Linked Campaigns

The following points must be understood when working with linked campaigns:

• Softdial Campaign Manager™ Client can show several campaigns which are linked, but as far as Softdial CallGem™ is concerned there is only one campaign, which has the same name as the link master.
• The link master campaign
  • is the only campaign that will show in the Campaign Status Viewer and be referenced in Softdial Reporter™, enumeration messages or the Softdial CallGem™ logs
  • determines Softdial CallGem™ campaign tuning and media parameters
• The Softdial CallGem™ campaign
  • will be started whenever one or more of the linked campaigns in Softdial Campaign Manager™ is started.
  • will only be stopped when the last campaign in the link set is stopped.
  • is not the same as the Softdial Campaign Manager™ master campaign (although it has the same name). The Softdial CallGem™ campaign represents any and all of the Softdial Campaign Manager™ linked campaigns.
• Killing a link master campaign will not kill all campaigns linked to that master because the database load is distributed. Note however that a link master campaign can be stopped independently of its linked campaigns. While a link master campaign is stopped no calls will be made.
• From V10.5.170 and later - it is possible to set separate CLI options for each linked campaign.

In Softdial Campaign Manager™, each campaign is treated as distinct. For example, each Softdial Campaign Manager™ campaign can have its own retry, filter, timezone, end of list settings. However, some settings are applied to the group as a whole. In this case, the relevant settings will not be available in the linked campaign Edit (Properties) dialogue and you will instead see Settings are determined by the master campaign.

Some features are not compatible with linked campaigns, e.g. campaign chaining. Where this is the case, these settings will be greyed out or unavailable.

Fig. 2 below shows some of the basics of linked campaigns.

Fig. 2 - Linked Campaigns

Mobiles1 is designated as a link master campaign. When the linked campaigns are running, the Softdial CallGem™ campaign is given the same name as the link master campaign.

Campaign Mobiles2 is linked to campaign Mobiles1. If we were to start campaign Mobiles2, Softdial Campaign Manager™ would start a Softdial CallGem™ campaign Mobiles1. Note that the Mobiles1 campaign showing in the Softdial Campaign Manager™ Client would not show as being started.

Linked campaigns can be started and stopped together or separately.

Starting

Fig. 3 - Starting Linked Campaigns

You will see in Fig. 3 that when a linked campaign is selected and the campaign is not running there are two options for starting the campaign:

1. Start
   starts only that campaign
2. Start linked
   starts all campaigns linked to a particular link master, and the link master campaign. .

After performing Start Link on either the link master Mobiles1 or the Mobiles2 campaign, both campaigns are started.

The data mix ratios are taken for only running campaigns, and not campaign lifetime.

Stopping

Fig. 4 - Stopping Linked Campaigns

You can see from Fig. 4 above that once the linked campaigns are started, there are two options for stopping the campaign:

• Stop - stops a single campaign
• Stop linked - stops all campaigns linked to a given master

When using many linked campaigns, in order to avoid flooding the database with too many connections all at once, starting/ stopping may be staggered using the SchedulingIntervalSeconds registry setting.

It is not possible to suspend a linked campaign.

This may cause some confusion as the number of agents logged into the Softdial CallGem™ campaign will show as being logged into each of the linked campaigns. So for example, if you have 3 campaigns in a linked set, and log 5 agents into the Softdial CallGem™ campaign, Softdial Campaign Manager™ Client will show these 5 agents as being logged in to all 3 campaigns. This doesn't mean there are 15 agents logged in, just that the 5 agents are available to all 3 Softdial Campaign Manager™ campaigns. These agents will remain logged in until they are manually logged out or until the last campaign in the link set closes.

Configuration is done In the Linked Campaigns tab/ page (Fig. 1 above).

Predictive campaigns may be linked

From Version 10.2.0.62 - Preview and Progressive campaigns may also be linked.

It is not possible to mix campaign types in a link set; the campaign type for all campaigns in the link set is determined by the Master campaign type.

