Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions

Transcription

1 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) May 2007 Americas Headquarters Cisco Systems, Inc. 170 West Tasman Drive San Jose, CA USA Tel: NETS (6387) Fax:

2 THE SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRODUCTS IN THIS MANUAL ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL STATEMENTS, INFORMATION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS MANUAL ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE BUT ARE PRESENTED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USERS MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR APPLICATION OF ANY PRODUCTS. THE SOFTWARE LICENSE AND LIMITED WARRANTY FOR THE ACCOMPANYING PRODUCT ARE SET FORTH IN THE INFORMATION PACKET THAT SHIPPED WITH THE PRODUCT AND ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY THIS REFERENCE. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE SOFTWARE LICENSE OR LIMITED WARRANTY, CONTACT YOUR CISCO REPRESENTATIVE FOR A COPY. The Cisco implementation of TCP header compression is an adaptation of a program developed by the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) as part of UCB s public domain version of the UNIX operating system. All rights reserved. Copyright 1981, Regents of the University of California. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER WARRANTY HEREIN, ALL DOCUMENT FILES AND SOFTWARE OF THESE SUPPLIERS ARE PROVIDED AS IS WITH ALL FAULTS. CISCO AND THE ABOVE-NAMED SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE. IN NO EVENT SHALL CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR LOSS OR DAMAGE TO DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS MANUAL, EVEN IF CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. CCVP, the Cisco Logo, and the Cisco Square Bridge logo are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc.; Changing the Way We Work, Live, Play, and Learn is a service mark of Cisco Systems, Inc.; and Access Registrar, Aironet, BPX, Catalyst, CCDA, CCDP, CCIE, CCIP, CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, Cisco, the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert logo, Cisco IOS, Cisco Press, Cisco Systems, Cisco Systems Capital, the Cisco Systems logo, Cisco Unity, Enterprise/Solver, EtherChannel, EtherFast, EtherSwitch, Fast Step, Follow Me Browsing, FormShare, GigaDrive, HomeLink, Internet Quotient, IOS, iphone, IP/TV, iq Expertise, the iq logo, iq Net Readiness Scorecard, iquick Study, LightStream, Linksys, MeetingPlace, MGX, Networking Academy, Network Registrar, Packet, PIX, ProConnect, RateMUX, ScriptShare, SlideCast, SMARTnet, StackWise, The Fastest Way to Increase Your Internet Quotient, and TransPath are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document or Website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0704R) Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses. Any examples, command display output, and figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental. Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions 2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

3 CONTENTS About This Guide vii Purpose vii Audience vii Organization vii Conventions ix Other Publications ix Obtaining Documentation ix Cisco.com ix Product Documentation DVD x Ordering Documentation x Documentation Feedback x Cisco Product Security Overview x Reporting Security Problems in Cisco Products Product Alerts and Field Notices xi Obtaining Technical Assistance xii Cisco Support Website xii Submitting a Service Request xiii Definitions of Service Request Severity xiii Obtaining Additional Publications and Information xi xiii CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1-1 ICM Software Overview 1-2 Features 1-3 About Cisco Internet Protocol Contact Center (IPCC Enterprise) Compatible Dialer 1-3 About Campaign Management 1-4 About ICM Software Management of Skill Groups 1-4 Dedicated and Blended Dialing Modes 1-4 About Outbound Option Dialing Modes 1-4 Preview Mode 1-4 Predictive Mode 1-5 Progressive Mode 1-5 About Outbound Option Activity Reports 1-6 About Personal Callback 1-6 About Call Progress Analysis (CPA) 1-7 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) i

4 Contents About Transfer to IVR 1-7 About Sequential Dialing 1-7 Sequential Dialing Order 1-8 About Cisco IP Contact Center Agent Re-skilling 1-8 About Dynamic Routing Client 1-8 About Abandoned and Retry Call Settings 1-9 About Campaign Prefix Digits for Dialed Numbers 1-9 About Outbound Option Support on IPCC Hosted 1-10 About Outbound ECC Variables Support in Siebel and Outbound Option Components 1-10 About Campaign Manager 1-11 About Outbound Option Import 1-11 About Outbound Option Dialer 1-11 Overflow Agents 1-12 About Outbound Option Configuration Components 1-12 Outbound Option Desktop 1-12 CHAPTER 2 Outbound Option Architecture 2-1 Outbound Option Component Relationships 2-1 Query Rules and Campaigns 2-2 Contact List 2-2 Do-Not-Call List 2-2 Personal Callback List 2-3 Outbound Option Dialer Process Flow 2-5 Outbound Option Dialer Standby and Recovery Model 2-6 Starting ICM Software 2-6 Starting the Outbound Option Configuration Components 2-7 CHAPTER 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview 3-1 Getting Acquainted with the Outbound Option Configuration Components 3-2 Navigating the Outbound Option Configuration Components 3-2 Window Layout 3-2 Outbound Option Configuration Components Description 3-4 System Options 3-4 Dialer 3-4 Import Rule 3-5 How Outbound Option Works with Time Zones 3-5 Query Rule 3-5 ii Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

5 Contents Campaign 3-6 Callbacks 3-7 About Regular Callbacks 3-7 About Personal Callbacks 3-7 Configuring and Scheduling the Personal Callback Feature 3-9 Scheduling a Personal Callback 3-12 Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature 3-13 About Call Progress Analysis 3-13 Required Voice Gateway Configuration 3-13 About Silence Suppression 3-14 Disabling Silence Suppression 3-14 Using Dial Peers to Set Up the Dial Plan 3-14 Relationship Between Dial Peers and Call Legs 3-14 How to Set Up Outbound Option Call Progress Analysis 3-16 Dialer Registry Settings for Call Progress Analysis Feature 3-18 Using the Transfer to IVR Feature 3-19 Prerequisites for Outbound Option Transfer to IVR 3-19 Cisco IPCC Enterprise Features Not Supported with Cisco CVP/ISN Type 5 (Comprehensive Model) 3-19 About Outbound Option Transfer to IVR 3-24 About Partitioning IVR Ports 3-24 Transfer to IVR Call Flow 3-25 How to Set Up Outbound Option Transfer to IVR 3-26 Configuring Outbound Option Transfer to IVR 3-26 Reporting on the Outbound Option Transfer to IVR Feature 3-31 Configuring CVP/ISN with the Dynamic Routing Client 3-31 CHAPTER 4 Outbound Option Desktops 4-1 Cisco CTI Object Server (CTI OS) 4-1 Cisco CTI Toolkit (GeoDCS) 4-1 Cisco Agent Desktop (CAD) 4-2 Cisco Agent Desktop 4-2 Cisco Supervisor Desktop 4-2 Cisco Desktop Administrator 4-3 Outbound Option Extended Call Context Variables 4-3 Desktop Button Performance 4-6 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) iii

6 Contents CHAPTER 5 Sample Call Center Configuration 5-1 Sample Call Center 5-1 Servers 5-1 Dialogic Cards 5-1 Outbound Option Configuration 5-2 Topology Diagram 5-2 Configuration Instructions 5-3 Dialer Configuration 5-4 Dialer General Configuration 5-4 Dialer Port Map Configuration 5-5 Dialer Softphone Registration 5-7 General System Time Options 5-8 Import Rules 5-9 Query Rules 5-11 Campaigns 5-13 Skill Groups and Dialed Numbers 5-19 Creating Skill Groups 5-19 CHAPTER 6 Dialing Modes 6-1 Understanding Dialing Modes 6-1 Predictive Dialing 6-1 Predictive Algorithm Example 6-1 Predictive Algorithm Parameters 6-2 Preview Dialing 6-4 Progressive Dialing 6-5 Understanding Blending Options 6-6 Administrative Script 1: TimeBasedControl 6-7 Administrative Script 2: ServiceLevelControl 6-8 OutboundPercent Variable 6-8 CHAPTER 7 Outbound Option Reports 7-1 What is WebView? 7-2 Agent Reporting 7-3 Campaign Reporting 7-4 Dialer Reporting 7-5 Import Rule Reporting 7-5 Skill Group Reporting 7-6 iv Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

7 Contents APPENDIX A Troubleshooting A-1 Basic Troubleshooting Tools A-1 AlarmTracker Client A-1 Outbound Option Object A-1 Campaign Manager Object A-2 Import Object A-2 Outbound Option Dialer Collection Object A-2 Event Management System (EMS) Alarms A-2 Dialogic Global Call Test Application A-5 Event Management System (EMS) Logs A-5 Campaign Manager A-5 Outbound Option Import A-7 Outbound Option Dialer A-7 Answering Machine Detection for Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY A-8 Configuring Answering Machine Detection A-9 Outbound Option Dialer Title Bar A-9 Procmon Tool A-10 Important Dialer Procmon Commands A-10 Dumpalloc Command A-10 Important Campaign Manager Procmon Commands A-11 Dumprt Command A-12 Symptoms and Troubleshooting Actions A-13 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) A-24 Administrative Script A-24 Agents A-24 Campaigns A-25 Database Triggers A-25 Dialer Ports A-25 OutboundControl Variable A-26 APPENDIX B CTI OS Outbound Option ECC Variable Settings B-1 ECC Variables for Outbound Call Centers B-1 ECC Variables in Mixed Inbound and Outbound Call Centers B-3 APPENDIX C Dialing List Table C-1 Dialing List Table Columns C-1 CallResult Codes and Values C-3 CallStatusZone Values C-4 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) v

8 Contents APPENDIX D Termination_Call_Detail Table D-1 Peripheral Call Types D-2 Summary of Peripheral Call Types New in Release 7.x D-2 Mapping of New to Old Peripheral Call Types D-3 Peripheral Call Type and Call Disposition Values Used in the Termination_Call_Detail Table D-4 CED Column Values D-4 TCD Column Descriptions D-5 Reservation Calls D-5 IPCC Reservation Call (TCD) D-5 MR PIM Reservation Entry Not a Real Call (TCD) D-5 MR PIM Route Request (RCD - route_call_detail) D-6 Customer Calls D-6 Transfer to IVR TCD Records D-7 Initial Customer Call on CallManager PIM Transferred to Route Point D-7 Transferred Customer Call on CallManager PIM Redirected to IVR D-8 IVR Playing a Message on VRU Pim to a Customer D-8 G LOSSARY I NDEX vi Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

9 About This Guide Purpose This manual describes how to administer and use the Cisco Intelligent Contact Management (ICM)/IP Contact Center (IPCC) Outbound Option application (formerly called Blended Agent ). It also provides a sample call center scenario in this case, a campaign to handle a credit card offer is used. This document also explains how Outbound Option can be configured to support this type of campaign. The primary aim of this document is to familiarize the user with Outbound Option configuration options and how those options relate to a real call center. For detailed configuration instructions and field descriptions, refer to the online help. Refer to the Outbound Option Setup and Configuration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for information about installing and configuring Outbound Option. Cisco ICM software documentation is available online at Audience This document is intended for call center managers and support personnel experienced with using ICM software that want to learn how to use Outbound Option. Organization The following table describes the information contained in each chapter of this guide. Chapter Chapter 1, Introduction Chapter 2, Outbound Option Architecture Description Provides a conceptual description and lists the major features of Outbound Option. Provides information about the product architecture and procedures for starting ICM software and Outbound Option. Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) vii

10 About This Guide Chapter Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Chapter 4, Outbound Option Desktops Chapter 5, Sample Call Center Configuration Chapter 6, Dialing Modes Chapter 7, Outbound Option Reports Appendix A, Troubleshooting Appendix B, CTI OS Outbound Option ECC Variable Settings Appendix D, Termination_Call_Detail Table Appendix C, Dialing List Table Description Describes the Outbound Option Configuration Components and discusses campaign management concepts. This chapter also discusses the Outbound Option personal callback feature. See the online help for detailed field descriptions. Describes the Outbound Option desktops and the CTI Extended Call Context (ECC) variables the Outbound Option Dialer uses to exchange information with the CTI Desktop. Describes a sample call center and its resources, and provides a tutorial for configuring Outbound Option to support the sample call center. Describes the Outbound Option outbound dialing modes. Provides information about how to produce agent, campaign, Dialer, Import Rule, and skill group reports, along with instructions on how to produce custom reports. Provides troubleshooting hints and FAQs, plus alarms and general messages accessible through WebView. Contains a sample.reg file which creates the appropriate Outbound Option ECC registry entries for CTI OS. Provides the PeripheralCallType and CallDisposition column values sed in the Termination_Call_Detail table. It also provides the CED column values for Outbound Option reservation or personal callback calls, and describes the records that are generated when the Outbound Option Dialer makes agent reservation calls and customer calls. Provides information about the Dialing List table s columns, CallStatus values, and CallResult field. viii Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

11 About This Guide Conventions This manual uses the following conventions: Format Boldface type is used for user entries, keys, buttons, and folder and submenu names. Italic type indicates one of the following: A newly introduced term For emphasis A generic syntax item that you must replace with a specific value A title of a publication An arrow (>) indicates an item from a pull-down menu. Example Click Logger, then click the Edit button in the Instance Components section. A skill group is a collection of agents who share similar skills. Do not use the numerical naming convention that is used in the predefined templates (for example, persvc01). IF (condition, true-value, false-value) For more information, see the Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition Database Schema Handbook. The Save command from the File menu is referenced as File > Save. Other Publications For additional information about Cisco Intelligent Contact Management (ICM) software, see the Cisco web site listing ICM documentation. Obtaining Documentation Cisco documentation and additional literature are available on Cisco.com. This section explains the product documentation resources that Cisco offers. Cisco.com You can access the most current Cisco documentation at this URL: You can access the Cisco website at this URL: You can access international Cisco websites at this URL: Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) ix

12 About This Guide Product Documentation DVD The Product Documentation DVD is a library of technical product documentation on a portable medium. The DVD enables you to access installation, configuration, and command guides for Cisco hardware and software products. With the DVD, you have access to the HTML documentation and some of the PDF files found on the Cisco website at this URL: The Product Documentation DVD is created and released regularly. DVDs are available singly or by subscription. Registered Cisco.com users can order a Product Documentation DVD (product number DOC-DOCDVD= or DOC-DOCDVD=SUB) from Cisco Marketplace at the Product Documentation Store at this URL: Ordering Documentation You must be a registered Cisco.com user to access Cisco Marketplace. Registered users may order Cisco documentation at the Product Documentation Store at this URL: If you do not have a user ID or password, you can register at this URL: Documentation Feedback You can provide feedback about Cisco technical documentation on the Cisco Support site area by entering your comments in the feedback form available in every online document. Cisco Product Security Overview Cisco provides a free online Security Vulnerability Policy portal at this URL: From this site, you will find information about how to do the following: Report security vulnerabilities in Cisco products Obtain assistance with security incidents that involve Cisco products Register to receive security information from Cisco A current list of security advisories, security notices, and security responses for Cisco products is available at this URL: To see security advisories, security notices, and security responses as they are updated in real time, you can subscribe to the Product Security Incident Response Team Really Simple Syndication (PSIRT RSS) feed. Information about how to subscribe to the PSIRT RSS feed is found at this URL: x Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

13 About This Guide Reporting Security Problems in Cisco Products Cisco is committed to delivering secure products. We test our products internally before we release them, and we strive to correct all vulnerabilities quickly. If you think that you have identified a vulnerability in a Cisco product, contact PSIRT: For emergencies only security-alert@cisco.com An emergency is either a condition in which a system is under active attack or a condition for which a severe and urgent security vulnerability should be reported. All other conditions are considered nonemergencies. For nonemergencies psirt@cisco.com In an emergency, you can also reach PSIRT by telephone: Tip We encourage you to use Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) or a compatible product (for example, GnuPG) to encrypt any sensitive information that you send to Cisco. PSIRT can work with information that has been encrypted with PGP versions 2.x through 9.x. Never use a revoked encryption key or an expired encryption key. The correct public key to use in your correspondence with PSIRT is the one linked in the Contact Summary section of the Security Vulnerability Policy page at this URL: The link on this page has the current PGP key ID in use. If you do not have or use PGP, contact PSIRT to find other means of encrypting the data before sending any sensitive material. Product Alerts and Field Notices Modifications to or updates about Cisco products are announced in Cisco Product Alerts and Cisco Field Notices. You can receive these announcements by using the Product Alert Tool on Cisco.com. This tool enables you to create a profile and choose those products for which you want to receive information. To access the Product Alert Tool, you must be a registered Cisco.com user. Registered users can access the tool at this URL: To register as a Cisco.com user, go to this URL: Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) xi

