensitive.
"Eic_WorkgroupName" and
"eic_workgroupname" refer to the same attribute. For more information, see the Interaction
Attributes Reference Guide in the
System APIs section of the CIC
Documentation library on your CIC server.
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ContactAttribute:?
CallsPerHour
CampaignName
ContactRate
ContactsLeftInRecycle
CurrentTime
DeletedRate
FailureRate
FaxRate
FilterSize
Identity
Inserts the contact list attribute value from the active Contact.
To set this macro, you must select a contact list, and then a contact attribute (database column).
This macro assigns the dynamic result of a text substitution macro to the value of a database column
This macro can be used in a Policy
Set item behavior to set the value of a database field to the value of another field.
Calculated number of calls placed per hour.
Name of the active Campaign is substituted for this macro tag. This allows generic Actions to be written and Copy/Pasted between
Rules.
The rate at which calls are succeeding in finding a contact
(live person).
The number of contacts left in the current recycle. When this countdown value reaches zero, the list will be recycled.
The current UTC time when macro substitution is performed.
The rate at which calls are being dispositioned as Deleted.
Percentage of Failure calls based on the total number of calls placed.
Uses Total Failure and Total Calls.
The rate at which calls are dispositioned as having detected
Fax Machines.
The number of available contacts that are callable in the contact list.
This number reflects the total number of contacts in the list
(based on the last active filter) that have a callable status, without regard to Zone blocking.
The identity of the active Contact.
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LoggedInAgents
NoAnswerRate
NumberToDial
PhoneNumberDeletedRate
PhoneNumberSuccessRate
RecycleCount
RecyclesRemaining
RegexPrefix:?
RegexSuffix:?
RegexSubexpressionMatch:?
RemoteHangUpRate
RowID
RuleName
SITCallableRate
Total number of agents logged into the campaign.
Percentage of No Answer calls based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total No Answer and
Total Calls.
The phone number that will be dialed.
Percentage of phone number deleted calls based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total
Phone Number Deleted and Total
Calls.
Percentage of phone number success calls based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total
Phone Number Success and Total
Calls.
The current recycle count.
Number of recycles remaining before the current campaign is complete.
Returns all the text that comes
before a match. See Using Regular
Returns all the text that comes
after a match. See Using Regular
Returns the text that matches a particular sub-expression. See
Percentage of remote hang ups based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total Remote Hang
Ups and Total Calls.
The Row ID of the active Contact.
Name of the Rule that was active is substituted for the macro tag. This allows generic Actions to be written and Copy/Pasted between
Rules.
Percentage of SIT Callable dispositions based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total
SIT Callable and Total Calls.
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SITRate
SITUncallableRate
SuccessRate
SystemHangUpRate
TotalAbandoned
TotalAgentHours
TotalBusy
TotalCalls
TotalContacts
TotalDeleted
TotalDetections
TotalFailure
Percentage of SIT calls based on the total number of calls placed.
Uses Total SIT and Total Calls.
Percentage of SIT Uncallable dispositions based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total
SIT Uncallable and Total Calls.
Percentage of success calls based on the total number of calls placed.
Uses Total Success and Total Calls.
Percentage of system hang ups based on the total number of calls placed. Uses Total System Hang
Ups and Total Calls.
Total number of abandoned calls.
This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of agent hours logged into a campaign. Time value is incremented for each agent statistic update that has a property name of ('StageTime',
'IdleTime', or 'WrapUpTime').
Total number of busy signals received. This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of calls that have been completed during processing.
Running totals are incremented when the Campaign server processes a call completion notification.
Total number of calls that have completed with a wrap-up
Category of Success, Failure or
Deleted. Statistic counters are incremented when the Campaign server processes a call completion notification.
The total number of calls that have been dispositioned with the
Deleted wrap-up Category code.
The total number of calls that have been identified as contacts by call analysis.
Total number of Failures (contacts that failed to achieve the goal of
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TotalFax
TotalMachine
TotalNoAnswer
TotalPhoneNumberDeleted
TotalPhoneNumberSuccess
TotalRemoteHangUp
TotalSIT
TotalSITCallable
TotalSITUncallable
TotalSuccess
TotalSystemHangUp
TotalWrongParty
WrongPartyRate
the campaign). This value is incremented at call completion time.
The total number of calls that have been dispositioned with the Fax wrap-up Category.
The total number of answering machines that have been dispositioned with the Machine wrap-up Category. This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of No Answer contacts. This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of phone number deleted contacts. This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of phone number success contacts. This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of remote hang ups.
This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of calls that returned
Special Information Tones (SIT)
Tones. This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of calls that have been identified as SIT Callable.
Total number of calls that have been identified as SIT Uncallable.
Total number of successes. This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of system hang ups.
This value is incremented at call completion time.
Total number of contacts that reached the wrong party. This value is incremented at call completion time.
The percentage of calls that reached the wrong party. This
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See also: Wrap-up Codes and Categories
Feedback
Insert a Macro
Follow the steps below to insert a macro (variable) into the static text of a Rule Action, Policy Behavior, or Base
Script. At runtime, the current value of a property or statistic is dynamically inserted into the text, replacing the macro token.
1. Place the insertion point where the macro should go.
2. Click the ( ) icon.
3. Select a macro from the Macro drop list. If necessary, supply additional parameters, such as an attribute name in the example above.
4. Click OK to insert the macro variable at the cursor position.
Feedback
Script Page Example
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The text below illustrates the use of macros and HTML formatting in the text of a script page. The graphic above shows how the script appears in Interaction Scripter .NET Client.
<div style="text-align: left;">This paragraph was composed in the <b>Pages</b> tab of a <b>Script
Configuration</b>. This feature makes it easy to provide agents with instructions for interacting with a customer.
Here an example of using macros in the text displayed to an agent: </div>
<hr>
<b>Agent:</b> [Agent ID]<br />
<b>Street Address</b>: [Attribute:Street]<br />
<b>Call Id</b>: [Call ID]<br />
<b>Call Attribute</b>: [CallAttribute:Eic_CallIdKey]<br />
<b>Identity</b>: [Identity]<br />
<b>NTD</b>: [Number To Dial]<br />
<hr>
<div style="text-align: left;">You can compose plain text or apply simple HTML formatting, using <b>Bold</b> and
<i>Italic</i> tags, line breaks and horizontal rules. You can also use inline styles to format HTML statements. Here is an example:</div>
<p style="color:sienna;margin-left:20px">This paragraph uses inline style formatting.</p>
<div style="text-align: left;">If you add hyperlinks, be sure to set the target of the link to <b>target="_blank"</b>, so that the link opens in a new window. Otherwise, the agent could navigate away from the page, and could not return to disposition the call.</div>
<br>All text is centered by default.
<p align = "left">You can include graphics, if they are hosted on a web server. Here is an example:</p>
<img style="width: 50px; height: 50px;" alt="" src="http://www.server.com/ logo.gif"><br>
<br>As before, you can add controls to a page:
Page Controls expander
The Page Controls expander adds visual controls to the form that display information from the contact list.
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Page controls are columns from the contact list that the agents see on screen as visual controls in Interaction Scripter
Client. Page controls display information using text boxes, radio buttons, numeric fields, drop lists, or date/time controls.
1. To add a page control, click Add. The Add New Control dialog appears.
2. Use the Column drop list to select a contact column.
3. Type a Label to display as the name of the control.
4. Check Read-Only to prevent agents from changing this data item in Interaction Scripter. When this box is checked, agents cannot update the database field.
5. Selects the Type of user interface control to display the database column in. Your choices are DateTime, Drop List,
Numeric, Radio Box, and Text. Based on your selection, different options appear under Control Definition:
Type
Text
Options
Max Lines
Max Chars
Description
Sets the height of the text field, in terms of the number of rows that it contains. The default is one row high. Up to 10 rows can be specified.
Sets how much data can be entered into the field. It does not control the display width of the field. No validation is performed to compare this entry with the field length defined in the contact list table. Consequently, you should not select a value that is larger than the table will support. If you do, updates to the database may end up in the Error Queue. The default is 2048 characters, but you can lower that if need be.
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DateTime None
Drop List Name/Value
Pairs
Displays a date and time.
Prompts for a collection of Name/Value pairs. Name is the item that will appear in the drop list. Value is the value returned to the column.
Radio Box Name/Value
Pairs
Numeric Minimum and
Maximum
Numeric
Values
Prompts for a collection of Name/Value pairs. Names appear on the form as radio buttons. Value is the value returned to the column.
Prompts for minimum and maximum numeric values. When a numeric spin control appears on the script page, the agent is limited to the minimum and maximum values assigned here. These values can range from –100000 to
100000.
6. Click OK. Repeat this procedure to add other columns to the page as needed.
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Page Dispositions expander
The Page Dispositions expander manages buttons that agents click to disposition the call, or navigate to another script page.
About call disposition pushbuttons
Base scripts define call disposition buttons that make it easy for agents to transition to the next call. For example, if a call reaches an answering machine, the agent ends the call by clicking a button marked "Answering Machine". Agents can transition quickly to another call if a number is out of service, if the call is not answered, is answered by the wrong person, or is answered by a machine. Agents can also jump to another page in a multi-page script.
Behind the scenes, call disposition buttons assign wrap-up Category codes that are used later to report on the effectiveness of the campaign. These buttons are disabled while the agent is waiting for a call or a screen pop.
When calls reach the desired contact, agents use page controls to update information from the party. For example, an order might be placed, or a survey conducted. The agent then transitions to the next call by clicking a disposition button.
Interaction Scripter Client keeps track of agent interactions with the base script. For example, when calls are completed, the client routes update messages to the Central Campaign server for processing. These updates are eventually written to the contact list table.
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For each page of a script, you should define buttons that allow agents to transition to the next call, or to navigate to another page. The expander lists disposition entries, with buttons to add, edit, delete, and change button order of appearance.
1. To add a Disposition button, click Add. The Add New Disposition dialog appears:
2. In the Label field, type the text that you want to appear as the button caption. This can be up to 100 characters in length.
4. Use the WrapUp Code drop list to select the code that will be logged when this button is clicked.
5. Use the Abandon drop list to indicate whether this call should be considered an abandoned call or not.
6. Click OK. Repeat this procedure to add other page disposition buttons as needed.
How to create a Page Navigation button
To create a button that jumps to another script page, type a descriptive label for the button in the Label field, set the WrapUp Category to Navigate, and then select a destination page in the Script Page drop list. The default value of Script Page is "Select an existing script page". This is to remind you that a destination page must exist before this button can be created.
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Contact Lists view
Contact Lists view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Contact Lists container
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Overview
Interaction Dialer Manager's powerful contact management features make it easier for administrators to manage large contact tables, directly in the IDM user interface. This view manages contact list entries. Each entry is a collection of properties that convey to Interaction Dialer details about the table used to store contact phone numbers.
This view provides utilities that query the contact list to create filters that select a subset of data, and functions that manage scheduled callbacks for agents who are unavailable.
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Like the other views, this view is divided into two panels. The top panel displays a list of contact list entries. The bottom panel displays properties of a new or selected entry. Buttons for adding, copying, pasting, and deleting entries are provided.
The properties of a contact list entry are set on three tabs:
connection, a table that contains contact records, and identify at least one column that contains contact phone numbers.
• Options on the Data Query tab make it easy to query the contact list, save queries as filters, and apply actions to query results to modify or remove records.
vacation, or who have left the company.
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Details tab
Options on the Details tab set the basic properties of a contact list object. At minimum you must select a connection, a table that contains contact records, and at least one column that contains contact phone numbers.
For background information, see Define Phone Number Types
and Associate a phone number column with a phone number type .
Display Name
>Sets the name of a new contact list entry.
Connection
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>Drop down containing names of database connections used with Dialer.
Table
>Drop down used to select a contact list table from the database, followed by a list refresh button.
Create Table
Import Contacts
>Starts a wizard that imports data into a contact list. See Import Contacts wizard .
Export Contacts
Contact Columns
The controls in Contact Columns identify columns in the contact information that contain telephone numbers. Each
telephone number column can be associated with a user-defined phone number type .
Available Columns
> Columns in the contact information that contain telephone numbers.
Selected Contact Columns
>Columns that have been selected..
>
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Create Table
You will use the Create Database Table wizard to retrieve records from a data source and place them into a new contact list table. The new table is automatically assigned to the campaign so it is imperative that you ensure the integrity of the data source.
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Create Database Table wizard
To create a new contact list table in Dialer's database:
1. Open the Contact Lists view in Interaction Dialer Manager.
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2. Select a contact list entry. When a new contact list table is created, it will be automatically assigned to this contact list entry.
3. Click the Create Table button.
4. When the Create Database Table wizard appears, select a connection from the Connection drop list, or accept
[Default Connection] .
5. Type a name for the new table in the Name box. Click Next.
6. Use the Source Type drop list to select a data source for the wizard to use as a template when the new table is created. This also tells the wizard where to acquire contact data. The format of fields in the table to be imported
you select in this step, and records from it will be copied to the new table.
8. Click Next.
9. The next screen maps fields in the data source to fields in the destination table. You can add custom columns to the destination table, choose not to import data from source columns, and even remove columns to prevent them from appearing at all in the destination table.
• To add a new custom column to the destination table, click the button. This adds a new row at the bottom of the grid. You can give each custom column a name, and set its destination data type, display size, precision, and scale.
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Size is the display size of the column, in characters.
Precision is the number of digits in a number.
Scale is the number of digits to the right of the decimal point in a number.
• The button removes a selected column from the grid, preventing that column from being created in the destination table.
• The Skip check box controls whether or not data from a source column is copied to the destination column. When a column is skipped, that column is created in the destination table but no data is copied to the destination column. To create an empty table, skip all columns. Custom columns can be skipped like regular columns.
Note: Starting with Dialer 4.0 SU2, if you are adding more than one custom column to the destination table for contact information, the Destination Data Type for each column must be the same.
10. When you are finished mapping the fields, click Next.
11. You'll see a summary of the selections made, and actions that will be performed is displayed.
If there are line breaks in the data file that you are importing into the database table, you can select the Clean input data to minimize failure check box to have the Create Database Table wizard remove the line breaks before importing the data file. However, keep in mind that using this feature can be time consuming process and will decrease the performance of the overall import procedure.
12. Click Next to continue.
13. The new table will be created, or an error message will be displayed to indicate what went wrong (e.g. table with same name already exists, etc.)
14. Click Finish to dismiss the wizard.
Related Topics
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Data Source Considerations
The new table is automatically assigned to the campaign so it is imperative that you ensure the integrity of the data source.
Oracle users
Information for users of Oracle-based data sources.
• To use Oracle as Dialer's database or as the data source for database connections, the Oracle client software must be installed on each client machine. For this reason Oracle users are advised to install Oracle client software on each client PC. In addition, the database provider on client machines must use the same database provider that the Central Campaign server uses to connect to the Dialer database. Otherwise, applications may generate unhandled exceptions because the requested database provider does not exist on the client.
You can download the Oracle Client from: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterpriseedition/downloads/112010-win32soft-098987.html
under "Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Client (11.2.0.1.0) for
Microsoft Windows (32-bit)".
• Oracle documentation highly discourages use of quoted identifiers for table names. In accordance with the stance that Oracle has taken with regard to quoted identifiers, Interaction Dialer does not support contact list tables whose names are enclosed in quotes. For this reason, Dialer does not create tables with spaces in the name. DialerTranServer removes all special characters, including spaces, from the name when it creates tables.
The following special characters are removed automatically: '`|#*?[].!$ -&*()=+:;/\\
Import Contacts
You will use the Import Contact List wizard to retrieve records from a data source and place them into a new contact list . The new list is automatically assigned to the campaign so it is imperative that you ensure the integrity of the data source.
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Import Contact List wizard
To import records:
1. Open the Contact Lists view in Interaction Dialer Manager.
2. Select a contact list entry. When a new contact list table is created, it will be assigned automatically to the contact list entry selected in this step.
3. Click the Import Contacts button.
4. When the Import Contact List wizard appears, use the Source Type drop list to select a input data source. The
format of fields in the data source must match the schema of a contact list table .
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6. Click Next.
7. The next screen shows the mapping of the fields in the data source to the fields in the destination table and allows you to choose data that you want to import. If there is data in a source column that you do not wish to have copied to the corresponding destination column, select the Skip check box at the end of that row. When a column is skipped, no data from that in that field in the data source is copied to the destination table.
8. Click Next.
9. A summary of the selections is displayed. Click Next to continue.
10. Wait for the import process to complete. If an error occurs, a message will appear that will indicate what went wrong. Otherwise the wizard will indicate that the import process was successful and indicate the number of records that were imported.
11. Click Finish to dismiss the wizard.
Note: The import wizard makes it possible to add new contact records at any time. To dial new records inserted by this wizard, a recycle is required. However, there is a another way to add contact list records so that they can be
dialed immediately without requiring a recycle. See Priority Dialing for details.
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Related Topics
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Data Source Considerations
The new list is automatically assigned to the campaign so it is imperative that you ensure the integrity of the data source.
Microsoft users
Information for users of Microsoft-based data sources.
• Microsoft DLL's
The Import Contacts Wizard uses Microsoft DLL's that are resident if you have Microsoft Office or Microsoft
Outlook installed. If neither product is installed, import of Excel .xlsx files will fail with this message:
"The Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 provider is not registered on the local machine"
To resolve this problem without installing Office or Outlook, install the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010
Redistributable, from this web address: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255
• bcp Utility
Due to a bug in Microsoft's bulk copy program (bcp) it is not possible to import contact lists into SQL server databases if the name of any column contains spaces or any other white space characters. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179657 .
Also, when using Microsoft SQL Server, please note the following schema consideration:
• Default schema
When using the contact list import feature to create a table, the table will be created under the database user default schema. When adding contacts to an existing table, that table is expected to be in the default schema.
If the selected table is not in the default schema or more than one table with the same name exists in the database, the operation will fail.
• Excel spreadsheet (XLS or XLSX) or a CSV files
• Before importing an Excel spreadsheet (XLS or XLSX) or a comma-separated values (CSV) file, you must clean empty rows and columns that follow data to be imported. Otherwise, trailing rows and columns of empty data may cause problems when the file is imported. To clean spreadsheet rows and columns: a. In Excel, select empty rows that follow information you want to import.
Oracle users b. Right-click to access the context menu. c. Choose Clear Contents.
• Before importing an Excel spreadsheet (XLS or XLSX) or a comma-separated values (CSV) file, you need to be sure that the file does not contain any line breaks. A file that contains line breaks will be corrupted during the import procedure causing the data to be unreliable.
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Information for users of Oracle-based data sources.
• To use Oracle as Dialer's database or as the data source for database connections, the Oracle client software must be installed on each client machine. For this reason Oracle users are advised to install Oracle client software on each client PC. You can download the Oracle Client from: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterprise-edition/downloads/112010-win32soft-098987.html under "Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Client (11.2.0.1.0) for Microsoft Windows (32-bit)".
• In addition, the database provider on client machines must use the same database provider that the Central
Campaign Server uses to connect to the Dialer database. Otherwise, applications may generate unhandled exceptions because the requested database provider does not exist on the client.
Export Contacts
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Export Contacts
You will use the Export Contact List wizard to export records from the contact list to an external data type. If you plan to later import this data into Dialer, you should take steps to ensure the integrity of the data.
Data Destination Considerations
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Export Contacts wizard
To export records from a contact list:
1. Open the Contact Lists view in Interaction Dialer Manager.
2. Select a contact list entry. Then click the Export Contacts button. Records will be exported from the contact list associated with this entry.
3. The Export Contact List wizard appears. Select a type of output file from the Source Type list.
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4. Supply items of information required for the source selected. (See Source Type Specifications .)
5. Click Next.
6. The next screen maps columns from the contact list to columns in the destination. You can add custom columns to the destination file, choose not to import data from source columns, and even remove columns to prevent them from appearing at all in the destination table.
• To add a new custom column to the destination table, click the button. This adds a new row at the bottom of the grid. You can give each custom column a name, and set its destination data type, display size, precision, and scale. When a custom column is added, it has no source column.
Size is the display size of the column, in characters.
Precision is the number of digits in a number.
Scale is the number of digits to the right of the decimal point in a number.
• The button removes a selected column from the grid, preventing that column from being created in the destination file.
• The Skip checkbox controls whether or not data from a source column is copied to the destination column. When a column is skipped, that column is created in the destination table but no data is copied to the destination column. To create an empty table, skip all columns. Custom columns can be skipped like regular columns.
7. Click Next.
8. A summary of the selections made, and actions that will be performed is displayed.
9. Click Next to continue. Wait while the export file is created and populated with data. If anything goes wrong, an error message will be displayed to indicate what went wrong. Otherwise you will see a message that indicates a successful result. That message is "Successfully exported ___ records".
9. Click Finish to dismiss the wizard.
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Related Topics
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Data Source Considerations
If you plan to later import this data into Dialer, you should take steps to ensure the integrity of the data.
Oracle users
Information for users of Oracle-based data.
• To use Oracle as Dialer's database or as the data source for database connections, the Oracle client software must be installed on each client machine. For this reason Oracle users are advised to install Oracle client software on each client PC. You can download the Oracle Client from: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterprise-edition/downloads/112010-win32soft-098987.html
under "Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Client (11.2.0.1.0) for Microsoft Windows (32-bit)".
• In addition, the database provider on client machines must use the same database provider that the Central
Campaign server uses to connect to the Dialer database. Otherwise, applications may generate unhandled exceptions because the requested database provider does not exist on the client.
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Source Type Specifications
When you are creating a table, as well as importing or exporting contacts, the wizard will prompt you to identify the location of the data by selecting one of the available types from the Source Types drop down list. Depending on the source type that you select, the wizard will then prompt you for additional information specific to the source type that you selected. The following table outlines the additional information required for each source type:
Source
Type
Items to Specify for Source
SQL Server
Database
Server
Instance
The name of a SQL Server.
User
Name
A user name that has access rights to the SQL server in this field.
(Common special characters are allowed.)
The password that corresponds to the user name.
Password
(Common special characters are allowed.)
Database
The database that contains the table from which you want to import data.
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Oracle
Database
Table
The table that contains the contact records you want to import.
The TNS (Transparent Network
Substrate) service name of the
Oracle database to which you want to connect.
TNS
Service
(TNS is an Oracle software architecture that network applications can use to access underlying network protocols.
If you do not know this name, contact your database administrator (DBA) for assistance.)
User
name
A user name that has access rights to the database.
Password
The password that corresponds to the user name.
Table
The database table that contains the contacts you wish to import.
MS Access
Database
Database
File
The Access database to which to connect. Enter the fully qualified path to an access database (.mdb) file. If you click the Select Access File button (…) you can navigate to the database and avoid potential typing errors.
Requires
Password
Enable the User Name and
Password fields.
User
Name
A user name with access rights to the database.
Password
The password that corresponds to the user name.
Table
The table that contains the contact records you want to import.
MS Excel
Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet The fully qualified path to an Excel spreadsheet (.xls or
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.xlsx). If you click the Select
Excel File button (…) you can navigate to the file and avoid potential typing errors.
Worksheet
A worksheet within the spreadsheet that contains the columns you want to import.
CSV File
CSV
File
The fully qualified path to an comma-separated values file
(.csv). If you click the Select CSV
File button (…) you can navigate to the file and avoid potential typing errors.
Dialer
Connection
Connection The Dialer connection object.
Table
A contact list table in Dialer's database from which to import records.
Related Topics
Data Query tab
You can use the features on the Data Query tab to query the contact list and display a list of results in a data grid. You
commit changes back to the database.
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For example, it's possible to manually exclude contacts from being dialed by querying a contact list in Dialer Manager and then setting the Status column of specific contact record to E. This value indicates that the contact is excluded from being dialed.
The Data Query tab is divided into four sections that are accessible using expander controls:
•
•
•
•
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Query Criteria Builder
You'll use the controls in the Query Criteria Builder section to build a custom query of the contact records.
Column
>This row, with its drop-down lists, allows you to select columns from the database. The green plus sign allows you to add columns to your query while the red minus sign allows you to remove columns from your query. You'll use the red 'X' to clear all selections that you have made in the query fields.
Show
>This row contains check boxes that you will select to decide which of the columns that you choose will appear in the query result.
Sort
>This row allows you to apply either an ascending or descending sort to the column.
Criteria
>This row allows you to input selection criteria; this must conform with SQL WHERE clause syntax. Criteria in the same row are considered an SQL logical conjunction (AND).
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Or
>There are three rows that allow you to apply a logical disjunction (OR) to your query.
Once you have constructed your query, you can save your custom query as a filter by using the Save icon that appears at the end of the Sort row. You'll be prompted to name your filter.
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Predefined Filters
You'll use the controls in the Predefined Filters section to select any one of the available custom filters and launch your query.
Available items
>This list box allows you to view the available filters and choose one or more that you want to apply to your query.
Add/Remove
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>These buttons allow you to add filters to the Selected items list box and remove filters from the Selected items list box.
Selected items
>This list box shows you the filters that will be applied to the query.
Move up/Move down
>These buttons allow you to change the order in which the filters will be applied to the query.
Run Query
>This button runs your custom query.
When you run a query, the results appear in a grid at the bottom of Contact List View. You can then select items in the grid and take actions.
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Predefined Queries
You'll use the controls in the Predefined Queries section to select one of the built-in queries.
Predefined Queries
>This drop down allows you to select a built-in query. The predefined queries are:
• Callable Count by Attempts—displays a grand total of callable records, categorized by the number of call attempts.
• Callable Count by Zone—displays the number of callable records, categorized by time zone.
• Count by Attempts—grand total of attempts, and counts for each number of attempts.
• Count by Status—displays a grand total, and counts for each status code.
• Count by Zone—displays a grand total, and counts for each time zone.
Apply Criteria and selected filters
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>This check box allows you to combine the predefined query with any of the filters selected in the Predefined Filters section. If you don't select this check box, the predefined query is not modified.
Run Query
>This button runs your query.
When you run a query, the results appear in a grid at the bottom of Contact List View. You can then select items in the grid and take actions.
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Predefined Actions
You'll use the controls in the Predefined Actions section to modify contact list records. This is a powerful feature, so use it carefully.
Note: All of the actions available here only modify the Call List Table and not the Phone Number Detail (PND) table.
Predefined Actions
>This drop down allows you to select the action that you want to use. The available actions are:
• Delete—deletes records.
• Make Callable—changes status column to C which stands for Callable Record.
• Make Uncallable—changes status column to U, which stands for unusable call record. This prevents the contact from being called again.
• Reset Attempts—resets the attempts count to zero, as if no contact attempts had occurred.
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• Schedule Calls—gathers the selected records in the result data table (from a previously run query), then switches the view over to the Scheduled Calls tab. Then, in the result data table there, adds a scheduled call record for each of the selected records, which you can then edit and commit to the scheduled calls database table. The I3_Identity field must be present in the previously run query.
Note—Interaction Dialer 3.x allowed users to import and schedule records simultaneously using an "Import and Schedule Wizard'. That wizard does not exist in Dialer 4, so this feature works differently.
In Dialer 4, begin by importing records. Then, in the Contact List View, query for records you want to schedule. Next, run the "Schedule Calls" predefined action. This will paste records into the "Scheduled Calls" section of the contact list user interface where they can be edited and committed to the Schedule table.
• Bulk Edit—allows the user to write custom values to columns into the database. When Bulk Edit is selected, a grid appears that contains three columns: Edit, Column, and Value.
To edit the column, select the Edit check box next to its name.
Set a value or check the "Set to NULL" check box.
To run the edit, click the "Run Action" button. This runs the action based on which radio button is selected. In order to use the "Selected Contacts" or "All Contacts in Query Results" options, you must run a query.
Selected Contacts
>Indicates that the predefined action will apply only to contacts that are selected in the query result.
All Contacts in Query Results
>Indicates that the predefined action will apply to all contacts in the query result.
All Contacts in Contact List
>Indicates that the predefined action will apply to all contacts in the contact list.
Run Action
>Runs the selection action and applies the changes to the contact records.
Note: If the contact list has more than 500 records, you will be prompted to confirm the operation before the action actually commences. Choose OK to proceed or Cancel to abort.
Scheduled Calls tab
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Scheduled Calls tab
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Manage scheduled callbacks for unavailable agents
The options on this tab manage scheduled callbacks for an agent who is sick or who has left the company. Agents who are sick, on vacation, or who have left the company are unavailable to process callbacks. When this happens, administrators can use the Scheduled Calls tab to:
• Reschedule callbacks for a specific date and time
• Assign agent callbacks to another agent
• Assign agent callbacks to any available agent in the campaign
• Postpone callbacks until an agent will be available
Agents schedule callbacks at the request of a contact (e.g. "call me back next Saturday."). A callback is a scheduled outbound call that connects an agent to a particular contact at a particular time. Scheduled callbacks are sometimes called agent-owned callbacks, since the callback is assigned to be processed by a particular agent.
schedules an outbound call to the contact. When the call is connected, it is routed to the agent who "owns" the scheduled call. Typically this is the agent who flagged the contact for callback in a previous conversation.
Search
Settings on the Search panel allow you to define a query that returns a list of callback records. The controls are:
Campaign
> Set to Any by default, this drop down allows you to select callbacks for a specific campaign.
Site
>Set to Any by default, this drop down allows you to restrict the search for callback records to an ODS server.
Agent
>Set to Any by default, this drop down allows you to select callbacks for a specific agent.
Phone Number
>This text box allows you to select callbacks to a specific contact number.
Any Date
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>This check box allows you to determine the date range that you want to search. When selected, scopes callback criteria to all days of the week. When unselected, you can limit criteria to a range of days, by setting start and end dates/times using the Start and End calendar controls.
Start
>If you do not select the Any Date check box, you can use this calendar/time control to select a date and a time when the callback criteria will start.
End
>If you do not select the Any Date check box, you can use this calendar/time control to select a date and a time when the callback criteria will end.
Reset Field
>To reset the settings to the default values before entering new search criterion, use this button.
Search
>To run your query and populate the Search Results list with matching records, use this button.
Actions
Once you have search results displayed in the grid, you can select any number of rows in the grid, select and configure an action, and then apply that action to the row or rows containing the scheduled callback records that you have selected.
Delete
>This check box allows you to delete scheduled callback records. When selected, all other actions are unavailable.
Assign to agent
>This check box allows you to select a specific agent from the drop-down and assign the selected callback records to that agent. By default, this setting is set to Any Agent.
Specify Date/Time
>This check box allows you to use the calendar/time control to select a date and a time when the selected callback records will be dialed.
Postpone
>This check box allows you to use the Days, Hours, and Minutes boxes to specify how long you want to postpone the selected scheduled callback.
