Capabilities
Outbound Option enables call centers to manage outbound calls. With Outbound Option, you can configure a contact center to automatically dial customer contacts from imported lists and direct a call to an available agent. This application transfers a call to an agent only if a live contact is reached.
A summary of major features in Outbound Option follows:
The dialer automatically dials contact numbers, screens for busy signals, no answers, and answering machines, and transfers calls to agents. The dialer transfers a call to an available agent only when it reaches a live contact.
Users create calling campaigns using a set of tabs in a graphical user interface (GUI). A campaign is a filtered set of numbers that will be automatically dialed and a set of agents who will talk to contacted customers.
More specifically, a campaign consists of imported contact lists, query rules that filter the contact list to create a dialing list, and agent skill groups.
You can import lists of customers you want to call and lists of customers who you do not want to call. You can configure Outbound Option to import both types of lists either by continuously polling or at scheduled intervals. You can also specify whether imported lists will replace existing lists or be appended to them.
Query rules define a set of criteria to filter contact lists. In this way, you can define specific dialing lists for campaigns. A campaign can have multiple query rules, but only one query rule and resulting dialing list is active at a time.
You assign agents to campaigns by using skill groups. A skill group defines a set of agents with specific capabilities, such as language skills, product knowledge, or training that is associated with a campaign. Agents might belong to multiple skill groups and thus be part of multiple campaigns.
Outbound Option uses a dialing list that is associated with the active query rule in a campaign and directs dialers to place calls to customers. The dialer then directs contacted customers to agents. Advanced campaign-management features provide flexibility in campaign configurations. You can do the following:
Outbound Option supports the following dialing modes:
The Call Progress Analysis (CPA) feature uses a combination of call signaling and media stream analysis to identify different types of calls, such as faxes and modems, answering machines, and operator intercepts.
The sequential dialing feature allows up to ten phone numbers per customer record.
You can configure campaigns to retry abandoned calls.
You can configure a prefix for customer number, which can be used to identify specific campaigns.
Outbound Option reporting features include agent, campaign, dialer, and skill groups report templates.
Outbound Option supports various dialing modes, described in the following sections.
![]() Note |
All dialing modes reserve an agent at the beginning of every outbound call cycle by sending a reservation call to the agent. |
In predictive dialing, the dialer determines the number of customers to dial per agent based on the abandon rate. The agent must take the call if that agent is logged into a campaign skill group.
A Predictive Dialer is designed to increase the resource utilization in a 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 desktop. The Predictive Dialer determines the number of lines to dial per available agent based on the target abandoned percentage.
Outbound Option predictive dialing works by keeping outbound dialing at a level where the abandon rate is below the maximum allowed abandon rate. Each campaign is configured with a maximum allowed abandon rate. In Predictive mode, the dialer continuously increments the number of lines it dials per agent until the abandon rate approaches 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. Under ideal circumstances, the dialer internally targets an abandon rate of 85% of the preconfigured maximum abandon rate. Due to the random nature of outbound dialing, the actual attainable abandon rate at any point in time may vary for your dialer.
Preview dialing reserves an agent prior to initiating an outbound call and presents the agent with a popup window. The agent may then Accept, Skip, or Reject the call with the following results:
The Direct Preview mode is similar to the Preview mode, except that the call is automatically placed by the dialer from the agent's phone after the agent accepts. Because the call is initiated from the agent's phone, the agent hears the ringing, and there is no delay when the customer answers. However, in this mode, the agent must deal with answering machines and other results that the Dialer Call Progress Analysis (CPA) normally handles for other campaign dialing modes.
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Progressive Dialing is similar to predictive dialing (see Predictive Dialing). The only difference is that in Progressive Dialing mode, Outbound Option does not calculate 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.
This section is intended for system administrators who install and configure Packaged CCE. It describes the one-time tasks required to set up Outbound Option. It also discusses occasional upgrade and maintenance tasks. It contains the following topics:
At this point, Unified CVP takes control of the call.
This section includes summary lists of all tasks that are required for Outbound Option initial setup.
The first phase is to configure Outbound Option to handle the optional Outbound Option components. The following table lists the required steps and provides pointers to where the tasks are discussed.
Step Number |
Procedure |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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8 |
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9 |
This section provides procedures for the tasks that are associated with configuring the Unified CCE for Outbound Option.
Packaged CCE customers who intend to use Outbound must access Peripheral Gateway Setup on both CCE Call Servers and add a PIM to Outbound with the MR PG.
Perform this procedure for both Side A and Side B.
Perform the following steps to configure the dialer component.
Step 1 | Make sure that all Packaged CCE services are running. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 2 | Open the Unified CCE Configuration Manager. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 3 | Expand Outbound Option, and double-click Dialer to display the Outbound Option Dialer configuration window. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 4 | Click Retrieve. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 5 | Click Add to add a new dialer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 6 |
Enter the following information in the Dialer General Tab fields.
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Step 7 | Click Save. |
Perform the following steps to configure the port map for each dialer. The port map specifies the number of ports that are available on the dialer and the extension numbers that Unified Communications Manager assigns to those ports. Each configured port represents a dialer phone device on Unified Communications Manager.
Step 1 | In the Unified CCE Configuration Manager Outbound Option Dialer configuration window, click the Port Map Selection tab to display the port map configuration. |
Step 2 | To begin adding ports to this dialer, click Add. |
Step 3 | Configure a set of ports and their associated extensions. |
Step 4 | Click OK. The port mappings appear on the Port Map Selection tab. |
Step 5 | Click Save to save all the configuration information. |
Use the Outbound Option System Options component in the Unified CCE Configuration Manager to define contact dialing time ranges to apply to all of your Outbound Option campaigns.
Step 1 | In Unified CCE Configuration Manager, expand Outbound Option, and then select System Options. |
Step 2 | Click the General Options tab to define the dialing time range for all your Outbound Option campaigns to use, and then click OK. |
Perform the following steps to enable the expanded call variables.
Step 1 | In Unified CCE Administration, click . |
Step 2 | Enable all BAxxxx variables (BAAccountNumber, BABuddyName, BACampaign, BADialedListID, BAResponse, BAStatus, and BATimezone). |
In order for SIP Dialer to properly capture data, you must ensure that the SIP Dialer on the call server machine is using the active interface from the Ethernet Interface list. You can find out which interface is the active interface by using a network protocol analyzer tool such as Wireshark, which you can download from www.wireshark.org. (From Wireshark, click Capture to open a Capture Interfaces dialog box; the listed interface with network packets is the active interface.)
You can change the SIP Dialer packet capture parameters to use the active interface from the Windows Registry Editor. Change the value of the interface name option (-i) in the CaptureOptions key to the number of the active interface. For example, to use the third interface, edit the value for -i to read -i 3.
Capture files are in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cisco Systems, Inc.\ICM\<customer instance>\Dialer registry key location.
The next phase of installing Outbound Option is configuring Unified Communications Manager and its related gateway.
The following table lists the steps that comprise Unified Communications Manager configuration and provides pointers to where the tasks are discussed.
Step Number |
Procedure |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
The voice gateway generates a ringback tone to the customer. To prevent the gateway from generating a ringback, apply a SIP normalization script to the Unified Communications Manager SIP trunk.
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Step 1 | Navigate to https://<IP_address>:8443 where <IP_address> identifies the Unified Communications Manager server. |
Step 2 | Log in to Unified Communications Manager |
Step 3 |
To create a SIP trunk in Unified Communications Manager with a SIP security profile for the dialer agent transfer calls, select The default port is 5060.