14 About This Guide Obtaining Technical Assistance Cisco Technical Support provides 24-hour-a-day award-winning technical assistance. The Cisco Support website on Cisco.com features extensive online support resources. In addition, if you have a valid Cisco service contract, Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) engineers provide telephone support. If you do not have a valid Cisco service contract, contact your reseller. Cisco Support Website The Cisco Support website provides online documents and tools for troubleshooting and resolving technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. The website is available 24 hours a day at this URL: Access to all tools on the Cisco Support website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password. If you have a valid service contract but do not have a user ID or password, you can register at this URL: Before you submit a request for service online or by phone, use the Cisco Product Identification Tool to locate your product serial number. You can access this tool from the Cisco Support website by clicking the Get Tools & Resources link, clicking the All Tools (A-Z) tab, and then choosing Cisco Product Identification Tool from the alphabetical list. This tool offers three search options: by product ID or model name; by tree view; or, for certain products, by copying and pasting show command output. Search results show an illustration of your product with the serial number label location highlighted. Locate the serial number label on your product and record the information before placing a service call. Tip Displaying and Searching on Cisco.com If you suspect that the browser is not refreshing a web page, force the browser to update the web page by holding down the Ctrl key while pressing F5. To find technical information, narrow your search to look in technical documentation, not the entire Cisco.com website. After using the Search box on the Cisco.com home page, click the Advanced Search link next to the Search box on the resulting page and then click the Technical Support & Documentation radio button. To provide feedback about the Cisco.com website or a particular technical document, click Contacts & Feedback at the top of any Cisco.com web page. xii Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

15 About This Guide Submitting a Service Request Using the online TAC Service Request Tool is the fastest way to open S3 and S4 service requests. (S3 and S4 service requests are those in which your network is minimally impaired or for which you require product information.) After you describe your situation, the TAC Service Request Tool provides recommended solutions. If your issue is not resolved using the recommended resources, your service request is assigned to a Cisco engineer. The TAC Service Request Tool is located at this URL: For S1 or S2 service requests, or if you do not have Internet access, contact the Cisco TAC by telephone. (S1 or S2 service requests are those in which your production network is down or severely degraded.) Cisco engineers are assigned immediately to S1 and S2 service requests to help keep your business operations running smoothly. To open a service request by telephone, use one of the following numbers: Asia-Pacific: Australia: EMEA: USA: For a complete list of Cisco TAC contacts, go to this URL: Definitions of Service Request Severity To ensure that all service requests are reported in a standard format, Cisco has established severity definitions. Severity 1 (S1) An existing network is down or there is a critical impact to your business operations. You and Cisco will commit all necessary resources around the clock to resolve the situation. Severity 2 (S2) Operation of an existing network is severely degraded, or significant aspects of your business operations are negatively affected by inadequate performance of Cisco products. You and Cisco will commit full-time resources during normal business hours to resolve the situation. Severity 3 (S3) Operational performance of the network is impaired while most business operations remain functional. You and Cisco will commit resources during normal business hours to restore service to satisfactory levels. Severity 4 (S4) You require information or assistance with Cisco product capabilities, installation, or configuration. There is little or no effect on your business operations. Obtaining Additional Publications and Information Information about Cisco products, technologies, and network solutions is available from various online and printed sources. The Cisco Online Subscription Center is the website where you can sign up for a variety of Cisco newsletters and other communications. Create a profile and then select the subscriptions that you would like to receive. To visit the Cisco Online Subscription Center, go to this URL: Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) xiii

16 About This Guide The Cisco Product Quick Reference Guide is a handy, compact reference tool that includes brief product overviews, key features, sample part numbers, and abbreviated technical specifications for many Cisco products that are sold through channel partners. It is updated twice a year and includes the latest Cisco channel product offerings. To order and find out more about the Cisco Product Quick Reference Guide, go to this URL: Cisco Marketplace provides a variety of Cisco books, reference guides, documentation, and logo merchandise. Visit Cisco Marketplace, the company store, at this URL: Cisco Press publishes a wide range of general networking, training, and certification titles. Both new and experienced users will benefit from these publications. For current Cisco Press titles and other information, go to Cisco Press at this URL: Internet Protocol Journal is a quarterly journal published by Cisco for engineering professionals involved in designing, developing, and operating public and private internets and intranets. You can access the Internet Protocol Journal at this URL: Networking products offered by Cisco, as well as customer support services, can be obtained at this URL: Networking Professionals Connection is an interactive website where networking professionals share questions, suggestions, and information about networking products and technologies with Cisco experts and other networking professionals. Join a discussion at this URL: What s New in Cisco Documentation is an online publication that provides information about the latest documentation releases for Cisco products. Updated monthly, this online publication is organized by product category to direct you quickly to the documentation for your products. You can view the latest release of What s New in Cisco Documentation at this URL: World-class networking training is available from Cisco. You can view current offerings at this URL: xiv Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

17 CHAPTER 1 Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the Intelligent Contact Management (ICM))/IP Contact Center (IPCC) Outbound Option application (formerly called Blended Agent ), which provides outbound dialing functionality along with the existing inbound capabilities of ICM software. With Outbound Option, contact centers can be configured for automated outbound activities. Outbound Option allows agents who are not busy with inbound calls to perform outbound calls, thereby maintaining high agent productivity. The ICM reporting tool, WebView, provides outbound activity reports, supplying integrated information about agent, campaign, dialer, import rule, and skill group activity. The terms campaign and dialer are discussed later in this chapter. ICM software routes calls in a distributed contact center environment, using enterprise call distribution. Because Outbound Option is integrated with ICM software, customer contact operations can be organized into multiple, geographically distributed contact centers using ICM software operating features. This chapter discusses: ICM software Outbound Option Features Outbound Option components Refer to the Pre-Installation Planning Guide for Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition for information about Cisco ICM software. For additional information about Cisco Intelligent Contact Management (ICM) software, see the Cisco web site listing ICM documentation: While reading along, unfamiliar terms might appear. They are explained in the text and in the Glossary included at the end of the book. Wherever glossary terms first occur in the text, they appear in italic text. Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) 1-1

18 ICM Software Overview Chapter 1 Introduction ICM Software Overview This section provides a high-level overview of ICM software, which must be installed/configured before installing Outbound Option. Refer to the ICM Installation Guide for Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition for detailed information about installing ICM software. Refer to the Outbound Option Setup and Configuration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for detailed instructions on installing and configuring Outbound Option. Before installing ICM software, the computers must have the Microsoft Windows operating system and, for some components, Microsoft SQL Server database management software installed. Also, ensure that there is enough disk space available on each computer to install the ICM component. Refer to the Cisco Intelligent Contact Management Software Release 7.0(0) Bill of Materials (located on the Cisco web site) for details about operating system and software requirements. ICM software consists of the following components: CallRouter. The component of the Central Controller that makes routing decisions. It gathers and distributes data from and to remote sites. Logger. The component of the Central Controller that controls the central database. Admin Workstation. The user interface for ICM software. An Admin Workstation can be located at any central or remote site. It allows users to monitor call handling within the system and make changes to configuration data or routing scripts. Peripheral Gateway. The interface between the ICM platform and third-party hardware in each call center, such as an ACD. A Peripheral Gateway (PG) is typically located at the call center. The ICM CD-ROM contains the software for all of these components. Install the components from the ICM Setup program. Together, the CallRouter and Logger compose the Central Controller and are installed at a central site. A Peripheral Gateway is typically installed in each call center. Admin Workstations can be installed at a central site, a call center, or at a separate admin site. The CallRouter receives routing requests from a telephone network through a Network Interface Controller (NIC). For the AT&T and British Telecom (BT) networks, the NIC runs on one or more separate computers. (These computers are set up by Cisco or BT Support representatives and are beyond the scope of this manual.) For other network interfaces (such as MCI, Nortel, Sprint, Stentor, France Telecom, INAP Protocol, INCR Protocol, ICR Protocol and others), the NIC is a process that is part of the CallRouter software. If you plan to use Cisco Security Agent, which Cisco highly recommends, you must always use the default directories when installing any software on a server. You need not choose the default disk drive if an option is available (for example, C: or D:), but you must use default directories. 1-2 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

19 Chapter 1 Introduction Features Features Outbound Option features include: Cisco Internet Protocol Contact Center (IPCC Enterprise) compatible dialer Avaya DEFINITY compatible dialer Predictive, Progressive, and Preview dialing modes Inbound/outbound blending Real-time and historical reports Personal callback Call Progress Analysis (CPA) for answering machine, fax/modem, and answering machine terminating tone detection Transfer to IVR Sequential dialing Cisco IP Contact Center Agent re-skilling Dynamic Routing Client Skill Group Balancing and Rebalancing Abandoned and Retry Call Settings Campaign Prefix Digits for Dialed Numbers Outbound Option Support on IPCC Hosted Outbound ECC Variables Support in Siebel and 7.7 Dialer Detail table for system management and generation of custom reports About Cisco Internet Protocol Contact Center (IPCC Enterprise) Compatible Dialer Cisco IP Contact Center Enterprise Edition can be implemented in a single-site environment or integrated into a multisite contact-center enterprise. Some capabilities of IPCC Enterprise include intelligent call routing, automatic call distribution (ACD) functionality, network-to-desktop computer telephony integration (CTI), interactive voice response (IVR) integration, call queueing, and consolidated reporting. With IPCC Enterprise integration, customer calls are placed using the Cisco Voice Gateway, using the Cisco CallManager for call control. Outbound Option on IPCC Enterprise provides a native multi-site outbound dialing solution. Cisco ICM 7.0(0) is an integrated package consisting of ICM software, Cisco Collaboration Server, Cisco Media Blender, and Cisco Manager. For detailed instructions on installing and configuring Cisco ICM 7.0(0) software as part of a system integrated with the Cisco Collaboration Server, Cisco Media Blender, and Cisco Manager applications, refer to the ICM Installation Guide for Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition. Refer to the Cisco IPCC Enterprise documentation at for more information. Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) 1-3

20 Features Chapter 1 Introduction About Campaign Management Outbound Option supports advanced list management: Customer records can be assigned to multiple lists, which can be merged into a single campaign. Pre-configured rules decide when the various lists are called. Agents are assigned to campaigns using skill groups. About ICM Software Management of Skill Groups The ICM Script Editor controls the outbound mode of every skill group. Dedicated and Blended Dialing Modes Dedicated mode: Designed for agents who will only make outbound calls. Blended mode: Allows agents to receive inbound calls and make outbound calls without switching between Inbound/Outbound skill groups. (In Blended mode, inbound calls receive precedence over outbound calls.) The skill group mode variable is only a setting and has no impact on how the Router routes calls. If a skill group is set to Dedicated mode, you must also create a corresponding routing script that uses the IF node to enforce the Dedicated mode. In other words, the IF node states that if the OutboundControl skill group setting is set to Dedicated, inbound calls will not be routed to that skill group. About Outbound Option Dialing Modes Outbound Option provides four outbound dialing modes: Preview, Direct Preview, Predictive, and Progressive. All four modes reserve an agent at the beginning of every outbound call cycle by sending the agent a reservation call. Preview Mode After the agent is reserved, Outbound Option sends the next call candidate s (customer) information to that agent s desktop. After reviewing the customer information, the agent can choose to contact the customer, skip to another customer, or reject the call. Rejecting a call drops the agent reservation call. If the call is skipped or rejected by the agent, the record is marked R for retry and is sent to another agent based on the no answer setting in the Campaign Configuration. For example, if the no answer parameter is two hours, then the skipped or rejected record is presented to another agent after two hours. Clicking the Close button sets the BAResponse variable to indicate a close operation, which closes out the record so it is not dialed again. 1-4 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

21 Chapter 1 Introduction Features The CTI Desktop can be modified to automatically accept a customer call without enabling any buttons for the agent. If the agent chooses to place the outbound call, Outbound Option dials the customer number and after reaching a live customer, connects it to the agent. After the customer call is finished, the agent is released from the outbound cycle. This allows ICM software to begin routing inbound calls to this agent until the next outbound call cycle starts. Direct Preview Mode This mode allows agents to initiate customer calls from their phone using a CTI make_call request instead of having the Dialer place the call. The advantage to using this mode is that an agent can quickly begin talking with the customer once the call is answered. In fact, since the call is initiated from the agent s phone, the agent hears the phone ring and also hears any other tones, such as a busy signal (similar to what an agent hears if he/she called himself/herself): PREVIEW_DIRECT_ONLY: Agent is only allowed to place outbound calls PREVIEW_DIRECT_BLENDED: Agent can receive inbound calls and place outbound calls Predictive Mode Progressive Mode The Call Waiting option must be enabled on the agent s phone to successfully use this feature. (Cisco CallManager Release 4.0(0) and later users do not need to enable this option since it s enabled by default.) The Call Progress Analysis (CPA) and the transfer to IVR features are not available while using the Direct Preview Only and Direct Preview Blended modes. (See the About Call Progress Analysis (CPA) section on page 1-7 for more information about this feature.) This mode is not available when using Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY ACD. Unlike Preview mode, Predictive mode does not give the agent a choice in deciding whether or not to accept a call. Instead, if an agent is logged into a skill group, the agent must take the call. This mode optimizes the use of available agents by dialing several numbers simultaneously, increasing the rate of contacting a live customer, and reducing the agent wait time to a minimum. Refer to the ICM Scripting and Media Routing Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for information about creating routing and administrative scripts using the ICM Script Editor. Progressive mode, also known as power dialing, allows the administrator to specify a fixed number of lines to dial per agent instead of using an outbound dialing algorithm to determine the number of lines. Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) 1-5

22 Features Chapter 1 Introduction About Outbound Option Activity Reports Outbound Option uses ICM software reporting features provided by the WebView application, including agent, campaign, dialer, and skill groups report templates created especially for Outbound Option customers. For information about creating reports, see Chapter 7, Outbound Option Reports. Refer to the WebView online help for information about WebView. About Personal Callback The Outbound Option personal callback feature allows scheduling customer callbacks for specific agents, so customers receive callbacks from the same agent that spoke with them initially. This dialing mode is very similar to Preview mode in that an agent reservation occurs first. When the agent is reserved, they can either accept the customer call or reject it. (The Skip option is not available.) Clicking one of the Close buttons sets the BAResponse variable to indicate a close operation, which closes out the record so it is not dialed again. Personal callbacks are not dependent on a particular campaign and do not require a campaign to be running when the call is placed. This allows personal callbacks to work together with active campaigns containing either predictive or preview skill groups. Agents scheduled for a personal callback can be logged in to any inbound, outbound, or blended skill group at the time of the callback. The callback agent must be logged in with the same agent ID that was used to schedule the callback. Be aware that only one dialer on a particular peripheral is assigned personal callback records. Personal callbacks are enabled and configured through the Outbound Option Campaign Configuration Component, and are scheduled in the Agent Desktop. Some personal callback timeout values are specified in the Outbound Option Campaign Manager registry. See Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview, for information about using the personal callback feature. The following actions can take place during a personal callback: If the specified agent is not logged in at the designated callback time, but then logs on within the callback time period, Outbound Option reserves the agent and places the callback. If the specified agent is on an existing call and is unavailable during the entire callback time period, the personal callback fails and the call is rescheduled or abandoned based on the configuration setup. If the customer cannot be reached during the specified callback time, the call is rescheduled or abandoned based on the configuration setup until the specified maximum number of attempts has been exhausted. The record is not written back to the database until after the callback time period if retries persist in that period. The retry frequency of the PersonalCallbackTimeToRetryNoAnswer registry key does not apply until after the callback time period. 1-6 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

23 Chapter 1 Introduction Features If the Outbound Option Dialer detects an answering machine response during a personal callback, the call is still transferred to the scheduled agent. This allows the agent to leave a message and/or reschedule the callback for another convenient time. If the required agent is not available, then one of the following actions can happen: Another agent is reserved for the callback using a VDN The callback is rescheduled The callback is abandoned Personal callbacks that are scheduled while the agent is in Direct Preview mode do not occur in Direct Preview mode; instead, the callback occurs in regular preview mode (agent will not hear the call ring out). About Call Progress Analysis (CPA) The Call Progress Analysis (CPA) feature, which is available for both Outbound Option on IPCC Enterprise and Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY, consists of three different functions: Answering Machine Detection (AMD) Fax/modem detection See Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview, for information about using the CPA feature. About Transfer to IVR The transfer to IVR feature provides Outbound Option on IPCC Enterprise with another outbound mode. This mode causes the Dialer to transfer every customer call in the campaign. This feature allows a contact center to run unassisted outbound campaigns using pre-recorded messages in the Cisco IP IVR and Cisco CVP/ISN products. The transfer to IVR feature is only supported for Outbound Option on Cisco IP Contact Center (IPCC Enterprise). You can not use this feature in the Direct Preview mode or the regular Preview modes. See Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview, for information about using the transfer to IVR feature. About Sequential Dialing The sequential dialing feature, accessed through the Campaign Call Target tab, allows you to associate up to ten phone numbers per customer record. Two zones are available to allow partitioning calls between two time periods. This feature allows you to enter a phone number into either zone or into both zones at once. Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) 1-7