Run Action
>Once you have selected the rows you want to apply an action to, use this button to execute the action.
>
Search Results
When you run a query, the results showing each matching scheduled callback record are displayed in a grid under the column headings listed here. You can then select rows and apply changes those records using the controls in the
Actions panel. You can also apply changes to all the records by using the drop-down column controls.
For example, you could select a site from the Site drop-down list and change the Site value for every record in the list of results. This change takes place immediately. For this reason you should narrow down the selections appropriately using criterion on the Search panel.
I3IDENTITY
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>An integer value that uniquely identifies each row in the contact list.
Campaign Name
>Name of the campaign associated with the scheduled callback record. The drop-down in this column header allows you to select a campaign name and assign that campaign to every record in the list of results.
Agent
>If the callback is agent-owned, this column displays the name of the agent who is to receive the call when the callback is placed. The drop-down in this column header allows you to select an agent and assign that agent to every record in the list of results.
Site
>Name of the Outbound Dialer Server associated with the scheduled callback record. The drop-down in this column header allows you to select a site and assign that site to every record in the list of results.
Phone Number
>Telephone number to be called.
Contact Column
>The name of the column that contains the scheduled callback number. The drop-down in this column header allows you to select a contact column and assign that column to every record in the list of results.
Date
>The date when the contact will be called.
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Reschedule callbacks for a specific date and time
1. Open the Contact Lists view .
2. Select a contact list in the list of entries at the top of the view.
3. Select the Scheduled Calls tab .
4. Set criterion on the Search expander to select callback records. Click Search.
5. Check the Specify Date/Time box.
6. Use the date and time selection controls to set a different schedule for the callback.
7. Click Run Action.
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Assign agent callbacks to another agent
1. Open the Contact Lists view .
2. Select a contact list in the list of entries at the top of the view.
3. Select the Scheduled Calls tab .
4. Set criterion on the Search expander to select callback records. Click Search.
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5. Check the Assign to Agent box.
6. Select the name of the agent who should receive the callback.
7. Click Run Action.
Assign agent callbacks to any available agent in the campaign
1. Open the Contact Lists view .
2. Select a contact list in the list of entries at the top of the view.
3. Select the Scheduled Calls tab .
4. Set criterion on the Search expander to select callback records. Click Search.
5. Check the Assign to Agent box.
6. Select [Any Agent] to route the callback to any available agent who is participating in the campaign.
7. Click Run Action.
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Postpone callbacks until an agent will be available
1. Open the Contact Lists view .
2. Select a contact list in the list of entries at the top of the view.
3. Select the Scheduled Calls tab .
4. Set criterion on the Search expander to select callback records. Click Search.
5. Check the Postpone box.
6. Select any combination of Days, Hours, and Minutes to postpone the callback by.
7. Click Run Action.
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Delete callbacks
1. Open the Contact Lists view .
2. Select a contact list in the list of entries at the top of the view.
3. Select the Scheduled Calls tab .
4. Set criterion on the Search expander to select callback records. Click Search.
5. Check the Delete box.
6. Click Run Action.
Database Connections view
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Database Connections view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Database Connections container
Overview
This view creates database connection objects. Installation of Dialer establishes a default connection that is often the only connection a call center needs to link Dialer to its databases. If additional connections are required, this view makes Dialer aware of them. A database connection is a Universal Data Link (.UDL) file that has been uploaded to the CCS by Dialer Manager.
• A UDL file encapsulates everything a DBMS server needs to know to integrate with Interaction Dialer, and vice versa.
• UDL files are created outside of Dialer, to specify the OLE DB Provider, credentials and connection criterion required by Oracle or SQL Server DBMS.
• Dialer is unaware of UDL connections until you add them using this view.
Database connections allow a campaign to select a contact list, without specifying any details concerning the location of that file. As a prerequisite to defining a database connection in Dialer, customers must define a UDL connection as
needs to know to integrate with an application such as Interaction Dialer.
However, many customers do not need to create custom database connections in order to use Interaction Dialer. A default database connection is created when Interaction Dialer is installed. It is called [Default Connection]. In many cases, [Default Connection] provides all of the database connectivity that a call center needs to run campaigns.
While each campaign might use a separate contact list table, typically these tables are stored in only one database. If this is the case, the Default Connection may be used exclusively. You cannot delete the default connection object, but you can modify it or define your own custom connection settings.
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The process of adding a database connection in Dialer Manager uploads the UDL file to the Central Campaign server, where it can be shared by multiple configurations and servers. UDL files are stored in \I3\IC\Server\UDL if the default path was selected during installation of the Central Campaign server.
Related Procedures
Add UDL as a Dialer Database Connection
Associate a Database Connection with a Contact List
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Create a UDL File
This procedure explains how to create a database connection file (.UDL) using Microsoft's Data Link Properties utility.
A UDL file defines an OLE DB data source that connects a database server with applications. You must create a UDL file before adding a Dialer database connection.
Prerequisites
• You cannot define a connection to a database that does not exist. Your database administrator must create the database first.
• If you use Oracle DBMS, the Oracle Client must be installed as a prerequisite. Otherwise, you won't be able to select the OLE DB provider for Oracle in step 7 below. You can download the client which includes the "Oracle
Database Utilities" from: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterprise-edition/downloads/112010win32soft-098987.html
under "Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Client (11.2.0.1.0) for Microsoft Windows (32-bit)".
Procedure
1. Begin by creating an empty text file that has a .udl extension. This is easily accomplished using Notepad. Launch
Notepad now.
2. Pull down the File menu and select Save.
3. Navigate to the desktop.
4. Type a name for the connection in the File name box. Specify .udl as the file extension.
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5. Click Save. Then close Notepad.
6. Double-click the .udl file on the desktop to open it in Microsoft's Data Link Properties utility.
7. The Connection tab is active by default. Select the Provider tab instead. It lists available OLE DB service providers.
By the way, if you click the Help button at any time while this dialog is active, topics from Microsoft's help system will appear to lead you through the configuration process.
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• If you use Microsoft SQL Server, select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server.
• If you use Oracle, select Oracle Provider for OLE DB. DO NOT select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for
Oracle. Oracle Provider for OLE DB is listed only if the Oracle Client is installed.
8. Click Next to advance to the Connection tab. The Connection tab associates a service provider with a specific database server. Slightly different Connection options are displayed, depending upon whether you selected a provider for SQL Server or Oracle.
SQL Server Oracle a. For SQL Server, select or type the name (or IP address) of the server that hosts Dialer database tables, in the Server Name field. This is the name of your Central Campaign server, unless you are running the DBMS on a different machine. b. Specify a User Name and Password needed to access Dialer databases on the server. This user account must have privileges to create, delete, modify, add indexes, insert records and update records on
Dialer tables. Contact your database administrator for a user account that meets these requirements. c. Make sure that Allow saving password is checked. The password will be stored in the UDL file. d. Choose the database that contains the campaign tables you wish to associate with this UDL connection from the Select the database on the server drop list. a. For Oracle, type the name of the data source in the
Data Source field. b. Select Use a specific user name and password. c. Specify a User Name and Password needed to access Dialer databases on the server. This user account must have privileges to create, delete, modify, add indexes, insert records and update records on
Dialer tables. Contact your database administrator for a user account that meets these requirements. d. Make sure that Allow saving password is checked. The password will be stored in the UDL file.
9. Click the Test Connection button. If "Test connection succeeded" appears in an alert box, the connection is working properly.
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Click OK to close the alert box. If a different message appears, correct your entries and try again.
10. In most cases it is all right to leave settings on the Advanced tab unchanged. Options on that tab specify additional network and access permission settings, using features that are appropriate for the selected service provider. Click OK to close the Data Link Properties dialog.
Note—a new database connection is not used until it is associated with a campaign in Dialer.
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Add UDL as a Dialer Database Connection
A UDL file contains the information that a database needs to connect with applications and vice versa. However,
Dialer is unaware of UDL connections until you add them to its list of Database Connections.
UDL files are stored on the Central Campaign Server
When a connection is added in Dialer Manager, a copy of the UDL file is uploaded to the Central Campaign Server
(CCS), making it available to all Outbound Dialer Servers managed by that CCS. UDL files are stored on the CCS in a folder below the directory that contains the CampaignServer. The path is C:\I3\IC\Server\UDL, unless the default path was changed during installation.
To add a UDL as a Dialer connection:
1. In Interaction Administrator, select Database Connections below the Interaction Dialer container.
2. Click the Add button ( ). An entry temporarily named New Item will appear in the list of entries.
3. Edit the Name field to give this connection a descriptive name, so that you can identify it later when you associate this connection with a campaign. This name may contain spaces or special characters.
4. Click Upload New.
5. A File Open dialog appears, prompting you to navigate to a UDL file. Select the UDL file you want to use for this connection. Click Open. This uploads the file to the Central Campaign Server.
6. In the UDL File list, select the name of the file just uploaded.
7. Set Database Type to SQL Server or Oracle, as it appropriate for this connection.
6. Click Save ( ).
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Test a Database Connection
Testing a database connection ensures that the UDL and Dialer connection are working properly.
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1. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Database Connections. In Interaction Administrator, expand the
Interaction Dialer container and then select Database Connections.
2. Select a Database Connection entry in the list at the top.
3. Click Test.
If the test succeeds, you will see:
If the test fails, the result is:
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Associate a Database Connection with a Contact List
Central Campaign server which tables to use for a particular campaign.
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1. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Contact Lists.
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new Contact List object, or select an existing entry from the list at the top of the view.
3. Select a database connection from the Connection drop list.
Contact List Filters view
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Contact List Filters view
You can use Filters to specify the selection of a subset of records from a contact list to be dialed for a campaign.
Filters are independent from a contact list, which means that the same filter can be assigned to more than one campaign-provided that the filter is compatible with each campaign's database. Furthermore, multiple filters can be assigned to the same campaign.
Depending on your needs, filters can be configured to work on a contact list table or a PND table
Filters are essentially SQL statements. However, instead of actually using SQL language, you select columns from the contact list and enter criteria to match against each column. Each filter entry defines the WHERE clause of an SQL statement that selects a subset of records from a contact list.
The Contact List Filters view is divided into two panels:
• The Filter Entries panel, at the top, lists existing Filter entries and provides controls that you can use to add, copy, paste, or remove entries.
• The Filter Settings panel, at the bottom, provides you with an interface for selecting and managing the properties of a filter.
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Related Topics
Filter Panels
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Filter Panels
The Filters view is divided into two panels:
•
or remove entries.
•
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Related Topics
Feedback
Filter Entries Panel
The Filter Entries Panel lists existing Filter entries and provides controls that you can use to add, copy, paste, or remove entries.
Name
>Use the Name field to pare down the list, by specifying all or part of a filter name, to display only matching entries.
Filter
>Click the funnel icon to specify whether filter text is contained within, starts, or matches campaign entry names.
Is Phone Number Filter
>Allows you to choose which filters you want to display in the Entries list based on the status of the Phone Number setting. This comes in handy when you have a lot of filters.
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>
• >If you want to see filters where the Phone Number setting is YES, indicating that the filters are applied against the PND table associated with the Contact List, select Yes from the drop down.
• style="text-align: justify;">If you want to see filters where the Phone Number setting is NO, indicating that the filters are applied against the contact list table associated with the Contact List, select No from the drop down.
• >If you want to see both, select <Search> from the drop down.
Entries
>Each row in this list corresponds to a filter entry. Clicking a row opens that entry for editing.
Add
>Adds a new entry.
Copy
>Places a copy of the selected entry on the clipboard.
Paste
>Pastes the contents of the clipboard as a new entry.
Delete
>Deletes the selected entry. You are asked to confirm the delete operation:
Related Topics
Feedback
Filter Settings Panel
The Filter Settings Panel provides you with an interface for selecting and managing the properties of a filter. It consists of two sections: At the top you'll find basic information for the filter and at the bottom you'll find the Filter
SQL Builder expander section.
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Name
>This box sets the name of a Filter. This field appears when a new entry is composed. Afterward the name appears in the read-only Display Name box. Type a unique descriptive name that reflects the purpose of the new filter.
Display Name
>This read-only field displays the name of a saved filter.
Phone Number
>This toggle switch allows you to choose whether columns from the Contact List or PND table are displayed in the
Criteria Builder’s Column drop-down lists. By default, the Phone Number toggle is set to NO.
• When the Phone Number toggle is set to NO, the corresponding SQL filter will be applied against the contact list table associated with the Contact List, which is configured for the Campaign where the Contact
List Filter is applied.
• When the Phone Number toggle is set to YES, the corresponding SQL filter will be applied against the PND table associated with the Contact List, which is configured for the Campaign where the Phone Number Filter is applied.
Filter SQL Builder expander
Contact List
>Select a contact list with the columns you want to filter.
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Criteria Builder
Column style="margin-left: 64px;">Select a column to enter filter criteria against.
Criteria style="margin-left: 64px;">The criteria you type in these columns is AND'd together. Text entered here is interpreted to create the WHERE clause of a SQL statement. The syntax of SQL filters conforms to standard SQL WHERE-clause syntax.
Customers can define criteria for any column in the contact list database, including custom fields such as
Customer Number, or Last Ship Date. For example, to pull only those telephone numbers that start with
317, you would enter: LIKE '317%'.
OR style="margin-left: 64px;">The criteria typed in OR columns creates a logical OR expression.
SQL
>When you click the Create SQL button, this text box will display the generated WHERE clause that indicates how the
SQL statement is constructed based on your input.
>
Add a column
>Adds an additional column on the right.
Remove a column
>Removes the right most column.
Clear all Criteria
>Clears all entries and adds back default columns, if any were removed.
Create SQL
>Populates the SQL box with the SQL WHERE statements, based on your entries.
Auto-save
>Select this check box to automatically save the current item when you change selection.
Save
>Save the modified item.
Revert
>Revert the changes to the modified item.
Related Topics
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Working with Filters
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Working with Filters
When working with Filters, you'll use these procedures.
•
•
•
•
Related Topics
Feedback
Define a Contact List Filter
Use this procedure to define a new filter. SQL Filters are optional. The syntax of SQL filters conforms to standard SQL
WHERE-clause syntax.
To define a filter:
1. From within Advanced Interaction dialer, select Contact List Filters.
2. In the topmost pane, click Add ( ) to create a new Filter entry.
3. An entry titled New Item appears in the list of entries. Overtype the default "New Item" to type a descriptive name in the Name field. This establishes the name you will see later, when you assign filters to a campaign.
4. Select a contact list that contains columns you want to filter against.
5. Use the Column drop list to select a database column. Customers can define criteria for any column in the contact list database, including custom fields such as Customer Number, or Last Ship Date.
6. Type text to match in the Criteria row. Text entered here is interpreted to create the WHERE clause of a SQL statement. For example, to pull only those telephone numbers that start with 317, you would enter: LIKE '317%'. The items you type in the Criteria rows are AND'd together. Criteria entered in OR rows creates a logical OR expression.
7. Repeat steps 5-6 to filter other columns.
8. Click Create SQL to populate the SQL box with a generated WHERE clause. This displays a statement constructed based on your input.
9. Click Save ( ) to save the new filter.
10. A filter is not used by any campaign until it is added to the Selected Filters list in the Filters section of the campaign configuration.
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Related Topics
Assign Filters to a Campaign .
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Assign Filters to a Campaign
When Contact List filters are assigned to a campaign, only those records that match filter criteria are selected for processing by a campaign, once the next cycle of calling begins.
To assign filters to a campaign:
1. From within Interaction Dialer, select Campaigns.
2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Select the Contact List tab.
4. Scroll down to Filters. A single campaign can use multiple named Filters. The Filters will be surrounded by parenthesis and ANDed together in the SQL where clause for the recycle.
5. Select a filter in the Available Filters list. Click Add to move it to the Selected Filters list. Repeat to add additional filters, if necessary. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the execution order of filters.
Topmost filters are applied first.
6. Click Save ( ) to save changes made to the campaign configuration. Your selected Filters will be used when the next cycle of calling begins.
Related Topics
Feedback
Copy and Paste a Filter
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a new entry.
1. From within Advanced Interaction dialer, select Contact List Filters.
2. Select a Filter in the Filter Entries panel.
3. Click Copy ( ) to copy the selected entry to the clipboard.
4. Click Paste ( ) to paste the contents of the clipboard.
5. In the Name field, change New Item to a more meaningful name.
6. Modify Filter criteria as desired.
7. Click Save ( ).
Related Topics
Feedback
Remove a Filter
Removing a Filter deletes it permanently from the list of Filter entries.
1. From within Advanced Interaction dialer, select Contact List Filters.
2. Select a filter in the Filter Entries panel.
3. Click Delete ( ).
• You are asked to confirm this operation, since it cannot be undone.
4. Click Yes to confirm.
Note: You cannot delete a Filter that is assigned to a Campaign.
Related Topics
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Filter Tips
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Filter Tips
When working with Filters, you might find these tips useful.
•
•
Filter Scheduled Callback records
•
Use a Rule Action to apply a Filter
Related Topics
Feedback
How to test for NULL entries
When construction a filter either in the Data Query section or in the Contact List Filters, you can configure the filter to test whether the entry was NULL or not:
• '= null' or just 'null' translates to IS NULL
• '!= null' or '<> null' translates to IS NOT NULL
The word null is not case sensitive.
Related Topics
Feedback
Filter Scheduled Callback records
Optionally, you can apply Filters to the selection of scheduled callback records, whether scheduled by agents or autoscheduled by Dialer when it is unable to reach a contact. By default, filters are not applied to callback records. Filtering can be applied to either type of callback by setting Filter Callbacks options on the Campaign configuration.
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To filter the selection of Scheduled Callback Records:
1. From within Interaction Dialer, select Campaigns.
2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Select the Contact List tab.
4. Scroll down to Filters.
5. Next, use the Agent Scheduled and Auto-Scheduled check boxes to apply Filter criteria to the selection of callback records. By default, filters are not used when the system selects scheduled callback records. These check boxes optionally force scheduled calls to adhere to an active filter.
• Agent Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of callbacks scheduled by agents.
• Auto-Scheduled—check to apply filter criteria to the selection of auto-scheduled callbacks. Autoscheduled callbacks are created up by the system when it is unable to reach a targeted party for one of the following reasons:
Call was abandoned
No answer
Remote Hang Up
Line was busy System Hang Up
Answering Machine detected Fax Machine Detected
6. Click Save ( ) to save changes to the Campaign configuration. Your changes will be applied when the next cycle of calling begins.
Related Topics
Filter Callbacks
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Use a Rule Action to apply a Filter
1. In the Rule Sets view, add a new rule or select an existing rule.
2. Set the rule's condition.
3. Click the Rule Actions tab.
4. Set Action Type to Set campaign property.
5. Set Property to Filters.
6. Click Add ( ) to select filters to assign to this action.
7. Select filters from the Available Items list. Then click Add to move them to the Selected items list.
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8. Click OK. Then click Save ( ).
Related Topics
Rule Conditions tab
Rule Sets view
Rule Sets view
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Rule Sets define conditional logic to automate the run time characteristics of campaigns. A collection of Rules is called a Rule Set. Rule Sets are an optional component of campaigns. Rules Sets have no effect unless a campaign is configured to use them. It is important to understand that Rule Sets, but not individual rules, are assignable to campaigns.
Rules Sets do not affect the processing of individual contact records. Contact Policies, on the other hand, define
The Rule Sets view consists of three panels that you will use to create your rule set.
1. In the top panel, you will create a Rule Set container by specifying a name for the rule set.
2. In the middle panel, you will create the Rules and/or Groups that will be in the rule set.
3. In the bottom panel, you will use the controls to configure how the rules and groups will function.
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Working with Rule Sets
Working with Rule Sets
In the top panel of the Rule Sets View, you can use the controls to create new and view existing Rule Sets.
Highlighting a rule entry displays its details in the bottom half of the window.
Feedback
Name/Filter
>Use the Name/Filter field to activate the display filter to pare down the list, by specifying all or part of a Rule Set name. Click the funnel icon to specify whether filter text is contained within, starts, or matches campaign entry names.
Add Rule Set button ( )
>Adds a Rule Set entry.
Copy button ( )
>Places a copy of the selected entry on the Clipboard.
Paste button ( )
>Pastes the contents of the Clipboard as a new entry.
Delete button ( )
>Deletes the selected entry.
Related Topics
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Feedback
Add a Rule Set
Use this procedure to create a new Rule Set.
1. Open the Rule Sets view in Interaction Dialer Manager.
2. Click the Add Rule Set button ( ) to create a new entry.
3. Type a unique name in the Name field to describe the new Rule Set.
This descriptive label can be anything you like. It may contain spaces or special characters; for example
"Newspaper Campaign Rule Set".
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Edit a Rule Set
To open an existing Rule Set for editing:
1. Open the Rule Sets view in Dialer Manager.
2. Select a Rule Set by clicking an entry in the list of Rule Sets.
3. Make changes as needed.
4. Click Save ( ).
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Delete a Rule Set
To delete a Rule Set, follow these steps:
1. Open the Rule Sets view in Dialer Manager.
2. Select a Rule Set by clicking an entry in the list of Rule Sets.
3. Click the Delete Rule Set button ( ).
4. Click Yes to delete the Rule Set.
Working with Rules
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Feedback
Working with Rules
In the middle panel of the Rule Sets View, you can use the controls on the Rules tab to create new rules as well as view or modify existing rules.
Related Topics
Feedback
Add a Rule
This procedure explains how to define a rule within a Rule Set. Please note that the CampaignServer process will start accumulating data for custom statistics after the rule has been defined and saved. This means that a custom statistic rule defined after a campaign has started will not contain statistics that were generated before the rule was defined. Therefore, it is best practice to define custom statistic rules before the campaign is started.
1. Create a new Rule Set or edit an existing one.
2. Select the Rules tab.
3. Click the Add Rule button ( ).
4. Type a descriptive name for the Rule. Then click OK.
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Feedback
Delete a Rule
To delete a Rule, follow these steps:
1. Open the Rule Sets view in Dialer Manager.
2. Select a Rule by clicking an entry in the list of Rules.
3. Click the Delete Rule Set button ( ).
4. Click OK when prompted to confirm the operation.
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Modify rule evaluation order
The Up and Down arrow buttons change the evaluation order of rules in a Rule Set. The higher a rule appears in the list, the sooner it is evaluated. To reposition rules in the list, follow these steps:
1. Select the rule you wish to move.
2. Click Up or Down to position the rule higher or lower in the list.
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Copy and paste rule items
The Copy and Paste buttons clone a rule in a Rule Set, or copy a rule from one Rule Set to another.
1. Open the Rule Set that contains the rule you want to copy.
2. Select a rule.
3. Click Copy ( ) to place the selected rule on the Clipboard.
4. Optionally open a different Rule Set.
5. Click Paste ( ). You are prompted to name the pasted rule.
6. Enter a descriptive name. Then click OK.
Working with Rule Groups
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Working with Rule Groups
In the middle panel of the Rule Sets View, you can use the controls on the Groups tab to create new rule groups as well as view or modify existing groups.
Once you create a group, you can associate it with individual rules using controls on the Rules expander. Rule Groups make it possible for an action to activate selected rules in a Rule Set at once. Each set of Rule Groups is visible to the current Rule Set only.
Related Topics
Add a Rule Group
1. Create a new Rule Set or edit an existing one.
2. Select the Groups tab.
3. Click the Add Rule Group button ( ).
4. Enter a descriptive name for the Rule Group.
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Delete a Rule Group
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1. Open a Rule Set for editing.
2. Expand the Groups tab.
3. Click the Delete button ( ).
4. Confirm that you want to delete the group by clicking OK.
If no rules are associated with this group, the Rule Group is deleted. Otherwise, a message states that the group could not be deleted because it is in use.
If the Delete Failed message appears: a. Open each rule that references the group. b. Select the Groups tab from the Rules tab page. c. Select the name of the group you want to delete from the Selected Items list. d. Click Remove. e. Click Save ( ). f. Repeat steps a-e to edit remaining rules in the Rule Set that reference the group.
Configure Rules and Groups
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Configure Rules and Groups
Use the controls on the tabs in this panel to configure how the rules and groups will function in each Rule Set. Each rule has a condition, evaluation parameters, action to take when criterion are met, and potential membership in a rule group and these are configured on the appropriate tab.
• Condition. Rules evaluate a single condition (a statistic, system event, or time) to determine whether to run one or more Actions. One Rule can run many actions when its condition is true.
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• Evaluation. These settings determined whether a rule is evaluated for the campaign or contact list recycle, and whether other rules are evaluated when the rule's conditions are met.
• Actions perform work to affect the processing of a campaign. For example, Actions can pause a campaign, recycle its contact list, change the dialing mode, apply a filter, log agents out of the campaign and into a different one, send an Email, run a handler, pass control to a different set of rules, and more.
For example, a statistic-based rule could send an Email when a campaign goal is achieved (for example Total Calls >
1000). An event-based rule could send an Email (or perform a different action) when a campaign is started (for example Campaign Started event).
• Groups identify rules that can be turned on or off collectively by an action. Rules can belong to multiple groups defined within the Rule Set. A group is a user-defined label by which rules can be classified.
Related Topics
Configure a Condition
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Configure a Condition
Once you create a rule, you are ready to configure the Condition.
1. Select the Condition tab
2. From the Type drop down, select one of the available types and proceed with the appropriate configuration options:
3. Once you have configured the Condition, select the Evaluations tab.
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Statistic
A statistic rule compares the run time value of a statistic to a user-defined value coded into the rule. For example, a statistic rule might compare the Total Successes to 100, to send an Email when the 100 campaign calls have met the goal for the campaign. Statistic rules create an evaluable condition within the campaign based on either built-in statistics or custom fields within the database. Think of statistic rules as simple mathematical equations. The calculated value is a built-in statistic that may be summed, counted, or averaged. The operation is the type of evaluation to occur and the comparison value is the value to be compared against.
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Stat Category
>Select a Stat Category. The available categories include: style="margin-left: 64px;">Dialer agent statistics style="margin-left: 64px;">Dialer campaign statistics style="margin-left: 64px;">Dialer wrap up statistics
Statistic
Select a statistic from the Statistic box. A different selection of statistics is available for each category. For example, if you choose a statistic in the Dialer wrap up statistics category, you will be prompted to select a wrap-up
Category and wrap-up Code also.
Comparison Operator
>Select a comparison operator. This drop down sets the comparison operator used to compare a run time statistic to a static value.
!= Not equal to
< Less than
<= Less than or equal to
= Equal to
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal to
Use equal to and not equal to with care. These operators return true only if the value of a statistic matches at the time when the comparison is performed. In many cases, it is better to use <= or >= instead.
Value
>Enter any fixed value to compare to the current value of the statistic.
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Evaluation Interval (minutes)
>Sets the number of minutes that this rule will wait before evaluating the statistic to see if it is true or false.
Evaluate against calls made since the start of the current Campaign | Recycle
>Sets the time period considered by the rule—whether or not statistics are measured from the last recycle of the contact list, or further back to the time when the campaign was started.
Related Topics
Built-in Statistics by Category
Feedback
Built-in Statistics by Category
Dialer agent statistics
Abandon Rate (by calls)
Abandon Rate (by contacts)
Abandon Rate (by detections)
Average Break Time
Average Dialer Talk Time
Average Idle Time
Average Non-Dialer Talk Time
Average Talk Time
Contact Rate
Contacts Per Hour
Dialer Calls style="margin: 0in; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Idle Periods
Logged In Time
Non-Dialer Calls
Percent Break Time
Percent Dialer Talk Time
Percent Idle Time
Percent Non-Dialer Talk Time
Stage
Station
Status
Dialer campaign statistics
Abandon Rate
Active Agents
Active Calls
Adjusted Calls Per Agent
Agents On Break
Cached Contacts
Calls Per Agent
Calls Per Hour
Connected Calls
Current Pace
Effective Idle Agents
Estimated Completion
Filter
Filter Size
Idle Agents
Last Error
Last Warning
Non-Dialer Agents
Priority
Proceeding Calls
Recycle Blocked
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Successes Per Hour
Successes Rate (by calls)
Successes Rate (by contacts)
Time In Stage
Time In Status
Total Abandons
Total Break Time
Total Breaks
Total Contacts
Total Detections
Total Dialer Talk Time
Total Idle Time
Total Non-Dialer Talk Time
Total Successes
Total Talk Time
Dialer overall statistics
Active Agents
Calls Per Agent
Calls Per Hour
Connected Calls
Non-Dialer Calls
Proceeding Calls
Total Agents
Dialer skill statistics
Cached Contacts
Callable Contacts
Finishing Agents
Idle Agents
Outstanding Contacts
Recycle Size
Recycles Remaining
Sort
Status
Total Agents
Workgroup
Dialer phone number detail
statistics
Attempts
Attempts Abandoned
Attempts Answering Machine
Attempts Busy
Attempts Fax
Attempts No Answer
Attempts Remote Hang up
Attempts Rescheduled
Attempts System Hang up
Contact Rate
Contacts
Dialer stage statistics
Average Time
Completed Calls
Percent Completed
Total Calls
Total Time
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Scheduled Contacts
Total Agents
Total Contacts
Dialer wrap up statistics style="margin-top: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Average Time style="margin: 0in; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Percent Calls style="margin: 0in; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Percent Time style="margin: 0in; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right: 0.1in;">Total Calls style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0.1in; margin-right:
0.1in;">Total Time
Dialer zone statistics
Cached Contacts
Callable Contacts
Scheduled Contacts
Status
Total Contacts
See Dialer Statistics for additional Dialer statistics information.
Feedback
System Event
A system event rule fires the rule when a specific campaign event occurs. At least one system event must be selected.
Contact List Recycled
>Fire rule when the campaign has recycled.
>
Campaign Stopped
>Fire rule when the campaign is stopped by a Manual Off command or by its schedule.
>
Campaign Started
>Fire rule when the campaign is started by a Manual On command or by its schedule.
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>
Campaign Restarted
>Fire rule when the campaign is manually restarted.
>
Campaign Paused
>Fire rule when the campaign is paused.
>
Campaign UnPaused
>Fire rule when the campaign is unpaused.
Time
A time-based rule triggers actions at a given time, on particular days of the week, or on a specific date, or daily. Times are relative to the system clock of the Central Campaign server.
Feedback
Time
>Sets the time of day that you want the rule to fire.
Every Day
>Sets the rule to run every day.
Selected Days
>Sets the rule to run on the selected days.
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Exact Date
>Sets the rule to run on a specific date.
Interval (minutes)
>Specifies a time interval (in minutes) that you want the rule to run. The rule will execute every configured number of seconds. This provides a way to recycle the call list every 15 minutes, for example.
Feedback
Configure Evaluations
Once you configure a Condition, you are ready to configure Evaluations.