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Step 4 | Click Save. |
Step 5 |
Create a New SIP trunk and associate the created SIP trunk Security Profile.
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Step 6 | Click Save. |
Step 7 | Click Reset. |
Step 8 |
In , enter the following SIP normalization script into the content field. All other values remain set to default. M = {} function M.outbound_180_INVITE(msg) msg:setResponseCode(183, "Session in Progress") end return M ![]() |
Step 9 | Click Save. |
Step 10 |
Associate the created normalization script with the SIP trunk.
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Step 11 | Click Save. |
Step 12 | Click Reset. |
You must ensure the 100rel SIP capability is enabled for Outbound Option. Otherwise, outbound calls from the SIP Dialer fail. The following two sections provide examples of voice gateway configuration from the command line.
The following example shows how to enable rel1xx on a voice dial-peer for the SIP dialer. It uses 8989 for the tag of the voice dial-peer.
GW(config)#config t GW(config-dial-peer)#dial-peer voice 8989 voip GW(config-dial-peer)#voice-class sip rel1xx supported 100rel GW(config-dial-peer)#exit GW(config)#exit GW#wr
This short procedure results in the following dial-peer configuration. (Note that only the bolded line is relevant to this discussion.)
dial-peer voice 8989 voip incoming called-number 978T voice-class sip rel1xx supported "100rel" dtmf-relay rtp-nte h245-signal h245-alphanumeric codec g711ulaw
The following example shows how to configure an outgoing dial-peer for a dialing customer.
GW(config)#config t GW(config-dial-peer)#dial-peer voice 97810 voip GW(config-dial-peer)#destination-pattern 97810[1-9] GW(config-dial-peer)#port 1/0:23 GW(config-dial-peer)#forward-digits all GW(config-dial-peer)#exit GW(config)#exit GW#wr
This short procedure results in the following dial-peer configuration for a dialing customer.
dial-peer voice 97810 pots destination-pattern 97810[1-9] port 1/0:23 forward-digits all
The following example shows how to disable rel1xx for a Unified CVP voice dial-peer. It uses 8989 for the tag of the voice dial-peer.
GW(config)#config t GW(config-dial-peer)#dial-peer voice 8989 voip GW(config-dial-peer)#voice-class sip rel1xx disable GW(config-dial-peer)#exit GW(config)#exit GW#wr
This short procedure results in the following dial-peer configuration. (Note that only the bolded line is relevant to this discussion.)
dial-peer voice 8989 voip description CVP SIP ringtone dial-peer service ringtone incoming called-number 9191T voice-class sip rel1xx disable dtmf-relay rtp-nte h245-signal h245-alphanumeric codec g711ulaw no vad
The following examples shows this:
dial-peer voice 11000 voip destination-pattern 11T session protocol sipv2 session target ipv4:10.10.10.31(this is Call Manager's IP address) voice-class codec 1 voice-class sip rel1xx supported "100rel" dtmf-relay rtp-nte h245-signal h245-alphanumeric no vad
![]() Note |
In an Outbound SIP dialer with Unified CVP IVR deployment, a call-survivability script enabled on an incoming POTS dial-peer in the Ingress gateway is not invoked during dialer-related call flows. Enabling a call-survivability script on an Inbound POTS dial-peer, however, does not negatively affect dialer-related call flows. |
It is a common practice to add inbound gateway information (hostname, IP Address) in the CVP OAMP, but not to configure outbound gateway information. Note that the Packaged CCE System Inventory tool can display gateway information used for inbound and outbound calls as long as both inbound and outbound gateways are configured in the CVP OAMP.
Unified CM is connected to the voice gateway by SIP Trunks, which you configure on Unified CM.
Configure a SIP trunk on Unified CM from Unified CM to the voice gateway. Specify the IP address of the voice gateway in the Destination field. See also steps in this topic: Disable ringback during transfer to agent for SIP.
See the Cisco Unified Communications Manager System Guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps556/prod_maintenance_guides_list.html for instructions on how to configure SIP trunks.
For information about logging into Ingress or VXML gateways, refer to "Configure the Ingress Gateway for Courtesy Callback" and "Configure the VXML Gateway for Courtesy Callback" in the Configuration and Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/custcosw/ps1006/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.
This section discusses the tasks that are associated with installing Outbound Option and related components. Before proceeding, navigate to the side A data server and stop all ICM services there. Then perform the steps in the following sections.
The next phase in installing Outbound Option is Outbound Option component software installation and associated database creation. The following table lists the steps that comprise software installation and database creation and provides pointers to where the tasks are discussed.
Step Number |
Procedure |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
![]() Note |
It is important that you create the Outbound Option private database on side A only. |
Step 1 | Collect the following information: |
Step 2 | Estimate the contact table size using one of the following formulas: |
Step 3 |
Estimate the dialing list table size using one of the following formulas:
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Step 4 |
Calculate the database size using this formula:
(Number of rows in all DL tables * (size of one row + size of index) ) + (Number of rows in personal call back table * (size of one row + size of index) ) + Sum of (Number of rows in Contact List table * (size of one row + size of index)) |
Step 5 | Start ICMDBA by entering ICMDBA in the Microsoft Windows Run dialog box or command window. |
Step 6 | Select the Logger and select . |
Step 7 | In the Create Database window, specify the Outbound Option database type. Be sure to enable autogrow on the database. |
Step 8 |
Click Add. The Add Device window appears. Use this window to create a new data device and log device for the Outbound Option database. Specify the disk drive letter and size in megabytes for each new device. Click OK to create the device, and then click Create. Click Start. At a later time, if necessary, you can edit the device to change storage size, or remove a device, using the option. |
Step 9 | Click Close. |
![]() Caution |
No manual changes to the contents of the outbound database are allowed. Do not use triggers in the outbound database. Triggers for the dialing lists or personal callback list should not be added or modified. The Dialer_Detail table in the logger or HDS contains the information required by custom applications. Extract that information from the historical database server (HDS) to a separate server where the custom application can process the data without impacting the HDS. |
Perform the following steps to configure the logger.
Step 1 | Click Web Setup. |
Step 2 | Load the Logger and click Edit Logger. |
Step 3 | Check the enable Outbound Option check box. |
Step 4 | Click Save. |
Perform the following steps to install the dialer component on the Side A PG platform.
Step 1 | Make sure all Packaged CCE Services are stopped. | ||
Step 2 | On both the call server side A and side B run Peripheral Gateway Setup. Type . | ||
Step 3 | In the Cisco Unified ICM/Contact Center Enterprise & Hosted Setup dialog box, in the left column under Instances, select an instance. | ||
Step 4 |
Click Add in the Instance Components section. The ICM Component Selection dialog box opens. |
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Step 5 |
Click Outbound Option Dialer. The Outbound Option Dialer Properties dialog box opens. |
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Step 6 | In the initial Dialer Properties dialog box, check Production mode and Auto start at system startup These options set the Dialer Service startup type to Automatic, so the dialer starts automatically when the machine starts up. | ||
Step 7 | For Dialer Type, select the radio button for SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). | ||
Step 8 |
Click Next.