24 Features Chapter 1 Introduction Sequential Dialing Order When multiple phone numbers are imported for a single customer, the order in which the numbers are attempted is configurable. Assume the Dialing List has three phone numbers and you want try them in order Phone01, Phone02, and then Phone03. The initial CallStatus of each record in the Dialing List before any dialing has taken place is P (pending). The record remains in the pending state for a particular zone until all of the numbers specified for that zone are dialed. For the example given, Phone01 is attempted first. If no contact is made, the number of attempts is increased by one, the callback time for that phone is saved, and the number remains in the pending state. That customer record remains at the top of the list of pending records, and Phone02 is tried when the next group of pending records is obtained. When Phone 02 is tried, again the attempts are incremented, callback time saved, and record remains in the pending state. Once all phones have been tried, the phone that has the earliest callback time is dialed next at that callback time. An attempt on that phone results in an updated callback time for that phone. The earliest callback time is reevaluated, and a different phone may now have the earliest callback time and will be tried next. This pattern is repeated until the record reaches its maximum number of attempts or until the customer is reached, whichever comes first. See Appendix C, Dialing List Table Columns for information about the Dialing List. See Chapter 5, Sample Call Center Configuration, for information about setting up campaign calling targets. For descriptions of the campaign calling targets configuration fields, see the online help. About Cisco IP Contact Center Agent Re-skilling The Cisco IP Contact Center agent re-skilling feature allows supervisors to login and change the skill groups for agents they manage. You can access this feature using the IPCC Enterprise Agent Re-skilling Tool. This tool is an optional, browser-based application designed for use by IPCC call-center supervisors. It lets you change the skill group designations of agents on your team and quickly view skill group members and details on individual agents. Changes you make to an agent s skill group membership take place immediately without need for the agent to exit and re-enter the system. If your company has chosen to install this tool, you can perform the functions listed above. The Agent Re-skilling Tool is an optional tool, so this tool might not be available on your system. Refer to the IPCC Enterprise Agent Re-skilling Tool online help for information about using the agent re-skilling feature. About Dynamic Routing Client The dynamic routing client supports Outbound Option for IPCC Hosted Edition where a shared Network VRU is used for providing announcements to targeted phones/answer machines. This feature allows Cisco CVP/ISN to enable the network transfer feature in the following scenario: when a call is translation routed to CVP/ISN, CVP/ISN will be able to take over as the network and provide Network Transfer functionality for the call. Before, calls that were translation routed to CVP/ISN (as Type 2 VRU) could not be network transferred. 1-8 Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

25 Chapter 1 Introduction Features Be aware that this feature requires Outbound Option to be deployed on a distinct CICM instance platform (meaning that Outbound Option can not be shared among customers each needs to have their own dialer, etc.). See Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview, for information about using the dynamic routing client feature. About Abandoned and Retry Call Settings The Campaign Configuration Component contains fields to support abandoned and retry calls. For detailed instructions on how to configure abandoned and retry call settings, see the online help. About Campaign Prefix Digits for Dialed Numbers The Campaign prefix digits field, which is available on the Campaign General tab in the Campaign Configuring Component, allows you to configure prefix digits for dialed numbers in campaigns. If you configure a prefix, it will be inserted before the Dial prefix for all numbers dialed in a campaign. This prefix allows an administrator to create campaign-specific CallManager translation patterns, which you can use to tailor the ANI seen by a customer. For example, all customers dialed from Campaign A will see a caller ID of , while all customers dialed from Campaign B will see a caller ID of See the online help for more information about the Campaign prefix digits field. Refer to the CallManager documentation for detailed information about translation patterns. Figure 1-1 shows how these Campaign Prefix patterns are applied. The prefix digits are always prepended to the beginning of the number, so that they can easily be stripped using translation patterns. Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) 1-9

26 Outbound Option Components Chapter 1 Introduction Figure 1-1 Applying Campaign Prefix Patterns Examples: ImportedNumber <= TestNumberMaxDigits Registry setting? Yes Debug Call Path Dial Imported Number No Area Code match beginning of ImportedNumber? 508 Local Call Path Yes Include Area Code When Dialing? N No Stip Area Code from Imported Number No Yes Prepend "Dial Prefix" Digits Long distance Call Path Prepend "LongDistancePrefix" Prepend "Dial Prefix" Digits Prepend "Campaign Prefix" digits About Outbound Option Support on IPCC Hosted Outbound Option support on Cisco IPCC Hosted Edition is available, but this release still requires Outbound Option to be deployed on a distinct CICM instance platform (meaning that Outbound Option will not be shared among customers each needs to have their own dialer, etc.). Refer to the Cisco IPCC Hosted Edition documentation set for more details. About Outbound ECC Variables Support in Siebel and 7.7 In Siebel and 7.7, the CTI Driver now provides support for Outbound Option. Refer to the CTI Driver for Siebel 7 Reference Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for detailed information about the ECC variables support for Outbound Option. Outbound Option Components This section provides details about the server processes of the Outbound Option application: Campaign Manager: Manages lists. Outbound Option Import: Reads customer import files and generates database lists. Outbound Option Dialer: Makes reservation and customer calls and implements a predictive algorithm. The About Outbound Option Configuration Components section on page 1-12 discusses the user interface where configuration data can be entered. This configuration data is used by the Outbound Option server processes to configure campaigns Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

27 Chapter 1 Introduction Outbound Option Components About Campaign Manager The Campaign Manager component, which resides on the ICM Logger, is responsible for: Managing when a campaign runs Maintaining system and dialer configurations Making decisions about which contact records to retrieve from a campaign based upon configurable query rules and delivering contact records to dialers Records for callbacks are sent to the dialer only when agents are logged in, and are controlled by registry values as described in About Regular Callbacks, page 3-7 Distributing configuration data to the import process and all available dialers in the system Collecting real-time and historical data and sending it to the ICM CallRouter Marking any customers found in the do_not_call_list as CallResult (26), where no further action will be taken on those records. Refer to the ICM Administration Guide for Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition for more information about the ICM Central Controller. About Outbound Option Import The Outbound Option Import component, which resides on the ICM Logger, is responsible for importing a customer s contact list that the Outbound Option Dialer component uses to contact customers. In addition, Outbound Option Import uses the scheduling configured in the Outbound Option Configuration Components to process the imports scheduled for a particular date and time. Outbound Option Import imports the contact_list, which contains the phone numbers Outbound Option dials. When Outbound Option Import processes an import, the following steps occur: 1. Import a contact_list into a table. 2. Build a dialing list for a campaign. Outbound Option can continue to run a campaign while an import is in progress; however, some of the campaign s query rules might be disabled. About Outbound Option Dialer The Outbound Option Dialer, which resides on the PG server or on a separate machine, does the following: Dials customers Reserves agents Performs call classification Calculates agent availability Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1) 1-11

28 Outbound Option Desktop Chapter 1 Introduction Overflow Agents The Outbound Option Dialer provides overflow agents. These are agents that are available to receive outbound calls, but are not taken into account when calculating the number of lines to dial per agent. In other words, if two agents are logged in, but the campaign is configured for one overflow agent, then the Dialer thinks that only one agent is available to make outbound calls. If the Dialer makes two calls for one agent and both calls are answered, then both calls are transferred to agents since the overflow agent is available to receive outbound calls. About Outbound Option Configuration Components Outbound Option provides configuration components in the ICM Configuration Manager that contact center supervisors can use to configure a campaign, create query rules for the campaign, define the contact list to be imported, configure the dialers, and configure the system parameters for the Outbound Option Dialer. The Outbound Option Configuration Components consist of: System Options Dialer Import Rule Query Rule Campaign Specific instructions on how to use the Outbound Option Configuration Components are not provided in this guide. Refer to the online help for detailed information about how to use these components. Get specific information about the Outbound Option Configuration Components by clicking the Help button in a Outbound Option Configuration Component window or dialog box. Outbound Option Desktop Three desktops are available with Outbound Option: CTI Object Server (CTI OS), the CTI Toolkit (GeoDCS), and the Cisco Agent Desktop (CAD). Refer to the Outbound Option Setup and Configuration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for detailed information about installing the Cisco CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop (Win32) and the CTI Desktop controls, and instructions on how to associate the Cisco Desktop Administrator task buttons on the agent desktop with the Outbound Option controls/actions. See Chapter 4, Outbound Option Desktops for an overview of the Outbound Option desktops Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions Release 7.2(1)

29 CHAPTER 2 Outbound Option Architecture This chapter provides an overview of the Outbound Option architecture and procedures for starting each Outbound Option component. The Outbound Option Dialer is designed to maximize the resource utilization in a contact center by dialing several customers per agent. After reaching a live contact, the Outbound Option Dialer transfers the customer to an agent along with a screen pop to the agent s desktop. To optimize use of available agents, the Outbound Option Dialer calculates the average amount of time an agent waits to receive a call, and the average call handle time per agent. With this information, the Outbound Option Dialer calculates the number of lines to dial so that agent wait time is kept to a minimum. Outbound Option Component Relationships Figure 2-1 shows the component relationships within Outbound Option. These relationships include the ICM software components that Outbound Option uses. Figure 2-1 Outbound Option Network Component Relationship Logger MR PG IPCC PG EMT Import Campaign Manager ODBC SQL Server EMT MR PIM IPCC PIM* CTI/CTI OS TCP/IP TCP/IP Dialer Admin Workstation IP/T1/ Analog/E1 ECC Variables CO IP Gateway ACD/Cisco CallManager *Components with dashed lines are only used by IPCC Agent Desktop

30 Query Rules and Campaigns Chapter 2 Outbound Option Architecture Query Rules and Campaigns Outbound Option views campaigns and query rules as logical entities that group a set of contacts together. There is a different dialing list for each campaign query rule. Figure 2-2 shows the logical relationship between query rules and campaigns. Figure 2-2 Logical Relationship Between Query Rules and Campaigns The Dialing List table definition is available in Appendix C, Dialing List Table Columns Contact List Contact centers purchase or maintain customer contact lists in files, which Outbound Option imports. Outbound Option then generates a dialing list that is then used for dialing customers. A contact list can be in comma-delimited or fixed-length file format, with a maximum of characters per row. Do-Not-Call List United States federal law requires telephone solicitors to maintain Do-Not-Call lists. A Do-Not-Call list ensures that those customers who request not to be contacted will not be contacted regardless of the calling list imported into the system. 2-2

31 Chapter 2 Outbound Option Architecture Personal Callback List Adding a customer to this list is accomplished by importing a Do-Not-Call list. Do Not Call import files are read by the Campaign Manager and then stored in memory. Dialing List entries are marked as Do Not Call entries only when the Campaign Manager fetches the Dialing List entry and only when there is an exact, digit-for-digit match. This allows Do Not Call imports to happen while a Campaign is running without needing to rebuild the Dialing List. that if the Dialing List includes a base number plus extension, it must match a Do Not Call entry for that same base number and same extension. The dialer will not dial the extension. When the Campaign Manager starts it automatically imports from the DoNotCall.restore file stored in the <drive>\icm\<instance>\la\bin directory. When reading Do Not Call import files, Campaign Manager appends the data to the DoNotCall.restore file. This restore file allows recovery of Do Not Call records after the Campaign Manager has been stopped unexpectedly or for planned maintenance, such as a Service Release installation. The restore file can grow to approximately 1GB if 60 million DNC records are imported; each having 10 digit numbers plus 5 digit extensions. Sufficient disk space must be available on LoggerA to store the DoNotCall.restore file. You can access information about the National Do-Not-Call list at the following Web site: The Federal Trade Commission s (FTC) Web site, contains information about telemarketing rules and regulations. Personal Callback List The Personal Callback List maintains a list of customer records scheduled to be called back by a specific agent. The Campaign Manager creates the Personal_Callback_List in the Outbound Option private database the first time the Campaign Manager runs. The Personal_Callback_List is managed by the Campaign Manager. When an agent (working in an outbound campaign) schedules a personal callback with the personal callback mode enabled, the scheduled callback is treated as a personal callback (for the agent who scheduled the callback). The original record in the contact_list is updated with CallStatus=S ( S indicates the customer record has a personal callback scheduled) and a new record is inserted into the Personal_Callback_List. The following table documents all the columns in the personal callback table. Only the bolded columns are required when inserting records from a third-party tool. Table 2-1 Personal Callback Table Columns Column Name Type Description PersonalCallbackListID AUTO-INT Unique identifier for each record in this table. DialingListID INT Cross-references a record that has been moved from the contact_list to this table. CampaignID INT Campaign ID (if the record was originally dialed as part of a campaign). PeripheralID INT Peripheral ID for the peripheral where the agent would be available. 2-3

32 Personal Callback List Chapter 2 Outbound Option Architecture Table 2-1 Personal Callback Table Columns (continued) Column Name Type Description AgentID INT Agent to which the call has to be connected. AlternateVDN VARCHAR VDN to use (if original agent is unavailable). GMTZone SMALLINT GMT of the customer number (if NULL. the local GMT zone is assumed). If this value is provided, it must always be a positive value from 0 to 23. Convert all negative GMT values using the following formula: 24 + (negative GMT value). For example, the US eastern time zone is -5, so the value stored in this column is 24 + (-5) = 19. Phone VARCHAR Phone number to call back. AccountNumber VARCHAR Customer account number. MaxAttempts INT Maximum number of times a call will be attempted (decrements at each attempt). An attempt is defined as the Outbound Option Dialer s attempt to reserve the agent and make the customer call. Since the Outbound Option Dialer is responsible for placing multiple customer call attempts (busy, no answer), the actual individual call attempts are not tracked here; only the end result at the end of the callback time range. Once this column is set to 0 no more attempts will be made. CallbackDateTime DATETIME Time to attempt customer callback is normalized to the logger GMT zone; for example, if the Campaign Manager is in Boston and the customer is in California and wished to be contacted at 3:00 PM, the time in this column would be 6:00 PM. The GMTZone column for this customer must be set to

33 Chapter 2 Outbound Option Architecture Outbound Option Dialer Process Flow Table 2-1 Personal Callback Table Columns (continued) Column Name Type Description CallStatus CHAR Current status of the callback record, such as 'P' for pending or 'C' for closed. New records must be set to P. CallResult SMALLINT Telephony call result (busy, no answer, etc.) or agent reservation attempt result (Agent Rejected Call, Unable to reserve, etc.). LastName VARCHAR Last name of the customer. FirstName VARCHAR First name of the customer. Outbound Option Dialer Process Flow Figure 2-3 shows the process flow in Predictive/Progressive mode for the Outbound Option Dialer. Figure 2-3 Outbound Option Dialer Process Flow in Predictive/Progressive Mode 1. Outbound Option Dialer requests skill group statistics from CTI Server. 2. CTI Server returns skill group statistics from the ACD. 3. Outbound Option Dialer uses predictive logic to calculate the number of lines to dial and requests customer records from the Campaign Manager. Campaign Manager retrieves the required customers from its database and sends those customers to Outbound Option Dialer. 2-5

34 Outbound Option Dialer Standby and Recovery Model Chapter 2 Outbound Option Architecture 4. Outbound Option Dialer makes reservation calls to agents via a VDN (Avaya ACD) or MR interface (IPCC Enterprise). Once agents are reserved, Outbound Option Dialer makes customer calls via a telephony card (Avaya ACD) or a Cisco Gateway (IPCC Enterprise). Call classification (that is, the result of the call: busy, answering machine, SIT tone, etc.) is handled on Outbound Option Dialer. 5. If a customer is contacted, they are transferred to an available agent within the skill group. 6. (Optional functionality provided by Cisco Client Services or the Outbound Option customer) When agents receive customer calls, they get an HTML based scripting popup on their desktops originating from Microsoft Active Server Pages. 7. After a customer call ends, a call result code is sent to Campaign Manager to save in the Logger database. Outbound Option Dialer Standby and Recovery Model Outbound Option implements a load balancing paradigm at the Outbound Option Dialer level. If a dialer process terminates for any reason, other dialers at the same location would become aware of this information and attempt to take over the failed dialer s load; resources permitting. The Outbound Option Campaign Configuration Component would mark records contained in the failed dialer with a status of 'U.' These records are reset every hour to a Pending ('P') state. If the disconnected dialer was offline due to a network outage, it caches call results and updates its records to the correct call result. On the Avaya DEFINITY if the dialer process unexpectedly terminates, reserved agents stay reserved and active calls continue to ring customer phones until the node manager restarts the dialer process. (The exception to this rule is when a dialer computer halts. In this case, all calls will be terminated.) Starting ICM Software How to start ICM software To start the ICM system, start the ICM Distributor, Logger, and CallRouter services from the ICM Service Control window on the Central Controller machine. When the ICM Logger starts, ICM software starts the Outbound Option Campaign Manager and Import process application. During the ICM installation, if the automatic startup option was chosen, the ICM and Outbound Option applications run each time during login. If automatic startup was not chosen, use the following instructions to start the ICM and Outbound Option applications. Refer to the ICM Installation Guide for Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition for more information about starting ICM software and its components. Step 1 After logging onto the system, access ICM software by double-clicking the Cisco Admin Workstation icon. The Admin Workstation window appears. Every Admin Workstation has the Cisco Admin Workstation group. The Cisco Admin Workstation group contains ICM software reporting, scripting, and call routing tools. If the ICM Service Control shortcut exists on the desktop, skip Step 2 and double-click the icon to access ICM software Distributor, Logger, and CallRouter services. 2-6