Configuration areas on the Linked Campaigns tab/ page are enabled/ disabled according to the Link Campaign? option selected, as described below:

Standalone

By default, all campaigns are set up as Standalone.

Master Campaign

Fig. 5 - Linked Campaigns - Master Campaign

Selecting this option designates the current campaign as a link Master Campaign, and will enable the Master Settings controls where you will be able to decide how to apportion records from each linked campaign to feed the Softdial CallGem™ campaign.

Two options are supported currently:

1) Apportion based on list size

This feeds numbers into Softdial CallGem™ in proportion to the size of the lists remaining. For example, with the following setup:

Campaign Name	Rows Remaining
Mobiles1	1000
Mobiles2	5000
Mobiles3	2000

numbers would be fed into the Softdial CallGem™ in the ratio 1:5:2 for the linked campaigns. This algorithm provides for even distribution of data which yields best overall predictive pacing performance for the whole data set, but does not allow any sort of data prioritisation to take place.

More details

If apportioning by list remaining size, the algorithm may make up to 20 calls against any one list before moving on to the next.

The apportionment algorithm for list remaining seeks to keep simple integer ratios of X:Y:Z where none of the ratios is greater than 20. The logic is:

1. Take the list remaining values for each campaign.
2. If any of the values is greater than 20, divide all values by two (and round up to 1).
3. Repeat until all values are less than 20

For example, a linked campaign with three lists of outstanding sizes:

50
20
3

The algorithm yields a ratio of

50 - 25 - 13
20 - 10 - 5
3 - 2 - 1

So 13 from first list, then 5 from second list, then 1 from third.

This algorithm self-balances with changing list sizes but it does need reasonable data volume to function as required.

Test lists of 20 numbers won't show even apportionment.

2) Apportion based on ratios

This allows the user to choose the ratio of records to feed into Softdial CallGem™. This option requires each linked campaign to have a ratio set up. Ratios may be changed whilst the campaigns are running but changes are not retrospective. Using this method of apportionment means that some linked campaigns may complete earlier than others, in which case apportionment takes place using the ratios for the remaining running linked campaigns.

The rules for apportioning calls with linked campaigns applies only to fresh data, not retries. Users are strongly advised not to use retry throttling i.e. setting a retry : fresh ratio , when using linked campaigns (See Linked campaigns and retry throttling below).

Link to Campaign

Selecting this option designates the current campaign as linked to a Master Campaign.

Fig. 6 - Linked Campaigns - Link to Campaign

The dropdown contains a list of Master Campaigns. Depending on the apportionment setup for the Master Campaign (see Master Campaign above), it may be necessary to allocate a ratio to the linked campaign. In the example in Fig. 6 above, the Master Campaign apportions based on list remaining size and so no ratio is necessary.

When the Master Setting for the Master campaign is Apportion based on Ratios (Fig. 7), the ratio for each campaign can be set in the Apportionment area of each campaign, using the Apportionment ratio for this campaign field.

Fig. 7 - Linked Campaigns - Link to Campaign (ratios)

Ratios for all campaigns linked to the same master are listed in the box below that.

The rules for apportioning calls with linked campaigns apply only to fresh data, not retries.

Retries across linked campaigns are queued to be dialled when they are due, regardless of apportionment ratios. The frequency of retry is governed (largely) by how previous failed attempts due to no answers and answer machines are recycled. By throttling retries, either as a result of trying to apportion retries in proportion to linked campaign rules or by setting a manual throttle (e.g. 1 fresh to 2 retries), the user limits the benefit of the Right Time To Call capabilities built into retry management.

For best campaign performance do not throttle retries with linked campaigns. Instead set your retry parameters (i.e. intervals and maximum attempts) to values that are appropriate for the data in each list.