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Step 9 |
An Outbound Option SIP Dialer Properties dialog box appears. Supply the following information on this page:
Click Next. |
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Step 10 |
On the last Outbound Option Dialer Properties dialog box, specify the following information:
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Step 11 | Click Next. A Summary screen appears. | ||
Step 12 |
Click Next to begin dialer installation. |
After you finish installing the dialer component, perform the following dialer-related configuration:
The dialer component is preconfigured during installation to auto answer Outbound Option related calls to the Outbound Option agent. However, this default configuration does not provide a zip tone to the agent (which notifies of incoming calls), so agents must monitor the agent application for incoming customer calls.
To enable zip tone, enable auto-answer on the agent’s phone configuration in Unified CM. This solution adds about a second onto the transfer time. This solution is identical to the solution that is used for Unified CCE.
For Mobile Agents using the nailed connection, the Unified CM auto answer setting does not provide a zip tone, but Packaged CCE does provide an option for playing a notification tone to the agent using the agent desk settings.
Enabling auto answer in the agent desk settings or in the dialer component in conjunction with the Unified CM can be problematic. Therefore, Cisco recommends that you disable the auto answer option in the dialer component, and enable it either in the agent desk settings or in Unified CM.
This section describes the installation process for the Cisco CTI controls. It also describes how to install the Cisco CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop (Win32) for Packaged CCE.
Perform the following procedures to install CTI controls to support Outbound Option on the desktop.
If you are running Outbound Option with CTI OS, perform the following procedure to add Outbound Option expanded call variables to CTI OS Server:
Step 1 | Log in to the CTI OS server. |
Step 2 | Rename the <Drive Letter>:\ICM\CTIOS_bin\blendedagent_addecc.reg.txt file to blendedagent_addecc.reg. |
Step 3 | Right-click the file, select Properties, and then uncheck the read-only check box. |
Step 4 | Edit the blendedagent_addecc.reg file and globally change "InstanceName" to the system instance name from your Unified ICM setup. |
Step 5 | Save the file. |
Step 6 | Double-click the blendedagent_addecc.reg file to add the Outbound Option expanded call variables to CTI OS. |
Step 7 | In the Node Manager, restart the CTI OS service on the call server. |
Step 8 | Restart all CTI OS Desktop clients to automatically download the new expanded call variables. |
A sample CTI OS Desktop (known as the “Cisco CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop (Win32)”), which supports Outbound Option, is shipped with the product. It is located in <Drive Letter>:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\CTIOS Client\CTIOS Toolkit\Win32 CIL\Samples\CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop.
Step 1 | Install CTI OS Client and confirm that the CTI Toolkit SDK and Win32 check boxes are checked. |
Step 2 |
Access the CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop (Win32) from the following location: <Drive Letter>:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\CTIOS Client\CTIOS Toolkit\Win32 CIL\Samples\CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop |
Step 3 | Double-click the CTIOSOutOptSSoftphone.exe file. The CTI Toolkit Outbound Desktop (Win32) displays. |
Outbound Option is fully compatible with the CTI OS CIL library and the CTI Toolkit Agent Desktop (Win32). While there are no Outbound Option-specific controls available for the CTI Toolkit Agent Desktop (Win32), the standard CTI Toolkit Agent Desktop (Win32) can be modified to display all Outbound Option expanded call variables in the call variable grid.
After you add the Outbound Option expanded call variables to the standard CTI Toolkit Agent Desktop (Win32), you can set the values through the grid on the Agent Desktop with Outbound Option. When the agent logs in, the Outbound Option-related expanded call variables are visible. The agent can then change values for those variables.
The Diagnostic Framework Portico provides details about the health of the installation even before any campaign configuration is initiated or before any call is placed. The interface contains the following details about the dialer status.
Step 1 |
Navigate to the Outbound Option Dialer component in the Diagnostic Framework Portico. The Node Name is Dialer. The Process name is BADialer. |
Step 2 | Verify that the Campaign Manager (CM) has a status of Active (A). |
Step 3 | Verify that the CTI Server (CTI) has a status of Active (A). |
Step 4 | Verify that the number of Configured Ports equals the number of Ready Ports. |
Step 5 | Verify that the MR has a status of Active (A). |
This section contains information about maintaining the Outbound Option application.
Your network monitoring tool might receive an alarm from the SIP dialer about being over capacity. You can ignore the alarm unless it becomes an ongoing issue. This section describes the source of the alarm and remedial actions.
If the Voice Gateway in a SIP dialer implementation is over capacity, the SIP Dialer receives the following message: SIP 503 messages if the SIP Dialer is deployed with Voice Gateway only.
The SIP dialer raises an alarm when the percentage of SIP 503 messages reaches 1% of all messages.
If the percentage of SIP 503 messages reaches 2% of all messages, the SIP dialer performs an automatic throttle down. This throttle down means that the SIP dialer decreases the configured value of Port Throttle (the calls-per-second rate at which the dialer dials outbound calls, set on the Dialer General tab in Unified CCE Configuration Manager) by approximately 10%.
If one throttle down does not correct the problem, the SIP dialer performs additional throttle downs until either the problem is corrected or the value of Port Throttle is throttled down to 50% of the originally configured value.
For each automatic throttle down, alarm and trace messages clearly provide detailed information about the adjusted port throttle value, the configured port throttle value, and time duration.
If Voice Gateway capacity becomes an ongoing issue, use one of the following measures to attempt to remedy the problem:
The Regional Prefix Update Tool (RPUT) is used to update the Packaged CCE database to the latest North American Local Exchange NPA NXX Database (NALENND).
You can use this tool only if Packaged CCE is using the North American Numbering Plan.
The RPUT is composed of the following two files (installed in the ICM\bin directory on the data server):
The RPUT is run from the command line as described in the following procedure.
Step 1 | Open a command prompt (Select OK). , and enter cmd, then click | ||
Step 2 | Change the path to ICM\bin. | ||
Step 3 |
Enter the following at the prompt: regionfix.exe <DatafileName> (where <DatafileName> is the name of the data file).
The Regional Prefix Update Tool then shows the version of the input data file and asks if you want to proceed. If you proceed, the tool connects to the Packaged CCE database. The number of records that are to be updated, deleted, and inserted appear. These records are put into two different files: |
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Step 4 | Check the contents of the two files before proceeding. | ||
Step 5 |
Answer Yes to proceed with the update. When the update is complete, the tool displays the following message: Your region prefix table has been successfully updated. |
Administration and usage
Campaign configuration
The following table lists the steps that are required to create both an agent and IVR campaign, and the location of the instructions for the task.
Step Number |
Task |
Where Discussed |
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1 |
Create one or more skill groups for the campaign. |
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2 |
Configure the call type using the Packaged CCE Call Type gadget. |
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3 |
Create a dialed number on the MR client using the Packaged CCE Dialed Number gadget. This dialed number is for agent reservation. |
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4 |
Create DN for Abandon to IVR on the MR PG for the SIP dialer. |
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5 |
Create DN for AMD to IVR on the MR PG for the SIP dialer. |
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6 |
Configure import rule using the Outbound Option Import Rule Tool. |
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7 |
Configure query rules using the Outbound Option Query Rule tool. |
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8 |
Configure a campaign using the Outbound Option Campaign tool. |
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9 |
Configure a routing script using the Script Editor. |
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10 |
Configure an administrative script using the Script Editor. |
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11 |
Voice gateway configuration. |
Voice Gateway and Unified CVP configuration for an IVR campaign |
You have to add at least one skill group. For an agent campaign, you need to add at least one agent to the skill group. Log the agent in to the skill group, and make the agent ready for the agent campaign. You do not need to add an agent for an IVR campaign skill group. For information about configuring skill groups, see the Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise Administration and Configuration Guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12586/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.