35 Chapter 2 Outbound Option Architecture Starting the Outbound Option Configuration Components Step 2 Step 3 Within the Cisco Admin Workstation window, double-click the ICM Service Control icon. The ICM Service Control window appears. Click the Start All button. After a few seconds, the State column displays Running to indicate the services have been activated. Notice that several ICM software active program buttons appear on the taskbar at the bottom of your screen. These programs are processes that start automatically. Do not close any of these processes. At this point, the ICM Admin Workstation and ICM Service Control windows can be minimized. Starting the Outbound Option Configuration Components How to start Outbound Option After starting ICM services, access the Outbound Option Configuration Components to configure Outbound Option. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Maximize the ICM Admin Workstation window. Double-click the Configuration Manager icon. The ICM Configuration Manager window appears. Select the Outbound Option option in the menu selection box located at the top of the window. The Outbound Option Configuration Components appear. Double-click the required Outbound Option Configuration Component. Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview, provides an overview of the Outbound Option Configuration Components and campaign management concepts. 2-7

36 Starting the Outbound Option Configuration Components Chapter 2 Outbound Option Architecture 2-8

37 CHAPTER 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview This chapter provides an overview of the Outbound Option Configuration Components, which can be used to: Define the system dialing time Configure dialers Create import rules Create query rule definitions Create campaigns Specific instructions on how to use the Outbound Option Configuration Components to configure Outbound Option are not provided in this chapter. See the online help for detailed information about how to use these components. This chapter also describes how to use the Outbound Option personal callback, answering machine detection, transfer to IVR, and sequential dialing features. Personal callback allows an agent to schedule a callback to a customer for a particular date and time, which connects the same agent that initiated the callback to the customer at the time of the callback. Call Progress Analysis (CPA) enables the Outbound Option Dialer to detect answering machines, faxes/modems, and answering machine terminating tones. This feature is available for both Outbound Option on IPCC Enterprise and Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY; however, terminating tone (beep) detection is not available for Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY. Transfer to IVR provides an outbound mode that causes the Dialer to transfer every customer call associated with a specific skill group to a service control-based IVR instead of an agent. This feature allows a contact center to run unassisted outbound campaigns using pre-recorded messages in the Cisco IP IVR and Cisco CVP/ISN products. 3-1

38 Getting Acquainted with the Outbound Option Configuration Components Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview This feature is only supported for Outbound Option on IPCC Enterprise and System IPCC. You can not use this feature in the Direct Preview or the regular Preview modes. Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN and only support IP IVR Type 9. Sequential dialing allows you to associate up to ten phone numbers per customer record. Two dialing zones are available to allow partitioning calls between two time periods. This feature allows you to enter a phone number into either zone or into both zones at once. Getting Acquainted with the Outbound Option Configuration Components This section provides some basic information about the Outbound Option Configuration Components. Navigating the Outbound Option Configuration Components Window Layout After opening the ICM Configuration Manager and selecting the Outbound Option option, the ICM Configuration Manager window displays the Outbound Option Configuration Components. Use the Outbound Option Configuration Components to configure Outbound Option in the order below: 1. System Options: Defines the time range that Outbound Option calls customers 2. Dialer: Configures the dialer area code and maps phone extensions to ports 3. Import Rule: Schedules contact and do-not-call imports 4. Query Rule: Filters contact records based on SQL queries and associates those records with an import 5. Campaign: Defines campaign settings, such as the campaign name, description, answering machine detection, personal callback settings, dial settings, and query rule, skill group selections When an Outbound Option Configuration Component is double-clicked in the ICM Configuration Manager window, the relevant configuration window appears. In nearly all cases, the window consists of three main areas: Select filter data box List box Tabbed properties area The following illustration displays these areas. Properties with an asterisk (*) beside them must be set. 3-2

39 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Getting Acquainted with the Outbound Option Configuration Components Figure 3-1 Outbound Option Configuration Component Windows Layout Select Filter Data Box The Select filter data box is in the upper-left corner of the window. This box retrieves existing items that contain certain attributes by selecting the filters from the fields in this box. To retrieve an existing item, select the appropriate filter(s) from and click the Retrieve button. List Box After selecting the appropriate filter(s) in the Select filter data box and clicking the Retrieve button, the list box displays matching items. When selecting an item from the list, information about that item appears in the tabbed properties area in the right side of the window. For example, clicking a campaign name in the Campaign list box, the campaign information displays in the tabbed properties area. All list boxes contain buttons that perform the following actions: Button Add Delete Revert Description Add a new item. Delete an existing item. Reset the information back to the original settings. Tabbed Properties Area The tabbed properties area is where detailed configuration information is supplied. For example, within the tabbed properties area in the Campaign window, the first three tabs configure the campaign components: 3-3

40 Outbound Option Configuration Components Description Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Some tabs contain Add or Modify buttons that open a dialog box where additional configuration information can be saved. Outbound Option Configuration Components Description The following sections describe each Outbound Option Configuration Component in the order used to create a campaign, not in their order of appearance in the ICM Configuration Manager window. Detailed information about the properties of the Outbound Option Configuration Components is described in the online help. System Options Use the System Options component to set the global properties for Outbound Option by defining the dialing time range for campaigns. The following configuration options are available: Define the dialing time range when a campaign can call customers in the General Options tab. (The time range supplied is the local time of the customer.) Configure business and home dialing time information for all the campaigns at once in the Bulk Update tab. For detailed instructions on how to configure the system options, see the online help. Dialer Use the Dialer component to configure the Outbound Option Dialer properties, including voice detection speed, local area code, and mapping dialer ports to phone extensions. The following configuration options are available: Configure dialer options, such as local area code and peripheral selection Map dialer ports to extensions For detailed instructions on how to configure the dialer properties, see the online help. 3-4

41 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Outbound Option Configuration Components Description Import Rule Use the Import Rule component to configure Outbound Option imports. The following configuration options are available: Configure import file type (comma-delimited or fixed-length format) and import mode (overwrite or append) Describe the import file data format using the Definition tab Provide import file location Schedule imports using the Schedule tab Important! When attempting to import customer data files from a computer that is running Cisco Security Agent (CSA), make sure the following is done to ensure proper operation: -- The path to the file begins with <drive>\customer\import or \\computer\customer\import. This path rule does not apply if the import file is located on the same computer as the import process. -- The import process user has network and directory read/write access to the customer directory as well as the import directory. For detailed instructions on how to configure import rules, see the online help. How Outbound Option Works with Time Zones In Outbound Option, time zones are selected based on the data in the Region_Prefix database. When contacts are imported, the phone number is assigned a time zone based on the information in the region prefix table. Each prefix has settings for the time zone and daylight savings observation. If the prefix of the contact number does not match any of the prefixes listed in the region prefix table then the contact number is assigned the time zone listed in the campaign configuration tool s Call Target Tab. The phone number that is dialed is checked against the configuration in the Region_Prefix table, which contains the following: Prefix (for example, 978 ) GMT (for example, -5) Daylight Savings Time (DST) flag ( Y or N ), which determines if that area code observes DST Region_ID, which identifies the region for this prefix (value that points to a row in the Region table). Above the Region_Prefix table is the Region table, which contains the Region_ID and the ID s description. The U.S. area code mappings are provided along with the product. International customers must provide their own data and add it to the database. Query Rule Use the Query Rule component to create customer lists based on SQL queries. More specifically, a query rule can create a list of contact records based on any data provided with that record. The following configuration options are available: 3-5

42 Outbound Option Configuration Components Description Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Associate an import with a query rule Provide a SQL command to select contact records from an import For detailed instructions on how to configure query rules, see the online help. Campaign Use the Campaign component to configure the properties for the campaign, including the campaign name and description, personal callback settings, query rule, and skill group selection, and the time range when a campaign can call business or home targets. The following configuration options are available: Assign existing query rules to the campaign in the Query Rule Selection tab. Assign existing skill groups to the campaign in the Skill Group Selection tab. Define the campaign call time in the Call Target tab. (The times specified are the local times of the contact.) Configure the Personal Callback dialing mode Set answering machine detection options Control predictive/progressive dialing variables For detailed instructions on how to configure campaigns, see the online help. 3-6

43 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Callbacks Callbacks Depending on the Outbound Option campaign settings, a callback can be scheduled as a personal callback or a regular callback. Regular callbacks can be handled by any agent assigned to the campaign. Personal callbacks allow the customer to receive a callback from the agent they spoke to when they were first contacted. Personal callbacks contain the ID of the agent who will be connected to the customer when the callback is placed. The personal callback feature requires special configuration. Choosing between regular and personal callback is typically done before the system is running, The dialer always searches for regular callbacks even if personal callback is enabled. About Regular Callbacks Regular callbacks can be handled by any agent assigned to the campaign. The callback time is not constrained by the campaign dialing times. CallbackTimeLimit (15 minutes by default and configurable in the registry) determines the time range when the callback can occur. The callback time will be rescheduled for a later time if the Dialer is unable to reach the customer because of a busy signal or ring no answer, for example. The CallbackTime limit may get exceeded when no agents are available. If the CallbackTimeLimit has been exceeded and RescheduleCallback (1 by default and configurable in the registry) is enabled, the record will be returned to the pending state at TimeToResetDailyStats (00:30 by default and configurable in the registry). About Personal Callbacks The Outbound Option personal callback feature allows scheduling customer callbacks for specific agents, so customers receive callbacks from the same agent that spoke with them initially. This dialing mode is very similar to Preview mode in that an agent reservation occurs first. When the agent is reserved they can either accept the customer call or reject it. (The Skip option is not available.) Clicking the Close button sets the BAResponse variable to indicate a close operation, which closes out the record so it is not dialed again. Personal callbacks are not dependent on a particular campaign, and do not require a campaign to be running when the call is placed. This allows personal callbacks to work together with active campaigns containing either predictive or preview skill groups. Agents scheduled for a personal callback can be logged in to any inbound, outbound, or blended skill group at the time of the callback. The callback agent must be logged in with the same agent ID that was used to schedule the callback. Be aware that only one dialer on a particular peripheral is assigned personal callback records. Personal callbacks are enabled and configured through the Outbound Option Campaign Configuration Component, and are scheduled in the Agent Desktop. 3-7

44 Callbacks Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Some personal callback timeout values are specified in the Outbound Option Campaign Manager registry. Refer to the Outbound Option User Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for information about using the personal callback feature. The following actions can take place during a personal callback: If the specified agent is not logged in at the designated callback time, but then logs on within the callback time period, Outbound Option reserves the agent and places the callback. If the specified agent is on an existing call and is unavailable during the entire callback time period, the personal callback fails and the call is rescheduled or abandoned based on the configuration setup. If the customer cannot be reached during the specified callback time, the call is rescheduled or abandoned based on the configuration setup until the specified maximum number of attempts has been exhausted. If the Outbound Option Dialer detects an answering machine response during a personal callback, the call is still transferred to the scheduled agent. This allows the agent to leave a message and/or reschedule the callback for another convenient time. If the required agent is not available, then one of the following actions can happen: Another agent is reserved for the callback using a VDN The callback is rescheduled The callback is abandoned Personal callbacks that are scheduled while the agent is in Direct Preview mode do not occur in Personal Callback mode; instead, the callback occurs in regular callback mode (agent will not hear the call ring out). 3-8

45 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Callbacks Configuring and Scheduling the Personal Callback Feature The following sections describe how to enable and configure the personal callback feature, and provide information about scheduling a personal callback. Personal callbacks that are scheduled while the agent is in Direct Preview mode do not occur in Direct Preview mode; instead, the callback occurs in regular preview mode (agent will not hear the call ring out). Be aware that only one dialer on a particular peripheral is assigned personal callback records. How to enable the personal callback setting Step 1 Open the Outbound Option Campaign Configuration Component. See the online help for detailed information about how to use the Outbound Option Configuration Components. Step 2 Set the personal callback mode for a particular campaign by clicking the Personalized callback checkbox. How to configure personal callbacks Some personal callback options must be configured through the registry. Furthermore, if a personal callback record is not associated with a campaign it follows the rules configured within the registry. Important! The PersonalCallbackEnabled registry entry must be set to 1 to enable personal callback functionality. This must be done in addition to enabling personal callbacks at the campaign level. Personal callbacks contain the ID of the agent who will be connected to the customer when the callback is placed. The dialer will always search for regular callbacks even if personal callback is enabled. Choosing between regular and personal callback is typically done before the system is running, Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Configure the reschedule callback mode in the Outbound Option Campaign Configuration Component by selecting one of the following options on the Campaign General tab: Use the alternate VDN Reschedule the personal callback to the same time the next business day Abandon the personal callback Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cisco Systems, Inc.\ICM\<instance name>\loggera\blendedagent\currentversion folder in the Outbound Option registry. Configure the personal callback registry entries listed in the following table. 3-9

46 Callbacks Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Table 3-1 Personal Callback Registry Entries Name Default Value Description CallbackTimeLimit 15 Calculates the callback time range for each personal callback in minutes. The Campaign Manager queries the Personal Callback List for callback records where the CallbackDateTime value is between the current time and the sum of the current time minus the CallbackTimeLimit. PersonalCallbackEnabled 0 Enables the Personal Callback option. This entry must be set to 1 to enable personal callback functionality. This must be done in addition to enabling personal callbacks at the campaign level. To disable personal callbacks, set this entry to 0. (Default is 0.) PersonalCallbackTimeToRetryBusy 1 Sets the amount of time, in minutes, that the Outbound Option Dialer waits before retrying a personal callback when the customer s phone is busy (minimum value is 1; maximum value is 10). PersonalCallbackTimeToRetryNoAnswer 20 Sets the amount of time, in minutes, that the Outbound Option Dialer waits before retrying a personal callback when the customer does not answer the phone (minimum value is 5; maximum value is 60). PersonalCallbackTimeToRetryReservation 5 Sets the amount of time, in minutes, that the Outbound Option Dialer waits before retrying to reserve an agent if the agent is not available (minimum value is 1; maximum value is 10). PersonalCallbackMaxAttemptsDefault 5 Sets the maximum number of times a personal callback will be attempted (minimum value is 1; maximum value is 20). When the number of maximum attempts reaches 0, the record is not tried again and the status is set to M (max-ed out). PersonalCallbackTimeToCheckForRecords 5 The interval time, in minutes, at which the Outbound Option Dialer checks the Campaign Manager for personal callback records (minimum value is 1; maximum value is 30). PersonalCallbackDaysToPurgeOldRecords 5 The number of days after the personal callback has been scheduled to keep the record before it is purged (minimum value is 1; maximum value is 30). 3-10

47 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Callbacks Table 3-1 Personal Callback Registry Entries Default Name Value Description PersonalCallbackRecordsToCache 20 The number of personal callback records to send to the Outbound Option Dialer at one time (minimum value is 5; maximum value is 100). PersonalCallbackSaturdayAllowed 0 Indicates whether personal callbacks are allowed on Saturdays: 0: Personal callbacks are not allowed on Saturdays and will be scheduled for the next allowable day. For example, a personal callback which fails to reach the customer on a Friday will be rescheduled for the following Monday. 1: Personal callbacks are allowed on Saturdays. PersonalCallbackSundayAllowed 0 Indicates whether personal callbacks are allowed on Sundays: 0: Personal callbacks are not allowed on Sundays and will be scheduled for the next allowable day. For example, a personal callback which fails to reach the customer on a Friday will be rescheduled for the following Monday. 1: Personal callbacks are allowed on Sundays. PersonalCallbackCallStatusToPurge C, M String containing the call status types to consider when purging old personal callback records. For example, if the string contains C,M,F,L,I, all calls with these call statuses will be purged from the database. (If the registry entry is missing, the default is assumed.) The call status values can optionally be delimited using a comma, a hyphen, a semi-colon, or a colon. PersonalCallbackNoAnswerRingLimit 4 The number of times a customer phone rings before being classified as an unanswered call (minimum value is 2; maximum value is 10). 3-11

48 Callbacks Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview How to identify personal callback records in the Termination_Call_Detail table Step 1 Every personal callback record has the string Callback in the CED column. Scheduling a Personal Callback Personal callbacks are scheduled through the Agent Desktop. During a call, or when a call is in wrap-up mode, an agent can click the Callback button and enter a date and time for the callback. If the personal callback feature is enabled, the callback is scheduled for this particular agent at either the same customer phone number or a different customer phone number entered at the desktop. When ICM software initiates a personal callback, the Agent Desktop indicates this call type by displaying Outbound Callback as the call mode. (Personal callbacks are handled in the same manner as any preview call.) The agent can then do one of the following: Click the Accept button to accept the call. Click one of the Reject buttons to reject the call, which closes out the personal callback record and discontinues any future attempts to contact this customer. For example, this feature is useful if the agent has already spoken to this customer prior to the scheduled personal callback and now wants to avoid any more calls with this customer. The following examples display the differences between a regular callback and a personal callback. Example 3-2 Regular Callback Example Example 3-3 Personal Callback Example 3-12