1. Select the Evaluations tab
2. Choose one or both of the Evaluation options.
Perform actions only once per (Campaign) | (Recycle)
>This option determines whether or not actions are repeated the next time that a rule is evaluated within a given campaign or contact list recycle. For example, an action that sends an Email when a campaign reaches its goal would have this box checked, so that a single Email would be sent when the campaign reaches its goal.
>Otherwise, an Email message would be sent every time the Rule evaluates True, which would continue to occur in each successive evaluation of the rule. For instance, if a > operation was used, the rule would continue to evaluate
True, since the campaign total would always be greater than the threshold value used to trigger the rule.
>
After performing actions, stop evaluating rules in (This Rule Set) | (All Rule Sets in the Campaign)
>These settings determine whether other rules in the Rule set are subsequently evaluated if this rule returns a True result to indicate that the rule matches a current condition. If this rule returns a False result, this option is ignored. You can stop evaluating rules in the current Rule Set, or stop evaluating all Rule Sets in the campaign.
>
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• When "After performing actions, stop evaluating rules in" is unchecked, successive rules in the rule set will be evaluated when this rule returns a True result.
• To prevent other rules in the set from being evaluated, check "After performing actions, stop
evaluating rules in" and select This Rule Set.
• To prevent further rule evaluation for all rule sets associated with the campaign, check "After
performing actions, stop evaluating rules in" and select All Rule Sets in the Campaign.
Configure Actions
Feedback
Configure Actions
Once you configure Evaluations, you are ready to configure Actions. Rules invoke Actions that affect the processing of a campaign.
1. Select the Actions tab.
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new action for this rule. Type a name for the new action. Then click OK. The action is added to the list of actions in the view.
3. From the Action Type drop down, select one of the available actions and proceed with the appropriate
configuration operations. See Action Types for details.
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4. Click Save ( ).
5. Repeat steps 1-4 to add additional actions to the rule, if desired. Remember, actions are performed only when a rule evaluates to True.
Action Types
Feedback
Action Types
An Action Type specifies the general type of work to be performed by a rule action. The available Action Types are:
Action Type
Description
Logs agents out of one campaign and into another.
Changes the active Rule group
Runs a command on the Central Campaign server that controls the processing of a campaign.
Runs the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler on each master dialer server. Customers may edit this handler
(using Interaction Designer) to add custom logic that meets their business needs.
Sends an Email message to one or more recipients.
Sets a property on the current campaign.
Logs an Event Log message on the Central Campaign server. The message is written to the Central Campaign server's event log, but not to the event logs of
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About Notification Actions
Several actions send notifications (for example send an Email or write an event log message). These notification
actions contain fixed content. The content of the message is defined when the Action is defined. However, you can insert macros into the text of a notification message. Macros are variables whose value is inserted at run time into the text of a notification message. For example, you might use macros to insert the name of the current campaign into the body of an Email message, along with statistics for Total Calls, Abandonment, and Total Successes.
Feedback
Agent Management
The Agent action automates participation in campaigns at the agent or workgroup level. Specifically it logs individuals or workgroups out of one campaign and into another.
Each agent's status (availability to take a call) is maintained when the agent is logged off one campaign and logged into another. This prevents placement of calls for agents who are not at their desk.
Requirements
Before you can use the Agent Management Action to log agents out of one campaign and into another, you must enable two other settings:
Supervisor can override the agent’s right to logon/logoff all campaigns global setting. Enabling this setting allows a Supervisor or Administrator to move agents, who have the Logon Campaign security right, to different campaigns.
Dialer Delay Campaign Transition Login server parameter. Enabling this parameter will make sure that Dialer will delay the login to the destination campaign until after it has granted the previous campaign logout request.
To change campaign participation using a rule action:
1. Add a new rule or edit an existing rule.
2. Configure the rule's condition.
3. Click the Actions tab.
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4. Click Add ( ) to create a new action.
5. Give the new action a name.
6. Set the Action Type to Agent Management.
7. To select workgroups, click . Select workgroups in the list on the left. Click Add. Then click OK.
8. To select agents, click . Select agent names in the list on the left. Click Add. Then click OK.
9. Click next to "Log out of these campaigns" list. Select campaigns in the list on the left. Click Add. Then click
OK.
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10. Click next to "Log into of these campaigns". Select campaigns in the list on the left. Click Add. Then click OK.
11. The screen will show the agents and workgroups selected, and campaigns to log them out of, and in to. Click OK.
12. Optionally configure the Groups tab .
13. Click Save when finished.
Related Topics
Feedback
Change active group
This action changes the active Rule group. Rule Groups identify rules that can be turned on or off collectively by an action. Rules can belong to multiple groups defined within the Rule Set. A group is a user-defined label that rules can be classified by.
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The Rule Group that is active at startup is known as the [Startup Group]. Rules associated with the startup group are active until a Change active group action activates a different group. This sets the active group for the Rule Set. The
Campaign Server only evaluates rules that belong to the currently active group.
To configure an action to change the active group, select a rule group from the Group box.
Related Topics
Associate a Rule with a Rule Group
Feedback
Run campaign command
This action runs a command on the Central Campaign server that controls the processing of a campaign.
Action list box
>Select processing action to perform on the current campaign.
• End—closes the campaign.
• Pause—temporarily halts outbound dialing.
• Recycle Campaign—restarts the call selection process at the beginning of the contact list.
• Reset—resets the running campaign, meaning that its contact list will be processed from the top to reach parties that were not contacted in a previous pass. If major settings have been changed (DSN, Sorting or
Filtering, etc.), the campaign is reset and restarted with the new configuration. This command also sets the count of recycles back to zero.
• Scheduled calls only—switches the campaign's dialing mode to dial scheduled calls only. In this execution state, Dialer places only calls that were rescheduled by agents. Priority dials are still made, but no regular calls are placed. Auto-scheduled calls are not placed in this mode.
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Note: If the campaign is already running on a schedule and its current status is Auto On, selecting the
Scheduled calls only action will be ignored and the campaign will continue to run in its current schedule.
• Unpause—if the campaign is paused, Unpause removes the pause condition, returning the campaign to the Manual On or Auto status, as is appropriate. If the campaign is not paused, Unpause does nothing.
Related Topics
Feedback
Run handler
This action runs the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler on each master dialer server. The action passes a user-defined
Event Id and Event Data payload to the handler. By default, Dialer_RuleActionEvent, does nothing except provide an entry point for future customization. Customers may edit this handler (using Interaction Designer) to add custom logic that meets their business needs.
A Run Handler action always runs the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler. You cannot use this action to launch a different handler.
Event ID
>A unique string that is later used to retrieve the event.
Browse button ( )
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Event Data
>User-defined string data passed to the handler. The information entered here is sent to the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler as payload data. You can optionally insert macros into the data passed to the handler.
Browse button ( )
Related Topics
Feedback
Send email
This action sends an Email message to one or more recipients. The message includes a subject and body.
From
>Internet Email address of the sender.
To:
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>Internet Email address of recipient(s). Use semicolons to separate multiple Email recipients.
Subject field
>The subject of the Email message. Click (
Message field
>The body of the Email message. Click (
Related Topics
Set campaign property
Feedback
The Set Campaign Property action sets a property on the current campaign. To create an action that sets a campaign property, follow these steps:
1. Select Set campaign property from the Action Type box.
Campaign Properties . Think of campaign properties as name/value pairs.
3. Specify a Value to assign. Based upon the property selected, you are prompted to type in a text box, select from a list, radio button, or spin control.
Related Topics
Feedback
Assignable Campaign Properties
Each Campaign Property has a name, a read-only description, and a value. Name is the campaign property you can set. Description describes the selected property. Value establishes a new property setting. Various visual controls appear in the Value area, so that you can assign a new value to the selected property. The following properties of the
current campaign can be set by a Set Campaign Property action :
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Campaign
Property Action Value
ACD Agent
Available Time
Interval
ACD Agent
Available Time
Weight
ACD Agent Cost
Weight
ACD Agent Skill
Weight
ACD Priority Level
ACD Priority
Weight
ACD Skill Weight
ACD Time in Queue
Weight
ACD Time in
System Weight
ACD Workgroup
The amount of time (in seconds) to wait before increasing the Agent Available value by one. The longer an agent is available, the higher his or her Agent score will be.
The level of importance for Agent Available Time in the Agent Score formula. If you want to assign calls to the agent who has been off the phone the longest, weight this parameter more heavily than Weight for Agent Skill and Weight for Agent Cost.
The level of importance for Agent Cost in the Agent Score formula. Agent Cost is an attribute assigned to an agent in Interaction Administrator. Use a positive value in this parameter to assign the call to the agent with the highest cost. Use a negative value in this parameter to assign the call to the agent with the lowest cost.
The level of importance for Agent Skill in the Agent Score formula. Agent skill levels are normally assigned in Interaction Administrator on a User or Workgroup level. If Agent
Skill is more important for you than Agent Cost, Agent Available Time, or some other custom attribute, weight this parameter more than the other weight parameters.
The priority level assigned to calls. If you want priority taken into account when calculating interaction scores, you should also increase the value in the Weight for Priority parameter.
If you are concerned with matching calls with the highest priority to agents, then increase the Weight for Priority more than the weights for Skills or Time in Queue or System.
If you are concerned with matching calls to agents with the best skill for that call, then increase the Weight for Skills more than the weights for Priority or Time in Queue or
System.
If you are concerned with matching calls that have been holding in this queue the longest to agents, then increase the Weight for Time in Queue more than the weights for Skills,
Priority, or Time in System.
If you are concerned with matching calls that have been connected to IC the longest to agents, then increase the Weight for Time in System more than the weights for Skills,
Priority, or Time in Queue.
Specifies an ACD Workgroup for the Outbound Dialer Server to use. The Value list box displays the names of available ACD workgroups. This workgroup must exist on each
Outbound Dialer server.
Sets the action to perform when an answering machine is detected by call analysis. Agentless
Answering Machine
Action
Agentless
Answering Machine
Attendant Profile
Agentless
Answering Machine
File
Agentless
Answering Machine
Seconds of Silence
Sets the Attendant profile to route the call to when an answering machine is detected by call analysis.
Sets the wave audio file to play when an answering machine is detected by call analysis.
Sets the amount of time the system will wait before playing a wave audio file to an answering machine.
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Agentless Fax
Action
Agentless Fax
Attendant Profile
Agentless Fax File
Agentless Fax Max
Retries
Agentless Live
Person Action
Agentless Live
Person Attendant
Profile
Agentless Live
Person File
Auto Pace Limit
Auto-map Time
Sets the action to perform when a fax machine is encountered: connect to agent, hang up, play file, or route to Attendant profile.
This property sets the Attendant profile used for contacts that are Faxes, if Agentless Fax
Type is set to Attendant Profile. This sets the Attendant profile to route the call to when a fax machine is encountered.
This property identifies the Fax file to be transmitted by a multi-modal Fax campaign. A
Fax document consists of one or many pages of data contained in an .i3f format file. Enter the fully qualified path to an Interaction Fax (*.i3f) file in the value field.
Since this path needs to be accessible from any Outbound Dialer server that will run the campaign, the path should be entered in UNC format or as a network file mapping that all
Outbound Dialer servers that run this workflow will recognize—in other words, the drive letter must be the same for the Outbound Dialer server machines participating in the campaign. For example:
\\servername\path\filespec.i3f (a UNC path)
R:\faxes\project\filespec.i3f (a mapped drive)
Regardless of the method used, each Outbound Dialer must have read access to the specified path. A Fax document consists of one or many pages of data contained in an .i3f format file. Fax files are created using the Interaction Fax application. To open Interaction
Fax:
1. Click the Start button.
2. Select Programs > Interactive Intelligence > Interaction Fax.
3. Press F1 to open the application's online help file. This will tell you how to create a fax document.
This property sets the maximum number of Fax retry attempts made before the contact is considered to be a failure.
Sets the action to perform when a live person is reached: connect to agent, hang up, play file, or route to Attendant profile.
Selects an Attendant profile to route the call to when a live person is reached, for a campaign that has dialed a contact and reached a live person. The Value list box contains names of custom profiles defined in Interaction Attendant. This property overwrites the profile name configured on the Agentless tab of the campaign object, only when Live
Person type is selected for Call Analysis Result, and Attendant Profile is the selected
Action.
This property sets the fully qualified path to a wave audio (*.wav) file that the action will play when a campaign reaches a live person. Since this path needs to be accessible from any Outbound Dialer server that will run the campaign, the path should be entered in UNC format or as a network file mapping that all Outbound Dialer servers that run this workflow will recognize—in other words, the drive letter must be the same for the
Outbound Dialer server machines participating in the campaign. For example:
\\servername\path\filespec.wav (a UNC path)
R:\faxes\project\filespec.wav (a mapped drive)
Regardless of the method used, each Outbound Dialer must have read access to the specified path. In addition, the wave file directories must be included in the virtual directory configuration of Prompt Server.
Sets the maximum level of aggressiveness of a campaign.
Toggles automatic mapping of phone numbers to a predefined zone.
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Zone
AutoSchedule
Answering Machine
Max Attempts
AutoSchedule Busy
Reschedule Delay
AutoSchedule Busy
Max Attempts
AutoSchedule
Answering Machine
Reschedule Delay
AutoSchedule Fax
Max Attempts
AutoSchedule Fax
Reschedule Delay
AutoSchedule
Ignore Recycles
AutoSchedule No
Answer Max
Attempts
AutoSchedule No
Answer Reschedule
Delay
Auto Schedule
Remote Hang Up
Max Attempts
AutoSchedule
Remote Hangup
Rechedule Delay
AutoSchedule
System Hang Up
Max Attempts
Autoschedule
System Hangup
Reschedule Delay
Call Timeout
Caller ID Display
Name
Caller ID Display
Number
Sets the maximum number of times a rescheduled call may reach an Answering Machine before the contact is marked as un-callable.
Sets the number of minutes the system will wait before retrying a call that previously busy.
Sets the maximum number of times a rescheduled call may encounter a busy signal before the contact is marked as un-callable.
Sets the number of minutes the system will wait before retrying a call that previously reached an answering machine.
Sets the maximum number of times a rescheduled call may reach a fax machine before the contact is marked as un-callable.
Sets the number of minutes the system will wait before retrying a call that previously reached a fax machine.
When enabled, auto-scheduled calls are flagged so that future recycles of the contact list do not dial this entry as a normal contact.
Sets the maximum number of times the system will call a contact that is not answering before the contact is marked as un-callable.
Sets the number of minutes the system will wait before retrying a call that previously received no answer.
Sets the maximum number of times a rescheduled call may be disconnected by the remote party before the contact is marked as un-callable.
Sets the number of minutes the system will wait before retrying a call that was terminated by the remote party.
Sets the maximum number of times that the system will call a contact back if the system itself terminated the call before marking the contact as un-callable.
Sets the number of minutes the system will wait before retrying a call that was terminated by the system itself.
The maximum length of time (in seconds) that an outbound call will stay in the waiting queue before the Outbound Dialer server disconnects it. This determines the amount of time that the server should spend waiting for an agent to become available after the remote party has answered the call.
Sets the name that contacts will see on Caller ID devices. Call Centers with multiple clients can set this property to identify the company for whom they are conducting a campaign. Some Central Offices may not support this feature.
The telephone number that contacts will see on Caller ID devices. Call Centers with multiple clients can set this property to associate a telephone number with a campaign (if
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Calling Mode
Campaign Priority the CO supports this feature). For example, 1-800-FLOWERS.
This property sets the calling mode for a campaign. Interaction Dialer offers supplemental calling modes in addition to its main predictive mode. These modes give agents more granular control over outbound interactions or conduct agentless campaigns. Calling modes are assigned on a per-campaign basis.
Campaigns can be assigned a priority number—an integer between 1 and 100, inclusive, that Dialer uses to decide how many calls to place for each campaign for each agent.
Sets the interval at which campaign statistics are gathered and logged. Campaign Statistics
Interval
Contact Columns Assigns a subset of contact columns from those defined on the Contact List to be dialed by that campaign and/or changes the order in which contact columns will be dialed. You can select columns only after selecting a contact list. All Contact Columns selected must be from the same contact list.
Once a column is selected, the contact list is listed below the selected value, so that you can check that all columns come from the same list:
Copy Dialer
Attributes to Call
Attributes
Toggles whether to copy contact attributes to the call's attributes before forwarding the call to an Attendant profile.
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Customize Contact
Columns
Dialing Schedule
Enable Preview
Countdown
Enables use of a customized contact columns list.
The schedule used by the campaign.
Toggles whether or not the preview countdown timer is enabled for a Preview campaign.
Note: If you are running Interaction Dialer using the Manual Calling feature license, then the Preview Countdown feature is not supported.
Filter Agent
Scheduled
Callbacks
Filter Auto-
Scheduled
Callbacks
Filters
Follow up Status
Group
Incoming High
Threshold
Incoming Low
Threshold
Initial Calls Per
Agent
Line Group
Toggles the use of filters on agent-owned filtered callbacks.
Toggles the use of filters on autoscheduled filtered callbacks.
Sets the filters used in contact queries, by assigning Filter objects to the selection of contact list records.
Selects a status that Dialer will put the agent into when a Dialer call disconnects but has not been dispositioned yet. A typical selection might be "Follow Up". The list allows selection of any agent status defined in IC. The rule can select a different status from the
status configured for the campaign on the Recall Control Tab .
Sets the logical group that the campaign belongs to. Group is a descriptive label that is optionally assigned to a campaign. Interaction Dialer does not use this information internally, but it is useful for identification purposes. A group designation is useful when several campaigns are related in some way. For example, a call center might conduct several campaigns for a corporate client, and store the name of the client in the Group field.
Sets the number of inbound waiting calls in the ACD workgroup that will cause the dialing server to stop making predictions. The campaign is paused when this threshold is reached.
Sets the number of inbound waiting calls in ACD workgroup that will cause the dialing server to resume making predictions and unpause a campaign.
Sets the number of calls to place per agent when contact rate information is not yet available, such as when a campaign starts.
Sets the name of the line group used by the campaign. This identifies a set of lines that the Outbound Dialer server will use to place campaign calls. This line group must exist on each Outbound Dialer server that is assigned to the workflow. Line Groups are defined in the Line Groups container in Interaction Administrator.
Max Lines
Maximum
Abandon Rate
Maximum
Attempts
Sets the maximum number of lines a campaign may use.
The maximum percentage of abandoned calls that the Outbound Dialer will allow before it automatically lowers the pacing. A typical value might be 3%.
Sets the maximum number of times a contact record will be dialed before it is marked as uncallable.
Maximum Preview
Time
Sets the total number of seconds to allow the agent to preview a number before dialing.
Maximum Recycles Sets the number of additional times the system will cycle through the contact list before ending the campaign. This action sets the maximum number of times that this campaign
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No Agent Action
No Agent
Attendant Profile
No Agent File
Perform Answering
Machine Detection
Perform Call
Analysis
Sets the wave audio file to play when no agent is available to take the call.
Toggles whether call analysis should attempt to detect answering machines.
This action enables or disables Call Analysis for the campaign. Call Analysis is an IC process that analyzes a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a Fax machine, or an Answering Machine, and whether or not an agent is available to process the call.
Selects filters used in phone number detail queries. Phone Number
Filters
Policy Sets should recycle before it is stopped. This is the total number of times that this campaign should recycle through its contact list in an effort to reach contacts that could not be reached before.
Sets the action to perform when no agent is available to take the call: connect to agent, hang up, play file, or route to Attendant profile.
Sets the Attendant profile to route the call to when no agent is available to take the call.
Reschedule Delay
Restrictive
Abandon Rate
Calculation
Rule Set
Scripter URL
Sort
Stage Set
Sets a list of Policy Sets used by the campaign. Select the name of an existing Policy Set from the list, or select [None] to discontinue use of the currently active Policy Set (if
any). If this list does not contain user-defined Policy Sets, you can use the Policy Sets view
to create a new policy set.
This action sets the delay interval for auto-scheduled calls. This is the amount of time (in minutes) that the system will wait before checking if an agent is available to take an autoscheduled callback. If the agent is unavailable when it is time to dial an agent-owned callback, the system waits for a configurable number of minutes specified by this property before calling the party. This interval is known as the reschedule delay.
Whether or not to perform calculations based on contacts instead of dials. This enables or disables the restrictive abandon rate calculation. By default, the restrictive calculation is used to moderate the pace of a campaign. When this setting is disabled, the abandonment calculation is:
Abandons / Total Calls and not Abandons / Total Contacts
When the restrictive abandon rate calculation is enabled, the abandonment calculation is:
Abandons / Total Contacts
This action applies a Rule Set to the campaign. Select the name of an existing Rule Set from the list, or select [None] to discontinue use of the current Rule Set (if any). If this list
does not contain user-defined Rule Sets, you can use the Rule Sets view to create a new
Rule Set.
This property sets the URL of the custom campaign script associated with the current campaign. This is the URL of the first HTML page displayed by a custom campaign script—if your company has licensed Advanced Interaction Scripter, and has created a custom campaign script for the campaign. The URL can be either a UNC path
(\\fileserver\path\filespec) or a web address (http://…). Leave blank if you are using a base script.
This action sorts a contact list by the columns you select.
Assigns a Stage Set object to the current campaign. Select the name of an existing Stage
Set from the list, or select [None] to discontinue use of the current Stage Set (if any). If
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Timezone Map
Option
Use Autoschedule
Settings for Agent
Callbacks
Zone Set
this list does not contain user-defined Stage Sets, you may use the Stage Sets view to
create a new Stage Set.
Sets options that govern whether time zone mapping occurs, and which phone numbers are automatically mapped to a time zone.
Toggles whether this campaign's Auto-Schedule settings apply to own-agent callbacks.
Sets the Zone Set used by this campaign. Select the name of an existing Zone Set from the
list. If this list is empty, you must use the Zone Sets view to create a new Zone Set.
Related Topics
Feedback
Write Event Log Entry
This action logs an Event Log message on the Central Campaign server. The message is written to the Central
Campaign server's event log, but not to the event logs of participating Outbound Dialer servers.
Severity list box
>This box sets the severity level of the message. Select Error, Information, or Warning.
Message field
>The text typed in this field is written to the log entry. Click
to insert macros into the body of the Log message.
Related Topics
Configure Groups
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Feedback
Options on this tab associate a rule with one or more Rule Groups. A Rule Group is a descriptive name defined in the
Rule Set that individual rules can be associated with.
Available items
>This list contains the names of Rule Groups that the rule can be assigned to.
Add button
>Adds items selected in the Available items list to the Selected items list.
Selected items list
>This list contains the names of Rule Groups assigned to this rule.
About [Startup Group]
The Rule Group that is active at startup is known as the [Startup Group]. Rules associated with the startup group are active until a Change Active Group action activates a different group. This sets the active group for the Rule
Set. The Campaign Server only evaluates rules that belong to the currently active group. To find out which rules are active when the Rule Set is initially evaluated, select [Startup Group].
About [Any]
When selecting the groups for a rule, an [Any] group is also listed. Adding [Any] group to the rule will cause the rule to be evaluated regardless of which group is currently active.
Feedback
Associate a Rule with a Rule Group
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1. If you have not done so already, open a Rule Set for editing.
2. Select a Rule in the Rule Set.
3. Click the Groups tab in the bottom pane.
4. Select groups in the Available Items list. Then click Add. A rule can belong to more than one group.
Schedules view
Feedback
Schedules view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Schedules container
Overview
This view manages Schedules. A schedule is a collection of time settings that determine when campaigns are running
(on), not running (off), or partially on (placing only scheduled calls). Schedules are optional, but in practice they are often used. If a campaign has no schedule, it must be turned on or off manually. Schedules automate this task.
Once a schedule has been created, it can be assigned to a campaign. However, an assigned schedule has no effect unless the campaign is configured to dial according to schedule. If the campaign is off, the schedule is ignored.
The fact that a campaign is on does not guarantee that it is dialing. A predictive, power, or preview campaign with no agents logged in will not dial any calls. Dialer will not place calls until at least one agent is logged in. Agentless
campaign does not permit any dialing for the campaign, no contacts are called.
A schedule can contain two types of time settings:
• Weekly Schedules specify days of the week and hours of the day when the campaign is on or dialing scheduled calls only. A typical weekly setting might match business hours: Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
• One-Time Exceptions specify hourly ranges that apply to individual calendar days or ranges of calendar days. These are often used to turn a campaign off during a holiday. Exception schedules take precedence over weekly schedules.
While adding holiday exceptions to a Dialer schedule is always the safest practice, adding holidays is optional. If agents will not be logged in, dialing will not happen unless the campaign is agentless. See
See How Schedules are evaluated for information about the method that CCS uses to evaluate schedule entries to determine whether to start or stop a campaign.
Related Procedures
Assign a Schedule to a Campaign
Configure campaign to Dial according to schedule
Feedback
Add a Schedule
The procedure explains how to define a weekly schedule and any exceptions that apply to that schedule.
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1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Advanced Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Schedules container.
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new schedule entry.
3. An entry titled New Item appears. Select the Details tab.
4. To define a Weekly schedule: a. Expand the Weekly Schedule expander. b. Move the cursor to the day of approximate week and time of day. Then click the left mouse button. A dialog appears to define a time slot. c. Select a Campaign State for this schedule to use. To place regular and scheduled calls, select On. To place only Scheduled Calls when this schedule is active, select Scheduled Calls Only. d. Use the spin controls to change Start and End times as needed. Note that 24-notation is used. To stop dialing at 5 pm. For example, you would select 17:00 as the End Time. e. Click OK. The new time slot appears as a green shaded region in the calendar.
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Dialer Manager Printable Help f. Repeat steps 4b-4e to define additional time slots for other days of the week or times of day.
5. To define a One-Time Exception (such as a holiday when your business is closed): a. Click the One-Time Exceptions tab. b. Click Add. A new exception entry will appear. c. For the entry, you must set campaign state, start date, end date, start time and end time. Campaign State can be On, Off, or Scheduled Calls Only. Most often, you will select Off to prevent dialing when a schedule exception is in effect. d. Repeat steps 5b-5c to add additional exceptions, as needed.
6. Click Save ( ) to save the Schedule.
Feedback
Assign a Schedule to a Campaign
This procedure explains how to assign a schedule to a campaign.
the Interaction Dialer container and then select the Campaigns container.
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2. Select a Campaign to edit.
3. Select the Automation tab on the Campaign Properties panel.
this procedure.
5. Click Save ( ) to save changes.
Please note that assignment of a schedule to a campaign has no effect unless the campaign's status is set to
Dial according to schedule.
Feedback
Configure a campaign to Dial according to schedule
The assignment of a schedule to a campaign has no effect unless the campaign's status is set to Dial according to schedule.
To put the schedule into effect:
2. On the Campaign Settings Panel, click the button that toggles between manual and automatic campaign execution mode:
When the button looks like this, the campaign is configured to run in accordance with its schedule.
Skill Sets view
Feedback
Skill Sets view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Skill Sets container
Overview
This view is used to implement Skills-Based Dialing, an optional feature that looks at skills in contact records, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool. Skills-based dialing is available for preview, power, and predictive campaigns.
Skills-based dialing:
• Matches contacts skill requirements to available agent's skills before placing calls
• Dials portions of a call list at different ratios based on contact skills
• Uses skills-based routing to get connected call to most skilled agent
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The Skill Sets view manages Skill Set entries. Each Skill Set maps a skill column in the contact list to skills defined in
IC. A Skill Set manages skills from a Campaign's point of view—by identifying which IC skills will be used to select contacts.
Like other Dialer Manager views, the top portion of the view displays a list of entries, with buttons to add, copy, paste, and delete items. The lower portion of the view manages details of the selected Skill Set.
Skills-Based Dialing Feature Overview
Skills-Based Dialing is available for preview, power, and predictive campaigns. To understand this feature, it is important to differentiate between skills-based routing and skills-based dialing.
• Skills-Based Routing involves an already connected call. It sends an already connected call to an agent that has required skills, such as the ability to speak the contact's language, required product familiarity, etc.
Skills-based routing is an ACD feature of CIC that can be used for both inbound and outbound calling. Skills are associated with interactions (required skills) and with agents (available skills). The ACD subsystem matches these skills up to route an interaction to the best available agent. Dialer can use ACD-based skills-based routing to route a live caller to the best available agent.
Skills-based routing works well in a predictive or power dialing environment when all agents have the skill(s) and can accept the call. However, it does not work as well when skills are used to select from a subset of agents. This latter use of skills-based routing can result in excessive abandons and a poor dialing experience. The solution is to use skills-based dialing instead.
• Skills-Based Dialing looks ahead to pick contacts to be dialed. It examines skills in contact records, to dial only those contacts that can be handled by the available agent pool.
Skills-based dialing selects only contacts in the contact list that can be handled by the available agent pool. Skills are evaluated before contacts are dialed. The mixture of contacts' required skills and agents' anticipated availability and skills is dynamic and must be managed similarly to pacing. Some examples of outbound situations in which only a subset of agents will have a skill include:
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• State-based licensing—wherein lenders and insurers must be licensed in states into which they are attempting to sell.
• Specialized selling or collections—when a subset of agents are trained or allowed to handle particular products or customers.
• Language skills—when the contact has special language requirements.
Once a contact with an appropriate skill requirement is selected to be dialed and a live person contacted, that contact's skills are associated with the connected call. Then the call is routed to the most appropriate available agent using skills-based ACD routing.
Skills-Based Dialing balances the contacts being dialed with the capabilities of the available agents who could receive calls. This requires sub-selecting only those contacts in the call list that could be handled by the available agent pool before attempting to dial those contacts. The mix of contacts' required skills and agents' anticipated availability and skills is very dynamic and is managed in real time similarly to pacing.
Once a contact with an appropriate skill requirement is selected to be dialed and a live person contacted, that contact's skills are associated with the connected call for use by CIC's ACD in using skills-based routing to get the call to the most appropriate available agent.
To implement Skills-Based Dialing, the contact list must be populated with a custom skills column per contact (e.g. language indicator, state code, etc.) to be matched up with the associated campaign's agent pool skill sets.
Related Procedures
Configure Skills-Based Dialing
Feedback
Configure Skills-Based Dialing
Skills-based dialing compares skills required by contacts with agent skills, to dial only those contacts that can be processed by the available pool of agents.
To implement skills-based dialing, perform these tasks:
1. To perform this initial step, you may need help from your database administrator. Add a new column to the contact list and populate each row with the name of one skill required by each contact. An index should be created on the skill column. For example, you might define a new column titled "Preferred Language" and populate each row with codes for the contact's preferred language, using "EN" for English, "SP" for Spanish, "FR" for French, and so forth.
