Access Numbers

Access numbers are the telephone numbers of your contact center that can be accessed from the public telephone network. These numbers are initially configured and assigned to your contact center at the service provider level. With the Contact Center Administrator application, you can view the available external access numbers and associate them with scenarios, which define how calls arriving at these numbers will be processed by the system. Such associations are called dial-in scenario entries.

You can also associate external access numbers with specific extension numbers of your contact center. In this case, all calls arriving at the external number will be delivered directly to the associated extension. This functionality is called Direct Inward Dialing (DID).

Access numbers can, and in some cases must, be used as caller IDs for regular outbound calls, campaign calls, and outgoing SMS communications. For more information about configuring caller IDs for regular outbound calls, see section Dial-out Entries. For more information about configuring caller IDs for campaign calls and SMS messages, see section Service and Campaigns - Numbers Tab.

Access numbers are also used in chat services to enable customers to request and carry on chat conversations via SMS. For more information about enabling inbound SMS function in chat services, see section Messaging/Chat.

To view the available access numbers, select the Access Numbers option from the Directory menu.

All access numbers assigned to you by the service provider will appear in the list view. Numbers dedicated to SMS communications will appear in the [number]/SMS format.

Access Number Types

Access number types displayed in the list view have the following meanings:

Extension

If an access number is associated with an extension, its type will be set to extension, the extension number will appear in column Internal, and the user of that extension will appear in column Details.

Scenario

If a regular or SMS access number is associated with a scenario entry, its type will be set to scenario, and the scenario name will appear in column Details.

Text out

If an SMS number is associated with a service, its type will be set to text out.

Scenario, text out

If an SMS number is associated with both a scenario entry (for inbound SMS) and a service (for outbound SMS), its type will be set to scenario, text out.

Unassigned

Access numbers that do not have any associations will have type unassigned.

How to Associate a Selected Access Number with a Scenario

1. Set the Destination property to scenario.
   
   
2. Edit the dial-in scenario entry properties that will appear in the right pane.

How to Associate a Selected Access Number with an Extension (the DID Function)

1. Set the Destination property to extension.
   
   
2. Specify the extension number in the field Extension.
   
   

If the specified extension is a softphone, the name of the associated user will appear next to the entered number. If the specified extension is a hardphone, the internal Caller ID of the hardphone will appear.

By default, access numbers used as caller IDs will be transmitted exactly as they appear in the list view of the Access Numbers screen.

How to Attach a Prefix to an Access Number When It Is Used As a Caller ID

1. Select the Add prefix to all caller IDs checkbox.
   
   
2. Enter the desired digits in the Prefix field.
   
   

Note that the use of access numbers as caller IDs for campaign calls must be enabled at the service provider level. Where such use is restricted, the property pages of the corresponding access numbers will display a read-only parameter Restrictions set to No automated outbound dialing on this number.

For DID purposes, a range of numbers may be assigned to your contact center at the service provider level. The range will appear in the list view as the starting number followed by the number of numbers in the range in parentheses. Note that such numbers cannot be used for dial-in scenario entries.

How to Associate a Range of Access Numbers with a Range of Extensions

1. Set the Destination property to extension.
   
   
2. Specify the first extension number of the desired range in the field Extension.
   
   

Association of subsequent extensions in the range will happen automatically.

How to Specify Where Unsolicited Inbound Messages Go

1. Select an access number of type text out.
   
   
2. Next to Unsolicited inbound messages go to, select either Service or API.
   
   
3. Click Apply.

Note that if you are changing the destination from service to API, this action will remove all associations of this number with the scenario entry and services.

How to Wrap Up After Call Work

Depending on the type of service you provide and your contact center practices, after a service interaction (call or chat) has terminated, the system may automatically change your state to After Call Work (ACW). You can use the time in this state to finish any work associated with the service interaction that has just ended.

After finishing the after call work for the current customer interaction, you have the following options:

• Click the Complete button . This will finish processing the current interaction. If this was the only interaction at your desktop, you will be automatically switched to the next state, which may be Ready or Not Ready, depending on the system settings and/or the state you may have previously requested. However, if you have other active interactions at your desktop, you may remain in the After Call Work state and continue working on the other interactions. Thus, when you handle multiple interactions simultaneously, it is recommended that you use the Complete button to finish interaction processing in the After Call Work state.

• If you are ready to receive another service interaction, you can click the User Status Indicator/Selector and select Ready from the drop-down menu. You will be switched to the Ready state regardless of how many interactions you may have had at your desktop. Processing of all such interactions will be finished.