49 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature Important! Enhanced Call Progress Analysis is supported on the IPCC Enterprise Outbound Option Dialer only when silence suppression is disabled on the outbound call. (See Disabling Silence Suppression for detailed instructions.) Silence suppression does not need to be disabled when using Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY. About Call Progress Analysis Call Progress Analysis (CPA) is not available while using the Direct Preview Only and Direct Preview Blended modes. The Call Progress Analysis (CPA) feature consists of three different functions: Answering Machine Detection (AMD) Fax/modem detection Fax/modem detection is always enabled. Answering machine terminating beep detection This option is not available for Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY. The Outbound Option Dialer only operates with the G.711 algorithm for this feature. This feature is enabled/disabled in the Outbound Option Campaign Configuration Component on a campaign-by-campaign basis, depending upon the requirements of the campaign or the purpose of the call. For example, agent reservation calls will not use any of the above algorithms since the recipient of the call is a known quantity (an agent phone). Some campaigns might have answering machine disabled due to the fact that the campaign requires zero false detects (interpreting a live voice as an answering machine). You cannot configure a campaign to be both an agent campaign and a transfer to IVR campaign at the same time (they must be separate campaigns). Required Voice Gateway Configuration When using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) feature, make sure the MTP Required option is not enabled. MTP uses unnecessary resources and could cause delays. 3-13

50 Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN. About Silence Suppression When silence suppression is enabled on a gateway, the transmit RTP stream is stopped by the source during periods of perceived silence. The default behavior of most IP devices generates comfort noise during these periods, so that the person at the receiving end point does not believe the call has become disconnected. In order to classify a signal as accurately as possible, the IPCC Enterprise Outbound Option Dialer requires a steady RTP stream from the remote end point. Therefore, silence suppression, or voice activated detection (VAD), must be disabled. Silence suppression is controlled by several devices in the VoIP network, depending upon how the destination end point is reached. In most cases, the IPCC Enterprise Outbound Option Dialer dials customers on the PSTN via a gateway. There are different configuration requirements needed to disable VAD depending upon which type of gateway is involved. The following sections provide configuration requirements for H.323 gateways (AS5300, AS5400,etc.), MGCP gateways (6608, etc.), and direct CallManager-based IP calls. Disabling Silence Suppression Using Dial Peers to Set Up the Dial Plan H.323 gateways use the concept of dial peers to set up the dial plan. The following Cisco TAC Technical s, located on Cisco.com at explain how dial peers are set up in an H.323 gateway: Voice - Understanding Dial Peers and Call Legs on Cisco IOS Platforms (Document ID: 12164) Voice - Understanding How Inbound and Outbound Dial Peers are Matched on Cisco IOS Platforms (Document ID: 14074) Voice - Understanding Inbound and Outbound Dial Peers on Cisco IOS Platforms (Document ID: 12425) Relationship Between Dial Peers and Call Legs A voice call over a packet network is segmented into discrete call legs that are associated with dial peers (a dial peer is associated with each call leg). A call leg is a logical connection between two router/gateways or between a router/gateway and an IP telephony device; for example, Cisco CallManager and SIP Server. Figure 3-2 and Figure 3-3 illustrate this concept. In Figure 3-2 (toll-bypass), a voice call comprises four call legs: two from the perspective of the originating router/gateway and two from the perspective of the terminating router/gateway. 3-14

51 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature Figure 3-2 Voice Dial Peers / Call Legs Toll-bypass Scenario In Figure 3-3, a voice call comprises two call legs. Figure 3-3 Voice Dial Peers / Call Legs: CallManager System with IOS Gateway Scenario In the Figure 3-3, a voice call compromises two call legs. The terms originating router/gateway and terminating router/gateway are dependent on the source to destination direction of the call. How to disable silence suppression on H.323 Release 12.3(1) gateways The following information is applicable to the specific release and gateway mentioned in this section. Refer to the gateway product s documentation for specific configuration information. Step 1 Using the terminology of Figure 3-2 above, the IPCC Enterprise Outbound Option Dialer uses an H.323 gateway as a Terminating Gateway. Therefore, at a minimum, create an inbound VoIP dial peer and a matching outbound POTS dial peer for the Dialer. Step 2 Silence suppression is disabled on the inbound VoIP dial peer; for example, assume that the IPCC Enterprise Outbound Option Dialer will place calls through an H.323 gateway to numbers with the following pattern 508XXXXXXX. The Dialer ports assigned to the IPCC Enterprise Outbound Option Dialer are 5000 through Configure the inbound VoIP dial peer in one of the following ways. For fastest matching, the dial peer must match the dialed number, as follows: 3-15

52 Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview dial-peer voice 100 voip incoming called-number codec g711ulaw no vad <========== silence suppression disabled that the 'no vad' command, when applied to a VoIP dial peer, disables silence suppression for all calls made to 508xxxxxxx. This setup, however, might not be desirable as this setting affects all outbound calls made to this number range, not just calls from the Dialer. Therefore, the inbound dial peer can instead match on the calling number as follows: dial-peer voice 100 voip answer-address 50.. codec g711ulaw no vad <========== silence suppression disabled The above dial peer only matches the calls which emanate from the Dialer; other calls will not be affected. The matching outbound dial peer would look something like the following: dial-peer voice 200 pots destination-pattern no digit-strip direct-inward-dial port 0:D The port command above, as well as other parameters, might be different for a particular setup. How to disable silence suppression on Cisco CallManager and MGCP gateways Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Open the Cisco CallManager application and select Service > Service Parameters from the Administration menu. Disable silence suppression by setting the following parameters located under the Configured Service Parameters box to False (F): SilenceSuppresionSystemWide: This parameter disables silence suppression for all skinny devices. SilenceSuppresionWithGateways: This parameter disables silence suppression for all MGCP gateways. Click Cisco CallManager s IP address or name and select Cisco CallManager. How to Set Up Outbound Option Call Progress Analysis Step 1 Double-click the ICM Configuration Manager icon in the ICM Admin Workstation window. 3-16

53 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature Step 2 Double-click the Campaign Configuration Component, then click the Campaign Purpose tab. Refer to the Outbound Option online help for detailed information about the options on the Campaign Purpose tab. Step 3 Click the Agent Based Campaign option. This type of campaign uses an outbound mode that causes the Dialer to transfer every customer call associated with a specific skill group to an agent. Step 4 Click the Enable IP AMD option for Outbound Option on IPCC Enterprise or the Enable TDM AMD option for Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY, if answering machine detection is desired. Voice detection and fax detection are always enabled by default. Outbound Option on IPCC Enterprise users must only use the Enable IP AMD option. Refer to the Outbound Option online help for detailed information about the CPA options. Step 5 Configure the rest of the settings. 3-17

54 Using the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Dialer Registry Settings for Call Progress Analysis Feature Table 3-1 lists the Dialer registry settings that must be used with the CPA feature. Each registry setting is pre-pended with CPA in order to easily identify these parameters. Do not modify these parameters for most situations. Table 3-1 Dialer Registry Settings for Call Progress Analysis Feature Dialer Registry Setting Recommended Value (units) Default Value (units) Description CPAMinSilencePeriod 375 (ms) 608 (ms) Amount of time that the signal must be silent after speech detection to declare a live voice (in ms). CPAAnalysisPeriod 2500 (ms) 1592 (ms) Maximum amount of time (from the moment the system first detects speech) that analysis will be performed on the input audio. CPAMaxTimeAnalysis 3000 (ms) 8000 (ms) The period in which CPAAnalysisPeriod must start and stop or a default Call Result will be declared. This timer starts when the customer goes off-hook. CPANoiseThresholdPeriod 100 (ms) 32 (ms) Amount of time that the CPA algorithm uses to compute the noise floor. CPAMinimumValidSpeechTime 112 (ms) 112 (ms) Amount of time that energy must be active before declared speech. Anything less is considered a glitch. CPAMaxNoiseFloor Maximum Noise floor possible. Used to restrict noise floor measurement. CPAMinNoiseFloor Minimum Noise floor possible. Used to restrict noise floor measurement. CPAJitterBufferDelay 150 (ms) 100 (ms) Jitter buffer delay (in ms). CPAActiveThreshold 32 (db) 32 (db) Signal must exceed CPAActiveThreshold*noiseThreshold to be considered active. For example, 32 is 10 * log(32) = 15 db. CPAMaxTermToneAnalysis (ms) (ms) This is the amount of time the algorithm will look for a terminating beep once the algorithm has detected an answering machine CPAMaxToneSTDEV Standard deviation of zero crossing rate per block. Values lower than this are considered tones. DisableIPCPA 0 0 Boolean registry setting. When this registry setting is set to 1, all Call Progress Analysis for all calls made from this dialer will be disabled, including voice detection, fax/modem detection and answering machine detection. 3-18

55 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Using the Transfer to IVR Feature The transfer to IVR feature causes the Dialer to transfer every customer call associated with a specific skill group to a service control-based IVR instead of an agent. This feature allows a contact center to run unassisted outbound campaigns using pre-recorded messages in the Cisco IP IVR and Cisco CVP/ISN products. The transfer to IVR feature is only supported for Outbound Option on Cisco IP Contact Center (IPCC Enterprise). You can not use this feature in the Direct Preview or the regular Preview modes. Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN and only support IP IVR Type 9. Prerequisites for Outbound Option Transfer to IVR The following tables list the prerequisites that must be completed before you configure the Outbound Option transfer to IVR feature: Table 3-2 lists the prerequisites when using Cisco IP IVR Types 2 and 9. Table 3-3 lists the prerequisites when using Cisco CVP/ISN Types 5 and 7 (CVP/ISN Comprehensive Model). Cisco IPCC Enterprise Features Not Supported with Cisco CVP/ISN Type 5 (Comprehensive Model) Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN. The following IPCC Enterprise features are not supported with CVP/ISN Type 5 (CVP/ISN Comprehensive Model): Queue & Transfer Model and Advanced Speech Model. Outpulse transfers (for example, the AT&T *8 takeback and transfer service) for a call that has been sent to CVP/ISN from Cisco CallManager via Outbound Option. Using both of the Press 1 or Say 1 VRU application prompts (for example, For sales, press or say 1; for service, press or say 2... ) for a call that has been sent to CVP/ISN from CallManager using Outbound Option. Every Run External ICM script node must be set up to allow either DTMF key collection or digit voice collection, but not both; therefore, you can prompt the caller to Press 1 or Say 1, but not both. All outbound calls that arrive at CVP/ISN from CallManager that are not G711 (voice encoding protocol for VoIP). All calls that are transfered to agents from CVP/ISN after outbound IVR treatment must also be G711. Call context. All call context is lost when making the transfer, including the values of Outbound Option ECC variables. To obtain call context variables that will provide screen pops and ANI, prompt the caller using CVP/ISN and ask for his/her phone number and any other needed data. 3-19

56 Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Table 3-2 Prerequisites for Outbound Option Transfer to IVR using IP IVR Types 2 and 9 Item Description Installed software Cisco ICM sofware or Cisco System IPCC For non-system IPCC deployments, to ensure Outbound Option is properly installed, the Outbound Option option in the Logger Component Properties window and the Outbound Option Support option in the Admin Workstation Client Properties window must be enabled while installing ICM software using the ICM Setup application. For System IPCC deployments, install the System IPCC components and the Outbound Controller as described in the System IPCC Installation and Configuration Guide for Cisco IPCC Enterprise Edition. Cisco CallManager Cisco CTI OS Cisco CAD Cisco IP IVR Important! Refer to the Cisco Customer Response Applications documentation set for information about IP IVR. System IPCC deployments only support IP IVR Type 9 for Outbound Option. Use IP IVR Type 2 with Generic PGs. Outbound Option prerequisite tasks Set up translation route For complete and current information on software releases, refer to the Cisco Intelligent Contact Management Software Release 7.0(0) Bill of Materials (BOM). The ICM BOM is available at: index.htm. Create a campaign Create the query rules Import the records Refer to the Outbound Option Setup and Configuration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for detailed information about performing these tasks. Create a translation route to a skill group for a Generic PG or an IPCC/SoftACD PG, which will be used in the routing script. that the translation route must point at a Queue to Skill node. also that in System IPCC deployments, translation routes are handled automatically by the IPCC System PG. Refer to the IPCC Installation and Configuration Guide for Cisco IPCC Enterprise Edition for detailed information about performing these configurations. 3-20

57 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Table 3-2 Prerequisites for Outbound Option Transfer to IVR using IP IVR Types 2 and 9 (continued) Item Set up CTI ports/route points Verify Router registry key Configure IP IVR ports Configure ICM scripts Description Configure the CTI ports/route points in Cisco CallManager for IP IVR. Refer to the Getting Started with Cisco Customer Response Applications guide and the IPCC Installation and Configuration Guide for Cisco IPCC Enterprise Edition for detailed information about performing these configurations. Verify that the following router registry key on Side A and Side B of the Router contains a value of 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cisco Systems, Inc.\ICM\<customer instance>\routera/b\router\ CurrentVersion\Configuration\Global\SkillGroupCallsInQTimer Interval = 2 Configure the total number of IP IVR ports in IP IVR. Configure the scripts that need to be played by following the instructions in the Cisco IP IVR documentation. 3-21

58 Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Table 3-3 Prerequisites for Outbound Option Transfer to IVR using CVP/ISN Types 5 and 7 Item Description Installed software Cisco ICM software To ensure Outbound Option is properly installed, the Outbound Option option in the Logger Component Properties window and the Outbound Option Support option in the Admin Workstation Client Properties window must be enabled while installing ICM software using the ICM Setup application. Cisco CallManager Cisco CTI OS Cisco CAD Cisco Internet Service Node (CVP/ISN) Important! Outbound Option only supports CVP/ISN Types 5 and 7 (CVP/ISN Comprehensive Model). Refer to the Cisco Internet Service Node documentation set for information about CVP/ISN. Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN. Outbound Option prerequisite tasks Verify Router registry key For complete and current information on software releases, refer to the Cisco Intelligent Contact Management Software Release 7.0(0) Bill of Materials (BOM). The ICM BOM is available at: index.htm. Create a campaign Create the query rules Import the records Refer to the Outbound Option Setup and Configuration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for detailed information about performing these tasks. Verify that the following router registry key on Side A and Side B of the Router contains a value of 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cisco Systems, Inc.\ICM\<customer instance>\routera/b\router\ CurrentVersion\Configuration\Global\SkillGroupCallsInQTimerInter val =

59 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Table 3-3 Prerequisites for Outbound Option Transfer to IVR using CVP/ISN Types 5 and 7 (continued) Item Configure MTP for Voice Browser Configure CVP/ISN ports Maintain adequate MTP resources Configure ICM scripts Description When using CVP/ISN and configuring the Voice Browser as an H.323 gateway in CallManager, enable this option by clicking the Media Termination Point Required checkbox (accessed from the Device > Gateway menu). Important! This option significantly increases the load on Cisco CallManager, so make sure the solution is properly sized. Follow the guidelines listed in the CallManager documentation to determine how many MTP resources each box can support and compare that with how many will be needed. Additionally, for CVP/ISN Type 5 (CVP/ISN Comprehensive Model) users, use a separate machine for the CVP/ISN Voice Browser designated as the outbound CVP/ISN; then only outbound-related CVP/ISN calls will incur the MTP overhead in CallManager since only that separate CVP/ISN VB needs to be defined with MTP in CallManager. Otherwise, every CVP/ISN transfer to CallManager would incur the MTP overhead. Configure the total number of CVP/ISN ports in both the Application server and the Voice Browser. There must be adequate MTP (Media Termination Point) resources available on CallManager to handle the volume of outbound calls expected. MTP can be either software or hardware MTP. Software (on-box) MTP significantly reduces the CPU capacity of a CallManager box. Configure the scripts that need to be played by following the instructions in the Cisco CVP/ISN documentation. In the ICM scripts: Do not use any Label nodes beginning with the value DTMF. This indicates an outpulse transfer. A Set node that manipulates ECC variable input-type can be set to either D or B ; however, when set to B, only voice input can be used (that is, DTMF will not work when voice input is enabled). D must be used to collect DTMF key input. In an ICM routing script invoked when a new call arrives at CallManager, you need to send the call to CVP/ISN using a Label node, not a translation route, and not a SendToVRU node. Do not use RunExternalScript nodes in this script because ICM software is not aware it is sending the call to a VRU. RunExternalScript nodes are part of the CVP/ISN-invoked script, not the ICM script invoked by a new call to CallManager. 3-23

60 Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview About Outbound Option Transfer to IVR This section lists important facts about the Outbound Option transfer to IVR feature. About Partitioning IVR Ports Transfer to IVR Call Flow Transfer to IVR Call Flow You cannot configure a CPA campaign and a transfer to IVR campaign at the same time (they must be separate campaigns). About Partitioning IVR Ports If the same IVR is used for inbound and outbound campaigns, partition the ports accordingly. Do not use ports allocated for the transfer to IVR feature for inbound calls. For IVR ports shared between inbound and outbound applications, the Dialer might transfer customers to an IVR which does not have any available ports left. In this case, the called party might hear a fast busy or a ring no answer message. To avoid this situation, purchase enough ports for the IVR. 3-24