The effect of retry throttling is to force selection of fresh data over retries that are due at a particular time. This functionality is provided for cold-call operations with very large lists and low connect rates where it can be beneficial to ensure that a certain proportion of fresh data is pushed through Softdial CallGem™ to keep connect rates up. This can be achieved by setting the retry parameters appropriately rather than throttling. However some users may not be comfortable doing this, or may be bound by their client's terms, e.g. "no answers and answer machines must be retried at least 20 times".

In short: for multiple lists, where possible, favour retries 100% over fresh, and set a sensible retry regime.

Update to Retry Throttling

Apportionment of data across linked campaigns

From V10.6.400 - Some changes have been introduced to overcome some of the undesirable effects of using retry throttling with linked campaigns where this is essential. The following explanation of how apportionment between linked campaigns with retry throttling is done, may help users better determine when and how to use this feature.

Understanding how calls get apportioned across linked campaigns is a multi-dimensional problem. The way calls are apportioned between campaigns in a link set must take account of a number of variables such as:

1. Basic apportionment of records may be set according to a ratio, or according to the number of fresh records outstanding.
2. Callbacks are scheduled to take place at a specific time.
3. Retries are planned to take place at a particular time offset, and are merged in with fresh records.
4. The proportion of retries to be merged in with fresh records can be adjusted.
5. A list may have run out of both retries and fresh data altogether.
6. A list may have run out of fresh data with only retries remaining.

The apportionment mechanism makes requests for the cache for each linked campaign to deliver records to be dialed, in strict proportion. The ratios are either the ratios set when configuring the campaign, or in the case of retry in proportion to list size, the list size is used as the proportion and then scaled down until each proportion is less than 20. So for example, let us assume we have a ratio of 1:2:5 for the 3 linked campaigns A, B and C that we have open. CM will ask A to send 1 number, B to send 2, C to send 5, and will then repeat this until all of the campaigns run out of data.

Each linked campaign has its own cache of records to be dialed. The cache is composed of both fresh records, and records that are due for dial any time between the past and for up to 5 minutes ahead. So if we have 5 records to be sent for campaign C, and campaign C has a retry setting to deliver 20% fresh data, on average* one of the 5 records will be a fresh record and the other 4 will be retries.

*The reason we state on average is that the algorithm uses random number selection; every time the campaign cache is asked to give a record it generates a random number between 1 and 100 and if the number is lower than the fresh percentage value, a fresh record is sent, otherwise a retry is sent. This random number approach is not exact for a small sample, but does ensure a more even distribution of retry and fresh data regardless of the percentage set. So for example if a fresh to retry ratio of 13% is set, rather than sending 100 retries followed by 13 fresh records, this method will provide a better distribution of call types whilst still achieving the ratios required.

Whether fresh numbers or retries are supplied also depends on whether there are numbers available. If a campaign has run out of fresh numbers but has retries cached, all numbers supplied will be retries.

Planned time callbacks (either general or agent-specific) take precedence over both fresh data and retries. If a customer asks to be called at 3pm, the system should call at 3pm and this takes priority over any other calling activities. When running linked campaigns, callbacks can appear to skew apportionment. This is not the case. Apportionment still takes place according to the ratios set. Callbacks bypass the apportionment mechanism.

At the end of a call list, retries are rescheduled to take place immediately. They still enter the cache in the same way as when the campaign is running with fresh data. However at end of list there will only be retries left.

From V10.6.400 - Softdial Campaign Manager™ also ages out retries that have become past due by more than 5 minutes. If a user sets throttling such that a high level of fresh data is sent to Softdial CallGem™ (say 50% or more), this will usually lead to retries delayed past their scheduled time. This leads to the campaign cache being completely filled with retries over time. Rather than have retries being made persistently late, which diminishes the value of the Right time To Call (RTTC) algorithm for retries (see Retry Rules), Softdial Campaign Manager™ now reschedules overdue retries according to the following algorithm:

• for any running campaign that has outstanding fresh data, or is left running after list runout without acceleration, schedule overdue retries exactly 1 day later. This allows the benefit of RTTC to be realised.
• for any running campaign that is accelerated, schedule overdue retries for 30 minutes ahead.