The dialed numbers and routing scripts that you will create will reference call types, so you should create them as needed. For information about creating call types, see the Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise Administration and Configuration Guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12586/tsd_products_support_series_home.html. For example, you can create one call type for an agent campaign and another for an IVR campaign. You need to associate the call types with the dialed numbers you created earlier.
You must configure at least two dialed numbers on the outbound routing client: one for the agent campaign and one for the IVR campaign. See the Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise Administration and Configuration Guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12586/tsd_products_support_series_home.html for information about configuring dialed numbers.
The Import Rule defines how Outbound Option:
There are two types of import rules in Outbound Option:
Before you create an import rule, you need to decide where you want Outbound Option to look for the import list.
![]() Note |
When you edit an existing import rule, changing the target table name creates a new table, but does not remove the old table. The old table remains in the database, but will not be used by the system. |
When you import records, take note of the following:
Perform the following steps to create an import rule.
Step 1 | In Unified CCE Configuration Manager, expand the Outbound Option menu, then double-click the Outbound Option Import Rule component. |
Step 2 | Click Retrieve. |
Step 3 | Click Add at the bottom of the list box area of the window. Then fill out the information that is required on the following tab pages: |
Step 4 | Click Save. |
![]() Note |
If you edit an import rule, the changes that you make to that import rule take effect on the next import. |
Specify the following information on the Import Rule General tab page.
Field |
Description |
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Import name (required) |
There is a 32-character limit. |
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Enable option |
This option enables or disables importing for the import rule. |
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Import type |
Select either Contact or Do_Not_Call from the drop-down list.
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Target table name (required) |
If you selected Do_Not_Call as the import type, the Import Rule component automatically assigns it to the DoNotCall table. If you selected Contact as the import type, you can enter any name for the target table within the following restrictions: The name must be a maximum 32-character string, including alphanumeric characters, periods (.), underscores (_), and hyphens (-). Alphabetic characters can be upper- or lowercase. The name must begin with an alphanumeric character and must not contain spaces. |
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Import file path (required) |
Enter the directory path name for the import file. The maximum number of characters allowed is 255. Click Browse to the right of the Edit field to browse for the location. |
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Import data type |
Select the Comma delimited, or the Fixed length setting, to indicate if the file is comma-delimited or if it uses fixed-length columns to separate fields. |
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Overwrite table |
When this option is enabled, you can overwrite the current import with a new import. When this option is disabled, new import data is appended to the existing data. Note that you cannot append a new field to existing import data. Also, you cannot modify or remove existing fields.
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Specify the following information on the Import Rule Definition tab page.
Field |
Description |
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Standard column type |
Choose a column type to use for this data field in the import rule. The following column types are allowed:
Outbound Option removes single quotation marks present in the Import file. Outbound Option does not send data from Custom columns to the agent desktop. They are available for use only in the query rule select clause for business-specific filtering into different dialing lists. |
Field name |
The name that you assign to this field, disabled unless you select Custom for the Standard column type. The maximum length is 32 characters. |
Type |
The field name and its drop-down list are disabled unless you select Custom for the Standard column type. For a Custom type, select the data type that this field uses. The following Custom column types are allowed:
The default is the VARCHAR data type. |
Field length (1-255) |
The number of characters that this field uses to store data. The default is 1. |
Decimal places (1-10) |
For numeric data fields, enter the number of decimal places you want the import rule to use. |
Allow nulls to be entered for this field option |
If you enable this option, you can have empty data in the import file for this column. If you disable this option, you must have data. The default is Disabled. |
This section provides procedures for creating an import rule file, creating a Do Not Call list, and adding attributes for a contact list.
Before you run an import, you must first create an import rule file that contains the data to be imported. This import rule can have a maximum of 10240 characters per row, and can be in one of two formats:
When creating a Do_Not_Call list file, format it correctly using the following instructions.
Step 1 | Using a text editor, create a text file that contains all the do-not-call phone numbers. |
Step 2 | Enter a phone number and an extension (if applicable) for each Do Not Call entry on a new line. |
Step 3 |
Observe the following characteristics for each Do Not Call entry:
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Step 4 | Save the text file to the local server. |
The following is an example of a Do_Not_Call list:
2225554444
2225556666
2225559999
2225552000,4321
To add a customer to this list, import a Do Not Call list.
Do Not Call import files are read by the Campaign Manager. 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 rebuilding the Dialing List.
![]() Note |
If the Dialing List includes a base number plus extension, this entry 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 that is stored in the <drive>\icm\<instance>\la\bin directory. When reading Do Not Call import files, the Campaign Manager appends the data to the DoNotCall.restore file. This restore file allows recovery of Do Not Call records after the Campaign Manager stops unexpectedly or for planned maintenance, such as a Service Release installation.
The restore file can grow to approximately 1 GB if 60 million DNC records are imported, each having ten-digit numbers plus five-digit extensions. Sufficient disk space must be available on LoggerA to store the DoNotCall.restore file.
![]() Note |
To clear the Do Not Call list, import a blank file with the Overwrite table option enabled. |
When creating a contact import file, you must observe the format you designed according to the database rules set up in Import Rule Definition tab page.
The following example assumes that you have contact information with AccountNumber, FirstName, LastName, and Phone column types.
Step 1 | Using a text editor, create a text file that contains the information for these fields. |
Step 2 |
Enter an account number, first name, last name, and phone number for each entry on a new line. Use either comma delimited or fixed length, as described on the Import Rule General Tab Page. |
Step 3 |
Save the text file to the local server. The following is an example of a contact import file: 6782,Henry,Martin,2225554444 3456,Michele,Smith,2225559999 4569,Walker,Evans,2225552000 |
Specify the following information on the Import Rule Schedule tab page.
Field |
Description |
---|---|
Schedule start time |
Enter or select the time when the process starts. Because the setting uses 12-hour time notation, be sure to select AM or PM. The time is based on the local time at the data server. The default is 9:00 AM. |
Weekly option |
Enable this option for the import rule process to execute on the same days each week. Enable the days of the week when you want the process to execute. Disable this option if you do not want the process to execute weekly. |
Monthly option |
Enable this option for the import rule process to execute on selected days each month. Enter the day of the month on which you want the process to execute. Note that if you select a date that does not occur during a particular month, such as the 31st day of April, the import does not execute on that month. |
Start import when file is present option |
Enable this option to import a file as soon as it is copied into the specified location. Note that the folder that you specify must have write permissions. Otherwise, import file copying and renaming cannot occur. The import process polls every second to see when the import file becomes available. After the file is available, the import begins immediately. |
Rename File After Import |
When selected, specifies that the import file be renamed by appending ".bak" to the filename after the import is complete. |
Delete File After Import |
When selected, specifies that the import file be deleted after the import is complete. |
The Query Rule component defines the SQL rule that the Outbound Option Import process uses to build the dialing list for a particular campaign. Based on SQL queries to the database, the rule defines how the contact records from the Outbound Option database are selected to be inserted in the dialing list.
Perform the following steps to create a query rule.
Step 1 | In Unified CCE Configuration Manager, expand the Outbound Options menu, then open the Outbound Option Query Rule component. | ||||||||||||||
Step 2 | Click Retrieve. | ||||||||||||||
Step 3 | Click Add at the bottom of the list box area of the window. | ||||||||||||||
Step 4 |
Specify the following information on the Query Rule General tab page.