61 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Transfer to IVR Call Flow Figure 3-4 describes a transfer to IVR call flow. Figure 3-4 Transfer to IVR Call Flow 3 IP 1 IP Gateway PSTN 2 Customer Phone Dialer Blind Transfer 4 Route Point ICM Script 6 5 IVR Translation Route or Label Outbound Option Dialer makes outbound call to customer through the IP Gateway. 2. Customer picks up call. 3. Dialer performs answering machine/fax detection. 4. Dialer redirects the call to a route point. 5. ICM script runs a routing script using a translation route for IP IVR and a label for CVP/ISN Type 5 (CVP/ISN Comprehensive Model). (Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN, and translation routes are not needed since they are handled automatically by the IPCC System PG.) 6. After executing the translation route node, ICM software requests CallManager to send the call to an IVR. 3-25

62 Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview How to Set Up Outbound Option Transfer to IVR This section describes the tasks involved in setting up Outbound Option transfer to IVR. Configuring Outbound Option Transfer to IVR Reporting on the Outbound Option Transfer to IVR Feature Configuring Outbound Option Transfer to IVR If you previously installed the Outbound Option Transfer to IVR engineering special, you need to reconfigure the transfer to IVR settings using the instructions below. Step 1 Step 2 For IPCC Enterprise deployments, double-click the ICM Configuration Manager icon in the ICM Admin Workstation window. For System IPCC deployments, access the Configuration Manager from an Administration & WebView Reporting machine by clicking Start > All Programs > IPCC Administration > Configuration Manager. Double-click the Campaign Configuration Component, then click the Campaign Purpose tab. Refer to the Outbound Option online help for detailed information about the options on the Campaign Purpose tab. Step 3 Click the Transfer to IVR Campaign option. This type of campaign uses an outbound mode that causes the Dialer to transfer every customer call associated with a specific skill group to a service control-based IVR instead of an agent. This feature allows a contact center to run unassisted outbound campaigns using pre-recorded messages in the IVR. Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Click the Enable IP AMD option, then do either of the following: Click the Abandon Call button so calls answered by answering machines will be dropped. Click the Transfer to IVR Route Point option to enable the Dialer to transfer the call to play a pre-recorded message whenever it detects an answering machine. Click the Skill Group Selection tab, then double-click the skill group name. In the Skill Group Selection dialog box, enter the total number of IVR ports allocated for the specific skill group in the Number of IVR Ports text box. Enter the route point required to execute the transfer to IVR routing script in the IVR Route Point text box. You must enter the IVR ports and the IVR route point in order to save the campaign data. Step 7 Use the ICM Script Editor to create a routing script that uses the dialed number for the IPCC Enterprise routing client to send calls to the IVR and route them through a translation route to the previously configured skill group. 3-26

63 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Transfer to IVR Feature The Transfer to IVR feature requires that a translation route to a skill group must be specified in a routing script. It also requires that the translation route must point at a Queue to Skill node. In System IPCC deployments, translation routes are handled automatically by the IPCC System PG. a. Open the ICM Script Editor application. b. Using the ICM Script Editor Call Type Manager, associate the IPCC Enterprise route point with the configured call type and newly created routing script. Refer to the ICM Scripting and Media Routing Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for task-based information about using ICM Script Editor. Refer to the ICM Script Editor online help for detailed information about the ICM Script Editor options. The following diagram displays a sample routing script that translation routes to an CVP/ISN VRU. Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN. 3-27

64 Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview The following diagram displays a sample routing script that translation routes to an IP IVR VRU. In System IPCC deployments, translation routes are handled automatically by the IPCC System PG. System IPCC deployments only support IP IVR Type 9 for Outbound Option. Step 8 Use the ICM Script Editor application to create an administrative script for each skill group to control the OutboundControl variable and the skill group reservation percentage. The Outbound Option Dialer examines the value of this variable to determine which mode each skill group uses. If the OutboundControl variable is not set, the skill group defaults to inbound. See Chapter 6, Dialing Modes, for detailed information about Outbound Option outbound dialing modes. a. Open the ICM Script Editor application. b. Create an administrative script. (You can use one script to control all Outbound Option skill groups or multiple scripts to control multiple Outbound Option skill groups.) c. Set up the script with the following nodes (required): Start, Set, and End. d. Use the If node to disable the Transfer to IVR feature and transfer calls to Inbound mode if the IVR node stops running. 3-28

65 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Using the Transfer to IVR Feature The following example displays the If node setup. e. Use the Set node to set skill group variables (OutboundControl and OutboundPercent). f. Set the OutboundControl variable to activate a Transfer to IVR outbound campaign; for example, set this variable by entering one of the following variables in the Value field in the Set Properties window: PREDICTIVE_ONLY: Dials several customers per IVR port. After reaching a live contact, the Predictive Dialer transfers the customer to the IVR. The predictive algorithm is designed to calculate the number of lines to dial per IVR port. PROGRESSIVE_ONLY: Similar to PREDICTIVE_ONLY; however, lines to dial per IVR port are not calculated users configure a fixed number of lines that will always be dialed per IVR port. If the administrative script (where the OutboundControl variable or reservation percentage is set) is running, but the modes/percentages are not being updated at the Dialer, do the following: Make sure that the skill group being controlled is the base skill group, and not the sub skill groups. Verify that the outbound control variable mode is spelled correctly. g. Set the OutboundPercent variable to 100 in the same administrative script. 3-29

66 Using the Transfer to IVR Feature Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview The following diagram displays a sample administrative script that uses the objects mentioned above. If an IVR becomes unavailable, use an administrative script to disable the transfer to IVR skill group. Step 9 Step 10 As of Release 7.1(1), you can optionally create additional if nodes to route to external scripts to allow for different treatment depending on whether voice or an answering machine was detected. CPA must be enabled. a. Create two if nodes with the following properties: Call.BAResponse= CPA_AnswerMachine Call.BAResponse= CPA_Voice b. The positive path of the Queue to Skill Group node should point to the first BAResponse If node (CPA_AnswerMachine). The negative of the first BAResponse If node should point to the second BAResponse node (CPA_Voice). c. The positive path of each BAResponse If node should point to Run External Script nodes, applicable to the type of node, either a voice response external script, or a answering machine response external script. Create an IVR or VRU script. (Be aware that this script is different from a routing script.) The IVR script contains a list of commands that tell the IVR what kind of information to play to the customer, such as a pre-recorded message using a.wav file. The IVR script can also collect survey information by requesting the customer to press specific numbers. 3-30

67 Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview Configuring CVP/ISN with the Dynamic Routing Client Refer to the ICM Scripting and Media Routing Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for information about IVR scripts. Reporting on the Outbound Option Transfer to IVR Feature Use WebView, the Web-based reporting and event monitoring tool of ICM/IPCC software, to run reports based on campaigns using the transfer to IVR feature. Refer to the WebView Installation and Administration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for information about installing the WebView reporting and event monitoring tool and for information about browser requirements. Refer to the Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition WebView Reporting Online Help for detailed information about the report templates. Configuring CVP/ISN with the Dynamic Routing Client Configure CVP/ISN according to the instructions in the CVP/ISN documentation set, with one exception: The documentation states that the CVP/ISN switch-leg PG points to a Type 5 NetworkVRU. When you are transferring an outbound call to CVP/ISN, configure the CVP/ISN switch-leg PG to point to a Type 2 NetworkVRU instead. This will work even if the same CVP/ISN PG is being shared for both inbound and outbound calls, if the same CVP/ISN is being shared. Outbound Option deployments in System IPCC do not support CVP/ISN. You must also turn on the Media Termination Point (MTP) setting in CallManager s configuration for the ISN gateway. Be aware that doing this uses a lot of resources on CallManager and if it is necessary to do so, be sure to evaluate whether CallManager is sized correctly. 3-31

68 Configuring CVP/ISN with the Dynamic Routing Client Chapter 3 Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview 3-32

69 CHAPTER 4 Outbound Option Desktops This chapter provides an overview of the Outbound Option desktops: CTI Object Server (CTI OS), CTI Toolkit (GeoDCS), and the Cisco Agent Desktop (CAD). It also describes the CTI Extended Call Context (ECC) variables the Outbound Option Dialer uses to exchange information with the CTI Desktop. Desktop button behavior is also described in this chapter. Refer to the CTI Product Description Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for detailed information about the Cisco CTI application. Refer to the Outbound Option Setup and Configuration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for detailed instructions on installing the CTI desktops and associating task buttons with the Outbound Option controls/actions. Cisco CTI Object Server (CTI OS) The CTI OS component provides an object-based interface to the CTI Server using the COM and C++ interfaces. These interfaces permit development of agent desktop applications that inteface with ICM software. The CTI OS interface is the preferred method of writing desktop solutions. Outbound Option includes a sample agent desktop, the Cisco CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop (Win32), with Visual Basic source code, utilizing CTI OS. Refer to the CTI OS Developer's Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for information about the CTI OS Architecture and the CTI OS Client Interface. Cisco CTI Toolkit (GeoDCS) The Desktop Control Server (DCS) provides a simple CTI interface via ActiveX controls that permits third party developers to write agent desktop applications that can interface with ICM software. GeoDCS is a legacy interface. The preferred interface for writing agent desktop solutions is CTI OS. Outbound Option ships two ActiveX controls for GeoDCS integration: BAResponse. The BAResponse.ocx control permits agent desktop applications to communicate with the Outbound Option Dialer. 4-1

70 Cisco Agent Desktop (CAD) Chapter 4 Outbound Option Desktops BAStatus. The BAModeIndicator.ocx control indicates what dial mode is currently active (Predictive/Progressive/Preview/Direct Preview). For more information on DCS, see the Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition Desktop Control Server Reference Guide. Cisco Agent Desktop (CAD) Cisco Agent Desktop (CAD) is a computer telephony integration solution for contact centers that is easy to deploy, configure, and manage. It provides contact center agents and supervisors with powerful tools to increase agent productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce contact center costs. CAD consists of these major components: Cisco Desktop Administrator Cisco Agent Desktop Cisco Supervisor Desktop CAD Services This section discusses Cisco Agent Desktop and Cisco Supervisor Desktop. Refer to the CAD documentation for detailed information about the other components. Cisco Agent Desktop Cisco Agent Desktop pops windows on the agent PC when the call arrives, increasing the speed of call processing. Cisco Agent Desktop populates any sort of third-party application (databases, help desk packages, personal information managers, etc.) based on the calling number, called number, or information that a VRU collects. The screen pop can use a combination of elements. The Cisco Agent Desktop soft phone allows agents to control calls from the PC. It minimizes keystrokes and saves time for agents working simultaneously with the phone, CTI desktop, and third-party applications. The soft phone toolbar automates common telephony functions, including answer, drop, and speed dial. The toolbar also includes a taskbar, which launches applications based on telephony or data events. Agents select from up to 10 predefined task buttons to update CRM data and other applications, as well as initiate automated after-call tasks, such as sending an or fax, or initiating call-handling scripts or other Windows-based tools. The Chat feature allows agents to communicate with their supervisors and other agents via text messages for assistance at any time without leaving their desks or putting a call on hold. The integrated browser allows agents to view intranet and internet webpages from within Cisco Agent Desktop. Cisco Supervisor Desktop Cisco Supervisor Desktop allows contact center supervisors to view and direct agent activity in real time. Without leaving their desks, supervisors can observe, coach, and communicate with agents using instant messaging, view agent status details, as well as view conference information. Without the caller s knowledge, supervisors can initiate chat sessions to coach agents on how to handle customer issues. Supervisors can send team performance messages (scrolling marquee messages) to all agents or to teams of agents to broadcast important information. 4-2

71 Chapter 4 Outbound Option Desktops Outbound Option Extended Call Context Variables Supervisors can also use the real-time audio monitoring capabilities to listen to agent conversations with customers. If necessary, they can barge-in to calls conference themselves into the conversation or intercept a call transfer a call to themselves. Supervisors can also record agent conversations and save those recordings for up to thirty days for later review. Cisco Desktop Administrator Cisco Desktop Administrator allows a contact center administrator to configure how Cisco Agent Desktop looks and behaves on the agent desktop. Using Cisco Desktop Administrator, an administrator can create work flows, configure how enterprise data is displayed, customize task buttons, and perform many more tasks to customize Cisco Agent Desktop for that contact center s particular needs. Outbound Option Extended Call Context Variables The Outbound Option Dialer uses CTI Extended Call Context (ECC) variables to exchange information with GeoDCS or the CTI Toolkit Agent Desktop (Win32) for IPCC Enterprise. The ECC variables Outbound Option uses are listed in the following table. Refer to the ICM Installation Guide for Cisco ICM Enterprise Edition for instructions on adding the Outbound Option ECC variables to CTI OS. Table 4-1 ECC Variables for Outbound Option ECC Variable BACampaign BAAccountNumber Description Indicates the name of the Outbound Option campaign to which the call belongs. Identifies a customer account number and can be used by the desktop application to perform a database lookup to obtain additional customer data. This ECC variable displays only if the data was available in the customer import file. The maximum character length of this ECC variable is 30 characters. See detailed information about this ECC variable Symptoms and Troubleshooting Actions in Appendix A, Troubleshooting. 4-3

72 Outbound Option Extended Call Context Variables Chapter 4 Outbound Option Desktops Table 4-1 ECC Variable BAResponse ECC Variables for Outbound Option (continued) Description Multi-purpose placeholder that sends data from the CTI Desktop to the Outbound Option Dialer. This variable responds to the reservation call, schedule and cancel callbacks, and changes to the callback phone number. When an agent uses the Accept, Reject, Reject-Close, Skip, Skip-Next, and Skip-Close buttons in Preview mode, BAResponse is set to one of the following values: Accept: Accepts the current preview call. Reject: Rejects the current preview call. Sets record to R for retry. 1 Reject-Close: Rejects the current preview call and closes the record so it will not be called again. Skip: Skips the current preview call. Sets record to R for retry. 1 Skip-Next: Displays the Select Next Number on List dialog box with two options: Wrong Number (call other customer phone numbers) and Not Home (continue dialing other customer numbers). If the person answering the call suggests calling back at a later time, use the Callback button. Skip-Close: Skips the current preview call and closes the record so it will not be called again. The Reject-Close, Skip-Next, and the Skip-Close buttons are only available on the CTI OS desktop, not on the CTI Toolkit (GeoDCS). 4-4

73 Chapter 4 Outbound Option Desktops Outbound Option Extended Call Context Variables Table 4-1 ECC Variables for Outbound Option (continued) ECC Variable BAResponse (continued) Description When an agent uses the Callback button, BAResponse is set to one of the following values (note spaces are relevant and must be included in the commands below): Callback mmddyyyy hh:mm: Schedules a callback for the indicated date and time Callback Cancel: Cancels a previously scheduled callback for this call P#xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Changes the callback phone number to the number specified by xxxx For Preview modes, cancel the reservation call by clicking the Reject button. For Predictive mode, cancel the reservation call by clicking the Not Ready button and then hang up the reservation call. For Direct Preview calls, any connected customer call is classified as VOICE by the Dialer (default). To reclassify the call result, the agent has the option to click the following buttons: Voice (only enable this button if one of the other buttons is pressed first since it allows an agent to classify the call as voice in case the agent classified it as something else by mistake): To reclassify the call as a voice call, set the BAResponse variable to REX_VOICE. Answering Machine: To reclassify the call as an answering machine call, set the BAResponse variable to REX_ANS_MACHINE. Fax/Modem: To reclassify the call as a fax/modem call, set the BAResponse variable to REX_FAX. BAResponse (continued) Invalid (in case the customer does not use this number anymore): To reclassify the call as an invalid call, set the BAResponse variable to REX_INVALID. BAStatus Contains 2 characters indicating the mode and direction of the Outbound Option Dialer initiated call. The first character identifies the call mode: R: Reservation call, Predictive or Progressive mode P: Reservation call, Preview mode D: Direct Preview reservation call C: Customer call A: Reservation call, personal callback During a reservation call, the first character is P, R, or A. When a customer call is transferred to an agent, the first character is C. The second character of BAStatus indicates the call direction: O: Outbound I: Inbound B: Blended 4-5

74 Desktop Button Performance Chapter 4 Outbound Option Desktops Table 4-1 ECC Variables for Outbound Option (continued) ECC Variable BADialedListID BATimeZone BABuddyName Description Unique key identifying a specific customer record within the Dialing List table located in the Outbound Option private database. Indicates the GMT offset, in minutes, for the customer s time zone and obtains the customer s local time. The format of this ECC variable is +/-#####. This field s first character is either a positive or negative sign, followed by 5 digits. For example: This example indicates that the customer is one hour behind GMT: BATimeZone = This example indicates that the customer is two hours ahead of GMT: BATimeZone = Contains the customer s first and last name separated by a comma. 1. In preview mode, if the call is skipped or rejected by the agent, the record is marked R for retry and is sent to another agent based on the no answer setting in the Campaign Configuration. For example, if the no answer parameter is two hours, then the skipped or rejected record is presented to another agent after two hours. Desktop Button Performance Table 4-2 details the desktop button behavior when a call is placed using Outbound Option. Table 4-2 Desktop Button Behavior Dialing Mode Call Description Buttons Enabled PREVIEW_ONLY and PREVIEW_BLENDED PREVIEW_ONLY and PREVIEW_BLENDED PREVIEW_ONLY and PREVIEW_BLENDED PREDICTIVE_ONLY and PROGRESSIVE_ONLY PREDICTIVE_ONLY and PROGRESSIVE_ONLY Reservation calls: Dialer makes the call and agent is available Initial customer calls: Agent accepts the call and Dialer makes the call to a customer Transferred customer calls: Agent is talking to a customer Reservation calls: Dialer makes the call and agent is available Initial customer calls: Dialer makes the call to a customer Accept, Skip, Reject, Skip-Close, and Reject-Close buttons are enabled, if the reservation call has not been accepted yet No buttons are enabled, if the customer does not answer the call Callback and Skip-Next buttons are enabled No buttons are enabled No buttons are enabled, if the customer does not answer the call 4-6