2. The next step is to define corresponding IC skills in Interaction Administrator using the Skills view, which is a child of the People view in Interaction Administrator. It defines a skill and agents who possess that skill. To implement skills-based dialing, skills must be defined in this view and assigned to agents. Afterwards a Skill Set can be defined, and associated with campaigns.
A skill defines an ability that individual agents may or may not have, such as special training or certification, expertise with a particular product, or the ability to speak a foreign language.
In Interaction Administrator, expand the People view. Then click the Skills view.
3. Press Add ( ) to add a new skill. In the Name box on the Configuration tab, type a unique and descriptive name for a skill that at least some agents have. Skill names can be single words or phrases, and may contain spaces.
Skill names don't have to match the database values defined in step 1. For the language example above, you might define IC skills named "English", "French", and "Spanish", instead of mimicking the database values "EN", "FR", and
"SP".
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4. Click the Add ( ) button on the Workgroups expander. The Assign Skill to Workgroups dialog appears. Select workgroups whose agents possess this skill. Then click Add. You will define exactly which agents later. When you are finished, click OK.
There are other ways to assign skills to a User or Workgroup in Interaction Administrator, but use of the Skills view is recommended to define skills for skills-based dialing, since this procedure both defines a skill and assigns it to agents.
5. The workgroups you selected now appear in the Workgroups expander. a. Click to edit the Proficiency column for each workgroup. Proficiency indicates overall ability to apply the skill. Select a number between 1 and 100 to assign a proficiency level to this workgroup for the selected skill. Higher numbers indicate greater skill level. b. Click to edit the Desire to use columns for each workgroup. Desire to Use is also a number between 0 and 100, to indicate how willing the workgroup is to use the skill. For example, all agents may have a high level of proficiency with a particular skill (such as technical support) but may have very little desire to use that skill in an ACD environment. Higher numbers indicate greater desire to use this skill.
6. Click the Add ( ) button on the Users expander. The Assign Skill to Users dialog appears. This is used to indicate which agents in the workgroups have the skill.
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7. Click, shift-click, or Ctrl-click to select the name(s) of Agents in the Available items list. Click Add. Then click OK.
The names of selected users will appear in the Users expander. a. Click to edit the Proficiency column for each agent. Proficiency indicates an agent's overall ability to apply the skill. You can assign any number between 0 and 100. b. Click to edit the Desire to Use column for each agent. This is also a number between 0 and 100. The higher the number, the greater the agent's desire to use this skill. For example, an agent may have a high level of proficiency with a particular skill (such as technical support) but may have very little desire to use that skill in an ACD environment.
8. Click Save. Repeat steps 3-7 to define other skills as needed.
9. You are ready to define a Skill Set. Open the Skill Sets view .
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10. Click Add ( ) to create a new Skill Set. Since IC skills are defined for different purposes, the Skill Set will identify a subset of skills to use with a campaign. A Skill Set selects a set of IC skills, and defines other parameters, such as the minimum skill proficiency that agents must have.
11. Type a descriptive name in the Name box. This name can contain spaces and special characters.
12. In the Column Name box, type the name of the custom contact list column that contains skill values that will be matched against this Skill Set. This is the custom column you created back in step 1.
13. Use the Minimum Proficiency slider to choose a number between 1 and 100. This indicates the overall minimum proficiency that agents must have to process contacts for this Skill Set.
14. Now, click the Add button to select a skill. This is the plus icon that appears to below and to the right of Minimum
Proficiency.
15. A dialog appears to prompt for selection of an existing skill (defined back in step 3). Use the Skill drop list to select a skill.
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16. The string you enter in the Database Value box maps the IC Skill (e.g. "French") to a value in the custom contact list column you added in step 1. In the example above, the contact column contains a code for the French language
("FR"). This is mapped to the IC skill named "French". This defines correspondence between IC skills and row values in a custom contact list column.
17. Use the Dialing Ratio slider to indicate preference to require a skill. It skews the relative number of calls that will be placed for each skill. For example, if the dialing ratio is 2 for skill A, and 1 for skill B, then Dialer will call twice as many skill A's as skill B's.
It is important to understand that dialing ratio skews the relative number of calls that will be placed for each skill.
Interaction Dialer performs calculations to dial calls in ratios relative to the number of logged in agents supporting the skill requirements. The dialing ratio allows for fine tuning of this control. The ratios are relative to
Dialer's own skills-based dialing calculations.
Dialing Ratio Examples
As a general rule, all dialing ratios should be equal. For this reason, the dialing ratio always defaults to 1. Similar to a pace setting of 0, this puts Dialer in complete control of calculating when to dial calls for each skill requirement. But, adjusting dialing ratios allows for greater precision when configuring skills-based dialing. One use of the Dialing Ratio would be to assign 1 skill per sub-list (e.g. client A), give all agents all skills related to all lists, and then tweak the Dialing Ratios to get through 1 sub-list faster than another.
Example 1: call three lists at the same time and get them done at the same relative rate.
Sub-list A– 100,000 records
Sub-list B– 50,000 records
Sub-list C– 10,000 records
Set Sub-list A's ratio to 10, Sub-list B's to 5, and Sub-list C's to 1. All other things being equal, the percentage penetration into those lists will be the same.
Example 2: complete Sub-list A 3 times as fast as Sub-list B.
Sub-list A– 100,000 records
Sub-list B– 100,000 records
Set A's ratio to 3, B's ratio to 1. All other things being equal, Sub-list A will process 3 records for every 1 record from Sub-list B. Combining these Sub-lists into 1 campaign gives people the ability to call through all lists at the same time (instead of separate campaigns active at different times).
18. Click OK. Repeat steps 14-17 for other skill values that might appear in the custom contact column.
19. When you are finished, click Save to store the Skill Set.
20. The final task is to assign this Skill Set to a campaign. Open the Campaigns view. Then select a Campaign.
21. Click the Skills and ACD tab. If necessary, click to expand the Skills-based Dialing expander. You should see the name of the skill set in the Available Items list.
22. Select the Skill Set. Then click Add to move it to the Selected Items list. Repeat to assign other skill sets as needed.
You can define more than one Skill Set for a campaign. For example, you might use one Skill Set to define languages spoken by multilingual agents, and another to categorize product skills or certifications.
Considerations when multiple Skill Sets are assigned to a campaign
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Many Skill Sets can be associated with one campaign. This allows for multiple skill requirements. This is especially common in the insurance industry where an agent might be licensed in only certain states and might also only be licensed to sell certain types of insurance products. By using separate Skill Sets for state and product, the agent that only sells auto insurance products in 10 states will only receive calls meeting those criteria.
Similar to predictive dialing in general, predictive skills-based dialing will operate most efficiently with greater than 8 agents per skill requirement. Larger pools of eligible agents result in lower idle times and lower abandonment rates.
At this time, Dialer does not evaluate skills when calls are routed to Finishing Agents. Finishing Agents receive all calls, regardless of skill settings. A future version of Dialer may allow tracking the skills of finishing agents and restricting dialing to only dial skills that can be handled by a logged-in finishing agent.
The problem with restricting dialing based on finishing agent availability is that it is impossible to know before dialing which calls will require a finishing agent. Furthermore, Dialer does not restrict dialing based on finishing agent availability.
23. Click Save to store the Campaign configuration change. Skill-based routing is now configured for the campaign.
Policy Sets view
Feedback
Policy Sets view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Policy Sets container
Overview
A Policy Set is a top level Dialer object composed of one or more contact policies. A policy is a per-contact rule. Contact policies provide low-level control over the processing of individual contact records. A policy is made up of conditions and behaviors. Conditions determine when the policy applies. Behaviors define the work performed when a policy condition is true.
Each behavior modifies the processing of an individual contact record. For example, a behavior might prevent a contact from being dialed, or require that the call is routed to an Agent who has a specific skill set. Policies allow for implementation of legislative requirements that involve per-contact behavior. Policies also fire notification events
Policy Evaluation Types
To control when conditions are evaluated, a policy can be defined as a Pre Call, Call Analysis, or Disposition evaluation type.
• Pre Call policy objects are evaluated before the call is made.
• Call Analysis policy objects are evaluated immediately after the Call Analysis result is determined, but before the call is sent to an agent or is dispositioned.
• Disposition objects are evaluated after the call is finished and is dispositioned.
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This timeline illustrates when each policy type will be evaluated, per contact list record.
Policy evaluation type is determined according to the tab under which the policy is created.
Related Procedures
Assign Policy Sets to a Campaign
Add a Policy Set
Add a Policy Set
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Policy Sets container.
Feedback
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new Policy Set entry.
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3. An entry titled New Item appears in the list of entries, and properties of the new entry are displayed. Type a descriptive name in the Name field. This name will become the name of the Policy when the entry is saved, replacing the default "New Item".
4. Optionally check the Locked checkbox. This will lock the policy object so that it cannot be modified, removed, or unlocked by any person who does not have the "Lock Policy Sets" security right. Once a policy has been locked, users who do not have this right can view the policy but they cannot remove or edit it until a person who has the right removes the lock. Locked policies can be assigned to a campaign, but they cannot be removed from a campaign except by persons who have the "Lock Policy Sets" security right.
Note: Leave this option unchecked unless you have a specific reason to lock the policy. If you lock a policy, you won't be able to manage it later, unless the "Lock Policy Sets" security right is assigned to you.
5. Click the Pre Call, Call Analysis, or Disposition tab to control when the policy condition will be evaluated. Pre Call policy conditions are evaluated before the call is made. Call Analysis conditions are evaluated immediately after the
Call Analysis result is determined, but before the call is sent to an agent or is dispositioned. Disposition policy objects are evaluated after the call is finished and is dispositioned.
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6. Click Add ( ) to add a policy entry to the policy set. Give the policy a descriptive name.
7. Click OK to dismiss the Policy Name dialog.
Configure a Condition
8. Next, define the condition associated with this policy. The Conditions tab is selected by default. Click Add ( ) to define a new policy condition.
9. The Add Policy Condition dialog appears. Type a name for the new condition in the Name box.
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10. Select a condition type from the Condition Type list. Condition type is what will be evaluated to determine whether to execute behaviors for this policy. You can define different conditions based upon whether the policy type is PreCall, Call Analysis, or Disposition. The table below lists the condition types that are available for each policy type.
Condition Type
PreCall x x x x x x x
Policy Evaluation Type
Call Analysis x x x x x x x x
Disposition x x x x x x x x x
11. Configure options for the condition type selected. Use the hyperlinks in the table above to view details about each condition type.
Configure Behaviors
12. Click the Behaviors tab.
13. Click Add ( ). The Add Policy Behavior dialog appears.
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14. Type a name for the new condition in the Name box.
15. Select a behavior type from the Behavior Type list. Behaviors are actions performed when the policy condition is true. You can define different behaviors based upon whether the policy type is PreCall, Call Analysis, or Disposition.
The table below lists the behavior types that are available for each policy type.
Behavior Type
PreCall x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Policy Evaluation Type
Call Analysis Disposition x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
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16. Configure options for the behavior type selected. Use the hyperlinks in the table above to view details about each behavior type.
17. Optionally repeat steps 12-14 to add additional policy behaviors.
18. When you are finished, click Save ( ).
Condition Types
Abandon condition type
Feedback
The Abandon condition type evaluates whether or not the call was abandoned, either by the system or the remote party.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Think of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates. For example,
"1000 Campaign Calls placed".
Condition Type
>Select "Abandon" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Details
>There are no configurable options in the details expander, only a label that describes the purpose of this condition.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Attribute condition type
Attribute condition type
Feedback
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An Attribute condition compares the value of a contact list column to a constant value. You can use behaviors to perform arithmetic operations on contact columns.
Note: Arithmetic operations add or subtract attribute values from columns in a contact list, using addition and subtraction operators in the Arithmetic Operation drop list. For example, you might set up a policy behavior to keep a running total of the number of times that a message has been played to the contact. This is accomplished by creating two behaviors. The first plays the message when an Answering Machine is detected. The second behavior increments a call list column to count how many times the wav file has been played to the contact.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Think of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates. For example,
"1000 Campaign Calls placed".
Condition Type
>Select "Attribute" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Attribute
>This field prompts for the name of a column in the Contact List. Clicking Browse (
) opens the Column Wizard , so
that you can select a column by name after selecting a contact list.
Type
>Use this list box to select the attribute's data type (Date/Time, Number, String, or Time Offset).
>When you select the Date/Time or Time Offset condition, Dialer expects the data in the Contact List to be in the standard SQL DATETIME format:
>
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>YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS[.MMM]
>
>Where YYYY-MM-DD is Year, Month, Day and HH:MM:SS[.MMM] is Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Milliseconds.
>(Milliseconds are optional)
>
>When you select Time Offset, keep in mind that it compares the value of an attribute to an offset of the current date/time. The value of Time Offset is added to the current time. The resulting sum is compared to the value of the attribute.
>To look into the past, Time Offset should be entered as a negative number of hours. For example, a value of -2.5 will compare an attribute time to a time 2.5 hours in the past. Entries for Time Offset can use decimal places to compare partial hour offsets.
>In the example below, the -2.5 Time Offset would allow the Condition to evaluate to True if GMTValue were greater than or equal to 2.5 hours past due:
>
>
>
Note: When you select either Time Offset or Date\Time in the Type field, and then use local time, keep in mind that
Dialer assumes that the Attribute is using UTC for the time. As such, you must account for the UTC difference in the
Value field.
Operator
Selects the operator used to compare the attribute with a value.
!=
<
<=
= not equal to less than less than or equal to equal to
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>
>=
Regex greater than greater than or equal to
regular expression (See Using Regular Expressions .)
Value
>The attribute is compared to the value defined here. If Type is Number or String, you are prompted to type into a
supported in the Value field when the String type is selected.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Feedback
Column Wizard
The column wizard selects a column (attribute) from a contact list table. It helps prevent configuration errors, by eliminating the need to type column names into a form.
1. Select a contact list from the Contact List box. Columns from that table appear in the Contact attribute control.
2. Select a contact attribute.
3. Click OK.
Feedback
Duration condition type
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This condition compares the duration of the interaction to a time in seconds.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Duration" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Comparison style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt;">Selects the operator used to make a time comparison.
!=
<
<=
= not equal to less than less than or equal to equal to
>
>=
Time (seconds) greater than greater than or equal to
>Selects an amount of time, in seconds, to match against the duration of the interaction.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Feedback
Disposition condition type
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A Disposition condition will evaluate to True if the Disposition of the contact matches the specified Wrap-up Category and Wrap-up Code.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Disposition" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Wrap-up Category/Code list
>This control lists wrap-up category/code pairs. You can select multiple pairs to be evaluated. To select a wrap-up pair, click the Add ( ) button. This opens the Add New Disposition dialog:
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The controls on the Add New Disposition dialog are:
Wrap-up Category
>Selects a wrap-up Category code. For background information, see wrap-up Codes and Categories .
Available items / Selected items (Wrap-up Code)
>Selects a wrap-up Code.
Abandon
>Matches an abandonment result: Abandoned, Not Abandoned, or Not Specified.
Edit button
>The Edit button ( ) re-opens an existing, selected entry in the Add New Disposition dialog.
Delete button
>The Delete button ( ) removes a selected entry.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Call Dialing Mode condition type
Feedback
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primarily to determine if the call was placed as a non-preview dial in conjunction with the Phone Number Type to comply with new regulations.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Call Dialing Mode" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Available Items
>Displays a list of dialing modes to select from.
Add button
>Adds any modes selected in Available items list, to the Selected items list. Items in the latter list will be examined when the condition is evaluated.
Remove button
>Moves the item selected in the Selected items list back to the list of Available items, thereby excluding it from being evaluated.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Feedback
Call Category condition type
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This condition type allows a policy to examine call category information for the current contact record. This allows a policy to execute behaviors based upon the type of call (normal campaign call, agent-owned callback, priority call, etc.)
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Call Category" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Add button
>Adds the category selected in Available items list, to the Selected items list. Items in the latter list will be examined when the condition is evaluated.
Remove button
>Moves the item selected in the Selected items list back to the list of Available items, thereby excluding it from being evaluated.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Feedback
Call Attribute condition type
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This condition compares the value of an interaction attribute to a supplied value. An interaction attribute is a
condition type uses the term attribute to refer to contact columns, but in this context, "attribute" refers to an interaction attribute attached to the interaction, which is usually a telephone call.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Call Attribute" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Call Attribute
>The name of the call attribute that you want to examine. The names of reserved call attributes are documented in the Interaction Attributes Reference Guide. You'll find that in the System APIs section of the CIC Documentation Library.
Type
>Use this list box to select the attribute's data type (Date/Time, Number, or String).
>When you select the Date/Time or Time Offset condition, Dialer expects the data in the Contact List to be in the standard SQL DATETIME format:
>
>YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS[.MMM]
>
>Where YYYY-MM-DD is Year, Month, Day and HH:MM:SS[.MMM] is Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Milliseconds.
>(Milliseconds are optional)
>
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>When you select Time Offset, keep in mind that it compares the value of an attribute to an offset of the current date/time. The value of Time Offset is added to the current time. The resulting sum is compared to the value of the attribute.
>To look into the past, Time Offset should be entered as a negative number of hours. For example, a value of -2.5 will compare an attribute time to a time 2.5 hours in the past. Entries for Time Offset can use decimal places to compare partial hour offsets.
Operator
Selects the operator used to compare the Call Attribute with a value.
!=
<
<=
=
>
>=
Regex not equal to less than less than or equal to equal to greater than greater than or equal to
regular expression (See Using Regular Expressions .)
Value controls
>The attribute is compared to the value defined here. If Type is Number or String, you are prompted to type into a
supported in the Value field when the String type is selected.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
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Call Analysis condition type
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This condition will evaluate to True if Call Analysis returns a matching result. If Call Analysis is turned off, "Live Person" will be used to make the comparison.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Call Analysis" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Available items
>This list contains call analysis results that can be compared to the call analysis result of an actual call. Select an item.
Then click Add to move it to the Selected items list. When SIT is selected, all SIT reason codes (SIT Callable, SIT
Uncallable, etc.) are compared to the actual call analysis result.
Selected Items
>This list contains call analysis results that have been selected for comparison with the call analysis result of an actual call. To remove an item, select it in the Selected items list. Then click Remove.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Phone Number Details condition type
Phone Number Details condition type
Feedback
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This pre-call condition type allows you to use phone number-level attempt counters as a condition in Pre-Call policies.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Phone Number Details" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Phone Number Details
>Selects an attempts counter to compare against. The attempt counters include:
>Attempts Abandoned style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts Answering Machine style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts Busy style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts Fax style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts No Answer style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts Remote Hangup style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts Rescheduled style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts SITCallable style="margin-top: 0in;">Attempts System Hangup
style="margin-top: 0in;"> Custom
style="margin-top: 0in;">Total Attempts
Operator
Selects the operator used to compare the attempt counter to a value.
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=
>
Value
>=
!=
<
<= not equal to less than less than or equal to equal to greater than greater than or equal to
>Sets a value to compare to the counter.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Setting Phone Number Details to Custom
You can configure a policy condition to evaluate a custom Phone Number Details column:
1. Add a Policy Condition.
2. Set its Condition Type to "Phone Number Details".
3. Select "Custom" from the Phone Number Detail list.
Feedback
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4. At this point, you can select a custom Phone Number Details column, and configure evaluation type, operator, value, and test a regular expression value. The figure below shows the dialog that appears when you choose a custom phone number detail column.
5. Select the attribute's data Type (Date/Time, Number, String, or Time Offset).
>When you select the Date/Time or Time Offset condition, Dialer expects the data in the Contact List to be in the standard SQL DATETIME format:
>
>YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS[.MMM]
>
>Where YYYY-MM-DD is Year, Month, Day and HH:MM:SS[.MMM] is Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Milliseconds.
>(Milliseconds are optional)
>
>When you select Time Offset, keep in mind that it compares the value of an attribute to an offset of the current date/time. The value of Time Offset is added to the current time. The resulting sum is compared to the value of the attribute.
>To look into the past, Time Offset should be entered as a negative number of hours. For example, a value of -2.5 will compare an attribute time to a time 2.5 hours in the past. Entries for Time Offset can use decimal places to compare partial hour offsets.
>
6. Select an Operator to use to compare the attribute with a value.
!=
<
<=
= not equal to less than less than or equal to equal to
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>
>=
Regex greater than greater than or equal to
regular expression (See Using Regular Expressions .)
7. Choose a Value to compare to the selected attribute.
• If Type is Number or String, you are prompted to type into a field.
Macros are supported in the Value field when the String type is selected.
• If Type is Date/Time, calendar controls appear so that you can select a date and time of day.
• If Type is Time Offset, you'll see a spin button control and can select either a positive or negative number.
8. Set the Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to toggle to either True or False to determine whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
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Phone Number Type condition type
Number Types are user-defined strings that can be associated with contact columns to identify a type of telephone number. Examples of phone number types might be "Work", "Home", or "Cell". Phone Number Types are defined and managed from the Phone Number Types page on the Dialer Configuration entry:
When Campaigns are configured, individual contact columns in a Campaign's contact list can be assigned a phone number type. Tagging a contact's various contact numbers with phone number types allows for better aggregation of campaign statistics in Interaction Supervisor, and makes it easier to set the order in which contact columns will be dialed.
Name
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>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Phone Number Type" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Available items
>This list contains phone number types that were defined in Global Dialer Settings.
Selected items
>This list contains phone number types that will be compared to the phone number type of the contact.
Add button
>Moves the item selected in the Available items list to the Selected items list, so that the policy will compare the type of the contact with the selected phone number type.
Remove button
>Removes the selected item from the Selected items list, so that the phone number type will no longer be compared to the contact's phone number type.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Feedback
Statistic condition type
The condition type compares a period statistic to a predefined value.
Name
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>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Statistic" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Period
>This option selects the period (time interval) that the statistic applies to.
• Campaign—scopes statistics from the time when the active campaign began running to the present.
• Recycle—scopes statistics from the time when the Contact List was last recycled to the present.
Statistic Category
Selects a Dialer statistical category.
Summarize the activity of a specific Dialer agent.
Totals that pertain to a campaign or site.
Summarize the dispositions of Dialer calls
Statistic
>Selects a statistic from the statistic Category. This will be compared to the Value using the operator specified.
Operator
Selects the operator used to compare the attempt counter to a value.
!=
<
<=
= not equal to less than less than or equal to equal to
>
>= greater than greater than or equal to
Value
>Sets a value to compare to the statistic.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Feedback
Time condition type
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This condition type compares the Central Campaign server's current time to a specific time or time range. This allows a campaign to behave differently during work hours versus in the evening, using a Policy condition to detect the time of day.
Name
>Type a name for the new policy condition in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the criteria that this condition evaluates.
Condition Type
>Select "Time" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Time Range
>Sets start and end times for the days, date, or daily type selected.
Every Day
>Defines a daily time period that is delimited by start and stop times.
By Date
Scopes the time range to a specific range of dates.
By Day
>Scopes the time range to specific days of the week and hours of the day.
Condition satisfied when criteria evaluates to True | False
>Determines whether the condition evaluates to True when the criteria is true or false.
Behavior Types
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Agentless behavior type
This behavior sets a media type for an Agentless interaction. It can send a Fax, play a wave audio file (Voice), or send the contact to an Attendant profile.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Agentless" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Type
>Use this control to select a media type:
• Select Audio File to play a recording to the contact. Then use the File box to select a recording. You can optionally upload a recording by pressing the Upload button. If multiple Outbound Dialer servers are participating in the campaign, the path and file must exist on each server.
• Select Fax to transmit a fax document. Then use the File box to select a fax file. You can optionally upload an *.i3f fax file by pressing the Upload button. If multiple Outbound Dialer servers are participating in the campaign, the path and file must exist on each server.
• Select Interaction Attendant to pass the contact to an outbound Interaction Attendant Profile. Then use the Attendant Profile box to select an outbound profile configured in Interaction Attendant.
If you select Agentless to transfer to a Attendant profile, but no outbound profiles are listed, run Interaction
Attendant with the /out switch and publish an outbound Profile configuration.
Seconds of Silence
>This option applies to Audio File and Interaction Attendant types only. It sets a total number of seconds that each
Outbound Dialer should wait before playing a wave file to an answering machine.
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Attribute behavior type
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This behavior writes a value to the contact list database column (Attribute) of your choice. If the Policy Evaluation
Type is Pre Call, the new value will be part of the Attribute set sent to the Agent. Once the contact is completed, the new value will be written to the database—if the attribute is set on a Pre-Call or Call Analysis evaluation type, and the script updates the value, then the value that the agent script specified will be written to the database.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the action this behavior performs.
Condition Type
>Select "Attribute" to display options that configure this behavior.
Details
Attribute field
>This field stores the name of the Contact List column that will be updated. Clicking Browse (
Wizard , so that you can select a column by name after selecting a contact list.
Value Field and Macro button
>Use the Value field to enter a static value that will be assigned to the attribute. If you want to use a macro in this field, click the Macro (
) button. (For more information, see the Macros topic.)
Operation
>Use this drop list to select plus, minus, or None, depending upon whether you want to add or subtract attribute values from columns in a contact list.
Operand
>The numeric value that you want to add or subtract. You can also use a macro instead of a literal value.
Notes
By using an Attribute behavior, you can assign the dynamic result of a text substitution macro to the value of a database column. This essentially sets the value of a database field to the value of another field in a specified campaign. A macro is a variable whose value is inserted at runtime. To do this, open a Policy Set configuration and follow the steps below:
1. Open a behavior for editing or add a new behavior.
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2. Select Attribute as the Behavior Type.
3. Click Browse ( ) to select an attribute column.
4. Click the Macro button ( ). Then select [Attribute:?].
5. Select a campaign and database column. This is the value that will be written to the attribute column.
Call Analysis behavior type
Feedback
This Pre Call behavior enables or disables call analysis, answering machine detection, and also allows the No Answer
Time Out Threshold to be set dynamically.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the action this behavior performs.
Condition Type
>Select "Attribute" to display options that configure this behavior.
Details
Perform Call Analysis
>Call Analysis is an IC process that analyzes a connection to determine if the call reached a live person, a Fax machine, or was busy. Check this box to enable Call Analysis.
No Answer Time Out (checkbox and numeric value field)
>This option allows the No Answer Time Out setting to be set dynamically on a per-call basis. No Answer Time Out is the number of seconds that the system will wait for the contact to answer. It signifies how long a call in a Ringing state (not connected or answered) will stay active before Telephony Services disconnects the call.
Many sites have customizations set up to leave messages for people after they have reached a certain number of attempts. To reach the answering machine, the No Answer Timeout typically needs to be high. This option can be used to set the timeout higher on a per-call basis (while keeping it low most of the time). It allows customers to increase the timeout when leaving a message is planned. For example, when 'Attempts > X'.
Perform Answering Machine Detection
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>When checked, adds detection of answering machines to the call analysis. To enable this option, the 'Perform Call
Analysis' checkbox must be checked.
Feedback
Call Attribute behavior type
This behavior sets a call attribute that will remain with the call object as it is routed through the Interaction Center. A call attribute is a name/value pair of strings. In this context, attribute is a user-defined property of a call object—a call attribute is not a column in the Contact List. For example, this behavior can be used to set an account code before the call is placed or routed.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the action this behavior performs.
Condition Type
>Select "Call Attribute" to display options that configure this behavior.
Details
Attribute
This field prompts for the name of a call attribute. Call attribute names that begin with "Eic_" or "InAtt_" are normally reserved for use by the system. If the value of a reserved attribute is improperly changed, the system may not function as intended.
For more information about attributes, see the Interaction Attributes Reference Guide in the System APIs section of the CIC Documentation Library on your CIC server.
Value
>The value of any call attribute. This string can be anything you like, but special care should be taken when changing the value of reserved attributes. If you want to use a macro in this field, click the Macro ( ) button. (For more
information, see the Macros topic.)
Feedback
Call Routing behavior type
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This Pre Call behavior specifies how the call should be routed. You can optionally specify which ACD Skill to assign to
such as preview.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes the action this behavior performs.
Condition Type
>Select "Attribute" to display options that configure this behavior.
Details
Routing Type style="margin-top: 0in;">
Do Not Dial
Normal
Precise
Tells the system not to dial the contact. When this option is selected, Dialer assigns a wrapup Category of "Skipped" and a wrap-up Code of "Do Not Dial", so that the skipped call is logged in the CallHistory table with statistics generated for Interaction Supervisor.
Route the contact to an agent in the normal way.
Wait until an Agent is available, pull that Agent out of the Workflow, place the call, wait for the call to be dispositioned, and finally put the Agent back in the Workflow.
Precisely specifies that Precision Dialing must occur, wherein the call is not placed unless an agent is available. Precision Dialing selects an available agent—one whose Status is available when there are no further ACD calls that might be routed to that agent. Next, the
Dialer checks to see if any precision dial calls are queued. If so, it marks the Agent as
"Awaiting Callback" and places the call. When the call connects it is blind transferred directly to the agent. If the call does not connect, the agent is returned to an Available status and new calls are generated.
Precision dialing can be performed for any contact in the Contact List. No changes to
Contact List data are required. Instead, create a policy that specifies that precise dialing
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Set an ACD skill on the interaction
>Check this box to enable selection of an ACD skill used to select the receiving agent. This is useful if the contact has special needs, such as an alternate language. This need can be determined based upon an Attribute for the contact. Fields in the ACD Skill frame are disabled when this option is unchecked.
Minimum Proficiency
>Sets the minimum proficiency level required for this skill. Agents who do not possess this minimum skill proficiency will not be eligible to receive this interaction. The higher the number, the greater the skill level required.
Maximum Proficiency
>Sets the maximum proficiency level required for this skill. Agents who exceed this maximum skill proficiency will not be eligible to receive this interaction.
Proficiency Weight
>Indicates how important Proficiency Level is for this skill, as opposed to other skills that have been specified. If you are more concerned with this skill, then weight this parameter more heavily than Weight for Proficiency Level in other skills. Use the slider to select a positive or negative number. The weight assigned to skills and attributes is evaluated before calls are routed to the appropriate agent.
Minimum Desire To Use field
>The value for Desire to Use a particular skill is assigned on an agent by agent basis in Interaction Administrator.
Agents who do not meet the minimum Desire to Use level you specify are not eligible to receive this interaction. The higher the number, the greater the level of desire the agent has to use this skill.
Maximum Desire to use field
>The value for Desire to Use a particular skill is assigned on an agent by agent basis in Interaction Administrator.
Agents who exceed the maximum Desire to Use level you specify are not eligible to receive this interaction. The higher the number, the greater the level of desire the agent has to use this skill.