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Step 5 | Click Save. |
Before you create a campaign, you must first configure the following information:
Step 1 | In Unified CCE Configuration Manager, expand the Outbound Option menu, then open the Outbound Option Campaign component. |
Step 2 | Click Retrieve. |
Step 3 | Click Add at the bottom of the list box area of the window. |
Step 4 | Fill in the fields described on the following pages: |
Step 5 | Click Save. |
Specify the following information on the Campaign General tab page.
Field |
Description |
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Campaign Name (required) |
Maximum 32-character string, including alphanumeric characters, periods (.), and underscores (_). Alphabetic characters can be upper- or lowercase. The name must begin with an alphanumeric character. |
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Description |
Optional description for the campaign; maximum 255 characters. |
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Enable option |
This option enables or disables the campaign. |
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Power Dialing Section |
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Lines per agent (required) |
The number of lines dedicated to each agent in this campaign. Note that if this value and the Maximum lines per agent value are both set to 1, the mode defaults to Progressive. Default = 1.5 (Three lines for every two agents.) Allowable Range = 1 - 100 This value performs as follows in the Outbound Option dialing modes: |
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Dialing Options Section |
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Maximum lines per agent (required) |
The upper bound for the number of customers the dialer will dial for a reserved agent at a time when the campaign is running in predictive mode. Default = 2 Range = 1 - 100 |
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Abandon calls limit (1-100) |
This option only applies to Predictive campaigns. Enable this option to set an Abandon calls limit (1-100) for the percentage of abandoned calls in this campaign. The granularity is to one-tenth of a percent. Default = 3.0.
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Advanced |
Clicking the Advanced button opens a Predictive Dialing Settings dialog box. On this dialog box, you can change the Voice Calls Per Adjustment and the Gain parameters that control how adjustments are made to the lines per agent in this campaign. Accept the default in most cases. For more information, see Parameter tuning. |
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Dial Settings Section |
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No answer ring limit (2 - 10) |
Defines the number of times the software allows a dialed telephone number to ring. Enter the maximum number of rings allowed. The length of one ring is specified at the dialer level in the TimeToRingCustomer registry entry. Default = 4.
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Maximum attempts (1 - 100) |
Defines the maximum number of attempts, including callbacks and retries. Enter the maximum number of attempts to be made in zone 1 and zone 2. Default = 3. Note that increasing the number of attempts causes closed records to be reopened, which can result in slower performance. For more information, see Modification of maximum number of attempts in a campaign. |
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Abandoned call wait time (0 - 10) (required) |
Minimum duration (in seconds) of an outbound call. If the duration of an outbound call is less than this specified value, Outbound Option considers the call as customer abandoned, and the customer record that is associated with that call is scheduled for a retry. To disable this feature, set this value to 0. Enter the number of seconds. Default = 1. Note that if this feature is disabled, then Outbound Option does not consider this call as customer abandoned. It affects the reporting of this call in the Outbound Option dialer_detail table. |
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Campaign Prefix Digits |
Digits to be prefixed to each customer number dialed from this campaign. For the SIP Dialer, this field represents the phone number that is advertised as the calling number for the campaign. Enter a maximum of 15 digits in this field. |
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Retries Section |
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No answer delay |
Defines (in minutes) how often the software waits before calling back a no-answer call. Enter the number of minutes. Default = 60. |
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Busy signal delay |
Defines (in minutes) how long the software waits before calling back a busy telephone number. Enter the number of minutes. Default = 60. |
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Customer abandoned delay |
If a customer abandons a call, the time (delay in minutes) when the dialer should call the customer back. Default = 30. |
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Dialer abandoned delay |
If the dialer abandons a call, the time (delay in minutes) when the dialer should call the customer back. Default = 60. |
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Answering machine delay |
If the call was answered by an answering machine, how long the software waits (in minutes) before calling back. Default = 60. |
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Customer not home delay |
If the customer was not at home and should be called back, the time (in minutes) when the dialer should call the customer back. Default = 60. |
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Callback Settings Section |
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Personalized callback |
Enables the personal callback option. This option allows an agent to schedule a callback to a customer for a particular date and time, which connects the customer to the agent they originally spoke to (at the time the customer requested). |
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Reschedule callback mode (required) |
Determines how Outbound Option should handle the personal callback if the agent is not available: |
Adjusting the maximum number of attempts amount (Maximum attempts field on the Campaign General tab page) in a campaign configuration can be useful for calling customers who were not previously reached without having to import their phone numbers again. This option is particularly useful if the campaign import is an append instead of an overwrite type. Be aware that modifying this option in the campaign configuration results in an update of all customer records that were not successfully contacted. The Campaign Manager can update only about 20 records per second, and no new customer records will be delivered to the dialer for this campaign while this update is in progress; therefore, only update the Maximum attempts field when the campaign is not in progress.
You can view how many records have been closed and how many were successfully reached by using the Call Summary Count per Campaign Real Time report. See Reports for more information.
The Voice Calls Per Adjustment and Gain parameters are settings in the Advanced Users configuration tab used to control the way the predictive dialing behaves. Do not modify the default values unless you understand the parameters and the possible risks incurred when changing the pacing.
Setting the Voice Calls Per Adjustment parameter to a smaller setting leads to larger fluctuations in the measured Abandon Rate because the sample size is less significant. This results in less change in the Lines per agent value over time.
![]() Caution |
Be careful when modifying both parameters (Gain and Voice Calls Per Adjustment) at the same time. For example, increasing the Gain while decreasing the Voice Calls Per Adjustment results in larger changes in the "Lines per agent correction rate," which might overcorrect changes in measured values. Decreasing the Gain while increasing the Voice Calls Per Adjustment can similarly cause too slow of a change to underlying changes in the hit-and-abandon-rates. A campaign that is reaching more than 20 live voice customers every minute (600 per half hour) might benefit from reducing the Gain, but a lower Gain becomes less effective as the number of agents in the campaign dwindles or the hit rate changes rapidly. |
Specify the following information on the Campaign Purpose tab page.
![]() Note |
You cannot configure both Agent Based campaigns and Transfer to IVR campaigns at the same time. |
Field |
Description |
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---|---|---|---|
Agent Based Campaign |
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Agent Based Campaign |
This type of campaign uses an outbound mode that causes the dialer to transfer every customer call that is associated with a specific skill group to an agent. |
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Enable IP AMD |
Selecting this option enables answering machine detection for the IP dialers in the system only. If this option is enabled, when the dialer detects an answering machine, it performs one of the following actions. (Default = Enabled.)
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Call Progress Analysis |
If this option is disabled, all Call Progress Analysis for all calls made from this dialer is disabled on a campaign-by-campaign basis, including voice detection, fax/modem detection, and answering machine detection. (Default = Disabled.) If Call Progress Analysis is enabled, specify the Record CPA parameter. The Gateway provides a media stream and the dialer records .wav files. This improves Call Progress Analysis performance.
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Transfer to IVR Campaign |
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Transfer to IVR Campaign |
This type of campaign uses an outbound mode that causes the dialer to transfer every customer call that is 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 prerecorded messages in the IVR. |
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Enable IP AMD |
Selecting this option enables answering machine detection for the IP dialers in the system only. If this option is enabled, when the dialer detects an answering machine, it does one of the following actions. (Default = Enabled.)