75 Chapter 4 Outbound Option Desktops Desktop Button Performance Table 4-2 Desktop Button Behavior (continued) Dialing Mode Call Description Buttons Enabled PREDICTIVE_ONLY and PROGRESSIVE_ONLY PREVIEW_DIRECT_ONLY and PREVIEW_DIRECT_BLENDED PREVIEW_DIRECT_ONLY and PREVIEW_DIRECT_BLENDED PREVIEW_DIRECT_ONLY and PREVIEW_DIRECT_BLENDED Personal callback Personal callback Personal callback Transferred customer calls: Agent is talking to a customer Reservation calls: Dialer makes the call and agent is available Initial customer calls: Agent accepts the call and calls a customer Transferred customer calls: Agent is talking to a customer BAStatus is set to A and O or A and B for a reservation call Initial customer calls: Agent accepts the call and calls a customer Transferred customer calls: Agent is talking to a customer Callback and Skip-Next buttons are enabled Accept, Skip, Reject, Skip-Close, and Reject-Close buttons are enabled, if the reservation call has not been accepted yet No buttons are enabled, if the customer does not answer the call Callback, Skip-Next, AnsMach, Fax, and Invalid buttons are enabled Accept and Reject buttons are enabled, if the reservation call has not been accepted yet No buttons are enabled, if the customer does not answer the call Callback button is enabled 4-7

76 Desktop Button Performance Chapter 4 Outbound Option Desktops 4-8

77 CHAPTER 5 Sample Call Center Configuration This chapter describes a multi-site call center configuration. (This sample configuration is referenced throughout this document.) It also provides instructions on how to configure the Dialer for the sample call center configuration and discusses skill groups and dialed numbers. Sample Call Center Servers The customer instance for this installation is NY. The first call center is located in New York, while the second call center is located in San Francisco. Component Central Controller: Router, Logger, Campaign Manager Peripheral Gateway in NY CTI Server in NY Peripheral Gateway in San Francisco CTI Server in San Francisco Analog Dialer 1 in NY Analog Dialer 2 in NY IP Dialer 2 in NY Digital T1 Dialer in San Francisco Computer Name NYCC NYServer NYServer SFServer SFServer NYDialer1 NYDialer1 NYDialer2 SFDialer1 Dialogic Cards Dialer NYDialer1 NYDialer1 Dialogic Card D/160SC-LS (16 port analog card) D/160SC-LS (16 port analog card) 5-1

78 Sample Call Center Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Dialer NYDialer2 SFDialer1 Dialogic Card None D/240SC-LS (24 port digital card) Outbound Option Configuration Configuration Objects Imports Contact-1 table name (customer records will be stored here after import) Contact-2 table name (customer records will be stored here after import) Query Rule Query Rule Campaign Name Skill Group in New York Skill Group in San Francisco Data Name: ImportA Name: ImportB Name: ContactA Name: ContactB Name: QR_GOLD Time: (9 AM - 8 PM) Stop condition: hitrate < 10% Name: QR_Platinum Time: (9 AM - 8 PM) Stop condition: hitrate < 10% Name: CMP_credit Name: NYSkill_1 Name: SFSkill_1 Topology Diagram The following diagram is a visual representation of ICM software. 5-2

79 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Figure 5-1 ICM Computer/Outbound Option Component Layout Campaigns can be run across multiple sites, independent of the ACD type (Avaya DEFINITY or Cisco IPCC Enterprise). Although import and campaign management functions are independent of the ACD type, the setup and configuration of dialers does depend on the ACD type that works with the dialer. Configuration Instructions The following sections detail the sample configuration described above. Begin by clicking the Outbound Option option from the drop-down list in the ICM Configuration Manager. If Outbound Option is not available in the drop-down list, this indicates that the Outbound Option support checkbox was not checked when the ICM Admin Workstation was installed. Re-install the ICM Admin Workstation with the Outbound Option support checkbox selected. Refer to the Outbound Option Setup and Configuration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & IPCC Hosted Editions for detailed configuration instructions. Figure 5-2 below shows the Outbound Option Configuration Component options. To select a configuration option, double-click the line next to the desired option. The following sections walk through a sample setup of the configuration described above. We begin by configuring the three dialers in our sample multi-site system. 5-3

80 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Figure 5-2 Outbound Option Configuration Component Options Dialer Configuration This section describes how to perform the following configurations: Dialer general configuration Dialer Port Map configuration Dialer Softphone registration General system time options Import rules Query rules Dialer General Configuration How to configure the Dialer Campaigns configuration All dialers used in the Outbound Option system must be configured through the Outbound Option Dialer Configuration Component option. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Double-click the Outbound Option - Dialer option shown in Figure 5-2 to display the Outbound Option Dialer configuration window. Click the Retrieve button. Click the Add button to add a new Dialer for NYDialer1. The Outbound Option Dialer window displays the general configuration fields on the Dialer General tab. 5-4

81 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Figure 5-3 Outbound Option Dialer Window The Dialer General tab contains the following fields: Dialer Name: Descriptive name used to describe the Dialer. Computer Name: Name of the machine that the Dialer runs on. This name is usually the same as the Dialer Name. ICM Peripheral Name: Name of the peripheral that the Dialer is assigned to. This peripheral is the CallManager PG, not the Media Routing PG. Step 4 Description: Used only in the configuration to provide descriptive information about the Dialer. Enter the displayed information in the Dialer General tab fields. The remaining telephony parameters were left at their default values with the exception of the required Local area code field. The local area code where the Dialer operates must be entered in this field. For this example, NYDialer1 s area code was set to 555. Step 5 Click Save. Dialer Port Map Configuration The port map must be configured for each Dialer. This specifies the number of ports available on the Dialer and the extension numbers, which the ACD assigns to those ports. 5-5

82 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration How to configure the Dialer Port Map Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Click the Port Map Selection tab to display the port map configuration. Select the peripheral name for the ICM software PG, which this Dialer will serve. In our sample configuration, the two New York Dialer s will both be associated with a single ICM PG component, and thus a single ACD. Multiple Dialers can be associated with the same ACD. If there were multiple ACDs at this site, each Dialer could have been associated with different ACDs. To begin adding ports to this Dialer, click the Add button and the Dialer Port Map window shown below displays. Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Each analog Dialer in our system contains 16 ports (0-15). For NYDialer1, the four-digit extension numbers begin at 6500 and go consecutively to These ports can be entered individually or a bulk range can be entered. Since our port numbers are consecutive, click the Port Map Range checkbox and enter a range of 0 to 15. The ports will automatically be numbered from our starting extension number. Click OK. Configure NYDialer2 on the same ICM PG and a port map range of 6600 to The remaining parameters are the same as NYDialer1. Finally, configure SFDialer1, using the San Francisco ICM PG, and an area code of 444. Since the Dialer in San Francisco uses a digital T1 card, the port map range will be from 6700 to 6723 (24 ports). Click Save to save all the configuration information. Click Close. Figure 5-4 shows the general configuration for Dialer SFDialer1. Figure 5-5 shows the completed configurations for our three Dialers. 5-6

83 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Figure 5-4 San Francisco Dialer Configuration Figure 5-5 NYDialer1, NYDialer2, and SFDialer1 Configurations Dialer Softphone Registration The Outbound Option IP Dialer must have port devices created on the Cisco CallManager. 5-7

84 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Refer to the Cisco CallManager documentation for detailed information about using this product. How to create the Outbound Option Dialer port devices Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 After configuring the NYDialer2 Port Map, click the Export button to save the port map configuration to a CSV-formatted text file. Select the CallManager version installed on your machine and click OK. Using the Cisco CallManager BAT tool, create a new phone template. Select the Cisco 30 VIP phone choice, set the device pool, and choose the Default 30 VIP phone button template. Insert a single line with no speed dials. Copy the exported CSV file to the BAT tool phone directory on the publisher CallManager. Using the BAT tool, choose Configure Phones and select the exported CSV file and newly created phone template to import the file and create the new devices. General System Time Options To comply with regulations concerning what time contacts might be called, we need to specify the General System Time options. This time range entered here applies to all campaigns which the Outbound Option system will run, and limits the times that can be chosen when configuring campaigns. This guarantees that a contact is not called before or beyond a particular time. Outbound Option automatically converts the times specified to the contact s local time; therefore, it is not necessary to enter separate time ranges for contacts in the San Francisco area versus the New York area. To configure the system time options, double-click the Outbound Option - System Options option from the drop-down list. For our sample call center, we will use a valid time range of 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Figure 5-6 shows the completed system options window. Enter the values as shown and click OK to save the changes. Figure 5-6 Outbound Option System Options 5-8

85 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Import Rules Next, we need to configure our import rules to handle the two sets of contact lists, which our fictional company has obtained. We will create two import rules, ImportA and ImportB, to handle the text files importa.txt and importb.txt, respectively. Both files are comma delimited and contain only home and work phone numbers for a contact, and the income of the contact in dollars. (Fixed length files can also be used instead of comma delimited.) As part of the import process, these text files will be read in and placed into one or more contact databases. From here, query rules will be applied against the database(s) in order to generate the Dialing List table, which Outbound Option uses to retrieve contact records. For simplicity, we will create two contact tables; one for each of our import files. Double-click the Outbound Option - Import Rule option to bring up the general Import Rule window. Figure 5-7 shows the Import Rule configuration for ImportA. that we have specified the target table name as ContactA and have specified where the comma delimited text file can be found on the hard disk (c:\imports\importa.txt). Important! The importa.txt must be saved on Logger A and must be named exactly as mentioned above. also that the Overwrite Table checkbox is selected, indicating that any import with a matching campaign and query rule shall be over-written in the contact table. In order for the import to take place as scheduled, the Enable checkbox must be selected. Figure 5-7 Import Rule General Window The import process is flexible in that it allows the user to define the layout of the contact table and how the import file will be interpreted. Therefore, we now need to define how the text file will be imported into the contact table. The format of the importa.txt text file is shown below: , ,

86 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration The first number is the contact s home phone number, followed by their work phone number, and finally the contact s income. Select the Definition tab and click the Add button to begin adding the home phone number definition. Select the Phone01 column type from the drop-down list. All fields will then be filled in with default values, as shown in Figure 5-8, except for the Allow nulls to be entered for this field checkbox, which must be checked if you do not want data in any of the data columns for this field. Figure 5-8 Phone01 Import Definition Add another standard column for Phone02. Finally, add a user-defined column for income, setting the field data type to integer. Figure 5-9 shows the completed import rule definitions for ImportA. Figure 5-9 ImportA Rule Definitions Finally, we need to schedule when this import will occur. Since we will begin our fictional outbound campaign on a Monday morning, we choose to perform our import on Saturday night. Imports can be performed at any time, but might have an impact on performance if done during an operational campaign (depending upon the size of the import). 5-10

87 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Select the Schedule tab from the Import Rule configuration window. Figure 5-10 shows that we have selected the Weekly radio button and that the import will occur on Saturday nights at 11:00PM. Each Saturday night at 11:00PM another import will be performed on the files that we have specified. Imports can also be performed monthly on a particular day of the month. Figure 5-10 Scheduling an Import Rule Now add an import rule for ImportB, similar to ImportA. The import will follow the same database definition and will be scheduled for the same time on Saturday night as ImportA. The only differences are the name of the import file (c:\imports\importb.txt) and the contact table name (contactb). When complete, close the window and save all the changes. Query Rules Once the imports have been specified, we want to create query rules, which will select our Gold and Platinum credit card customers. Income will be the only variable used in selecting which customers fall into which category. Since we have two imports and we want both to be used in our campaign, we will have a total of four query rules, two each (Gold and Platinum) for each set of imports. Double-click the Outbound Option - Query Rule option to bring up the general Query Rule configuration window. Click the Add button and add a query rule named QR_Gold_A. This query rule is for Gold card customers from ImportA. Figure 5-11 shows the completed general configuration for this query rule. 5-11

88 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Figure 5-11 General Query Rule Definition Notice that we have selected ImportA from the drop-down list of import rules. The description field is useful for documenting the purpose of the query rule. Finally, enter the Rule clause. This is the SQL query, which will be performed on the contact table to generate the dialing list. In our case, we want to select individuals whose income is less than $60,000. Double-click the Income column name to insert this column into the Rule clause window. Next, select the less than operator. Finally, enter directly into the Rule Clause window. Press the Validate Rule Clause button to make sure the SQL string is valid. Finally, save the query rule. Enter the remaining query rules in the same manner. For query rule QR_Gold_B, select ImportB from the Import Rule drop-down list. For the two platinum query rules, generate the following SQL clause: "Income >= " Figure 5-12 shows the four completed query rules. Close the Query Rule configuration window and save the changes. At the scheduled import time (Saturday at 11:00PM), these query rules will generate the final dialing list from the two imports (assuming that configuration of subsequent steps through Campaign Query Rule Selection are completed). (REVIEWER, also see page 5-18.) 5-12

89 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Figure 5-12 Four Completed Query Rules Campaigns As mentioned in the introduction to this document, we will create a single campaign to handle this credit card offer. Double-click the Outbound Option - Campaign option to open the Campaign configuration window. Click the Add button and enter a campaign named CMP_credit in the Campaign Name field. Figure 5-13 shows the general window of the CMP credit campaign. All of the default dialing settings were chosen for the sample configuration. For more detailed information concerning these settings, see the Outbound Option online help. 5-13

90 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Figure 5-13 CMP_Credit Campaign General Before saving the campaign information, we need to specify the call targets for phone numbers which will be dialed in the campaign. Figure 5-14 shows the daylight savings zone and the call targets for our campaign. The call targets indicate that we will allow dialing of Zone 1 phone numbers between 9:00AM and 5:00PM and Zone 2 phone numbers between 5:00PM and 9:00PM. that these times are specified in the customer s time zone. For example, although it might be 10:00PM in New York, we can still contact customers on the West Coast because it is not 9:00PM there. Zone 1 time and Zone 2 time cannot overlap. 5-14

91 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Figure 5-14 Campaign Call Target The dialing order for only the first time the numbers are dialed is determined by their order in the Available numbers list. After the numbers are dialed the first time, the dialing order thereafter is determined by previous call results (depends on the setup and the results). See How Outbound Option Works with Time Zones and The U.S. area code mappings are provided along with the product. International customers must provide their own data and add it to the database. in Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview, for more information. Click Save on the Call Target tab and the Campaign General tab. This campaign will be an agent-based campaign, so click the Agent Based Campaign option on the Campaign Purpose tab. 5-15

92 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Figure 5-15 CMP_Credit Campaign Purpose As discussed in the introduction, there are two skill groups in our sample call center, one in New York and one in San Francisco. First, we need to add a dialed number for the skill groups. Double-click the Dialed Number/Script Selector List tool in the ICM Configuration Manager and add the dialed number. We now have to associate those skill groups with our campaign. Select the Skill Group Selection tab in the Campaign Configuration Component and press the Add button to add the first skill group. First, we will add the New York skill group. Select the NYSkill1 skill group in the drop-down list. Next, we need to associate the dialed number with the skill group. Figure 5-16 shows the completed Skill Group Selection dialog box. 5-16

93 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Configuration Instructions Figure 5-16 Skill Group Selection Dialog Box Figure 5-17 shows both skill groups associated with our campaign. Figure 5-17 Two Skill Groups Associated with Campaign Next, we need to specify which query rules will be part of our campaign and how they will run. Select the Query Rule Selection tab and press Add to add the first query rule. Select QR_Gold_A from the drop-down list. 5-17

94 Configuration Instructions Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration We now need to specify the time range that this query rule will execute. The specified time range is in the local time zone of the Central Controller. Since we have two shifts at our call center, we will specify a call time of between 7:00AM and 10:00PM. Since our Central Controller is located in New York, this indicates that we will be able to dial customers on the West Coast until 7:00PM. Besides absolute time, there are three additional criteria which might end this query rule (and attempt to schedule another): penetration, duration, and hit rate. For our call center, we want to continue calling a particular query rule unless we are not reaching our contacts. This indicates that we want to select hit rate as a query rule ending criteria, set at 10%. Thus, if we are reaching less than 10% of our potential customers, we will try and schedule another query rule. Figure 5-18 shows all four query rules, each with the exact same characteristics. In our sample call center, there is no preference given to Gold or Platinum customers. In reality, we might want to target Platinum customers for the majority of the day (since the potential profit might be higher), and only switch to Gold customers if the hit rate is low. Figure 5-18 Campaign Query Rules At this point, close the Campaign configuration window and save the changes. The call center configuration is complete. If the import file was present at the time the import definition is created (and the logger service is active) and it is imported before the Campaign Query Rule selection is completed, it will be necessary to re-import the file in overwrite mode in order for the dialing list tables to be created. 5-18