Desire to Use Weight
>Same as Proficiency weight, but affects evaluation of the Agent's desire to use a particular skill. It indicates how important Desire to Use this skill is, as opposed to other skills you have specified. If you are more concerned with this skill, then weight this parameter more heavily than Weight for Desire to Use in other skills.
Feedback
Callback behavior type
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This behavior schedules a call back to the contact. If the policy evaluation type is Pre Call, the contact is not called at all for this policy evaluation. This behavior can also be applied on a post-call (Disposition) basis, wherein the contact was called, and should be called again later. For example, a company might make a sale, and use this feature to call the customer later to verify customer satisfaction with a product or service.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Callback" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Absolute (Date)
>Configures the behavior to schedule a callback on a specific date. This enables a control that sets target date.
Relative (days)
>Sets a number of days to wait before calling the contact back.
Absolute (Time)
>Configures the callback to occur at a specific time of day. This enables a control that sets hour, minute, and a.m. or p.m.
Relative (Hours|Minutes)
>Configures the callback to occur at an offset of hours and minutes from the current time, on whatever absolute or relative date was selected. Enables a control that allows a time offset in hours and minutes to be configured.
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Calling Party behavior type
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This behavior sets the Calling Party name and Calling Party telephone number that this contact may see as Caller ID information. In order for both pieces of information to be displayed, ISDN is required on the customer side. Although this feature is supported on ISDN lines, not all carriers honor calling party name and calling party number. Check with your carrier or C/O for feature availability..
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Calling Party" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Name
) to set the calling party name based on the value of a contact list column.
Phone Number
>Enter a Calling Party telephone number or click the Macro button (
) to set the calling party number to the value of a contact list column.
Feedback
Contact Columns behavior type
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>
This behavior overrides the contact column dialing order set for a Campaign. When a contact has multiple contact columns, this behavior type is evaluated once to set the order. It is not be evaluated for each individual contact column.
Perhaps a customer wants to be called first on a cell phone, then at work, and never at home—because the customer is buying his spouse a gift and don't want a call to spoil the surprise. The customer's preference could be marked as a custom Attribute, and then the Contact Column order could be reordered by this Behavior.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Contact Columns" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Add button
>Clicking this button invokes the Add Contact Column dialog so that you can select column from a contact list. Set the contact list used by the campaign this policy will be assigned to. Next, select a contact column before clicking OK to save. Repeat until you have chosen the columns you want to dial.
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Remove button
>Deletes the selected column from the list (but not from the Contact List).
Up/Down buttons
>These buttons reorder items in the list, thereby affecting the order in which telephone numbers are dialed.
Feedback
Custom Data behavior type
Custom Data Policy behaviors can utilize Phone Number Detail data. A Policy Behavior can reference the active contact's phone number details attribute value.
To configure a Custom Data Policy Behavior:
1. Set Behavior Type to Custom Data.
2. Click click the Macro (
) button. (For more information, see the Macros topic.)
3. Choose ContactPNDAttribute.
4. Click the button next to Contact PND Attribute field.
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5. Select a Contact List.
6. Select a custom Phone Number Detail column.
7. Click OK.
The policy now references custom PND data.
Custom Handler behavior type
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This behavior runs the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler on the Dialer server, passing the macro values or manually entered text to the handler as payload data.
By default, the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler does nothing except provide an entry point for future customization. Customers may edit this handler (using Interaction Designer) to add custom logic that meets their business needs. This behavior always runs the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler. You cannot use it to launch a different handler.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Custom Handler" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Custom data 1
>User-defined string data passed to the handler.
Custom data 2
>User-defined string data passed to the handler. This string may contain macros.
>
>If you want to use a macro in the custom data fields, click the Macro ( ) button. (For more information, see the
>
Feedback
Custom Stored Procedure behavior type
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Overview
This policy disposition behavior type (Custom Stored Procedure) allows customers to execute SQL at the end of any type of call, potentially to update a table outside of Dialer. For example, once a number has been dialed, it could be added to a custom exclusion table, so that the number is never dialed again, because it has been dealt with.
To implement custom SQL, customers add custom code to a stored procedure (sproc) in the contact list database. The sproc takes any arbitrary action based on parameters passed to it.
The sproc is only engaged if customers set up a Policy disposition behavior (Custom Stored Procedure). Dialer automatically passes call attributes to the sproc, along with additional information (defined in the behavior) that is not already attached to the call object.
Customers are responsible for coding whatever the stored procedure should do, and also for configuring a Policy disposition behavior to invoke the procedure. The stored procedure must be in the CallList. It cannot be in the CIC database.
Notes
This policy disposition behavior can be used to query against a custom Phone Number Detail column. It invokes a sproc in the call list database to perform a logical operation of some sort, such as altering records in the call list database or altering entries in custom columns. The procedure accepts two optional character strings for custom information.
The data for the sproc call is sent from the ODS to the CCS as part of the call list update. If the call list update fails for any reason, then the entire update is sent to PMQ for retry and the custom sproc is not called. If the call list update succeeds, then the custom sproc data will be packaged into a separate PMQ message and queued.
Custom sproc PMQ messages appear in the I3\IC|PMQ\UpdateServer3\Disposition_Custom_Sproc directory in the
CCS. This ensures that the call list update will always happen first, and that the custom sproc call is made. If a custom sproc call fails, it will be retried the same number of times as the call list update is attempted.
User Interface
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Custom Stored Procedure" to display options that configure this condition.
Custom data 1
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>Any additional information not already attached to the call object that will be passed to the sproc in
@i_CustomArgument1.
Custom data 2
>Any additional information not already attached to the call object that will be passed to the sproc in
@i_CustomArgument2.
>
>If you want to use a macro in the custom data fields, click the Macro ( ) button. (For more information, see the
>
Parameters passed to stored procedure
This behavior always calls a sproc named "spid_disposition_custom". If a sproc of that name doesn't exist in the call list database for a campaign, a sproc with that name will be created with the proper arguments and an empty body.
Dialer passes the following parameters to the stored procedure:
SQL Server parameter
name
@i_CampaignName
SQL Server parameter
type nvarchar(255)
Oracle parameter
name i_CampaignName
Oracle parameter
type nvarchar2
@i_ContactIdentity
@i_ContactColumnId bigint bigint
@i_ContactColumnName nvarchar(255)
@i_ContactPhoneNumber nvarchar(255) i_ContactIdentity i_ContactColumnId number number i_ContactColumnName nvarchar2 i_ContactPhoneNumber nvarchar2
Description
Name of the campaign
The value of the call list and PND table's i3_identity columns. Uniquely identifies a contact.
The value of the column id containing the phone number called for the contact that resulted in the contact disposition. Uniquely identifies a phone number and PND row
(in addition to the
PND i3_identity column).
The name of the column in the call list table that contains the phone number called for the contact that resulted in the contact disposition.
The phone number called for the contact that resulted in the
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@i_InteractionId
@i_WrapupCode
@i_CallListTableName
@i_CustomArgument1
@i_CustomArgument2 nvarchar(255) nvarchar(255) nvarchar(255) nvarchar(2000) nvarchar(2000) i_InteractionId i_WrapupCode i_CallListTableName i_CustomArgument1 i_CustomArgument2 nvarchar2 nvarchar2 nvarchar2 nvarchar2 nvarchar2 contact disposition.
The IC interaction id of the call.
The wrap-up code resulting from the call dispostion.
The name of the call list table. This value is
NOT escaped.
The contents of the
Custom Data 1 field from the Custom
Stored Procedure dialog.
The contents of the
Custom Data 2 field from the Custom
Stored Procedure dialog.
Since Policy Sets can be assigned to multiple campaigns, care should be taken to ensure that the call list used by the campaign actually contains the columns required by the policy.
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Disposition behavior type
This behavior specifies the wrap-up Category and wrap-upCode to record for the Contact.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Disposition" to display options that configure this condition.
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Details
Wrap-up Category list box
>Use this list box to select a category. This reason code will be assigned and the call will be dispositioned.
Wrap-up Code field
>Use this list to select a wrap up code.
Abandon
>This control determines whether the system considers the contact as an abandoned call.
Related Topics
DNC Update behavior type
Feedback
This dispositon-only policy behavior optionally adds a phone number, exclusion value, and expiration date-time to the DNC table. This can be used to DNC exclude a contact number for a specified duration of time, or for a specific account.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "DNC Update" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Phone Number
>Adds the phone number to the DNC entry.
Column to Exclude
>When checked, DNC processing will exclude by identity, meaning that the identity column in the DNC file will be matched against a similar column in the contact list. These columns might store account numbers, for example. When there is a match, Dialer will not call any phone number in the matching account. The related GUI elements are DNC
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Excluded Column Identifier on the Contact List tab of a Campaign configuration entry, and Database Column to
Exclude on a DNC Source entry.
Expires
>Enables options that set an expiration date and time. The Phone Number check box should be checked when this option is used. A use case might be not to call a number again for 30 minutes. The phone number will be added to the DNC table with an expiration of 30 minutes from the time this behavior was executed.
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Email behavior type
This behavior sends an Email message to one or more recipients. It runs on all Outbound Dialer servers participating in the campaign. The message includes a subject and body.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Email" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
From
>The e-mail address of the sender. Use semicolons to separate multiple recipients.
To
>The e-mail address of the recipient. Use semicolons to separate multiple recipients.
Subject
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>The subject of the message.
Message
>The body of the message.
>
>If you want to use macros in these fields, click the Macro (
) button. (For more information, see the Macros topic.)
>
Feedback
Event Log Message behavior type
This behavior generates an Event Log message on the Central Campaign server. The message is written to the Central
Campaign server's event log, but not to the event logs of participating Outbound Dialer servers. Message entries can
be examined in Interaction Supervisor using the Dialer Health view .
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Event Log" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Severity
>Select Error, Information, or Warning to set the severity level of the log message. If severity is Error or Warning,
the message will show-up in the Dialer Health view as well as in the Event log.
Message
>The text typed in this field is written to the log entry. If you want to use macros in the message, click the Macro (
) button. (For more information, see the Macros topic.)
>
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Number to Dial behavior type
Feedback
This behavior type changes the number to dial, using any combination of static text and macros. This behavior is available in Pre-Call policies only. Changing a number affects only the number actually dialed. It does not update the current contact column's database value. A related macro [NumberToDial] returns the number that will be dialed.
Name
>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Number to Dial" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Number to Dial
>Enter the number that you want to dial. If you want to use a macro in this field, click the Macro ( ) button. (For
more information, see the Macros topic.)
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Preview Dialing behavior type
Overrides campaign settings that determine whether or not a countdown timer is applied to preview calls.
Name
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>Type a name for the new behavior in the Name field. This can be anything you like, so long as it is unique within the policy. Try to use of a descriptive name that describes what this behavior does when its condition is true.
Behavior Type
>Select "Preview Dialing" to display options that configure this condition.
Details
Enable preview countdown
>When checked, the preview campaign will automatically dial the contact if the agent does dial within a configurable number of seconds. When this option is not set, agents on preview calls can remain idle on preview pop as long as they wish. This feature limits preview time without having to code time limits in a custom script.
>Unchecking this box disables the timer and allows the agent to preview indefinitely. When unchecked, the seconds are ignored.
>
Note: If you are running Interaction Dialer using the Manual Calling feature license, then the Preview
Countdown feature is not supported.
Second(s)
>Sets a value that determines how long agents can remain idle before a call is automatically placed to the contact being previewed.
Feedback
Edit a Policy Set
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Policy Sets container.
2. In the top pane, click to select any item in list of policy set objects. The properties of the selected policy set are displayed in the bottom right pane.
3. Make edits as needed.
4. When you are finished, click Save ( ).
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Delete a Policy Set
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Policy Sets container.
2. In the top pane, click to select any item in list of policy set objects.
3. Click Delete ( ). You are asked to confirm this operation, since it cannot be undone.
4. Click Yes to confirm.
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Assign Policy Sets to a Campaign
Policy Sets have no effect until they are assigned to a Campaign and that campaign is running. To assign Policy Sets to a campaign:
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Campaigns container.
2. Select a campaign entry in the list at the top of the screen.
3. Click the Automation tab.
4. Under Available Items, select policies that you want to assign this campaign.
5. Click Add to move the selected policies to the Selected Items list.
6. Click Save ( ).
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Using Regular Expressions
Regular expressions can be used to find patterns within text. In Interaction Dialer Manager, regular expressions can be used in Policy Conditions, Policy Behaviors, and to examine string attributes. For example, to create a condition that searches for a phone number, you might use this expression:
(((\([\d]{3}\))|([\d]{3}))-?)?\d{3}-?\d{4}
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This expression searches for a pattern that has at least seven digits, optionally including dashes and an area code, with parentheses around the area code optional as well. In a pre-call Policy Condition for example (see figure below), the phone number (123)-555-5555 is a match for this expression, so the condition is satisfied.
Fine Tuning Regex matches
Note that something like "aaaabbc(123)-555-5555absde" is a match as well, since the pattern appears within the text. That can be fixed by adding ^ to the beginning of the expression, and $ to the end. This ensures that the expression will match a phone number only when it is itself the entire text.
These rules are specific to the style of regular expression, of which there are several. Regular expressions in Dialer use
Perl syntax. There are many tutorials online if you wish to learn more.
For more information on creating regular expressions, see the Regular-Expressions.info Web site at: http://www.regular-expressions.info/
Using Regex in Policy Behaviors
For Policy Behaviors, three macros correspond to the regular expression condition. To select these macros, create a
Policy Set Item Behavior, and then click the Macros button to open the Macro dialog. (For more information, see the
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The Regex macros are:
Macro Name
RegexPrefix
RegexSuffix
RegexSubexpressionMatch
Purpose
Returns all the text that comes before a match
Returns all the text that comes after a match
Returns the text that matches a particular sub-expression
Each macro requires a regular expression condition. In the case of RegexSubexpressionMatch, the dialog prompts for the specific sub-expression you wish to return results for. A sub-expression is a part of a regular expression that is enclosed in parentheses.
Using our previous example, the sub-expressions (numbered depth first, or in other words, more nested to less nested, left to right) are:
Expression
(\([\d]{3}\))
([\d]{3})
((\([\d]{3}\))|([\d]{3}))
Result
Matches area codes with parentheses
Matches area codes without parentheses
Matches either of the above
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(((\([\d]{3}\))|([\d]{3}))-?) Matches either of the above with optional dash suffix
Text Substitution Example
A good use of these macros is text substitution. For example, say we have a call attribute with a value as follows:
"Regular expressions are great and you know it." Great doesn't describe it well enough, let's use awesome instead. Simply create a behavior with the attribute's value set to:
"[RegexPrefix:(great)]awesome[RegexSuffix:(great)]"
The new value will be "Regular expressions are awesome and you know it."
Feedback
Configure Caller ID using a Policy
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Policy Sets container.
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new Policy Set entry.
3. An entry titled New Item appears in the list of entries, and properties of the new entry are displayed. Type a descriptive name in the Name field. This name will become the name of the Policy Set when the entry is saved, replacing the default "New Item".
4. Select the Pre Call tab, since we want to set Caller ID using a behavior before the call is placed.
5. Click Add ( ) to create a new policy condition.
6. Type "Normal Calls only" or something similar in the Name box. In this example, a Call Category condition will be used to set Caller ID name and number for all outbound calls.
7. Select "Normal Call" in the Available Items list. Then click Add.
8. Click OK to dismiss the dialog.
9. Select the Behavior tab. Then click Add ( ) to create a new behavior.
10. Name the behavior Set Caller ID Info or something similar.
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11. Set Behavior Type to Calling Party.
12. Enter the name to you want contacts to see in the Name box.
13. Enter the phone number you want contacts to see in the Phone Number box.
14. Click OK to dismiss the Add Policy Behavior dialog.
15. Click Save ( ).
Related Topics
Stage Sets view
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Stage Sets view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Stage Sets container
Overview
The Stage Sets view manages the stages of a campaign call. Stages identify each segment of a call that statistics can be collected upon. Stage names and other attributes are saved in groups (called Stage Sets) that can be assigned by
name to one or more campaigns. For background information, see Stages and Stage Sets .
A Stage Set is nothing more than a set of call stages that have been given a name. Each campaign can have its own
Stage Set. However, a Stage Set can be assigned to more than one campaign. This screen displays a list of Stage Set entries at the top. Properties of the selected entry appear in the bottom pane.
Stage Sets are dynamically referenced
When the properties of a campaign are configured, the user can optionally select the name of a Stage Set. From then on, that campaign dynamically references the selected Stage Set. If the user adds or removes a stage, this change is immediately adopted by the campaign. Dynamic references make maintenance easier.
However, adding or removing stages from a Stage Set can potentially cause custom campaign scripts to become out of sync with stage numbers defined in a Stage Set. When a Stage Set is updated, changes must be coordinated with script developers.
Name
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>Editing this field changes the display name of the Stage Set. The name is just a descriptive label that describes the record, so that you can identify it later when you associate this Stage Set with a campaign. The name can be anything you like, and may contain spaces or special characters; for example "Stages for Newspaper Campaigns".
Stage Name
Every stage has a name. This user-defined label categorizes one or more tasks that agents perform in the course of a campaign call. This name can contain spaces, numbers and special characters. style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; border: none; padding: 0in;">The [Call Connected] stage style="margin-left: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;">Since each campaign call must begin in the default stage
(stage 0), the user interface automatically creates a stage named "[Call Connected]". This default stage cannot be deleted or renamed. It is a predictive stage, meaning that the Outbound Dialer server will collect agent performance statistics while this stage is active.
Stage Number
>Every stage has a stage number. When an agent transitions to a different stage, the campaign script sends the stage number (an integer value) to the Outbound Dialer server, to indicate that the agent has entered a new stage. Stage numbers are used in campaign scripts to transition an agent from one stage to another.
Is this stage predictive?
>Every stage has a predictive attribute that indicates whether or not the Outbound Dialer server should collect statistics while agents are in that stage. The predictive attribute should be set on stages that lead to a disposition of the call record.
The Outbound Dialer server tracks the amount of time that each agent spends in predictive stages. While a campaign is active, the Outbound Dialer server monitors agent performance at each predictive stage and maintains statistics that allow it to predict the probability that the call will complete in the current stage. The server estimates how long each agent will take to complete that stage of the call.
The ODS does not monitor or factor in time that each agent spends in non-predictive stages. Non-predictive stages are ignored by the predictive dialer, but are useful for reporting purposes.
Key Concept—a predictive stage describes an activity that Interaction Dialer's patented staging algorithm measures as part of its predictive algorithm. The predictive algorithm is a calculation that determines if a call should be made. The calculation is based on a number of factors, including agent status, stage completion measurements and contact list quality.
Related Procedures
Assign a Stage Set to a Campaign
Add a Stage Set
To define a new Stage Set:
1. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Stage Sets. If using Interaction Administrator, expand the
Interaction Dialer container. Expand the Advanced Interaction Dialer container. Then select Stage Sets.
2. In the topmost pane, click Add ( ) to create a new Stage Set.
Feedback
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3. The properties of a new entry titled New Item appear in bottom pane. Overtype the default "New Item" to type a
The purpose of each entry is to define one stage of a campaign call. This requires some careful analysis on your part to break down the steps of a campaign call into meaningful segments that can be categorized by name.
Since stages classify the measurable segments of a campaign call, the overall accuracy of the predictive algorithm is affected by how thoroughly stages have been defined. As a general rule of thumb, it is best to define the ending stages of a call. Those are the stages where a call might be terminated by the agent or the targeted party.
This ensures that the Dialer can quickly and accurately make a prediction.
For example, suppose that a predictive "Callback" stage is defined for use when a party wants to be called back.
Disconnect usually occurs in 7 seconds or less. When agents transition into the Callback stage, Dialer can accurately calculate that it must generate a new call, since the agent is likely to become available within a few seconds.
4. Each campaign call must begin in the default stage (stage 0). For this reason the user interface automatically creates a stage named "[Call Connected]" when a Stage Set is created. The default stage cannot be deleted or renamed. The Call Connected stage is a predictive stage, meaning that the Outbound Dialer server will collect agent performance statistics while this stage is active. This is necessary in the event that no other predictive stages have been defined or implemented for this campaign.
5. In the bottom pane, click Add ( ) to define a stage. Give the stage a name. Then click OK.
6. Check the Is this stage predictive box if this stage describes an activity that Dialer's staging algorithm should keep track of to make better predictions. Non-predictive stages are ignored by the predictive dialer, but are useful for reporting purposes.
7. Repeat steps 5-7 to define other stages of the campaign call.
8. When you are finished, click Save ( ).
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Assign a Stage Set to a Campaign
assigned to a predictive campaign. This procedure explains how to configure a campaign to use a stage set, so that
Dialer can better predict when agents will become available, and better estimate when and how many calls to place.
To configure a campaign to dynamically reference a stage set:
1. At the Home screen in Interaction Dialer Manager, click the Campaigns command. If using Interaction
Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer view and then select Campaigns.
2. Select a Campaign in the top pane.
3. Select the Automation tab on the Campaign Properties panel.
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5. Click Save ( ) to save changes. From now on, as each agent progresses through the campaign script, stage transitions will be communicated to Interaction Dialer. Each agent's average time in each stage is tracked. These times are used by the pacing algorithm to estimate the likelihood of an agent ending a call at any given time, thereby optimizing the likelihood of an accurate prediction.
Each page of the campaign script should set a stage number that matches the number of a stage in the assigned
Stage Set. Stage numbers in the script and the stage set must match in order for predictive calculations to work properly.
Global Dialer Settings view
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Global Dialer Settings view
Unlike other views, the Global Dialer Settings view doesn't configure a Dialer object. Instead it allows you to configure system-wide Dialer settings and several important features from the various tabs. Once Global Dialer Settings are configured, they rarely need to be changed.
Tab
Description
You'll use the controls on the General tab to configure general system-wide settings for
Dialer.
The controls on this tab allow you to manage phone number types, which are userdefined strings that can be associated with contact columns to identify a type of telephone number.
The controls on this tab allow you to define settings for Outbound Dialer Servers.
The controls on this tab manage Interaction Dialer's Configuration Change Auditing feature, which tracks all configuration changes made using Dialer Manager or an API such as IceLib.Configuration.Dialer.
You'll use the controls on the HTTP Server tab to configure settings for streaming data in and out of a contact list table.
The controls on this tab allow you to identify the secondary Central Campaign Server for automatic switchover should the primary Central Campaign Server fail for any reason.
The options on this tab provide you with the ability to view, create, modify, and delete
Server Parameters on the Central Campaign Server.
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General
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The General tab contains various system-wide settings that you can configure for Dialer.
Delay in seconds before auto-dispositioning a disconnected interaction
>Sets length of time that Interaction Dialer will delay the automatic dispositions that happen when an interaction disconnects without an explicit disposition. This applies only to interactions that were transferred to an Interaction
Attendant profile or which were transferred away from an agent but did not get an explicit disposition before they were disconnected. This setting does not apply to agent-assigned calls. It is used when a call disconnects while in
Attendant. The default delay is 120 seconds.
Note—this is a global ODS setting that applies to all ODS servers under control of the CCS.
Pause a campaign when the database query failure rate exceeds
>Sets the percentage of major errors that the DialerTranServer process will tolerate for a particular campaign before it automatically pauses the campaign so that administrators can troubleshoot and fix problems. The default value is 5, with 1-100 as the valid range. The default value of 5 means "pause the campaign if 5% of the queries fail".
If a Preview call fails to connect, play this file to the agent
>This setting configures Dialer to play a WAV file to an agent if a preview call fails to connect. On an ISDN system, if a call results in Special Information Tones (SIT), it is disconnected, so there is no audio path to route to the agent. As a result, the blind transfer to the agent would fail and the agent would not get a New Preview Call notification. By setting this option to play audio to the agent, the system can indicate how the agent should disposition the Preview call.
Note—this is a global ODS setting that applies to all ODS servers under control of the CCS.
If a Preview call encounters a busy signal, play this file to the agent
This setting configures Dialer to play a wave file when if a Preview call fails because the line was busy. On an ISDN system, when a busy call is disconnected state, there is no audio path to route to the agent, so the blind transfer to the agent would fail and the agent would not get a New Preview Call notification. By setting this option to play audio to the agent, the system can indicate how the agent should disposition the Preview call.
Note: this is a global ODS setting that applies to all ODS servers under control of the CCS.
Supervisor can override the agent right to logon/logoff all campaigns
>The "Logon Campaign" security right allows an agent to specify which campaigns that they want to be logged on to.
This security right has the side effect of not allowing a Supervisor or Administrator to switch the agent's campaign membership.
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>Setting this option to Yes allows a Supervisor or Administrator to move agents who have the Logon Campaign security right to different campaigns, or to simply log them on to additional campaigns, overriding the restriction imposed by the security right, while still allowing agents to specify which campaign they wish to start with.
Max attempts per day reset at midnight based on:
>This setting allows you to specify how to identify midnight in order to determine when to reset the "Max Attempts
Per Day" setting on a campaign. The default setting is UTC Time (the primary time standard by which the world regulates time), but you can select CCS Time which will use the local time where the CCS is located to identify midnight.
Phone Number Types
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Phone Number Types
This tab of the Global Dialer Settings view manages phone number types—user-defined strings associated with contact columns to identify a type of telephone number. Examples of phone number types might be "Work", "Home", or "Cell". Phone number types describe the purpose of phone numbers columns in a contact list.
Phone number types implement Dialer's multiple phone numbers per contact feature. It is common for a contact to have more than one telephone number. For example, a contact list may provide columns named PN1, PN2, and
PN3 for home, cell, and work numbers. Once types are defined and associated with these columns, Dialer will map each phone number with its type in the database, and track time zone, contact attempts, and status at the phone number type level.
Dialer can use this information to track dialing attempts and results separately, or to dial certain numbers but not others. For example, Dialer can track home attempts separately from work, and dial home numbers differently than work or cell numbers.
It is also common for a contact to have phone numbers in different time zones. Laws and convention require that a phone number dialed in an appropriate time based on its hosting area code and exchange.
Other capabilities based on the type of a phone number are important, such as tracking home attempts and results separately from work, or dialing home numbers differently than work or cell numbers, and so forth. Phone Number
Types can be used to make decisions in per call policies.
• The number of contact telephone numbers is limited only by database constraints.
• The order in which numbers are dialed can be changed dynamically using policies.
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>Add a new Phone Number Type.
>Remove and existing Phone Number Type.
Related Procedures
Associate a phone number column with a phone number type
Define Phone Number Types
To define phone number types:
1. From Dialer Manager, open the Advanced Interaction Dialer container and click Global Dialer Settings.
2. Select the Phone Number Types tab.
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3. Click the Add ( ) button.
4. When you are prompted for a new phone number type, enter a descriptive string, which can be anything you like so long as it is unique.
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5. Click OK.
Repeat steps 3-4 to define additional phone number types, as needed.
6. Click Save ( ).
Feedback
Associate a phone number column with a phone number type
This procedure explains how to associate a telephone number column in a contact list, with a user-defined phone number type. Once this association is established, Dialer will map each phone number with its type in the database and track each phone number's time zone, status attempts, etc.
To manage time zones, attempts, and other statistics at the phone number level, instead of for the contact as a whole:
1. First, define Phone number types using the Define Phone Number Types procedure.
2. At the Home screen in Dialer Manager, click Contact Lists.
3. Select a contact list in the list of entries at the top of the screen.
4. Select the Details tab.
5. Select a phone number column from the Available Columns list on the left.
6. Click Add to move that column to the Selected Contact Columns list.
7. Select an phone number column entry. Then click the drop list below Phone Number Type.
procedure.
9. Repeat steps 4-7 as needed to associate other phone number columns in the contact list with phone number types.
10. Click Save ( ).
Outbound Dialing Servers
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Outbound Dialing Servers
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The Outbound Dialing Servers tab display information and provides controls that allow you to define certain settings for your Dialer server.
When errors or outages occur, send notifications with this dialing server
>Displays a list of Dialer servers, so that you can select one server to which you want to send notifications and e-mails when errors or outages occur. The server you select becomes the Master Dialer server. A Master Dialer server is required in order for statistics to be aggregated appropriately.
>If the configured Master Dialer server is not available, the CampaignServer process will assign the first available
Dialer server as the Master Dialer until the configured Master Dialer comes online (or a user changes this configuration).
Name
>Each row in the grid contains the name of an Outbound Dialer Server.
Maximum Calls
>Sets a global limit on the number of calls Dialer will place so that it doesn't use up all available lines or exceed the number of physically available channels. By default this setting is configured at 1500. To change the setting, click the existing value to reveal the spin control. The control sets a value ranging from 0 to 2,000,000,000 calls.
Maximum Call Rate
>Sets the number of calls per second the Dialer will place. To change the setting, click the existing value to reveal the
a high performance bulk call placement API that consumes less system resources while providing higher call throughput—this setting must be bumped up to 16 calls per second or more.
Manual Only
>If you are running a Dialer server with the Manual Calling feature license, then the Manual Only column will display
Yes. If you are running a Dialer server with the standard Outbound Dialing Server feature license, then the Manual
Only column will display No.
Save
>If you make changes, click Save to enable them.
Revert
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>If you make changes and then decide against them, click Revert to reestablish the previous values.
Bulk Call API
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Bulk Call API
The Bulk Call API option tells Dialer to use a high performance bulk call placement API that consumes less system resources while providing higher call throughput. Please note that the Bulk Call API supports SIP lines only. It cannot be used with TDM lines.
Customers who place more than 10 calls per second are advised to activate the Bulk Call API feature. It provides significantly faster outbound dialing through Interaction Dialer subject to the following considerations:
• When the Bulk Call API is used, pre-call custom handler policies are ignored by Dialer.
• You must configure the Maximum Call Rate setting to be 16 calls per second or higher. A setting that allows Dialer to place 50 calls per second is recommended for use with the Bulk Call API.
• When the Bulk Call API is used, Dialer calls in a dialing state will not show up in Supervisor views that show call or queue activity. Calls that result in call analysis types set to "Hang Up" are not logged in the Call Detail table and do not appear in supervisor views. Conversely calls that result in call analysis types not set to "Hang Up" will show up in the Call Detail table and in non-Dialer supervisor views once call analysis has completed. All Dialer calls are logged in the Dialer CallHistory table.
Note: For more information about requirements of Bulk Call API and caveats associated with it, refer to the following knowledge base article on the Interactive Intelligence support web site: How to determine if implementing the Bulk Call API would be beneficial to Dialer's performance
Related Topics
Feedback
Enable Bulk Call API for a Campaign
To enable the Bulk Call API option for a Campaign:
1. From Dialer Manager, click Campaigns.
2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
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3. Select the Basic Configuration tab.