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Call Progress Analysis Parameters |
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Minimum Silence Period (100-1000) |
Minimum silence period required to classify a call as voice detected. If many answering machine calls are being passed through to agents as voice, then increasing this value accounts for longer pauses in answering machine greetings. Default is 608. |
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Analysis Period (1000-10000) |
Number of milliseconds spent analyzing this call. If there is a short agent greeting on an answering machine, then a longer value here categorizes that answering machine call as voice. If the call is to a business where the operator has a longer scripted greeting, a shorter value here categorizes the long, live greeting as answering machine. Default is 2500. |
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Minimum Valid Speech (50-500) |
Minimum number of milliseconds of voice required to qualify a call as voice detected. Default is 112. |
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Maximum Analysis Time (1000-10000) |
Max number of milliseconds allowed for analysis before identifying a problem analysis as dead air/low volume. Default is 3000. |
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Maximum Termination Tone Analysis (1000-60000) |
Maximum milliseconds the dialer analyzes an answering machine voice message looking for a termination tone. If the message has an odd tone and the analysis does not recognize it, the call is not transferred or dropped until this timeout occurs. Default is 30000. |
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Reset to System Default |
Resets all items in the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) Parameters section to the system defaults. |
Press the Add button on the Query Rule Selection tab page and specify the following information.
Field |
Description |
---|---|
Query rule name |
The name of the query rule. |
Enable |
Enables the query rule for this campaign. Default = Enabled. |
Start time |
The local time at the Packaged CCE Central Controller when a query rule can begin to execute. |
End time |
The local time at the Packaged CCE Central Controller when a query rule must stop executing. |
Penetration (0-400): |
The maximum number of calls that this campaign tries during a query rule execution; for example, 400 contact attempts. When a query rule reaches the penetration number, it stops executing and the next query rule in the list begins to execute. Default = 100. If this option is enabled, Duration and Hit Rate are disabled. |
Duration (0-120): |
The total amount of time that this query rule can run; for example, 30 minutes. When the query rule reaches the time limit, it stops executing and the next query rule in the list can begin to execute. Default = 30. If this option is enabled, Penetration and Hit Rate are disabled. |
Hit Rate (0-100): |
The minimum percentage of calls that can be answered (excluding answers by answering machines) during this query rule execution; for example, 30 percent. If the hit rate drops below this value, the next query rule begins to execute. Default = 30. If this option that is enabled, Duration and Penetration are disabled. |
From the Skill Group Selection tab page, press Add to display the fields available to fill out.
Field |
Description |
---|---|
Skill Group Name |
The name of the skill group that is assigned to this campaign. |
Overflow Agents per Dialer (0-100) |
This setting can be useful for Progressive campaigns to reduce the abandon rate at the cost of increasing agent idle times. This setting ensures that there is always at least one extra agent reserved before the dialer begins dialing. When this setting is set to 1, at least two agents need to be reserved before the dialer begins dialing. The intention is to increase the odds that an agent is available when two or more customers answer, which increases agent idle times while decreasing the abandon rate. |
Dialed number |
For agent campaign, enter the dialed number that you created earlier for agent campaign on the Outbound routing client. For IVR campaign, leave this field empty. |
Records to cache (1-400) |
The minimum number of dialing numbers that each dialer caches for each of the Outbound Option skill groups. This amount is based on how many campaigns are configured. If you have many campaigns, you should cache fewer records; that is, set the number lower. Default = 1. |
Number of IVR Ports |
The total number of VRU ports that are allocated for the specific skill group. This value indicates how many ports are available for the dialer to transfer customer calls. Because this value indicates the total number of ports that are supported by the IVR for the current skill group, multiple skill groups can make transfer-to-IVR calls. |
Dialed Numbers for Transferring to an IVR Section |
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After AMD and for transfer to IVR campaigns |
If the campaign is configured to transfer AMD calls to a VRU, enter the dialed number that you created earlier for transferring call to VRU on the outbound routing client. This number must be configured for an IVR campaign. |
When no agents are available |
This number enables the dialer to play a message to the caller when no agents are available. Enter the dialed number that you configured earlier on the outbound routing client. This number can be the same as the number for the previous field. |
Specify the following information on the Call Target tab.
Field |
Description |
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Daylight Savings Zone |
Describes the default time zone to use for any numbers dialed which do not map to the Outbound Option region prefixes. |
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Zone 1 and Zone 2 options |
Enable this option, and then enter the start and end times for reaching your calling targets. Zones are useful for distinguishing phone locations. For example, Zone 1 can be designated as work, and Zone 2 can be home.
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Numbers to dial |
Lists the phone numbers in dialing order for the Zone 1 or Zone 2.
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Available numbers |
Contains the available phone numbers that can be added to the Numbers to dial list for Zone 1 or Zone 2. |
You can edit most campaign configuration settings while a campaign is running. The changes take effect with new calls after the setting has been changed. However, avoid the following edits to a campaign in progress:
Personal Callback is an optional feature in Outbound Option. Personal Callback allows an agent to schedule a callback to a customer for a specific date and time. A personal callback connects the agent who originally spoke to the customer back to the customer at the customer-requested time.
Step Number |
Procedure Description |
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1-6 |
Configure a campaign. |
7 |
Configure a call type for personal callback. |
8 |
Configure a correctly named dial number. |
9 |
Configure a routing script. |
10-12 |
Configure registry keys. |
Step 1 | To enable Personal Callback, open the Unified CCE Configuration Manager. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 2 | Select Outbound Option. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 3 | Load the Campaign tool. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 4 | Select the Campaign General tab. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 5 | Open a predefined campaign. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 6 |
Check the personal callback check box. Personal callback is now enabled. To configure the personal callback registry entries, continue with Step 7 of this procedure. |
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Step 7 | Configure a call type for personal callback. For information about creating call types, see "Call Types" in the Packaged CCE Administration Guide. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 8 | Create a dialed number with the name PersonalCallback on the outbound routing client. Refer to "Dialed Numbers" in the Packaged CCE Administration Guide for Release 9.0(x) for information about configuring dialed numbers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 9 | In Script Editor, create a routing script that sets up the Personal Callback reservation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 10 | Open regedit on the data server (DS). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 11 | Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cisco Systems, Inc.\ICM\<instance name>\LoggerA\BlendedAgent\CurrentVersion in the Outbound Option registry. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 12 |
Configure the personal callback registry entries listed in the following table. (Enter the values in decimal format.)
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Step 13 | Configure the Queue to Agent node. |
For an IVR campaign, you need to configure a dial-peer in the voice gateway. This dial peer is used to instruct the voice gateway to transfer the call to Unified CVP. It must match the Network VRU label that is configured on the MR routing client with type 10 Unified CVP network VRU.
In base configuration, this label is preconfigured with default value 66611110000. Follow the steps in this example.
Step 1 |
Add a dial-peer to match the network VRU label in the outbound routing client. Example: dial-peer voice 6661111 voip description ******To CVP1***** destination-pattern 6661111T session protocol sipv2 session target ipv4:10.10.10.10 voice-class codec 1 voice-class sip rel1xx supported "100rel" dtmf-relay rtp-nte h245-signal h245-alphanumeric no vad
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Step 2 |
Configure a dial-peer for the VRU leg. This is the same dial-peer as the inbound call flow whose call is transferred to Unified CVP. Example: dial-peer voice 777111 voip description Used for VRU leg service bootstrap incoming called-number 7771111T voice-class sip rel1xx disable dtmf-relay rtp-nte h245-signal h245-alphanumeric codec g711ulaw no vad |
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Step 3 |
A dialed number pattern needs to be configured on Unified CVP OAMP so that Unified CVP can route the call to the VXML gateway after it receives the run script request from the router. This dialed pattern is the same one as the inbound call flow that transfers a call to VRU. If the base configuration has not been changed, the pattern is 777111*.
