Call outcome information has 3 purposes in Softdial Contact Center™ (SCC):
After the CRM (or Softdial Campaign Manager™) has requested Softdial CallGem™ to make a call, the result of this request can be one of 5 general outcomes:
For calls that are sent to the telephony switch (CTI layer) there are 2 methods of reporting call outcomes back to Softdial CallGem™ depending on whether or not the call was connected to an agent:
The Dialing Cycle outcome code is derived from the information returned from the network, whether this is ISDN, SIP or SIT tone based. The CTI layer must convert the network cause code information to a valid Dialing Cycle Outcome code as defined in
See also Signalling Issues - Passing call outcome information back to Softdial CallGem™
The Agent outcome code is specified by the agent or agent application and must be a valid agent outcome code as defined in
In addition, when a call is connected to a waiting agent it may be a fax, answering machine or other type of non-live call. Answering Machine Detection (AMD) is not 100% accurate and some networks may return non-standard signalling not recognised by the CTI layer. Such calls may be classified using agent outcomes which may be mapped to the appropriate Dialing Cycle Outcome.
Integrators must enable the agent to classify calls via the Agent Outcome (AO) parameter in the Transaction Complete [TC] message.
Additional outcome codes may be created, e.g. for specific non-live calls presented to agents. This is done
When Softdial CallGem™ has gained the result information for a call, the result is reported back to the campaign layer. This information is sent in the Reason (RE) and Agent Outcome (AO) parameters of the Number Back [NB] message The Reason (RE) parameter contains either the Cause (CA) parameter value, for calls that were not connected to an agent, or a Softdial CallGem™ generated outcome code for other scenarios.
If a call is connected to the agent layer, then any data relating to the call may be passed from the agent layer to Softdial CallGem™ using the Data (DT) parameter of the Transaction Complete [TC] message, and then on to the campaign layer using the Data (DT) parameter of the Number Back [NB] message.
Note that scenarios 1, 2, 3 and 5 above will always return a Number Back [NB] message to the campaign layer. However, scenario 4 (successful calls) will only return a Number Back [NB] message if the Return Option (RO) parameter is specified in the Open Campaign [OC] message.
In scenario 4 above, a live call connected to an agent, no Dialing Cycle Outcome code is returned to Softdial CallGem™ (as there is no Call Failed [CF] message). In this case Softdial CallGem™ generates a default outcome code of 10 which is returned to the campaign layer in the Reason (RE) parameter of the Number Back [NB] message.
Fig. 1 shows the signalling and resulting messaging for an outbound call that fails, in this example as a busy. Three network response possibilities (for ISDN, SIP or SIT) are shown which will result in a Call Failed [CF] message being returned to Softdial CallGem™ with the Cause (CA) parameter value of 1. Softdial CallGem™ passes this outcome back to the campaign layer in the Reason (RE) parameter of the Number Back [NB] message.
Fig. 2 shows the equivalent signalling and messaging for a successful (connected) call.
Fig. 2 - Outcome Messaging - Connect
Note that in Fig. 2 there is no Cause (CA) code passed back to Softdial CallGem™ in this case. Softdial Telephony Gateway™ sends a Line Connected [LC] message back to Softdial CallGem™ and Softdial CallGem™ generates the outcome value of 10 which is passed back to the campaign layer in the Reason (RE) parameter of the Number Back [NB] message.
See also:
Signalling Issues
Telephony Issues
Resilience Measures - Network provider issues - Fast Busies