4. If necessary, expand the Dial Settings expander.
5. Click the Bulk Call API toggle switch to set it to the On position.
6. Click Save ( ). This change takes effect immediately.
Note: The Bulk Call API requires a Dialer Maximum Call Rate setting of 16 or higher.
Related Topics
Feedback
Adjust Maximum Call Rate
Once you have enabled the Bulk Call API feature for a Campaign, you must increase the Dialer Maximum Call Rate from its default of 10 calls per second. It is recommended to start off at 16 and slowly increase the value while watching for problems. Do not set it higher than 55.
To adjust this setting:
1. From Dialer Manager, open the Advanced Interaction Dialer container and click Global Dialer Settings.
2. Select the Outbound Dialing Servers tab.
3. In the row containing the ODS you want to change, click the existing Maximum Call Rate value to reveal the spin control and then use it to adjust the threshold value.
4. Click Save ( ).
Configuration Change Setting
Feedback
Configuration Change Auditing tab
This tab manages Interaction Dialer's Configuration Change Auditing feature. When enabled, auditing tracks all configuration changes made using Dialer Manager, or an API such as IceLib.Configuration.Dialer. Auditing authorizes each Outbound Dialer server to record which user changed an object, and the properties of the object that changed. Auditing is a system-wide setting, meaning that auditing is either "on" or "off" for all servers. Auditing is disabled by default.
Auditing is enabled, messages and data are sent to the DialerTranServer process on the Central Campaign server, which in turn, writes records to the Audit table on the database server. Audit entries that are older than a configurable retention period are automatically removed from the Audit table.
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Enable Auditing
>Select this check box to enable auditing. When enabled, configuration changes (the user who changed an object, and the properties of the object that changed) are written to the Audit table.
Store audit entries under this database connection
>Selects the connection used to access Dialer database tables, specifically the Audit table.
Maximum number of days to retain entries
>Sets the number of days that audit entries should remain in the table before being automatically removed from the table.
Related Topics
Enable Configuration Change Auditing
Feedback
Enable Configuration Change Auditing
To enable Configuration Change Auditing in Dialer Manager:
1. From Dialer Manager, open the Advanced Interaction Dialer container and click Global Dialer Settings.
2. Click the Configuration Change Auditing tab.
3. Select the Enable Auditing check box.
4. Optionally select a different database connection. The default connection is appropriate in most cases.
5. Optionally change the retention period for audit entries. Entries are kept for 30 days by default, and automatically deleted afterward.
6. Click Save ( ).
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Feedback
Differences between Auditing and Trace Logging
Trace settings do not determine whether auditing is performed or the amount of data that is written to the Audit table. Within the CampaignServer trace file, there is an "Audit" trace topic that affects the verbosity of audit log messages in trace logs (vwrlogs) used by Support and Developers. Audit messages are written to trace logs only if the Audit trace topic is set to "Status" or higher. The trace topic level is checked when Dialer Manager is opened so that the level is not retrieved numerous times. If the trace level is too low, no audit changes are written to trace logs.
Trace settings have no effect upon Configuration Change Auditing. However, trace logs can be useful in support situations. For example, a customer can send trace logs to Support, so that a representative can analyze audit information without having to query the customer's database.
For the most part, customers should concern themselves with the "Enabled" setting on the Enable Configuration
Change Auditing tab page of the Global Dialer Settings view. This setting is written to the dialer_config.xml file that is shared between the different Outbound Dialer machines. Since there is only one audit setting in dialer_config.xml,
Auditing is either ON or OFF for all servers. When Auditing is turned on, database entries will be generated for the audit entries, regardless of the trace levels.
HTTP Server
Feedback
HTTP Server
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Use HTTPS checkbox
>When checked, the HTTP Server will use secure HTTP protocol to stream data.
Accept requests at this address
>Selects the address of the HTTP server.
Port
>Sets the port that the HTTP server listens on. Port 8122 is used by default. The CCS install opens this port by adding it to the firewall's exclusion list. However, if a customer manually changes port from 8122 to something else, the customer is responsible for opening that firewall port manually.
Restart Server
>This option restarts the server after you make a configuration change.
Feedback
HTTP Streaming
Interaction Dialer Manager does not perform direct database access. Instead, it passes requests to IceLib, so that routine transactions are handled consistently. However, IceLib isn't suitable for streaming large amounts of data into or out of a contact list, so a streaming HTTP server is used instead. The streaming HTTP service runs as part of
DialerTranServer on the Central Campaign Server.
The address and port it listens on, as well as whether to use SSL, is configurable in Dialer Manager, is configured on the HTTP Server tab page.
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Contact list management features made possible by HTTP Streaming
• Import records into the Dialer call list from a CSV file, XLS file, or a database table.
• Export records from the Dialer call list into a CSV file, XLS file, or a database table.
• Query a small number of records to be displayed in a data grid in the user interface, and then be able to commit any changes to those records back to the database.
Feedback
Campaign Server Switchover
On the Campaign Server Switchover tab, you'll see details about the current state of the Campaign Server Switchover configuration.
Note: The Campaign Server Switchover feature requires special installation steps. For more information on the CCS
Switchover Setup Assistant, see the Interaction Dialer Installation and Configuration Guide, which you can find in the CIC Documentation Library.
• If you have set up a Central Campaign Server Switchover pair, then you will see that switchover pair on the
Campaign Server Switchover tab.
In addition to the switchover pair, you will see the Deactivate Switchover button. You must be a Master
Administrator in order to use this button to deactivate the switchover pair. For more information, see
• If you have not set up a Central Campaign Server Switchover pair, then you will see a message that informs you that no switchover is configured or that the backup server is unavailable.
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Note: If you have configured a backup server and you see this message, then you need to check on the status of the network connection or the status of the physical server configured as the backup.
Feedback
Deactivate a Switchover
You must have Master Administrator Access Rights in order to deactivate the CCS switchover pair.
You can use the Deactivate Switchover option to deactivate the switchover pair in the event that you need to perform major maintenance work on one of the CCS servers. When you use the Deactivate Switchover option, both CCS's will become unavailable once you have performed all the steps and the deactivation procedure is complete. You can then bring the Primary Campaign Server back online as the main CCS, but the Backup Campaign Server will become totally unusable as a campaign server. You will need to reinstall the CCS software from scratch.
To complete the procedure, you will need to perform steps on the Outbound Dialer Server as well as on both the
Backup Campaign Server and the Primary Campaign Server .
Preparation
The first thing that you need to do is make sure that the system currently configured as the Primary CCS is the same system that was originally set up as the Primary CCS when you first ran the CCS Switchover Setup Assistant. o
If the original is currently the Primary CCS, then proceed to the next section. o
If the original is not currently the Primary CCS, you'll need to use the Switchover Control Panel to perform a manual switchover.
1. Launch the Switchover Control Panel on either the Primary CCS or the Backup CCS.
2. Click the Switch button and wait until the switchover operation completes successfully.
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Outbound Dialer Server
1. Click the Deactivate Switchover button.
2. When you see the confirmation dialog, click OK.
3. When you see the second confirmation dialog, click OK.
4. Proceed to the Backup Campaign Server.
Backup Campaign Server
1. Open an Administrator Command Prompt window.
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2. Enter the command Net Stop "Interaction Center"
3. Wait until you see the stopped successfully message.
4. Proceed to the Primary Campaign Server.
Note: You can also stop Interaction Center from Windows' Services console. To do so:
1. Launch the Services console.
2. Locate the Interaction Center service.
3. Right click and select Stop from the context menu.
4. Wait until the Status column shows that the Interaction Center service has stopped.
Primary Campaign Server
1. Access the Restart command on the Start menu to reboot the system.
2. Once the machine is up and running, launch IC System Manager and verify that the FileMonitor and the
SwitchoverService subsystems are NOT running.
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3. Proceed to the Outbound Dialer Server.
Note: For more information on IC System Manager, see the IC System Manager Help in the CIC
Documentation Library on your CIC server.
Outbound Dialer Server
1. When you return to the Outbound Dialer Server, you'll find two Information dialogs that popped up in response to your stopping and starting Interaction Center on the Primary Campaign server.
2. Click OK to close them.
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3. You'll see that the Campaign Server Switchover tab now shows that there is no longer a switchover configuration.
4. To verify that the Central Campaign Server is enabled and that the Backup Campaign Server is no longer present, launch Interaction Administrator, go to the Server Parameters container, and make sure that the
Dialer Campaign Server parameter appears and that the Dialer Campaign Server Backup parameter doesn't contain a value.
Note: At this point, the Backup Campaign Server is totally unusable as a campaign server. The reason for this condition is that the "ServerName" DS entry must be renamed. The only way to do this is to reinstall the CCS software from scratch.
Campaign Server Parameters
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The options on the Campaign Server Parameters tab provide you with the ability to view, create, modify, and delete
Server Parameters on the Central Campaign Server.
When you run the CCS Switchover Setup Assistant, the CustomMirrorDir parameter is added to the Campaign Server
Parameters tab. The CustomMirrorDir parameter identifies the directories that are mirrored by the Switchover Service on the CCS.
In addition, you can use the controls on this tab to add and delete other CCS supported server parameters.
Note: For more information on the CCS Switchover Setup Assistant, see the Interaction Dialer Installation and
Configuration Guide. For more information on switchover parameters, see the IC Automated Switchover System
Technical Reference. You can find both in the CIC Documentation Library.
Related Topics
Feedback
The CustomMirrorDir parameter
The CustomMirrorDir parameter specifies one or more directories on the Primary Campaign server that are mirrored on the Backup Campaign server. Any time a file is added, removed, or modified in one of these directories, the change is mirrored in the corresponding directory on the Backup Campaign server.
You can use the options on the Campaign Server Parameters tab to view and edit the CustomMirrorDir parameter.
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View the full directory path
The size of the panel limits the number of characters in the path that you can see at one time.
To view the full path:
1. Click the entry in the Value column to enable the text field.
2. You can then scroll through and view the entire directory path.
Editing the directory path
If you want to edit the CustomMirrorDir parameter's directory path, you can do so once you have enabled the text field. As you are editing, keep in mind that to mirror the directory recursively (including directory additions and deletions), place a + in front of the directory name. For example:
+D:\I3\IC\ImportantDir
To stop recursive monitoring, remove the +.
Note: The CustomMirrorDir parameter is required when you are using a campaign switchover pair, so while you can edit the value, you cannot delete the parameter. (You'll notice that when you select the CustomMirrorDir parameter, the Delete Campaign Server Parameter button is disabled.)
To edit the path:
1. Click the entry in the Value column to enable the text field.
2. Edit the path.
3. Press Enter to close the text field.
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4. Click Save to save your changes.
Feedback
Add Parameters
You can add any valid server switchover parameter to the Campaign Server Parameters tab with the exception of three key switchover parameters: SwitchoverServer A, SwitchoverServer B, and Switchover Monitoring. These three parameters are set up by default when you run the CCS Switchover Setup Assistant and cannot be altered or deleted.
Note: For more information on the CCS Switchover Setup Assistant, see the Interaction Dialer Installation and
Configuration Guide, which you can find in the CIC Documentation Library.
To add a server parameter:
1. Click the Add Campaign Server Parameter button ( ).
2. When the Add Server Parameter dialog appears, type the parameter name in the Name field.
3. Click OK.
4. Once the parameter appears in the panel, click the Value column to enable the text field.
5. Enter the value that you want to assign to the parameter.
6. Press Enter to close the text field.
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7. Click Save to save your changes.
Feedback
Edit Parameters
Once you have added server parameters to the Campaign Server Parameters tab, you can edit the value any time you want to make a change in functionality.
To edit a server parameter:
1. Click the Value column to adjacent to the parameter to enable the text field.
2. Edit the value.
3. Press Enter to close the text field.
4. Click Save to save your changes.
Deleting Parameters
You can delete a server parameter when you no longer need it.
To delete a server parameter:
Feedback
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1. Select the parameter.
2. Click the Delete Campaign Server Parameter button ( ).
3. When the Remove item dialog appears, click OK.
4. Click Save to save your changes.
Feedback
Zone Sets view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Zone Sets container
Overview
This view manages Zone Sets. A Zone Set is a collection of zone entries. Each entry specifies when it is appropriate for an Outbound Dialer to call a particular time zone—relative to the local time (system clock) of the Central
Campaign server. You cannot create a zone entry until you have created a Zone Set to put it in.
Blocking feature to prevent calls from being placed at inappropriate times.
The Zone Sets view manages Zone Sets, which are collections of time zone entries associated with days of week and times of day when calls can be placed to each zone.
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You can name a Zone Set anything you like, but the names of Zone Set entries must match time zone names in the
requirement to store each contact's time zone in the contact list. Time Zone Mapping obtains the time zone by looking up the initial digits of each telephone number in a time zone map data set.
The name of each zone entry (e.g. EST) corresponds to the name of a zone in the contact list table. You can name a
Zone Set anything you like. However, zone entry names must be unique within the set, and must match the names of zones in the contact list table's zone field.
Once a zone set and its zone entries has been defined, it can be assigned to a campaign by selecting the zone set by name in a campaign configuration . Thereafter, based on zones in the contact list and time constraints defined in the zone set, contacts will receive calls only at permitted times.
Related Procedures
Assign a Zone Set to a Campaign
Create a new Zone Set
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container> Zone Sets container
Feedback
Before performing this procedure, you should know the names of time zones stored in the zone column of your contact list, so that you can create an entry in the zone set for each zone identifier associated with your contacts.
1. At the Home screen, click Zone Sets. The Zone Sets view will appear.
2. Click the Add button ( ). An entry temporarily named New Item will appear in the list of Zone Set objects.
3. Edit the Name field to give this zone set a descriptive name, so that you can identify it later when you associate this Zone Set with a campaign. The name of a zone set can be anything you like. This name may contain spaces or special characters; for example "North American Zones".
4. You are ready to create a time zone entry for each zone identifier in the contact list. Click the document icon (
).
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5. You are prompted to name a new zone entry. Type the name of a zone exactly as it is spelled in your contact list.
The name you type must exactly match a value in the zone column of the contact list table.
6. Click OK. A tab page for the zone appears to the right of the Default tab .
7. You are ready to identify when (in terms of days of the week and times-of-day) when this zone may be dialed.
Move the mouse pointer to a day of the week column, at an intersection of the time when dialing should be allowed.
As you move the mouse over the grid, you are prompted to click to define a time slot. You can define as many time slots as are needed to specify when calling can occur.
Remember, each time slot in a zone entry defines when calling can occur—not when calling should be blocked.
Each time slot entry specifies when it is appropriate for an Outbound Dialer to call a particular time zone—using the local time (system clock) of the Central Campaign server.
8. Click the left mouse button. This opens a dialog for setting a precise interval of time. Adjust the start and end time for this time slot. Then click OK.
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Repeat sets 7-8 to define additional time slots as needed. Each time slot defines a day and time of day when dialing to the zone can occur. Times are expressed in 24-hour notation (military time).
9. Repeat steps 4-8 to define other time zone, as required for the contact list.
10. When you are finished, click the Save button to save changes.
Feedback
What is the Default tab for?
Every Zone Set has a default tab. Dialer uses this default zone entry if no time zone entries in the Zone Set match the zone of the contact. A Default tab is added to any newly created Zone Set. You can modify time slots in the Default zone like any other zone entry. The difference is that the Default Zone cannot be copied, deleted or renamed.
By default, this tab defines hours that are acceptable for all zones in North America (Atlantic to PST – ignoring
Hawaii). That is GMT-4 to GMT-8 which equates to Noon to 5:00 p.m. based on a 8:00 a.m.—9:00 p.m. allowable calling hours.
Feedback
Edit an existing Zone Set
1. From the Home page in Interaction Dialer Manager, click the Zone Sets view.
2. In the list zone set entries, click to select a set to edit.
3. Modify the zone set as needed.
4. Click Save ( ).
Feedback
Assign a Zone Set to a Campaign
1. In Interaction Dialer Manager, click Campaigns .
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2. Edit a Campaign.
3. Select the Basic Configuration tab on the Campaign Properties panel.
4. Scroll down to the TimeZone Settings expander.
5. Select a zone set from the Zone Set drop list . If this list is empty, you must first create a Zone Set by selecting the
6. Optionally enable Time Zone Mapping for the campaign .
7. Click Save ( ) to save changes. From now on, Time Zone Blocking will be performed when this campaign is active.
Feedback
Delete a Zone Entry
To delete a time zone entry in a zone set:
1. Click the "x" on the tab for that zone entry.
2. Click OK to confirm the delete operation. The zone entry is removed.
Delete a Zone Set
Before deleting a zone set, un-assign it from any campaigns that refer to it. If the Zone Set is referenced by a campaign, an alert box will remind you that you cannot delete a zone set that is in use.
To delete a zone set:
1. Select the Zone Set to delete.
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2. Click the Delete icon (red 'x')
3. Click Yes to confirm the delete operation.
Feedback
DNC Sources view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
DNC Sources container
Overview
This view manages DNC Sources. A DNC Source provides a list of telephone numbers that should not be dialed.
Interaction Dialer customers are strongly encouraged to scrub contact lists against do-not-call (DNC) lists. Scrubbing prevents contact numbers from being dialed by a campaign.
Scrubbing can be performed against in-house lists acquired from government entities or by using DNC.com, a thirdparty list cleansing service provided by the Call Center Compliance Corporation. Dialer integrates directly with
DNC.com and also supports custom DNC data sources. The custom data source must be a table that exists in Dialer's
database. See DNC Scrubbing of Contact Numbers for additional background information.
Name
>This field manages the name of a DNC Source entry.
Type
>This option identifies the type of DNC Source. Dialer provides two methods for implementing DNC compliance – integration with DNC.com (Contact Center Compliance Corporation), or a custom DNC data source approach. Both options support an initial, bulk scrubbing of the entire contact list and just-in-time scrubbing of records before they are dialed.
Different configuration choices appear in the Source Details expander based on the selection you make here.
Details required to use a Custom DNC Source
Connection
>Selects the UDL connection used by database operations.
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Table
>Selects the name of the custom table that contains the list of DNC numbers. These are the telephone numbers that will be used later to scrub contact lists.
Phone Number Column
>Selects the column in that table which contains blocked numbers. All the numbers in the DNC data source must be in the same format, e.g. (xxx) xxx-xxxx, and the numbers in the contact list must also be in that same format (Varchar), so that no normalization has to be done.
The data type of the phone number column of the table used as a custom DNC source must be of type Varchar. If a column of a different data type is used, the bulk scrub will fail and Dialer will warn: "Bulk scrubbing failed due to an internal Dialer error".
Database Column to Exclude
>A campaign can be configured to match a contact list column against an additional column in the custom DNC table. This drop list selects a column in the DNC table that DNC processing will be compare to a similarly named column in the contact list, for the purpose of not dialing matching records. These columns might store account numbers, for example. When there is a match, Dialer will not call any phone number in the matching account. See also
DNC Excluded Column Identifier on the Contact List tab of a campaign configuration entry.
Expiration Column
>Identifies an Expiration date-time column in the DNC table, after which time the DNC entry is ignored or deleted. If a campaign is configured to use this DNC source, the time in the DNC column is compared with the current time.
• If the current time is previous to the expiration time, the number is not dialed. It is treated like a traditional do-not-call number.
• If the current time is past the expiration time, the number is dialed because the entry has expired.
Details required to use DNC.Com
Account Code
>This field prompts for the account code assigned to the customer by Contact Center Compliance Corporation
(DNC.com).
Login Id
>The login ID assigned to the customer by Contact Center Compliance Corporation (DNC.com).
Use the Master Project
>Select this option to use the scrub settings of the Master Project. Each DNC.com account has one project that cannot be deactivated, called the Master Project. Projects have settings (configured at DNC.com).
Use this project field
>Select this option to use the scrub settings for a specific custom project.
DNC.com Campaign
>Select which DNC.com campaign to use for scrubbing numbers. Only DNC.com campaigns within the selected project are listed. These are DNC campaigns, not Dialer campaigns.
Use Dial Plan
>Select this option if the phone numbers in the contact list should be run through Dial Plan before being scrubbed.
Dial without scrubbing if scrubbing fails
Selecting this option will cause Dialer to continue dialing even if scrubbing fails. By default, Dialer will stop placing calls if DNC scrubbing has been configured and it is unable to scrub the contact phone numbers for any reason. For
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Dialer unable to scrub.
Important—using this option could result in calls to numbers that should have been DNC blocked.
Mark Wireless numbers as Uncallable
>When using DNC.com for DNC scrubbing, some telephone numbers may be identified as wireless. This checkbox controls whether or not wireless numbers are marked as blocked in the Phone Number Detail Table. Blocked numbers are not called.
This option is checked by default, meaning that wireless numbers are given a status of "P" in the Phone Number
Detail table, to prevent them from being dialed. Uncheck this option if you want to dial wireless numbers that pass
DNC scrubbing.
Use secure server
>Determines whether the CampaignServer uses a secure https connection when communicating with DNC.com.
When enabled, information about contact numbers is exchanged without exposing information to third parties.
Related Procedures
Configure a DNC Source for DNC.com
Configure a Campaign to use a DNC Source
Bulk Scrub a Campaign's Contact List
Feedback
Configure a Custom DNC Source
To use a custom table in the Dialer database as a DNC Source:
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Advanced Interaction Dialer container. Then select the DNC Sources container.
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new entry.
3. Enter a descriptive name in the Name field.
4. Set Type to Custom. This indicates that you want to define the source using a table in Dialer's database that contains do-not-call numbers.
5. Use the Connection drop list to select a database connection.
6. Use the Table drop list to select the name of the table that contains the list of DNC numbers. These are the telephone numbers that will be used later to scrub contact lists.
7. Specify which column in that table contains the blocked numbers. Use the Phone Number Column drop list to select the name of the column that contains telephone numbers. All the numbers in the DNC data source must be in the same format, e.g. (xxx) xxx-xxxx, and the numbers in the contact list must also be in that same format (Varchar), so that no normalization has to be done.
Important: The data type of the phone number column of the table used as a custom DNC source must be of type Varchar. If a column of a different data type is used, the bulk scrub will fail and Dialer will warn: "Bulk scrubbing failed due to an internal Dialer error".
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8. You must assign a value to "Phone Number Column", "Database Column to Exclude" or both:
• Select a column from the Database Column to Exclude list. A campaign can be configured to match a contact list column against an additional column in the custom DNC table. This drop list selects a column in the DNC table that DNC processing will be compare to a similarly named column in the contact list, for the purpose of not dialing matching records. These columns might store account numbers, for example. When there is a match, Dialer will not call any phone number in the matching account.
And/Or
• Select an Expiration Column. This identifies an expiration date-time column in the DNC table, after which time the DNC entry is ignored or deleted. If a campaign is configured to use this DNC source, the time in the
DNC column is compared with the current time.
If the current time is previous to the expiration time, the number is not dialed. It is treated like a traditional do-not-call number.
If the current time is past the expiration time, the number is dialed because the entry has expired.
9. Click Save ( ) to save changes.
11. Afterward you can perform an initial bulk scrub of the campaign's contact list .
Feedback
Configure a DNC Source for DNC.com
To configure a source for DNC.Com:
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Advanced Interaction Dialer container. Then select the DNC Sources container.
2. Click Add ( ) to create a new entry.
3. Enter a descriptive name in the Name field.
4. Set Type to DNC.Com.
5. Type your DNC account code in the Account Code field. This item is provided by DNC.com.
6. Type your login Id in the Login Id field. This item is also provided by DNC.com.
7. Each DNC.com account has one project that cannot be deactivated, called the Master Project. Projects have settings (configured at DNC.com). Decide whether to use scrub settings from the Master Project, or for a specific custom project.
8. Click Save ( ) to save changes.
10. Afterward you can perform an initial bulk scrub of the campaign's contact list .
Feedback
Configure a Campaign to use a DNC Source
Once a DNC source has been defined, you can assign it to a campaign.
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Campaigns container.
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2. Select a campaign in the Campaign Entries panel.
3. Select the Contact List tab.
4. Locate the DNC Source list box. Select a previously-configured Do-Not-Call (DNC) source to scrub this
Campaign's contact list against.
5. If the selected DNC Source from step 4 has a value for “Database Column to Exclude”, then “DNC Excluded
Column Identifier” will be enabled and filtered by the same datatype as the DNC Source, since the datatypes must match. It should then be supplied with a column name.
6. Click Save (
Feedback
Bulk Scrub a Campaign's Contact List
Before a contact list is dialed against, customers are encouraged to bulk scrub the entire list. As a prerequisite, you must configure a DNC source and associate it with a campaign. The campaign being scrubbed cannot be active at the time of the scrubbing, regardless of the DNC source used.
Scrubbing typically removes 30-40% of contacts from being selected for calling, by changing their status to "P" in the campaign's Phone Number Detail table. "P" stands for "purge", to indicate that the number should not be called.
DNC scrubbing does not modify the status field in a contact list, which indicates the overall status of a contact.
Instead, it modifies the callable status of individual numbers in the Phone Number Detail table used by the campaign.
To bulk scrub the contact list associated with a campaign:
1. In Interaction Administrator, expand the Interaction Dialer container. Then select the Campaigns container.
2. Select a Campaign entry.
3. If that campaign is currently running, click the Stop button.
4. Select the Contact List tab .
5. Click the Perform Bulk DNC Scrub button near the DNC Source drop list.
To perform a bulk scrub, DNC Source cannot be blank. This starts a bulk scrub of this campaign's contacts, by passing batches of phone numbers to DNC.com via HTTP RPC calls, or by matching telephone numbers against a list of do-not-call numbers in a custom DNC table.
During a bulk scrub, Dialer also evaluates the campaign's filter. Contacts that are not allowed by the filter are not scrubbed.
6. When scrubbing ends, counts are displayed:
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If scrubbing failed, use the Dialer Health View in Interaction Supervisor (a module of IC Business Manager) to obtain details of the event. The view will contain a message titled "DNC Scrubbing failed for Campaign <campaign name>.
To find out why scrubbing failed; double-click the message row to open its properties. The description field will contain additional information about the error. See also Messages that can appear in a Dialer Health View in the
Interaction Supervisor Help.
The categories are:
Category
Wireless
Invalid
Blocked
Description
Wireless numbers.
Numbers that are invalid for some reason (e.g. non-existent area code).
Numbers that are not covered by the configured DNC.com settings or that are configured as no-call.
Numbers blocked by the DNC.com project settings. Project
Blocked
DNC Numbers found in the Do Not Call database.
7. Click OK to dismiss the scrub counts dialog.
8. If you stopped the campaign before running the scrub, return it to a running state now.
Just-in-Time Scrubbing
At this point, just-in-time scrubbing will be performed automatically whenever the campaign runs, so long as a DNC source is associated with the campaign.
Interaction Dialer will perform just-in-time scrubbing when records are pulled into cache. When Dialer queries contacts from the contact list for its cache, that batch of contacts will be scrubbed before being given to Dialer. For each contact, any callable numbers will be scrubbed and marked appropriately.
Feature Overview
DNC Scrubbing of Contact Numbers
Feedback
Timezone Map Data view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Timezone Map Data container
Overview
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This view configures an optional time zone map data set for use with Dialer. A time zone map is a file that associates the initial digits of a phone number (area code and exchange in North America, for example) with a time zone.
To get the contact's time zone, Dialer looks up the initial digits of a contact number in the map data set, instead of
contacts from being called at undesirable times) on a campaign by campaign basis. For tutorial information, see
Contact Times: Schedules and Zone Blocking .
Dialer supports commercially purchased data sets from:
• Areacodes.com Deluxe Area Codes Database
• Quentin Sager Consulting (Platinum)
• Telcordia TPM or Telcordia TDS
• Zipcode World NPANXX Data (Gold or Premium)
• IC Locality Data is the only option that does not utilize a database. Instead, it configures time zone mapping to use CIC's locality lookup feature, wherein IC reverse white pages tables are used to obtain information about the caller's location. Contact numbers are compared to area code and exchange mappings for North America. Since this feature uses the North American Numbering Plan, it is appropriate for North America and areas that follow the same numbering convention, but not to other regions. The reverse white page lookup functionality requires that either the standardized number (per the dial plan) be in the +1 format or start with the area code and omit the +1/1 (country code) altogether.
If you choose a third-party data set, you may need to run a vendor-provided install that copies files to the
Outbound Dialer Server. The Resources folder is a recommended location to store files on the server. That path is I3\IC\Server\Resources. Refer to vendor documentation for installation instructions.
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To set the evaluation priority of a time zone map file, use the Priority control. The priority of entries in the Timezone
Map Data container affects the zone mapping results. The lowest numbered entries have the lowest priority. The highest numbered entries have the highest priority. Entries with a higher priority take precedence over entries with a lower priority. For example, a file with priority of 2 takes precedence over a file with priority of 1.
Related Procedures
Enable Time Zone Mapping for a Campaign
Feedback
Add a Time Zone Map data set
1. At the Home screen, click Timezone Map Data.
2. Click the Add button ( ). An entry temporarily named New Item will appear.
3. Edit the Name field to give the data set a more descriptive name. This name can be anything you like. It can contain spaces and special characters.
4. Select a third-party data set from the Type drop list, or choose Custom if you have created your own zone
mapping data set in accordance with the open data set format .
5. Selecting an existing file from the Data File drop list, or click Upload New to locate and upload a file that has not been used before. If you selected IC Locality Data in the previous step, you do not need to upload a file, or select an existing one.
6. Use the Priority control to prioritize entries. Entries with lowest numbers are evaluated first.
7. Click Validate to ensure that the file type matches the format of the specified data file. Dialer will attempt to read
100 records from the specified file and validate them for conformity with the format of the specified file type. The file
8. Click Save ( ).
campaign, Dialer will use this data set to look up the time zone associated with each phone number in the campaign's contact list, ensuring that calls are dialed only at appropriate times of day.
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Related Topics
Assign a Zone Set to a Campaign
Feedback
Validate Test Result Messages
When you select a zone mapping data set from the Type drop list and then click the Validate button, Dialer will attempt to read 100 records from the specified file and validate them for conformity with the format of the specified file type. Dialer will then display an alert to indicate the result of the test.
Message
Timezone Map Data Set validation succeeded.
Description
The file matches the format.
Timezone Map Data Set validation failed because the map data file %s does not exist or can't be found by the
Campaign Server.
The file is missing or is not in the correct location, or the path was incorrectly entered. The %s is replaced by the file name entered into Interaction Administrator when the message is displayed.
Timezone Map Data Set validation failed because the map data file %s can't be read by the Campaign Server.
The file exists but isn't readable (usually a file permission problem that the CCS administrator should be able to take care of.) The %s is replaced by the file name entered into
Interaction Administrator when the message is displayed.