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Outbound Option uses Packaged CCE Enterprise scripting configured on the Administrative Workstation to manage campaigns.
There are two types of scripts:
Outbound Option administrative scripts enable, disable, or throttle campaign skill groups for outbound campaigns. The scripts can also automatically close out a skill group for a specific campaign based on time or any other conditional factor that the admin script can access. This scripting is performed at the skill group level to provide more flexibility when managing larger campaigns that are distributed across multiple skill groups.
Enable a campaign skill group by setting the campaign mode to one of the available modes: Preview, Direct Preview, Progressive or Predictive. (For more information about these modes, see Dialing modes.) Schedule an administrative script to run at regular intervals. Disable the campaign skill group by the administrative script, using a script node to change the campaign mode to inbound for that skill group.
This script also provides the ability to control the percentage of agents to be used in a campaign skill group and whether this skill group is used for other campaigns or inbound calls.
![]() Note |
An administrative script controls a campaign skill group. A campaign skill group can be mapped only to one campaign at a time. A skill group can be reused if new campaigns are added. If a campaign skill group is recycled, its administrative scripting should be reused as well. However, note that although it is possible to have two administrative scripts controlling the same skill group, conflicting campaign mode requests for Outbound Option can result. |
Use the Script Editor application to create an administrative script for each skill group to set the OutboundControl variable and the skill group reservation percentage. The Outbound Option Dialer uses the value of this variable to determine which mode each skill group uses.
![]() Note |
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Perform the following steps to create the administrative script:
Step 1 | Open the Script Editor application. | ||||||||||||||
Step 2 | Select File > New > Administrative Script. | ||||||||||||||
Step 3 |
Create an administrative script. One script can be used to control all Outbound Option skill groups or multiple scripts can control multiple Outbound Option skill groups. For example, if you want to control skill groups at different times of the day, you might need multiple administrative scripts; however, if you are going to initialize the groups all in the same way, you may need only one script (with additional Set nodes). |
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Step 4 |
Set up the script with the following nodes (required): Start, Set Variable, End, and If. The following diagram displays a very simple administrative script where both the OutboundControl variable and the outbound percentage are set for a skill group. A script in a production call center is typically more complex, perhaps changing these variables according to time of day or service level. ![]()
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Step 5 |
Set the OutboundControl variable. Setting this variable enables contact center managers to control the agent mode.
Set this variable to one of the values listed in the table below.
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Step 6 | Right-click on the work space and select NEW > Object > Set Variable to open the Set Properties window. | ||||||||||||||
Step 7 |
Set the OutboundPercent variable in the same administrative script; for example, select the OutboundPercent variable in the Set Properties window and enter the agent percentage in the Value field. This variable controls the percentage of agents, which are logged in to a particular skill group, used for outbound dialing. For example, if 100 agents are logged in to a skill group, and the OutboundPercent variable is set to 50%, 50 agents are allocated for outbound dialing for this campaign skill group. This setup allows the rest of the agents to be used for inbound or other active campaigns. The default is 100%.
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Step 8 |
Schedule the script.
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This script divides the day into two parts:
To add the IF node, follow these steps:
Step 1 | Select ObjectType as Skillgroup. |
Step 2 | Select the skill group that was created for outbound as the Object. |
Step 3 | Select ServiceLevelHalf as the variable. |
Two types of routing scripts are described later in this document. One is for Agent Campaign and one is for IVR Campaign.
Use the Script Editor application to create a reservation script that uses the dialed number for the Outbound Routing Type and routes through a Select node to the previously configured skill group.
Before beginning this procedure, you must create and configure a skill group. For information about creating skill groups, see the Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise Administration and Configuration Guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12586/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.
The following steps and accompanying diagram provide an example of how to create a script for an agent campaign without personal callback.
Step 1 | Using the Dialed Number tool, associate the Outbound Voice dialed numbers and personal callback with the configured call type. |
Step 2 |
Using the Script Editor Call Type Manager, associate the call type with the newly created reservation script. ![]() |
Step 1 | Using the Dialed Number tool, associate the MR and Personal Callback dialed numbers with the configured call type. |
Step 2 |
Using the Script Editor Call Type Manager, associate the call type with the newly created reservation script. ![]() |
The following steps and accompanying diagram provide an example of how to create a script for an IVR campaign.
Step 1 | Using the Dialed Number tool, associate the Outbound Voice dialed numbers with the configured call type. |
Step 2 |
Using the Script Editor Call Type Manager, associate the call type with the newly created reservation script. ![]() |
Step 1 | In Script Editor, double-click the Queue to Agent node. |
Step 2 | In the agent expression column, enter Call.PreferredAgentID. |
Step 3 | Confirm that the Peripheral column is left blank. |
Step 4 | Click OK to save the Queue to Agent node. |
Step 5 | Save and then schedule the script. When scheduling the script, use the call type that is configured for personal callback. For more information about script scheduling, see the Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise Administration and Configuration Guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12586/tsd_products_support_series_home.html. |
When recording is enabled in a campaign, the number of recording files that result can be large. The following table lists registry settings that you can adjust to regulate the number of recording sessions and the maximum recording file size.
Registry Setting |
Default Setting |
Description |
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MaxAllRecordFiles |
500,000,000 |
The maximum recording file size (in bytes) of all recording files. |
MaxMediaTerminationSessions |
200 |
The maximum number of media termination sessions if recording is enabled in the Campaign configuration. |
MaxPurgeRecordFiles |
100,000,000 |
The maximum recording file size (in bytes) when the total recording file size, MaxAllRecordFiles, is reached. |
MaxRecordingSessions |
100 |
The maximum number of recording sessions if recording is enabled in the Campaign configuration. |
Recording files are in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cisco Systems, Inc.\ICM\<customer instance>\Dialer directory.
![]() Note |
Only the G.711 codec is supported for recording. To record outbound calls, configure the G.711 on the voice gateway. |
Outbound Option places agents in the Reserved state prior to using them for an outbound call. The dialer performs this action by using the dialed number to route to an agent. The following procedure describes how to verify that this mechanism works properly.
When an Outbound Option Dialer is installed in a Unified CCE environment, the dialer uses the dialed number to make routing requests through the Media Routing (MR) Peripheral Gateway. The following verification steps assume that all the applicable configuration and reservation script generation has already been performed.
Step 1 | Log an agent in to a skill group participating in an outbound campaign, and make the agent available. (Note the dialed number, which was configured in the Skill Group Selection tab in the Campaign component.) If a different dialed number is used for predictive and preview calls, make sure to verify both dialed numbers. |
Step 2 | Run the Script Editor application and select the Call Tracer utility from the menu. Select the routing client that is associated with the MR PG and select the Dialed Number. |
Step 3 | Press Send Call to simulate a route request and note the results. If a label was returned for the agent who was logged in above, the reservation script is working properly and the dialer can reserve agents through this script. If a label is not returned while running this script, see the Troubleshooting Unified CCE Docwiki at http://docwiki-dev.cisco.com/wiki/Troubleshooting_Unified_CCE for troubleshooting assistance. |
This section provides information about how to read and understand the Outbound Option reports.
This section describes the Outbound Option reports, created using the Unified Intelligence Center.