95 Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration Skill Groups and Dialed Numbers Skill Groups and Dialed Numbers In order to use agents in a particular skill group for outbound dialing, skill groups and dialed numbers must be configured in ICM software. The following considerations must be taken into account while configuring skill groups in ICM software: The VDN, which Outbound Option uses to reserve agents for outbound calls, must be entered as the dialed number in the Campaign Configuration Component s Skill Group Selection tab. The Skill Group Extension in ICM software must be set to the hunt-group on the switch. The skill group dialed number must be entered in the ICM Peripheral Monitor. Creating Skill Groups ICM software lets you create two kinds of skill groups: Base skill group. The main skill group created using the ICM Configuration Manager. Using base skill groups ensures accurate agent reporting and simplifies configuration and scripting for your contact center. Subskill group. A subdivision of the base skill group. Subskill groups are optional and are not fully supported for IPCC Enterprise. Using base skill groups is recommended for IPCC Enterprise contact centers. Outbound Option does not support subskill groups. 5-19

96 Skill Groups and Dialed Numbers Chapter 5 Sample Call Center Configuration 5-20

97 CHAPTER 6 Dialing Modes This chapter describes the Outbound Option outbound dialing modes. Understanding Dialing Modes Outbound Option supports three different types of outbound dialing modes: Predictive Dialing : Agent must take the call if logged into a skill group. Preview Dialing : Agent can choose to contact the customer, skip to another customer, or reject the call. Progressive Dialing : Administrator can specify a fixed number of lines to dial per agent instead of using an outbound dialing algorithm to determine the number of lines. All three modes reserve an agent at the beginning of every outbound call cycle by sending the agent a reservation call. Predictive Dialing For all three modes, Campaigns are subdivided into query rules, which are subsets of the overall campaign. Each query rule is generated by applying a different SQL query against the overall list; for example, higher income customers could be placed in Query Rule 1 and lower income customers in Query Rule 2. The rules for switching between these two lists are configurable and include: time of day, penetration, duration, and hit rate. For example, the campaign could be set up to target higher income customers in the morning and lower income customers in the afternoon. A Predictive Dialer is designed to increase the resource utilization in any call center. It is designed to dial several customers per agent. After reaching a live contact, the Predictive Dialer transfers the customer to a live agent along with a screen pop to the agent s desk. The Predictive Dialer looks to determine the percentage of lines to dial per available agent based on the target abandoned percentage. Predictive Algorithm Example The Outbound Option predictive algorithm works by trying to keep outbound dialing at a level where the abandon rate is below the maximum allowed abandon rate. For example, each campaign is configured with a maximum allowed abandon rate. In Predictive mode, the Dialer continously increments the 6-1

98 Understanding Dialing Modes Chapter 6 Dialing Modes number of lines being dialed per agent until the abandon rate rises to the preconfigured maximum abandon rate. At this point, the Dialer begins lowering the lines per agent until the abandon rate goes below the preconfigured maximum. In this way, the Dialer stays just below the preconfigured maximum abandon rate. Predictive Algorithm Parameters Table 6-1 describes the configurable parameters available to control the predictive algorithm. Table 6-1 Configurable Predictive Algorithm Parameters Template Name Lines to Dial Max Abandoned Rate Outbound Percent Description Controls the total number of lines to dial per agent per campaign. In Predictive mode, the call center administrator sets the initial seed value for the algorithm and the maximum lines per agent. The algorithm then begins at the seed value and could potentially move from 1 to the maximum lines configured based on the abandoned rate. For Progressive mode, the lines to dial per agent never changes from the seed value for the duration of the campaign. Number of abandoned calls as a percentage of the total calls. The Dialer throttles the current lines to dial for a particular campaign to maintain an abandoned rate, which is less than this configured value. Percentage of agents logged into a particular skill group used for outbound calls in each skill group is configured through an administrative script. This value can be changed dynamically throughout the day based on any data available to the script (service level, time of day, etc.). For example, an administrative script is set up to use 100% of the agents in skill group A for a predictive outbound campaign. If it is known that there will be a lull of in the inbound call volume at noon which reduces that percentage to 30%, the script can be set to increase the percentage of agents used for outbound calls to 70%. 6-2

99 Chapter 6 Dialing Modes Understanding Dialing Modes Table 6-1 Configurable Predictive Algorithm Parameters (continued) Template Name Outbound Mode Outbound Mode (continued) Description Using an administrative script, a mode can be set for each skill group. Outbound Option uses the value of this mode variable to affect its behavior for that skill group. The variable uses the following values: INBOUND: Indicates that this skill group is disabled for outbound use and only takes inbound calls. PREDICTIVE_ONLY: Dials several customers per agent. After reaching a live contact, the Predictive Dialer transfers the customer to a live agent along with a screen pop to the agent s desk. The predictive algorithm is designed to calculate the number of lines to dial per available agent to keep agent wait time to a minimum. PREDICTIVE_BLENDED: Agents receive inbound calls, but could be used for an outbound call when available. PREVIEW_ONLY: Reserves an agent prior to initiating an outbound call and presents the agent with a screen pop. PREVIEW_BLENDED: Agents receive inbound calls, but could be used for an outbound preview call when available. PREVIEW_DIRECT_ONLY: Agents only place outbound calls and hear ring tones, such as phone ringing or busy signal. PREVIEW_DIRECT_BLENDED: Agents can receive inbound calls, place outbound calls, and hear ring tones, such as phone ringing or busy signal. PROGRESSIVE_ONLY: Similar to PREDICTIVE_ONLY; however, lines to dial per agent is not calculated users configure a fixed number of lines that will always be dialed per available agent. PROGRESSIVE_BLENDED: Similar to PREDICTIVE_BLENDED, but a fixed number of lines will always be dialed per available agent. The administrative script controls can consist of any variable that ICM software recognizes; for example, the mode can be modified by time of day. A call center which experiences heavy inbound volume in the early morning could set its skill group mode to INBOUND before 11:00AM. If this call center experiences a lull in inbound activity between 11:00AM and 1:00PM, the skill group mode could be set to PREVIEW_ONLY to use agents for an outbound campaign. As the inbound call volume gradually increases throughout the afternoon, the mode could be set to PREVIEW_BLENDED so agents who were not busy handling inbound calls could continue to drive the outbound campaign. The above example uses the time of day to drive the administrative script. However, the script can be much more complex and perhaps test the service level of the call center before making decisions about how to configure the skill group mode. 6-3

100 Understanding Dialing Modes Chapter 6 Dialing Modes Table 6-1 Configurable Predictive Algorithm Parameters (continued) Template Name Query Rule Dynamic changes Overflow Agents Description Campaigns are subdivided into query rules, which are subsets of the overall campaign. Each query rule is generated by applying a different SQL query against the overall list; for example, higher income customers could be placed in Query Rule 1 and lower income customers in Query Rule 2. The rules for switching between these two lists are configurable and include: time of day, penetration, duration, and hit rate. For example, the campaign could be set up to target higher income customers in the morning and lower income customers in the afternoon. Number of available agents that Outbound Option ignores when calculating how many calls will be dialed in order to use agents to their best advantage during a campaign. Keeping a certain number of agents out of this calculation means that if too many customers are contacted there will always be a few available agents to speak to them. Using this feature can alleviate dropping contacts in outbound hold queues. (The default is zero.) Preview Dialing Direct Preview Mode Preview dialing reserves an agent prior to initiating an outbound call and presents the agent with a screen pop. The agent may then Accept, Skip, or Reject the call with the following results: If the agent Accepts the call, the customer will be dialed and transferred to the agent. If the agent Skips the call, the agent will be presented with another customer call. If the agent Skips-Closes the call, the agent will be presented with another customer call and closes the record so it will not be called again. If the agent Rejects the call, the agent will be released. At this point, the system may deliver the agent another Preview outbound call or a new inbound call. If the agent Rejects-Closes the call, the agent will be released and the record is closed so it will not be called again. At this point, the system may deliver the agent another Preview outbound call or a new inbound call. This mode allows agents to initiate customer calls from their phone using a CTI OS make_call request instead of having the Dialer place the call. The advantage to using this mode is that an agent can quickly begin talking with the customer once the call is answered. In fact, since the call is initiated from the agent s phone, the agent hears the phone ring and also hears any other tones, such as a busy signal (similar to what an agent hears if he/she called himself/herself). You must have call waiting enabled on the agent s phone to successfully use this feature. Enable the Direct Preview mode by doing the following: Step 1 Set the SkillGroup.OutboundMode variable in the ICM Script Editor. The OutboundControl variable can be set in an administrative script using the Set node with the following values: PREVIEW_DIRECT_ONLY: Agent is only allowed to place outbound calls 6-4

101 Chapter 6 Dialing Modes Understanding Dialing Modes PREVIEW_DIRECT_BLENDED: Agent can receive inbound calls and place outbound calls Step 2 In most cases, set the OutboundPercent parameter to 100. The Call Progress Analysis (CPA) and the transfer to IVR features are not available while using this mode. (See Chapter 3, Outbound Option Configuration Components Overview, for more information about these features.) This mode is not available when using Outbound Option on the Avaya DEFINITY ACD. Progressive Dialing Progressive Dialing is similar to Predictive Dialing. The only difference is that in this mode, Outbound Option does not calculates the number of lines to dial per agent, but allows users to configure a fixed number of lines that will always be dialed per available agent. 6-5

102 Understanding Blending Options Chapter 6 Dialing Modes Understanding Blending Options Contact center managers control the agent mode by setting a well-defined skill group variable, OutboundControl, to one of the following values listed in Table 6-2. Table 6-2 OutboundControl Variable Values Corresponding Value String Numeric Value Description INBOUND 0 Dedicated Inbound Mode Agents will take inbound calls only. Outbound dialing is disabled for the skill group. PREDICTIVE_ONLY 1 Dedicated Outbound Mode Agents in the skill group are dedicated for outbound Predictive calls only. PREDICTIVE_BLENDED 2 Call By Call Blending Agents in the skill group can either take inbound calls or Predictive outbound calls. Inbound calls take priority over outbound calls. PREVIEW_ONLY 3 Dedicated Outbound Mode Agents in the skill group are dedicated for outbound Preview calls only. PREVIEW_BLENDED 4 Call By Call Blending Agents in the skill group can either take inbound calls or Preview outbound calls. Inbound calls take priority over outbound calls. PROGRESSIVE_ONLY 5 Dedicated Outbound Mode Agents in the skill group are dedicated for outbound Progressive calls only. PROGRESSIVE_BLENDED 6 Call By Call Blending Agents in the skill group can either take inbound calls or Progressive outbound calls. Inbound calls take priority over outbound calls. PREVIEW_DIRECT_ONLY 7 Dedicated Outbound Mode hearing ring tones PREVIEW_DIRECT_BLEND ED Agents only place outbound calls and hear ring tones, such as phone ringing or busy signal. 8 Call By Call Blending hearing ring tones Agents can receive inbound calls, place outbound calls, and hear ring tones, such as phone ringing or busy signal. 6-6

103 Chapter 6 Dialing Modes Understanding Blending Options Setting a skill group mode to Dedicated does not indicate that inbound calls will not be sent to agents in that skill group. Actually, it directs the Dialer to begin using that skill group with the understanding that all agents in that skill group are available to take outbound calls. To stop routing inbound calls to a skill group, a routing script must be created that will route calls based on the value of the OutboundControl skill group variable. By controlling the skill group, contact center managers can dedicate the agents to either inbound or outbound calls, or use a dynamic call-by-call blending mode. The ICM Script Editor can be used to create administration scripts, which can set the variable on the skill group based upon certain criteria. The following sections describe two sample administrative scripts. Administrative Script 1: TimeBasedControl Figure 6-1 is a simple example of setting skill group modes for maximizing the resource utilization in a call center based upon time of day. Figure 6-1 TimeBasedControl Script The above script divides the day into three parts: Peak Inbound Traffic Period (8:00 AM to 12:00PM): The skill group variable is set to INBOUND only, as during this time more agents are required to handle inbound calls. Off-Peak Traffic Period (2:00PM to 4:00PM): During this time, the skill group variable is set to PREVIEW_BLENDED, so that when an agent is not on an inbound call, Outbound Option presents the agent with Preview calls. Once the agent is on a Preview outbound call or is busy making a decision to accept or reject the call, ICM software will not route any inbound call to that agent. As soon as the agent is finished with the Preview call, ICM software can again route an inbound call to the agent. If there are no inbound calls, Outbound Option will reserve the agent for another outbound call. 6-7

104 Understanding Blending Options Chapter 6 Dialing Modes All Other Periods: For the rest of the day, the skill group variable is set to PREDICTIVE_ONLY so that if any agents are logged-in, Outbound Option will immediately reserve the agents for outbound calls. Administrative Script 2: ServiceLevelControl Figure 6-2 demonstrates how to control skill group modes based upon Service Level, which maximizes the resource utilization in a call center and maintains an acceptable service level at the same time. Figure 6-2 ServiceLevelControl Script This script divides the day into two parts: Peak Traffic Period (8:00AM to 12:00PM): During this period, the skill group variable is set to INBOUND only, as during this time more agents are required to handle inbound calls. Other Periods: During all other time periods, the skill groups modes are set according to the service level in the past half hour. If the peripheral service level in the past half hour period is over 85%, the skill group variable gets set to PREDICTIVE_ONLY, which maximizes the efficiency of outbound campaigns. If during any half hour period the peripheral service level drops below 85%, the skill group is switched to PREVIEW_BLENDED, so that the agents in the skill group can accept inbound calls in order to improve the service level. When the agents are not in an inbound call, Outbound Option presents the agents with a Preview outbound call, thereby maximizing the resource utilization for the call center at the same time. OutboundPercent Variable This variable controls the percentage of agents, which are logged into a particular skill group, which will be used for outbound dialing. For example, if there are 100 agents logged into skill group N, and the OutboundPercent variable is set to 50%, 50 agents would be allocated for outbound dialing. 6-8

105 Chapter 6 Dialing Modes Understanding Blending Options This variable does not allocate specific agents for outbound dialing, just a total percentage. 6-9

106 Understanding Blending Options Chapter 6 Dialing Modes 6-10

107 CHAPTER 7 Outbound Option Reports This appendix describes the ICM reporting tool, WebView, and its predefined report templates to view reports on the following enterprise contact center activity: Agents Campaigns Dialer Import Rule Skill groups When deploying Outbound Option using Cisco System IPCC, Outbound Option reports will display data. If Outbound Option is not deployed, the reports will be blank. In System IPCC deployments, Outbound Option report templates will display in WebView whether or not Outbound Option is actually in use. The predefined templates can be modified by using the Sybase InfoMaker tool. InfoMaker is an optional, third-party application for creating custom reporting templates. If you need to create custom templates, you must purchase InfoMaker from Sybase, Inc. The Template Design Guide Using InfoMaker for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions provides instructions for using InfoMaker from Sybase to create and modify templates used with WebView. Refer to the WebView Installation and Administration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for information about installing InfoMaker. The Outbound Option templates produce real-time and historical reports that display information in one of the following ways: Real-time: Displays information about a system entity at that particular instant of time; for example, number of tasks agent is currently working on, number of agents currently logged in a skill group. Every 15 seconds (this value is configurable), WebView templates automatically query the real time database (Admin Workstation database on the distributor) to get the data for a real time report. The data is written to the database (by the CallRouter) almost every 10 seconds (this value is configurable). Half-hour: Provides statistics for each half-hour period. 7-1

108 What is WebView? Chapter 7 Outbound Option Reports Since Outbound Option uses a routing script along with a physical call to reserve agents, the Call Type real-time and half-hour reports contain data for Outbound Option reservation calls. It is important to note that this call type data pertains only to reservation calls and does not include reporting information for any outbound calls. To eliminate any confusion regarding Call Type reporting, it is advisable that a separate call type be created for Outbound Option routing scripts. What is WebView? WebView is the Web-based reporting and event monitoring tool of ICM software. Install WebView on an Admin Workstation with a Web server installed, then access WebView over the Web. Browser users with access to the WebView Server can use it to generate an extensive set of predefined ICM reports, and to monitor events in real-time. The report templates quickly generate contact center and agent performance reports from data stored in the ICM database. The URL for the WebView internal Web site address depends on the name of the Distributor AW machine where the server component is installed. (See your network administrator for more information.) For more information about WebView, refer to the following documentation: Refer to the WebView Installation and Administration Guide for Cisco ICM/IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for information about installing the WebView reporting and event monitoring tool. Refer to the Cisco Intelligent Contact Management Software Release 7.0(0) Bill of Materials for information about supported browsers for WebView. The WebView online help provides instructions on generating Web-based reports. Refer to the Reporting Guide for Cisco IPCC Enterprise & Hosted Editions for detailed information about reporting. Figure 7-1 displays the ICM WebView tool, showing the Outbound Option reporting submenu in the left frame. Figure 7-1 WebView Main Window 7-2