Timezone Map Data Set validation failed because the map data file %s doesn't conform to the format of type '%s'.
The file exists and is readable, but the format of the lines is incorrect. The first %s is replaced by the file name entered into Interaction Administrator when the message is displayed, while the second %s is replaced by the type of time zone map data set selected in Interaction
Administrator.
Timezone Map Data Set validation failed with an unknown validation error.
There was an unexpected validation error.
Timezone Map Data Set validation failed with the error shown below. Either there is a problem with the Timezone
Map Data Set information, or the Database server is not responding.\n\n%s
Some other error (generally it's not related to the file itself but something with the communication between the ODS and the CCS) The two \n's indicate that two blank lines will be displayed after the first part of the message, and the
%s will be replaced with a specific descriptive error message. This is generally an error that will have to be
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Enable Time Zone Mapping for a campaign
1. From the Home page in Interaction Dialer Manager, click Campaigns .
2. In the list of campaign entries, click a campaign to edit.
3. Click the Basic Configuration tab.
4. Scroll down to the Timezone Settings expander.
Feedback style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;border:none; padding:0in'>All automatic time zone mapping options
enable these options. The Zone Set must contain the same zone entries that are returned by time zone mapping.
5. Check Automatically map time zones to enable Time Zone Mapping for the campaign. When automatic mapping is enabled, Dialer provides three options that set how broadly automatic mapping is applied to this campaign. Select the option that best applies to the campaign:
• Map phone numbers not set to a zone. This restricts time zone mapping to telephone numbers that have no zone information. Only phone numbers not associated with a zone will be mapped.
• Map phone numbers not set to a zone or set. This option maps phone numbers that have no zone information and numbers that had previously been automatically mapped. If the time zone map data set has been updated, the latest zone from the data set will be used in place of the zone entry that was previously written to the campaign's PND table. The PND table will be updated with the latest zone for this telephone number.
Since time zone data sets are often updated quarterly, this option ensures accuracy by automatically updating zone information in PND tables. When automatic mapping is performed, zone data in PND tables is updated if the zone field in the PND table is empty, or if the zone entry does not match the result of the lookup operation.
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If lookup against a time zone map data set returns a different zone from the zone in the PND table, the zone in the data set is presumed to be newer and is used instead. When zone entries match the lookup value, zone data in the PND table is not updated. Zone data is updated only when values change.
• Map all phone numbers. This option maps all phone numbers, regardless of their current zone settings. Please use this option with caution, since it will cause all phone numbers to be remapped every recycle, which can take a long time.
6. Click Save ( ).
7. Optionally click Map phone numbers to time zones now. Time zone mapping is performed automatically when the call list recycles. Since the initial mapping of a call list and PND table data can take a while, customers can press this button to manually initiate time zone mapping. It manually initiates time zone mapping without waiting for a recycle. This reduces the amount of time that time zone mapping will require when the next recycle occurs. When time zone mapping is manually invoked, a dialog is displayed while the mapping takes place, to block further activity until the mapping finishes.
Feedback
Import/Export Configuration view
Interaction Administrator: Interaction Dialer container > Advanced Interaction Dialer container>
Import/Export Configuration container
Overview
The Import/Export Configuration view allows you to import or export a Dialer configuration file from one server to another. Support personnel can use this feature to create default configuration files to import into a customer's configuration to assist with best practices or to resolve a configuration issue.
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To export configuration data
There are several ways that you can go about exporting Dialer configuration data: You can export all objects, you can export a category of objects, or you can export individual objects.
To export all objects
1. Select the Configuration check box.
2. Click Export Configuration.
To export a category of objects
1. Select the check box next to the object category.
2. Click Export Configuration.
To export individual objects
1. Expand the object category.
2. Select the check boxes next to each object that you want to export.
3. Click Export Configuration.
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Warning - 200 object limit!
†
When you are exporting a category of objects or individual objects, you need to be aware that if there are more than 200 objects in any single category, the Export configuration tool is unable to display or export more than 200 objects without manual intervention. If you want to be able to view and select objects that don't appear in a category that contains more than 200 objects, you must use the Filter items text box to manually append additional objects to the display. You can then select them for inclusion in the export.
To append additional objects
1. Expand the object category
2. Select the check box next to the object category to select all the objects.
3. In the Filter items text box, type the name of the object that you want to add to the display and press Enter.
• When you do, the object is added to the bottom of the tree list.
4. Select the check box next to the object category to clear all the check boxes.
5. Again, select the check box next to the object category to select all the objects.
• When you do, the new object is selected and ultimately included in the export.
6. To add other objects to the list, repeat steps 3-5.
7. Click Export Configuration.
Note: If there are objects with similar names that you want to add to the list, you can type a partial name in the
Filter items text box to add more than one object to the list at a time.
† This warning only applies to selecting object categories and individual objects. When selecting the entire
configuration, all objects are exported regardless of how many objects are in any one category.
To complete the export
1. After you click Export Configuration, you are prompted to name the XML file.
2. Select a folder and type a name in the File name box.
3. Click Save.
• The XML file is saved at the location specified.
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Import configuration data
1. Export data as described earlier and then copy the resulting .xml file to a share or to the server on which you will import the data.
2. Open Dialer Manager on the server you wish to import into.
3. Click Import Configuration.
4. Select the file to import.
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5. Click Open. If none of the Dialer configuration objects exist in the destination system, they are recreated on the new server.
• If you attempt to import an object that already exists on the destination server, the import process stops with the following message:
If you see this message, return to the export procedure and export a configuration file that does not contain duplicate objects before attempting the import procedure again.
Feedback
Server Parameters
When Interaction Dialer is installed on a CIC server, several required server parameters are created. These parameters can be managed using the Server Parameters container in Interaction Administrator. Do not change these values unless you wish to prevent Interaction Dialer containers from loading, or need to change the name of your Central
Campaign server.
Required Server Parameters
The following server parameters are established by the Outbound Dialer Server install.
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Dialer Campaign Server
>Dialer Campaign Server = CampaignServerName. CampaignServerName is the name of the Central Campaign server that manages ones or more Outbound Dialer servers. Many Outbound Dialer (CIC) servers may utilize a single Central
Campaign server.
>
Dialer Support
>This parameter is used internally by Interaction Administrator, and should not be changed by customers.
>
Dialer Site Name
The Dialer Site Name is not directly associated to the IC site name. The Dialer site name is based on the Dialer Site
Name server parameter. The value of this parameter identifies the Dialer site name display in Interaction Supervisor's
Dialer views. This name is also displayed in the Dialer Configuration node when the master dialer is set up. This parameter is also used to identify two Dialer servers in a switchover pair. When the primary starts up, if the server parameter doesn't exist, the site name is used to populate the parameter. The parameter then gets persisted to the backup. When the backup comes online, the server parameter ensures that the DialerTranU process clears its cache of abandoned records.
Note: The Dialer Site Name server parameter must be unique to each ODS or switchover pair that is connected to a given CCS. Connecting more than one ODS with the same site name to a single CCS server can lead to system instability including mismatched or inaccurate statistics, unpredictable dialing behavior, and Windows
Application Event Log spamming.
Optional Server Parameters
Interaction Dialer supports the optional server parameters listed below. These are not set by the install, but you can configure them using the Server Parameters container in Interaction Administrator. Keep in mind that parameters identified as Boolean, must have the value specified in lowercase i.e. true, false
Dialer Delay Campaign Transition Login
>If you are using rule-based Agent Management to transition agents from one campaign to another, you should also be using the Dialer Delay Campaign Transition Login server parameter with the value set to 1. Enabling this server parameter will make sure that Dialer will delay the login to the destination campaign until after it has granted the previous campaign logout request.
Dialer Always Call wrap-up
>Boolean. Default=false. This parameter is used to control whether or not Dialer will call the DialerCallWrapUp handler only for agent-dispositioned calls, or for all calls. When set to false Dialer will only call the DialerCallWrapUp handler for agent dispositioned calls, when set to true Dialer will call it for all calls.
>
Dialer BaseScripter Automatic Disposition Timeout
>The time in seconds that base scripts will wait before automatically dispositioning an interaction after it disconnects or leaves the agent's queue.
>
Dialer BaseScripter Automatic Disposition Wrap-Up Code
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>The wrap-up code that base scripts will use when automatically dispositioning an interaction.
>
Dialer Campaign Server Backup
>This server parameter is added when CCS Switchover is configured. As the name implies, it stores the name of the
CCS that the ODS subsystems should connect to when a CCS switchover is detected.
>
Dialer Record All Agent Calls
>Boolean. When true, causes all Dialer calls sent to agents to be recorded; Dialer will initiate recording before transferring the call to the agent. This eliminates any possibility of recording delays due to system load.
>
Dialer Call Custom Sprocs
>If you are implementing custom stored procedures, you need to set this parameter to true so that Dialer will run your custom stored procedures when writing data to the CallHistory Table or the AgentStats Table. By default, this parameter is set to false.
>
Note: Be aware that Dialer's local PMQ can get backed up because of transaction and custom SPROC overhead. To circumvent this problem, this server parameter was created and set to false by default in order to prevent custom reporting SPROCs from being called.
>
Dialer Prepend Priority Contacts
>Provides the option to dial the latest import of Priority Dialing (JIT) records ahead of current JIT records in cache. By default when Priority contacts are pulled into Dialer they are added to the end of Dialer's existing cache of Priority contacts. When this server parameter is enabled by setting its value to 1, Dialer will add each new batch of Priority contacts to the front of its existing cache of Priority contacts.
>
Dialer Disable Tone Detection
>When the value is set to 1, provides the option to disable tone detection while waiting for silence. This prevents a barge-in by a lengthy tone after the tone has already been detected. Dialer will still listen for seconds of silence and will restart on an interruption.
Dialer StartReceivingCalls Per Campaign
>There are two situations in which you would want to use the Dialer StartReceivingCalls Per Campaign server parameter:
• >If you are using the IS_Action_StartReceivingCalls predictive action and want to have this action function on a per campaign basis rather than on a per agent basis, you will need to use the Dialer StartReceivingCalls Per
Campaign server parameter with the value set to 1.
• >If you are using the /nostartreceiving command-line parameter with Interaction Scripter or a third-party
ICELib application, you will need to use the Dialer StartReceivingCalls Per Campaign server parameter with the value set to 1. If you don't, agents who request a break before the script or application triggers the
StartReceivingCalls action will continue to receive calls regardless of their request.
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Note: The Dialer StartReceivingCalls Per Campaign server parameter only works for agents who have the
LogonCampaign right. For more information on the Logon Campaign right, see the Security Rights topic in the Interaction Administrator help system.
- For more information on the IS_Action_StartReceivingCalls predictive action, see the Predictive Actions topic in the Interaction Scripter Developer's Guide.
- For more information on the /nostartreceiving command-line parameter, see the Optional Command Line
Parameters topic in the Scripter Client Help.
Dialer CPA Aggression Level
>This parameter allows you to determine how aggressively you want to configure the CPA adjustment level. Valid values are 0-10, where 0 indicates off. A value of 1 is the least conservative while a value of 10 is the most conservative. This parameter can be adjusted in real-time; however, if the campaign is reset, the system will restore the original value that was present when the campaign began.
Dialer Cisco Tone Detection Enable
>Boolean. This parameter, when set to true, allows you to create a new tone detector that will allow Dialer to detect the 425Hz tone generated by a standard Cisco PBX.
Special Case - Optional Server Parameters
The next two optional server parameters can be used to enhance Dialer's ability to leave automated messages on answering machines and voice mail systems.
Dialer Wait For Silence Timeout
>Sets the maximum length of time that Dialer will wait when detecting silence on a call before playing a wave file. The default is 120 seconds. The value is the number of seconds and the valid range is 0 to 600, with the default being 120 seconds.
>
Dialer Limit Idle Calls
>Boolean. Dialer tracks required idle calls as a double rather than an integer, which can lead to cases where Dialer needs to place a fraction of one call. Dialer will always place a minimum of 1 call if it needs to place any, which can cause over-dialing. This server parameter limits the number of idle calls Dialer places. When set to true, it causes
Dialer to round down when determining how many idle calls to place, instead of allowing fractional calls.
>
Dialer Licenses
Feedback
Dialer Licenses
This section is for IC Administrators who manage user access to Interaction Dialer. It describes Dialer features licensed at the server level.
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Interaction Dialer is fully compliant with CIC's application server license model. Each CIC/Dialer server has a production license that enables use of purchased features. An individual user's access to Interaction Dialer is governed by server license allocation and by the assignment of security and access control rights in Interaction
Administrator.
Note: A Dialer server can be configured to be either an Outbound Dialer Server (ODS) or a Manual Calling Server
• IC System Administrators order or update server license files using the License Management system at the
Interactive Intelligence license web site at http://license.inin.com/ . This is always done before installation of add-on software such as Interaction Dialer.
• The server license on each ODS/MCS governs the operational availability of Interaction Dialer and Interaction
Scripter. Customers can mix and match any combination of Interaction Dialer and Interaction Scripter for which they have purchased a license. Your authorized Interactive Intelligence reseller can provide details concerning product pricing and applicability.
• Interaction Administrator is the application used by IC Administrators to manage licenses on the IC Server and to flexibly allocate those licenses.
The CIC platform supports many types of licenses, but feature and access licenses are most important to Dialer
Administrators.
visible, enabled, or disabled in IC administration consoles such as Interaction Administrator.
licenses.
Interaction Dialer uses the Concurrent license allocation method
The Concurrent license allocation method allows you to allocate licenses to users only and is based on the number of simultaneous users accessing a feature or function. This license method allows users to acquire available licenses during logon instead of based on configuration. In the Concurrent license model, the license still gets configured through the Interaction Administrative interface but the big difference is the license is not allocated until the user logs on to their application. CIC maintains a list of users, and licenses available and in use.
The Concurrent license allocation method offers:
• Flexibility and easier administration.
• Automatic reallocation of licenses based on shift changes.
• Reduction in license counts and management.
For more information about licenses, refer to the IC Licensing Technical Reference in the CIC Documentation Library on the CIC Server.
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Feedback
Dialer Feature Licenses
Features and functionality which are licensed per server are referred to as feature licenses. Each IC server has a base server license with add-on server features that can be purchased as a package or individually. You turn on features and functionality on each server with the server feature licenses.
To enable Interaction Dialer, you will purchase one of two server feature license packages. The one that you choose will depend on how you are planning on using the system.
• If you are planning on using Interaction Dialer to only make manual calls you will purchase the Manual
Calling Server feature license.
• If you are planning on using Interaction Dialer as an automated dialing system, you will purchase the standard Outbound Dialing Server feature license.
When these feature licenses are present, they are visible when you select License Management from the File menu in
Interaction Administrator.
The Manual Calling Server (MCS) feature license has a single license key: I3_FEATURE_MANUAL_CALL_ONLY_SERVER.
The Outbound Dialing Server (ODS) feature license actually has two license keys: I3_FEATURE_DIALER_BASE and
I3_FEATURE_DIALER_ADVANCED.
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This table indicates which Dialer options are available with each of the feature licenses.
Dialer options
Manual Calling
Server Feature
License
Outbound Dialing
Server Feature
License
Dialer administration options in Interaction
Administrator
Yes Yes
Rule Sets
Policy Sets
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Predictive Calling Mode
Power Calling Mode
Precise Calling Mode
Agentless Calling Mode
Preview Calling Mode
No
No
No
No
Yes*
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
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* While all the Calling modes are available for selection when using the Manual Calling Server Feature License, the
Preview Calling Mode is the only mode that will actually function. Furthermore, the Preview Countdown feature is not supported under the Manual Calling Server Feature License.
Note: The Manual Calling Server and the Outbound Dialing Server feature licenses are mutually exclusive. In other words you can only have one feature license installed at a time. Furthermore, these feature licenses are NOT transposable. For example, you CAN NOT replace the Manual Calling Server feature license with the standard
Outbound Dialing Server feature license.
Feedback
Dialer Access Licenses
Features licensed by user, station, or both (based on the feature) are referred to as Access licenses. Access licenses are assigned using the Licensing tab in Interaction Administrator:
Dialer Access
License
Interaction Dialer
Add-On
Description
Allows an Agent to login to Interaction Dialer using Interaction Scripter or a custom application created using Dialer IceLib API.
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Interaction
Scripter
Interaction
Supervisor Plug-In:
Interaction Dialer
Assign this license to users who run Interaction Scripter .NET Client. This license allows
Dialer agents to logon to any campaign running custom or base scripts. This license is also required to run Scripter in inbound-only environments. Without this license, an Agent cannot run base or custom campaign scripts in Interaction Scripter.
Authorizes access to Interaction Dialer views in Interaction Supervisor, a module of IC
Business Manager.
Additional information about licensing is available online at http://license.inin.com
.
Feedback
Access and Security Rights
This section is for IC Administrators who manage user access to Interaction Dialer. It describes granular rights assigned on a per-user basis. An individual user's access to Interaction Dialer is governed by server license allocation and by the assignment of security and access control rights in Interaction Administrator.
Security and Access Control Mechanisms
Administrative Rights manage who can see and manage Dialer configuration objects in
Interaction Administrator.
Access Control Rights determine whether the user can view and modify Dialer campaigns and Supervisor views.
Security rights manage the functionality offered by client applications, such as buttons for listening and coaching, or the ability to modify or view settings through an application.
Feedback
Dialer Administrator Access Rights
Administrator Access Rights manage who can grant access—what objects are shown and can be changed in
Interaction Administrator. Your IC Administrator has Dialer administrative rights. Most IC users do not have administrative rights.
Dialer administrative rights determine whether or not a user, workgroup, or role can view Dialer configuration objects in Dialer Manager.
Category Group
Dialer Call Lists
Description
Grants ability to view and manage Contact Lists. Each contact list is a collection of properties that convey to Interaction Dialer details about the table used to store contact phone numbers.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_CALL_LIST_LIST
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Campaigns
Dialer
Configuration
Grants the ability to view and manage Advanced Interaction Dialer configuration items in Interaction Dialer.
These items include:
• Contact List Filters
• Global Dialer Settings
• Database Connections
• Import/Export Configuration
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_CONFIGURATION
• DNC Sources
• Timezone Map Data
Policy Sets
Grants ability to view and manage Campaigns. Each campaign is a collection of properties that tell Interaction Dialer how to process a contact list.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_CAMPAIGN_LIST
Rule Sets
Schedules
Scripts
Grants ability to view and manage Policy Sets. Policies define conditions and behaviors that control the processing of individual contact records.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_POLICYSETS
Grants ability to view and manage Rule Sets. Rule Sets use conditional logic to automate the run time characteristics of campaigns.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_RULESET_LIST
Grants ability to view and manage Schedules. A schedule is a collection of time settings that determine when campaigns are running (on), not running
(off), or partially on (placing only scheduled calls).
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_SCHEDULE_LIST
Grants ability to view and manage Base Scripts in Interaction Dialer Manager.
A base script defines the appearance and functionality of the Interaction
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System
Stage Sets
Skill Sets
Zone Sets
Handlers
System
Parameters
Scripter Client.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_SCRIPT_LIST
Grants ability to view and manage Stage Sets in Interaction Dialer Manager.
Stages identify each segment of a call that statistics can be collected upon. Stage names and other attributes are saved in groups (called Stage
Sets) that can be assigned by name to one or more campaigns.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_STAGESET_LIST
Grants ability to view and manage Skill Sets in Interaction Dialer Manager. A
Skill Set manages skills from a Campaign's point of view, by identifying which
IC skills will be used to select contacts.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_SKILLSET_LIST
Grants ability to view and manage Zone Sets in Interaction Dialer Manager. A
Zone Set is a collection of entries that specify when it is appropriate for an
Outbound Dialer to call a particular time zone
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_ZONESETS
Grants ability to edit handlers in Interaction Designer.
The Dialer–related handlers are:
• Custom_DialerCustomHanderRuleActionEvent
• Custom_DialerPreCallRuleActionEvent
• Dialer_AgentCallWrapUp
• Dialer_FaxMessageRequest
• Dailer_RuleActionEvent
• IntAttDialerCompleted
Grants ability to edit specific server parameters in Interaction Administrator.
The default Dialer-related parameters are:
• Dialer Campaign Server
• Dialer Site Name
• Dialer Support
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Related Topics
Setting Administrator Access Rights
Setting Administrator Access Rights
To set Administrator Access Rights:
1. Open a user, role, or workgroup configuration record in Interaction Administrator.
2. Select the Security tab.
Feedback
3. Then click the Administrator Access button. The Administrator Access dialog appears. This dialog uses categories to organize related settings. Categories are further subdivided into groups of related settings. By default, a category named <All> is selected to display access control rights in all categories. To view a smaller set of settings, select from
the Category list or type search text in the Search field. (See Dialer Administrator Access Rights )
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4. Select from the category list as necessary to view Dialer administrative rights. Check rights that you want to assign, or remove rights by clicking to clear an existing check mark. When a list of specific objects is presented, you can grant right to all by checking the *[All] option.
5. Click Close.
6. Click Apply to save changes to the configuration.
7. Click OK to dismiss the configuration dialog.
Related Topics
Dialer Administrator Access Rights
Dialer Access Control Rights
Feedback
Access Control Rights
Access Control Rights (ACLs) determine whether a user, workgroup or role can view and modify Dialer campaigns and Supervisor views.
Related Topics
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Setting Access Control Rights
To set Access Control Rights:
1. Open a user, role, or workgroup configuration record in Interaction Administrator.
2. Select the Security tab.
Feedback
3. Click the Access Control button. The Access Control dialog appears.
4. Select Interaction Dialer from the Category box.
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5. Check the Campaigns this user, role or workgroup should be allowed to view or modify in Interaction Dialer
Manager.
6. Scroll down to the View Dialer Supervisor Views group. Check the Interaction Supervisor views that this user should be allowed to view in IC Business Manager.
7. Click Close to dismiss the Access Control dialog.
8. Click Apply to save changes to the configuration.
9. Click OK to dismiss the configuration dialog.
Related Topics
Feedback
Dialer Security Rights
Security rights manage the functionality offered by client applications, including the ability to modify or view settings through an application.
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Group
Interaction
Dialer
Name
Logon
Campaign
Dialer Settings in the Application category
Description
This right permits the Interaction Scripter user, at login time, to select campaigns to participate in. Agents who not have this right are logged into all campaigns automatically. See "Start Interaction
Scripter .NET Client" in the Interaction Scripter Client User Guide.
This right can be inherited from Agent role.
I3_ATTR_ADMIN_RIGHT_DIALER_MANUAL_CAMPAIGN_ACCESS
View
Configuration
General
Allows user to view, but not modify two specific settings on the
General tab of Global Configuration Settings in Interaction Dialer
Manager.
The settings are:
• Delay in seconds before auto-dispositioning a disconnect interaction
• Pause a campaign when the database query failure rate exceeds
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_VIEW_GENERAL
Modify
Configuration
General
Allows user to view and modify two specific settings on the
General tab of Global Configuration Settings in Interaction Dialer
Manager.
The settings are:
• Delay in seconds before auto-dispositioning a disconnect interaction
• Pause a campaign when the database query failure rate exceeds
Without this right, these settings are disabled but visible.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_MODIFY_GENERAL
View Preview
Call Behavior
The settings are:
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• If a Preview call fails to connect, play this file to the agent
• If a Preview call encounters a busy signal, play this file to the agent
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_VIEW_PREVIEW_CALL_BEHAVIOR
Modify
Preview Call
Behavior
Grants modify access to specific preview call settings on the
General tab of Global Configuration Settings in Interaction Dialer
Manager.
The settings are:
• If a Preview call fails to connect, play this file to the agent
• If a Preview call encounters a busy signal, play this file to the agent
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_MODIFY_PREVIEW_CALL_BEHAVIOR
Run Contact
List
Predefined
Actions
This right allows the user to perform the Predefined Actions from
the Data Query section of a Contact List.
The actions are:
• Bulk Edit
• Delete
• Make Callable
• Make Uncallable
• Reset Attempts
• Schedule Calls
The View/Modify Contact List Data Query right is required to use the Run Contact List Predefined Actions right.
I3_ATTR_RIGHT_RUN_CONTACT_LIST_PREDEFINED_ACTIONS
View/Modify
Contact List
Data Query
Determines whether or not the Data Query tab of a Contact List object is visible or not. The Data Query tab queries the contact list to display a list of results in a data grid. Query results can be saved as filters. Users may also apply actions to records displayed in the grid, and commit changes back to the database.
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Interaction
Dialer -
Campaigns
View/Modify
Agentless
Calling type
View/Modify
Automatic
Time Zone
Mapping
View/Modify
Line Settings
View/Modify
Maximum
Lines
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_VIEW_MODIFY_CONTACT_LIST_DATA_QUERY
This right determines whether users can select Agentless dialing mode when setting the Calling mode for a Campaign.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_VIEW_AGENTLESS_CALLING_MODE
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_MODIFY_AGENTLESS_CALLING_MODE
Grants right to check "Automatically map time zones and all child options in a Campaign object. Without this right, options are disabled.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_VIEW_AUTOMATIC_TIMEZONE_MAPPING
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_MODIFY_AUTOMATIC_TIMEZONE_MAPPING
When granted, enables settings in the Dialer Line Information group box for a Campaign. Options in this frame configure Dialer to adhere strictly to CIC's Dial Plan, or to use one specific line group for campaign calls.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_VIEW_LINE_SETTINGS
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_MODIFY_LINE_SETTINGS
This right determines whether the Maximum Lines per Campaign setting on the Basic Configuration tab of a Campaign is enabled or not.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_VIEW_MAX_LINES_PER_CAMPAIGN
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View/Modify
Status
Interaction
Dialer –
Global
Dialer
Settings
View Change
Auditing
Modify
Change
Auditing
View HTTP
Server
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_MODIFY_MAX_LINES_PER_CAMPAIGN
When granted, enables the Campaign Execution Panel for a
campaign entry. Users who have this right can control the running state of a campaign, whether it runs in accordance with a schedule, or in a manually operated state. Users can also recycle the contact list, recycle the campaign, and test to ensure that campaign settings are valid. When not granted, these controls are disabled.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_VIEW_CAMPAIGN_STATUS
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_MODIFY_CAMPAIGN_STATUS
Grants right to view Configuration Change Auditing settings under
Global Dialer Settings. These settings are disabled if the user does not have this right. The Configuration Change Auditing feature tracks configuration changes made using Dialer Manager, or an
API such as IceLib.Configuration.Dialer.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_VIEW_CHANGE_AUDITING
Grants right to modify Configuration Change Auditing settings
under Global Dialer Settings. When enabled, auditing tracks configuration changes made.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_MODIFY_CHANGE_AUDITING
Grants right to view HTTP Server settings under Global Dialer
Settings. These settings are used to stream data in and out of a contact list table.
Options on the HTTP Server tab are disabled when this right is not granted.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_VIEW_HTTP_SERVER
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Modify HTTP
Server
View
Outbound
Dialer Servers
Modify
Outbound
Dialer Servers
View Phone
Number
Types
Modify
Phone
Grants right to modify HTTP Server settings under Global Dialer
Settings. These settings are used to stream data in and out of a contact list table.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_MODIFY_HTTP_SERVER
Grants right to view the Outbound Dialer Servers tab under Global
Dialer Settings. The user can see which ODS server has been selected to send notifications and e-mails when errors or outages occur. When this right is not granted, options on the tab are disabled.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_VIEW_OUTBOUND_DIALER_SERVERS
Grants right to modify settings on the Outbound Dialer Servers tab
under Global Dialer Settings. The user can designate an ODS server to send notifications and e-mails when errors or outages occur, and can set threshold values for individual ODS servers, including Maximum Calls and Maximum Call Rate.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_MODIFY_OUTBOUND_DIALER_SERVERS
Grants right to view the Phone Number Types tab under Global
Dialer Settings. Types are user-defined strings that can be associated with contact columns to identify a type of telephone number. Examples of phone number types might be "Work",
"Home", or "Cell".
When this right is not granted, options on the tab are disabled.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_VIEW_PHONE_NUMBER_TYPES
Grants right to modify Phone Number Types under Global Dialer
Settings. Types are user-defined strings that can be associated
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Interaction
Dialer –
Policy/Rule
Sets
Number
Types with contact columns to identify a type of telephone number.
Examples of phone number types might be "Work", "Home", or
"Cell".
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CONFIGURATION_MODIFY_PHONE_NUMBER_TYPES
View/Modify
Data
Connections
Grants right to view and modify Database Connections in Dialer
Manager. When this right is not granted, Database Connection options are disabled.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_VIEW_MODIFY_DATABASE_CONNECTIONS
View/Modify
DNC Sources
Grants right to view and modify the DNC Sources view in Dialer
Manger. A DNC Source provides a list of telephone numbers that should not be dialed. When this right is not granted, DNC options are disabled.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_VIEW_MODIFY_DNC_SOURCES
View/Modify
Time Zone
Map Data
View/Modify
Custom
Handler
Actions
Grants right to view and modify the Timezone Map Data view in
Dialer Manger. A time zone map is a file that associates the initial digits of a phone number (area code and exchange in North
America, for example) with a time zone. When this right is not granted, options on the view are disabled.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_VIEW_AUTOMATIC_TIMEZONE_MAPPING
I3_ATTR_DIALER_CAMPAIGNS_MODIFY_AUTOMATIC_TIMEZONE_MAPPING
Grants right to run the Dialer_RuleActionEvent handler by setting up a Rule Action or Policy Behavior. A user who does not have this right cannot modify settings that configure a Run Handler rule action.
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
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Related Topics
View/Modify
Event Log
I3_ATTR_DIALER_RULE_SETS_VIEW_ACTION_TYPE_CUSTOM_HANDLER
I3_ATTR_DIALER_RULE_SETS_MODIFY_ACTION_TYPE_CUSTOM_HANDLER
I3_ATTR_DIALER_POLICY_SETS_VIEW_CUSTOM_HANDLER
I3_ATTR_DIALER_POLICY_SETS_MODIFY_CUSTOM_HANDLER
Grants right to configure Rule Set Actions or Policy Set Behaviors
that write an event log entry .
This right can be inherited from the Supervisor role.
I3_ATTR_DIALER_RULE_SETS_VIEW_EVENT_LOG
I3_ATTR_DIALER_RULE_SETS_MODIFY_EVENT_LOG
I3_ATTR_DIALER_POLICY_SETS_VIEW_EVENT_LOG
I3_ATTR_DIALER_POLICY_SETS_MODIFY_EVENT_LOG
Setting Security Rights
To set Security Rights:
1. Open a user, role, or workgroup configuration record in Interaction Administrator.
2. Select the Security tab.
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3. Click the Security Rights button. The Security Rights dialog appears. By default, <All> categories is selected to display rights in all categories. You can optionally locate rights by typing in the Search box.