![]() Note |
Call Type reporting can be used on Outbound Option reservation calls and transfer to IVR calls. Call Type reporting is not applicable for outbound customer calls because a routing script is not used. |
Outbound Option provides a campaign report template that describes the effectiveness of a campaign and the dialer. This list can be used for Agent and IVR campaigns.
Observe the following guidelines when using the campaign reports:
![]() Note |
Campaign Real Time reports capture call results since the last Campaign Manager restart only. If the Campaign Manager restarts, data prior to the restart is lost. |
The following list describes the data that is presented in the campaign reports.
The Outbound Option Dialer reports provide information about the dialer. These reports include information about performance and resource usage. The templates also enable you to determine whether you need more dialer ports to support more outbound calls.
The following list describes the data that is presented in the Outbound Option Dialer reports:
For skill group reporting per campaign, Outbound Option provides reports that represent the skill group activity for a contact center.
The following list describes the data presented in the skill group reports:
Outbound Option is automatically enabled at setup. It provides automatic outbound dialing capability.
The Outbound Option Dialer, which places outbound calls to customers and connects these calls with agents, assigns and connects calls differently than regular Packaged CCE routing. Report data for agents handling Outbound Option calls therefore differs from data for agents handling typical voice calls and multichannel tasks.
To interpret agent data for Outbound Option tasks, you need to understand how Outbound Option reserves agents, reports calls that are connected to agents, and handles calls dropped by customers before the calls are connected.
When the Outbound Dialer initiates a call to a customer, it reserves the agent assigned to handle the call by placing a reservation call to the agent and changing the agent's state to Hold. This reservation call is reported as a Direct In call to the agent.
For typical voice calls, the agent is placed into Reserved state when Packaged CCE software reserves the agent to handle a call; the agent's state is reported as Reserved. For Outbound Option calls, reports show the agent in Hold state when reserved for a call and the time that agent spends reserved is reported as Hold Time.
When the customer answers the call, the Outbound Option Dialer transfers the call to an agent. The call is now reported as a Transfer In call to the agent. When the customer call is transferred to the agent, the reservation call is dropped by the dialer and classified as Abandon on Hold.
The abandoned call wait time, set in the Campaign Configuration screen, determines how calls are reported if the caller hangs up. Calls are counted in the Customer Abandon field in both Real Time and Historical campaign query templates only if the customer hangs up before the abandoned call wait time is reached.
For agent reporting per campaign, Outbound Option provides reports that accurately represent the outbound agent activity for a contact center, including information grouped by skill group.
The following list describes the data presented in the agent reports.
Outbound Option reports also enable you to view the success of record importation. Using the Import Rule templates, you can monitor whether records are being added successfully (good records) or are failing (bad records). Also, you can monitor how long it takes to import the records so that you can plan for future record importation.
The same import rule reports are used for Do Not Call and Contact List imports. The reports display a historical view of when imports were done, the number of records imported, and the number of records that were considered invalid because of length constraints or improper formatting.
For contact list imports, the reports also provide insight into the number of contacts that were assigned with the default time zone information for the campaign, as well as the number of contacts that were actually imported into the dialing list after the query rule and format validation was performed.
The following information is available in the Import Rule reports:
To manage your campaigns most efficiently, use multiple query rules instead of using multiple campaigns.
You might choose to run multiple campaigns because of different calling policies (for example, time rules) or to run different outbound modes simultaneously.
From the perspective of dialer port allocation, running fewer campaigns with a larger agent pool is more efficient. Dialer ports are allocated based on the number of agents assigned and the current number of lines per agent to dial. The more campaigns you have that are active, the more the ports are distributed across the campaigns, which affects overall efficiency.
Use query rules to break down a campaign into smaller requirements. These rules can be enabled based on penetration or scheduled times. Campaign reports are available on a query rule level.
![]() Note |
In multiple campaigns, the skill groups of agents handling the calls must be the same as those of a single campaign. |
After running a campaign, you can generate a list of customers who were reached, not reached, or have invalid phone numbers. The following are options for how to receive this information from the Outbound Option solution.
The Dialer_Detail table is a single table that contains the customer call results for all campaigns. When you view the Dialer_Detail table, note that each attempted Outbound Option call is recorded as an entry in the table. Each entry lists the number called and which numbers are invalid.
The following sections provide guidelines to follow when working with predictive campaigns.
Determining the initial value for the number of lines per agent is not as simple as inverting the hit rate. If a campaign has a 20% hit rate, you cannot assume that five lines per agent is the applicable initial value for the campaign if you are targeting a 3% abandon rate. The opportunity for abandoned calls increases geometrically as the lines per agent increases; therefore, set the initial value conservatively in the campaign configuration.
If the reports show that the abandon rate is below target and does not come back in line very quickly, modify the initial value in the campaign configuration to immediately correct the lines per agent being dialed.
It is not unusual for a campaign to be over the abandon rate target for any given 30 minute period. The dialer examines the end-of-day rate when managing the abandon rate. If the overall abandon rate is over target for the day, the system targets a lower abandon rate for remaining calls until the average abandon rate falls into line. This end-of-day calculation cannot work until after the campaign has been running for one hour. Small sample sizes due to short campaigns or campaigns with fewer agents might not give the dialer enough time to recover from an initial value that is too high.
Similarly, if the campaign is significantly under the target abandon rate, it might begin dialing more frequently with an abandon rate over target for a while to compensate in the abandon rate.
When enabling the Transfer AMD (Answering Machine Detection) to agent option for an agent campaign or enabling the Transfer AMD to IVR option for an IVR campaign, consider the increase in calls to the target resources (agents or IVR) when determining the initial value. If the expectation is that the AMD rate and the live voice rate are over 50%, perhaps start out with an initial value of 1.1 or even one line per agent to stay under a 3% abandon rate.
The dialer runs for each dialer skill group, so if you have 20 agents in a campaign skill group on two dialers, then on average each dialer is allocated 10 agents. Below 20 agents, the dialer’s ability to stay near the abandon rate target degrades. With small sample sizes, the measured abandon rate has larger fluctuations, making adjustments based on abandon rate measurements difficult. Parameters have been set to adjust to most situations when 70 live connects are made per dialer skill group within approximately 10 minutes or less, allowing six corrections per hour. 70 live connects would roughly occur with 10 active agents per dialer skill group and an Average Handle Time (AHT) equal to 50 seconds. As the call rate decreases below this number, the performance degrades.
In addition, in a small agent group where the Lines Per Agent being dialed are low, it may take longer to get a live connect. While most agents are connected within the Average Handle Time, statistical fluctuations may mean occasional long waits for a live connect.
For smaller agent groups that are held to a small abandon rate limitation, consider running that campaign on a single dialer using one of the options described in the "Single Dialer options (SCCP Dialer Only)" section in the Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise and Hosted Outbound Option Guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/custcosw/ps524/tsd_products_support_series_home.html. Otherwise, explore running the campaign in a Progressive mode with a conservative lines per agent value.
One of the key reporting metrics for administrators managing campaigns is the amount of time agents spend idle between calls.
There are many possible reasons for longer idle times, such as a combination of one or more of the following:
The following Outbound Option reports provide information regarding sources of higher idle times:
If both Dialers have relatively low idle times and high all ports busy times, then it is likely the Dialers have been oversubscribed. The combination of number of agents, Dialing List hit rate, and average handle time are likely more than the deployed number of ports the Dialer can handle.
To solve this problem, perform one of the following actions:
Call Summary Count reports show how many records in the aggregate campaign dialing lists have been closed and how many are still available to dial.