4. Select Application from the Category drop down and scroll down to the Interaction Dialer section.
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5. Select the check box for each security right you wish to assign.
6. Click Close to dismiss the Security Rights dialog.
7. Click Apply to save changes to the configuration.
8. Click OK to dismiss the configuration dialog.
Related Topics
Best Practices
Configuration —tips to make configuring Dialer easier and more effective.
Pacing —tips for decreasing idle time.
Customer Experience —optimizing the experience of the people you call.
Dialer Efficiency —decreasing the load and increasing the capacity of Dialer.
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Common Mistakes —practices to avoid.
Interaction Dialer can greatly increase the efficiency of outbound call centers if it is used effectively and correctly. This section highlights recommended practices that are useful to the effective and efficient operation of Interaction Dialer, learned by Interactive Intelligence staff working with many customers and partners over time.
Configuration
This section contains tips and best practices for managing Dialer configurations. Dialer settings are managed using
Interaction Dialer Manager (IDM), a plug-in that adds Dialer's containers to Interaction Administrator.
New configuration objects inherit default settings that you should customize
When a new configuration object is created in Interaction Dialer Manager, its initial values are inherited from current values in the default entry for that object type. For example, when a new Campaign is created, its abandon rate settings and all other values are initialized to values retrieved from the [Campaign Defaults] entry.
The available default entries are: [Default Connection] and [Campaign Defaults].
Square brackets signify a default entry, which is always the first item in each list of entries. Any settings configured in a default entry are automatically assigned to new entries added later. You cannot delete or rename a default entry.
The views that provide default entries are: Database Connections, Stage Sets, Rule Sets, Campaigns, Policy Sets, and
Zone Sets.
If you edit a default entry and change an attribute, subsequent new entries inherit its settings. Updating a Default entry does not affect existing entries at all. Think of default entries as templates for newly created objects. This feature is very powerful, since administrators can customize default settings to meet any need.
As a best practice, set default entries to values which make sense for your environment. This serves several purposes.
It saves time when creating new campaigns. It maximizes consistency and minimizes the opportunity for an error in settings. This is especially important for Campaign objects.
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The default entry for a Campaign object.
Configuration
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Copy and Paste
Dialer Manager users can copy and paste configuration entries. These operations make it possible to duplicate a campaign, policy set, or rule set, for example.
As a best practice, save Dialer objects as baseline templates for further customization. For example, use the copy command to clone a well-proven Campaign that is customized for the goals of your contact center. This duplicates established configurations with a minimum of effort, and saves settings than are more goal-specific than is practical to include in default entries. This saves time, improves consistency, and reduces error.
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Automation with Rules
In Dialer, rules are executed for a campaign based on changes in statistics, time, or events. Rules are a powerful method for automating the management of Dialer.
As a best practice, if your team manually changes a campaign setting at different times of the day based on time, circumstance, or event (e.g. call list recycling), consider automating that change. Automation reduces effort and enhances consistency. Examples of rules-based automation include:
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• Changing the dialing mode to Power when there are fewer than 15 active agents on the campaign. The companion rule to this changes the dialing mode to Predictive when there are more than 15 active agents.
• Modifying the sort or filter criteria on a campaign based on time of day.
• Recycling a list automatically at specific times in the day.
• Turn off maximum recycles for a campaign, and use a rule instead, to automatically stop the campaign and start another one after a desired number of successful calls.
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Configuration Change Auditing
Dialer configuration changes take effect immediately in most cases. Since modifications can have a huge impact on the success of an outbound operation, it is wise to turn enable configuration change auditing in Dialer. This will create a log of the changes that were made, who made them and when they occurred. It is especially important to use this feature when more than one person can make changes to Dialer. The Dialer configuration change history collected in the audit table.
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Pacing
Dialer automatically modifies the pace of outbound dialing to keep logged-in agents busy without placing too many calls. This function is called pacing. Dialer's pacing algorithm maintains a balance between two goals:
• Minimize idle time—the time agents wait between calls.
• Minimize abandoned calls—calls that connect to live speakers when no agents are available to talk to the person.
The more agents that are logged in to a predictive or power campaign, the more efficient that campaign will be and the less idle time there should be, assuming there are enough lines and other resources available to dial.
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Blending
Because Dialer leverages CIC's ACD to deliver live speakers to agents, Dialer inherently blends inbound and outbound calls. Agents can receive calls from multiple inbound queues while receiving outbound calls generated by Dialer.
Dialer automatically sets aside a percentage of agents to handle inbound calls based on the recent history of non-
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Dialer (inbound) calls that agents have been taking. This can be turned off if desired, so that no agents are reserved for inbound calls.
Typically, inbound calls take precedence over outbound dialing in a blended environment. In collections, inbound calls are often called "money calls" as they are someone who wants to pay. When a blended agent becomes available, the ACD first decides if there are any interactions appropriate for that agent. If there are none, the agent goes idle and Dialer adds the agent to its pool of idle agents.
On the Skills and ACD tab in the Campaign configuration in Interaction Administrator, inbound workgroups can be specified for monitoring by Dialer. If the volume in one or more of these workgroups exceeds a specified maximum,
Dialer will slow down dialing to allow for these calls to be handled by the blended agents.
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Understanding Abandons
The definition of an outbound abandoned call varies depending on the application and country location of Dialer.
Compliance rules for dialers vary throughout the world.
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Dialer provides the ability to define what is considered an abandoned call and how abandoned calls affect pacing. The best practice here is to understand the regulations specific to your industry, making sure that Dialer is compliant with those, and at the same time not over-calculating the abandons.
The Abandons tab for a campaign entry sets abandon rate as a percentage, based on calls placed, total contacts reached, or a ratio of call analysis detections. Settings on the Abandon Rate Pacing Adjustment expander affect how abandoned calls affect pacing. Settings on the Abandon Call Definition expander define what is considered an abandoned call.
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Settings that affect pace and number of calls placed per agent
Dialer's pacing algorithm is constantly adjusting the calls per agent value to reflect how many calls should be in progress to keep the idle agents busy while staying within the configured abandon rate limit. Important configuration settings in Dialer Manager can affect Dialer's pacing and use of the calls per agent value that Dialer is calculating:
• Max Lines per Campaign on the Campaign > Basic Configuration tab puts a ceiling on the actual number of calls that Dialer can place per campaign. For example, if the Max Lines per Campaign value is set to 25 and Dialer's pacing algorithm feels it should place 35 calls to keep the agents busy, Dialer will respect the setting and only place 25 calls.
This can translate into longer idle times. So, if you are experiencing too much idle time between calls, check this value.
As a best practice, Max Lines per Campaign should be set to a high value (not exceeding the number of lines available to IC) unless there is a specific reason to set it lower.
• Initial Calls per Agent on the Campaign > Basic Configuration tab tells Dialer's pacing algorithm where to start the calls per agent value when a campaign starts. If this value is set to 1, the Dialer will start by placing 1 call for each idle agent and will slowly adjust the value up to the appropriate place based on results. If Dialer eventually adjusts the value to 5 calls per agent from 1 initially, agents will experience higher idle times to start until Dialer can adjust.
If you have experience with a campaign's previous run, it is a best practice to set the Initial Calls per Agent value to the experienced steady state value for the campaign to reduce campaign startup idle time. The steady state value correlates to the connect rate (i.e., 10% connect rate = 10 calls per agent | 5% connect rate = 20 calls per agent | etc.).
Set the value of Initial Calls per Agent equal to, or just below the average connect rate equivalent.
Global Dialer Settings that affect Pacing
Two additional settings, set from the Advanced Dialer > Global Dialer Settings > Outbound Dialer Servers tab, can have significant impact on Dialer's ability to keep agents busy:
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• Maximum Calls governs the maximum concurrent calls that all Dialer campaigns running on a server will have connected or dialing. The purpose of this parameter is to limit the Dialer's line usage if there are other line needs (e.g. inbound). The minimum value of this setting should be the maximum number of calls that the system can handle.
Make sure that the value is adjusted if more lines are added for Dialer's use. Not managing this value correctly can impact Dialer's ability to keep agents busy.
• Maximum Call Rate governs the maximum number of calls that Dialer can place per second. In a SIP environment, Dialer can support more than 40 calls per second. Increasing the allowable rate will help performance during dialing peaks. Unless you are certain that your Dialer configuration can support higher throughput, it is a good idea to verify a higher setting for this parameter with your vendor or Interactive Intelligence support before making a change. If this setting is too high, it could inhibit Dialer's ability to keep agents busy and could increase idle time.
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Customer Experience
The concepts and best practices in this section relate to the called person's experience with saying "hello" and being connected to an agent as well as getting requested callbacks at the appropriate time.
The Scheduled Calls dialog
Accessed from the Contact Lists, Scheduled Calls tab on the Interaction Dialer configuration dialog, it is a best practice to be aware of and use the Schedule Call interface.
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This view has multiple uses, including:
• Re-assign agent-owned callbacks to other agents
• Remove campaign-wide callbacks
• Move callbacks to another time
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SIP Line configuration
In a SIP Dialer configuration, there can be a perceived delay between the time the caller completes his or her greeting and the agent is connected to the call. This delay can have significant impact on live speakers connections. In general, it is recommended that TCP be used with SIP lines configured for Dialer. If UDP is used, it is recommended that the
Reinvite Delay be reduced from its default value of 750 to 50 ms for Dialer configurations.
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Converting Callbacks
Dialer supports agent-owned callbacks, which are callbacks destined for a specific agent. If that agent is not available when the time for a callback arrives, the contact will not receive the call at the desired time. If possible, it is best practice to use Dialer's ability to convert agent-owned callbacks to campaign-wide callbacks after a few attempts (e.g.
3) and a relatively brief reschedule delay (e.g. 5 minutes). This feature is configured and turned on using the
Campaign Recall Control tab.
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Dialer Efficiency
There are often multiple ways to do similar things in Dialer. Using the most efficient method will make Dialer and CIC more efficient and capable of supporting more agents, calls, and other processing. This section highlights some important considerations for Dialer efficiency.
When to use Filters vs. Policies
Filters are applied to the campaign's specified call list on the database server using a SQL WHERE clause. Policies are applied by Dialer per contact retrieved from the call list. As a best practice, use a filter to restrict which records to dial instead of a policy's "Do Not Dial" behavior if at all possible.
To better understand the impact of using a filter vs. a policy for this purpose, consider a 100,000 record call list in which only 40,000 records will be dialed because of restrictions. If those restrictions are applied by a filter, only
40,000 records will be retrieved from the database for Dialer. If a policy is used instead, all 100,000 records must be
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Goal
Don't Dial Texas
Policy
If state = ‘TX', don't dial.
Filter state <> ‘TX'
Don't Dial Area Code 317 If areacode = ‘317', don't dial. areacode <> ‘317'… or… HomePhone not Like
‘317%'
Don't Re-Try Fax
Machines
If i3_attemptsfax > 0, don't dial. i3_attemptsfax = 0
Examples of using a filter instead of a policy.
Minimize Policy Handler Use
be expensive in terms of Dialer/CIC processing, especially if the handler does database access or otherwise interacts with outside systems. If possible, consider other ways to deliver the same capability without handlers if possible such as:
• Pre-process the call list prior to loading
• Add columns to the call list that can be used in policies without handlers
• Using existing Dialer capabilities (e.g. skills-based dialing, contact exclusion API)
• When the Bulk Call API is used, pre-call custom handler policies are ignored by Dialer.
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Default Handlers installed on the Outbound Dialer Server
The handlers installed with Dialer on the Outbound Dialer Server include:
• Custom_DialerCustomHandlerRuleActionEvent.ihd
• Custom_DialerPreCallRuleActionEvent.ihd
• Dialer_AgentCallWrapUp.ihd
• Dialer_FaxMessageRequest.ihd
• Dialer_RuleActionEvent.ihd
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No Answer Time Out
The No Answer Time Out value on the Campaign > Basic Configuration tab controls when Dialer gives up on a call which has not answered. In the US, answering machines most commonly answer after the 4th ring and each ring cycle takes 6 seconds with the first ring often occurring in less than 6 seconds. So a value of 20 to 23 seconds for the No
Answer Time Out will give the called party the most amount of time to answer without connecting to many answering machines. If a campaign does not leave messages on answering machines, it is best practice to set the No Answer
Time Out to a value less than 24 seconds. Connecting to an answering machine can increase long distance charges for no purpose if messages are not being left.
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Auto-scheduling
Dialer allows calls to be automatically rescheduled based on the result of the call. This is configured on the Campaign
Recall Control tab. In general, it is a best practice to only autoschedule "busy" result calls. Autoscheduling answering machines does not make sense in most cases. Auto-scheduling too many calls can cause Dialer to become consumed making auto-scheduled calls to numbers already attempted instead of further penetrating the call list.
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Common Mistakes
This section covers a few of the more common mistakes made in configuring or using Dialer.
No database operations against active Contact List tables
Customers are advised not to run queries or other database operations against any contact list table that is in use by
Dialer. This will cause performance problems.
Dialer Server Parameters
Several important Dialer server parameters that should be set by the install and that should typically not be changed.
If there are problems with Dialer, verify the values of these parameters. If they do not appear to have the right values, contact your reseller or Interactive Intelligence support to verify. The server parameters are:
• Dialer Sitename: for a CIC switch-over pair, the value of Sitename should be the same for both servers in the pair.
Note that when CCS Switchover is utilized, a parameter named "Dialer Campaign Server Backup" will be created.
• Dialer Support: Should be set to 1 if Dialer is installed.
• Dialer Campaign Server: should be the name of the Central Campaign server that manages your Outbound
Dialer servers.
Sorting – Geography, Indexes
In general, it is not a good idea to sort a call list by anything related to specific geography. For example, sorting by phone number or zip code can have a negative impact on idle time. Sorting by specific geography introduces the potential for large variability in contact rates between areas. For example, if it is raining in one area, more people will be inside. The smoother the contact rate, the less opportunity there is for error.
As a best practice, sort by attempts ascending plus other appropriate non-geographic values such as balance or date contact added. Especially for large call lists, it is important that appropriate database indexes be created on the columns included in the sort criteria. The same is true of columns used in a campaign's filter – include appropriate indexes on the columns involved.
Zone Codes
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Time zone codes used in the call list must match the actual values configured in the Zone Set used with the campaign.
Zone codes are case sensitive. If Dialer does not find a match for the zone code used for a contact or phone number, the "[Default Zone]" value is used.
Unless the Default Zone is defined restrictively—as the times when all other zones are callable, its use when not intended can cause dialing outside of legal or conventionally appropriate time ranges. As a best practice, use the
Timezone Overview Supervisor view in IC Business Manager to see if records fall into the Default Zone. Then look into why those records aren't matching a valid zone.
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How to restart Dialer subsystems
There are certain instances where Dialer may get into a "Bad State" and the best recovery method that does not require restarting the CCS or ODS servers is to cycle the main Dialer subsystems. This should only be done when no agents are logged into Dialer and its Campaigns have been set to Manual Off. Following this procedure should result in minimal Dialer downtime, generally 1-3 minutes.
1. Logon to Interaction Administrator.
2. Select to the Campaigns container.
3. For each Campaign that is not already in a Manual Off status, click Stop. Then click Save. Repeat until all campaigns are in a Manual Off status.
4. Close Interaction Administrator.
5. Open IC System Manager on your Outbound Dialer Server. The shortcut is Start > All Programs > Interactive
Intelligence > IC System Manager.
6. Right-click DialerServer. Then select Stop Subsystem from the shortcut menu.
7. Click Yes to confirm that you wish to stop DialerServer. Performing a memory dump is optional, but takes extra time.
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8. Right-click DialerStatRepeater. Then select Stop Subsystem from the shortcut menu.
9. Click Yes to confirm that you want to stop DialerStatRepeater.
At this point, both subsystems should have a red status arrow in the leftmost column, indicating that that they are stopped.
10. Leave IC System Manager open.
11. Go to the Central Campaign Server. Then logon to the CCS.
12. Start the Services applet by selecting Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools > Services.
13. Scroll down to Interaction Center. Right click Interaction Center and select "Restart".
Be VERY sure you are doing this on the CCS and not the CIC/ODS.
14. Once the service has been restarted, switch back to the ODS/CIC Server.
15. In IC System Manager, right-click DialerServer
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16. Select Restart Subsystem from the shortcut menu. Then click Yes to confirm a restart of the service.
17. Once started, right click DialerStatRepeater.
18. Click Restart Subsystem. Click Yes to confirm a restart.
19. Once both services are started (wait for green up arrows), close IC System Manager.
20. Start Interaction Administrator.
21. Use the Campaign view in Interaction Dialer Manager to start campaigns that were stopped in step 3.
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Copyright and Trademark Information
Interactive Intelligence, Interactive Intelligence Customer Interaction Center, Interaction Administrator, Interaction Attendant, Interaction Client, Interaction
Designer, Interaction Tracker, Interaction Recorder, ION, Interaction Mobile Office, Interaction Optimizer, and the “Spirograph” logo design are registered trademarks of Interactive Intelligence, Inc. Interactive Intelligence Group, Inc., Interaction Center Platform, Interaction Monitor, Customer Interaction
Center, EIC, Interaction Fax Viewer, Interaction Server, Interaction Voicemail Player, Interactive Update, Interaction Supervisor, Interaction Migrator, and
Interaction Screen Recorder are trademarks of Interactive Intelligence, Inc. The foregoing products are ©1997-2015 Interactive Intelligence, Inc. All rights reserved.
Interaction Dialer and Interaction Scripter are registered trademarks of Interactive Intelligence, Inc. The foregoing products are ©2000-2015 Interactive
Intelligence, Inc. All rights reserved.
Messaging Interaction Center and MIC are trademarks of Interactive Intelligence, Inc. The foregoing products are ©2001-2015 Interactive Intelligence,
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Interaction Director is a registered trademarks of Interactive Intelligence, Inc. e-FAQ Knowledge Manager, Interaction FAQ, and Interaction Marquee are trademarks of Interactive Intelligence, Inc. The foregoing products are ©2002-2015 Interactive Intelligence, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Revisions
This topic summarizes changes in Interaction Dialer Manager.
Interaction Dialer 2016 R1
Updated documentation and screen shots to reflect new logo and color scheme.
Interaction Dialer 2015 R4
ability to Deactivate a Switchover.
environment with a CCS Switchover event occurs.
on the Central Campaign Server.
4. Added details concerning the use of existing Custom Stored Procedures (SPROCs).
agent-owned callback.
6. Added information describing the new I3_SUBSTATUS column in the PND table.
to determine what Predefined Actions a users can see and perform in the Data Query section of a Contact
List.
8. Added information describing that if the contact list has more than 500 records, users will now be prompted
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for international telephone numbers. More specifically, the number can be prefixed with a + (plus sign) to indicate that the number includes an international country calling code
10. Added information explaining that if you create a custom wrap-up category or a custom wrap-up code,
those columns in the CallHistory table will contain a GUID that is associated with the display name.
for a standard Cisco PBX.
12. Reorganized and updated the Rule Sets view topic and its sub-topics
Interaction Dialer 2015 R3
1. A new column called RuleGroupID was added to the CallHistory table
2. Two new Call History tables containing additional details related to the RuleGroupID have been added:
better accommodate and portray new and existing messages.
making it clearer that filters are independent from a contact list.
Interaction Dialer 2015 R2
1. Added information about the new Manual Calling
feature and its separate Features license .
2. A new message pertaining to the Manual Calling feature can appear in Dialer Health View.
3. A new column that identifies a Manual Calling Server now appears Global Dialer Settings .
4. A new column called previewtimerinit was added to the CallHistory table .
Delay Campaign Transition Login that you can use to alter how Interaction Dialer functions.
Interaction Dialer 2015 R1
1. Updated documentation to reflect changes required in the transition from version 4.0 SU# to Interaction
Dialer 2015 R1, such as updates to product version numbers, system requirements, installation procedures, references to Interactive Intelligence Product Information site URLs, and copyright and trademark information.
Interaction Dialer 4.0 Service Update 3
substitution is performed. Previously the documentation stated incorrectly that it returned the current time of the Central Campaign Server.
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Outlook installed. If neither product is installed, import of Excel .xlsx files will fail with this message:
"The Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 provider is not registered on the local machine"
To resolve this problem without installing Office or Outlook, install the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010
Redistributable, from this web address: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255 .
each call. Instead, data about penetrated calls is accumulated in RAM and written to the _PEN table 100 records at a time per database connection. This improves performance by reducing the number of round trips to the database, eliminating the overhead of individual RDMS transactions.
When call volume is low, fewer than 100 records are written. A scheduled job is triggered every two minutes to ensure that calls older than 5 minutes are flushed to the database. As a consequence, calls in RAM can never be older than 7 minutes.
DNC.com. When enabled, information about contact numbers is exchanged without exposing information to third parties. Previously http was the only supported protocol.
5. Should the primary CCS server fail for any reason, it is now possible for a secondary Central Campaign Server to
Switchover in the Interaction Dialer Installation Guide.
6. A new "Supervisor can override the agent right to logon/logoff all campaigns" option on the General tab of the
security right to different campaigns, or to simply log them on to additional campaigns, overriding the restriction imposed by the security right while still allowing agents to specify which campaign they wish to start with.
7. The Rule Sets user interface was modified to place controls for configuring Rules and Groups on separate tabs.
Previously, these were expanders on a Details tab. Instead of having to double click a rule to see its details, highlighting a rule entry displays the details in the bottom half of the window. When a rule is selected, rule conditions,
8. Previously, Dialer Manager did not provide a means to write custom values to any column in the database in a bulk fashion. A new predefined action named "Bulk Action" was added to the Data Query tab for a Contact List configuration. The feature allows users to select contacts based on a filter, and write into the database directly by updating a particular column based on the selected records. See Predefined Actions on the Data Query tab of a
Campaign entry.
9. The Filter selection for the Contact List in Dialer configuration will now allow for server-side filtering. This means that typing into the "filter" box will find items that are not currently in the list due to maximum length limitations.
10. Dialer now generates a Contact Column Details (CCD) table for each contact list in use. This table represents the
Contact Column Details Table Schema .
11. Added new supervisory views to IC Business Manager. The new views are:
Dialer Real-time Agent Management
This view makes it easier for Call Center Supervisors to move or remove logged on Agents from a Campaign if they are logged on without Login Campaign Security rights.
Detailed information about Dialer penetration rates.
Displays Phone Number Type summary statistics for the site, campaign and interval selected.
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Displays overview statistics for Stages for a specific Dialer campaign, site and agent.
Shows wrap-up category statistics in a chart.
Shows wrap-up code statistics in a chart.
Displays callable records grouped by time zone.
This view displays a rollup of campaigns, their status. It allows an administrator to start, stop, pause, recycle, or reset a campaign, or alter the campaign's priority.
12. Added a new security right in Interaction Administrator for Interaction Dialer called: "Lock Policy Sets". It determines whether or not a user can check the "Locked" checkbox option for a Dialer policy object, preventing it from being modified, removed, or unlocked by anyone who does not have the "Lock Policy Sets" security right.
Once a policy is locked, users who do not have this right can view the policy but they cannot remove or edit it until the lock is removed. Locked policies can be assigned to a campaign, but they cannot be removed from a campaign except by users who have the "Lock Policy Sets" security right.
A padlock icon next to a Policy Set indicates that the current user either does not have permission to this object, or it is a locked policy. Once a locked policy set is saved on a campaign, it can only be removed by a user with the "Lock
Policy Sets" security right.
Interaction Dialer 4.0 Service Update 2
configured to force a call to be placed if the agent does not dial the contact within a configurable number of seconds.
When this option is not set, agents on preview calls can sit idle on preview pop as long as they wish.
This feature makes it possible to limit preview time without having to code time limits in a custom script. The system will fire an event to the client (Scripter or custom client) and the call will be placed. There is no need to alter custom clients to pick up this functionality.
A countdown timer is visible to agents using base scripts. Agents cannot stop a countdown, but they can skip preview calls as before, if the script provides a Preview Skip option.
At the contact automation level, a policy can override the preview timeout value. For example, a contact might be so
At the campaign automation level, a new Change Preview Timeout rule action allows preview timeout to be enabled
or disabled. See Enable Preview Countdown under Assignable Campaign Properties .
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2. New tables were added to manage penetration rate reporting data. Customers can use this data to create custom
penetration rate reports. For details, see Penetration Rate Report Data and
Penetration Rate Tables ERD in this document. For information about the penetration rate API for C++, see Get Penetration Data and Get Penetration Rate in IceLib.Dialer documentation.
3. A new policy disposition behavior can be used to query against a custom PND column. It invokes a stored procedure (sproc) in the call list database to perform a logical operation of some sort, such as altering records in the call list database or altering entries in custom columns. The procedure accepts two optional character strings for
custom information. See Custom Stored Procedure behavior type .
For background information about PND enhancements (such as custom PND columns for example) refer to the
Interaction Dialer 4.0 SU2 Release Notes.
4. Using the Policy Sets user interface, you can now access custom PND columns for the purpose of setting a policy condition. To do this, add a Policy Condition and set the Condition Type to "Phone Number Details". Then select
"Custom" from the Phone Number Detail list.
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At this point, you can select a custom PND column, and configure evaluation type, operator, value, and test a regular
expression value. See also: Phone Number Details Condition Type
and Setting Phone Number Details to Custom .
5. The configuration of sorts and filters for a campaign were moved to a new tab named Contact List. This tab also provides the means to identify contact columns. In other words, the Campaigns entry now has a Contact List tab.
6. New query-time filters at the campaign level provide the option to query columns from the PND table as well as
the contact list table. See Phone Number Filters on the Contact List tab of a Campaign.
7. Previously, there was a 30 character limit on the base script disposition. The size of this field was increased to store
100 characters.
8. A new [ContactPNDAttribute:?] macro allows custom Data Policy behaviors to retrieve the active contact's phone
number details attribute value. See Custom Data Behavior Type .
Revisions topic of Interaction Dialer Release Notes.
object so that it cannot be modified, removed, or unlocked by any person who does not have Master Administrator rights. This is accomplished by checking the "Locked" check box for a policy in Interaction Dialer Manager. Once a policy has been locked, users who are not Master Administrators can view the policy but they cannot remove or edit it until a Master Administrator removes the lock. Locked policies cannot be removed from a campaign. Dialer Manager users can configure campaigns to use locked policies that they have access to, but once the campaign is saved, the locked policy can only be removed by a Master Administrator.
also listed. Adding [Any] group to the rule will cause the rule to be evaluated regardless of which group is currently active.
12. Added a new Call Dialing Mode condition type for policy objects. This pre-call condition type allows a policy to evaluate the dialing mode used to dial the contact. This is used primarily to determine if the call was placed as a non-
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13. Previously, if a policy set had more than one policy, the user interface did not clearly indicate other policies in the policy set if any policy other than the first policy in the list was selected. The Policy Sets user interface was updated to display all the policies within a policy set clearly, so that selecting any policy does not obscure the others. Policy details were moved to their own grid on the policy set.
14. Rules can now assign a subset of contact columns from those defined on the Contact List to be dialed by a campaign. Rules can also change the order in which contact columns are dialed. To set this up: a. Add a new Rule. b. Under Actions, set Assign Contact Columns to Set campaign property. c. Set Property to Contact Columns. d. When prompted, select a Contact List. e. Move contact columns in or out of the Selected Items list. f. Click OK. g. Use the Up and Down buttons to reorder contact columns in the list, if desired.
See the Contact Columns property under Assignable Campaign Properties .
15. A new "Customize Contact Columns" option allows a campaign to use either its associated contact list's contact columns as they are defined on the contact list, or a customized list of contact columns (a partial list or by changing
the order of the columns. See Contact List Tab .
16. Priority Dialing settings were moved to the Contact List tab for a Campaign.
into different campaigns.
Dialer call disconnects but has not been dispositioned yet. A typical selection might be "Follow Up". The rule can
rule action, select Follow Up Status from the list of Assignable Campaign Properties .
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In this execution state, Dialer places only calls that were rescheduled by agents. Priority dials are still made, but no regular calls are placed. This mode ignores the campaign schedule, if one is assigned. Auto-scheduled calls are not placed in this mode.
20. All do-not-call configurations are scrubbed regardless of whether they are being used in a campaign or not, or if the campaign is active or not.
Interaction Dialer 4.0 Service Update 1
1. Interaction Dialer no longer supports the option to "log history updates as .csv files on outbound dialing servers".
The checkbox for this option was removed from the Global Dialer Setting view.
"Campaign Paused" and "Campaign Unpaused".
each Outbound Dialer server to record which user changed an object, and the properties of the object that changed. Auditing is a system-wide setting, meaning that auditing is either "on" or "off" for all servers. Auditing is disabled by default.
4. Fixed a bug that could cause a new campaign to reference an invalid recycle table. Newly created campaigns are assigned properties based on those of the default campaign object . Previously, the recycle table property was included in this behavior erroneously. New campaigns are now always saved without a recycle table assigned so that the system may create a new table and assign it to the campaign later.
5. Support was added for configuration change auditing. When enabled, auditing tracks all configuration changes made using Dialer Manager, or an API such as IceLib.Configuration.Dialer. Auditing authorizes each Outbound Dialer server to record which user changed an object, and the properties of the object that changed. Auditing is a systemwide setting, meaning that auditing is either "on" or "off" for all servers. Auditing is disabled by default. Auditing
Configuration Change Auditing tab .
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6. Customers can now export their Dialer_Config.xml file directly to a Development server, and import sections of
Configuration view in Interaction Dialer Manager.
7. The Date/Time control used in base scripts is now based on a JavaScript date/time picker. Due to localization issues, it was necessary to eliminate the old ActiveX picker control, which offered options for formatting the display of dates. The new control no longer offers time formatting options, so related user interface selections were removed
from the Page Controls expander .
8. Additional supervisory views are available in IC Business Manager:
• Agent Overview displays statistical information for Dialer Agents broken down by Dialer campaigns.
• Skill Overview displays statistics broken down by skill per each Dialer campaign.
Dialer calls unless they are transferred to an Outbound Attendant profile. Only interactions which are transferred to
Attendant have Dialer attributes assigned to them.
Contacts. By default, when Priority contacts are pulled into Dialer they are added to the end of Dialer's existing cache of Priority contacts. When new server parameter Dialer Prepend Priority Contacts is enabled by giving it a value of 1,
Dialer adds each batch of Priority contacts to the front of its existing cache of Priority contacts.
Interaction Dialer 4.0 GA
This document was written for Dialer 4.0 GA, so there were no revisions from a previous release. This topic will be updated to describe changes made in service updates.
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