• If you wish to make yourself temporarily unavailable to receive new service interactions, click the User Status Indicator/Selector and select Not Ready (or a specific reason) from the drop-down menu. You will be switched to the Not Ready state regardless of how many interactions you may have had at your desktop. Processing of all such interactions will be finished.

You may be required to enter a disposition before finishing interaction processing. For more information, see How to Enter Dispositions and Notes.

Depending on the system settings, if you do not make yourself either Ready or Not Ready manually within the time allocated for after call work, the system may eventually switch you to the Ready or Not Ready state automatically.

Also, depending on your system settings, if there are other calls waiting in queue while you are in the After Call Work state, you may receive visual and audio notification of this fact.

Note: If you use a custom form in the Context Information Area for processing of data related to a specific call, the Complete button may appear on that form.

Omni-Channel Routing

Bright Pattern Contact Center enables contact center agents to handle multiple interactions of different media types simultaneously. The agent’s availability to handle an interaction is determined via a capacity model that takes into account how much of the agent’s capacity is occupied by interactions of various media types that the agent is already handling, how much spare capacity the agent must have to be able to handle an interaction of a specific media type, and relative priorities of various media types.

To configure agent capacity, select the Omni-Channel Routing option from the Call Center Configuration menu.

Screen Properties

The Omni-Channel Routing screen properties are described as follows.

Capacity share taken by each interaction

This setting specifies the percentage of total agent capacity occupied by a single interaction of the given media type.

In the default settings shown, the capacity share is:

• Voice: 100%
• Preview: 100%
• Chat: 25%
• Email: 25%

Using those capacity share settings as an example, an agent handling a single call will be 100% busy, while an agent handling a single chat session will have 75% spare capacity (i.e., 100% – 25% = 75%).

For multimedia interactions such as rich contact, the total capacity share is the sum of capacity shares of all media types involved.

Required spare capacity to receive interaction

This setting specifies the percentage of spare capacity that the agents must have to be delivered an interaction of the given media type.

In the default settings shown, the required spare capacity is:

• Voice: 50%
• Preview: 50%
• Chat: 25%
• Email: 100%

Using those required spare capacity settings as an example, an agent handling three service chats may still receive another chat, but not email because the agent's spare capacity of 100% is only sufficient for the agent to get one more email.

Precedence

Precedence is the order in which interactions of the given media type will be distributed to agents relative to interactions of the other media types (i.e., when competing for the same available agent).

In the default settings shown, the precedence is:

• Voice: 1
• Preview: 4
• Chat: 2
• Email: 3

Using those precedence settings as an example, if an agent becomes simultaneously available for a chat and an email interaction waiting in queue, the chat interaction will be delivered to that agent first, regardless of how long either of those interactions has been waiting in queue.

This parameter can be set to the same value only for voice and chat. If it is set to the same value, the delivery order of voice and chat interactions will be determined by only their position in queue. Generally, it is recommended that each media type has a different precedence value.

How the System Routes Interactions

When a new interaction arrives and its skill requirements are identified, the system will look for agents with matching skills and sufficient spare capacity (i.e., occupied at less than 100 – Required spare capacity to receive interaction of the given media type).

If multiple agents satisfying these conditions are found, the system will select one of these agents using the following criteria in the specified order:

1. The agent with the highest skill level(s); the highest level is determined by the following formula:
   
   Service Skill Level x 100 + (sum of Auxiliary Skill Levels) / 100 + no. of auxiliary skills.
   
   
2. The least busy agent at the moment; based on Capacity share taken by each interaction currently processed by this agent
   
   
3. The longest idle agent; based on the sum of times of continuous Ready and Not Ready states since the last handled interaction
   
   
4. The least occupied agent; based on agent occupancy since login; occupancy is defined as:
   
   Busy time / login time – Not Ready time
   
   In that instance, Busy time is the sum of handling times of all interactions processed by the agent multiplied by Capacity share taken by each interaction, depending on the media type.

When an agent’s load decreases (an agent completes processing of an interaction), the system will look for interactions with matching skill requirements that the agent may have sufficient capacity to handle. The interactions will be considered in the order of Precedence. If multiple interactions within the same precedence are found, the system will select one of these interactions using the following criteria:

• For voice and chat, the interaction with the highest value of (priority x wait time); for more information, see the description of the Set Priority block in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide
• For emails, interaction with the highest priority; in case of multiple interactions of the same priority, the closest one to the SLA breach.
• For preview records, the record is determined by the order in which records are selected within a campaign.

For more information about how routing happens within scenarios, see the Scenario Builder Reference Guide, section Find Agent.

How to Interpret Your Current State Information

The agent state is the indication of your current availability to handle service calls. This information is used by the system to decide whether a new service call can be delivered to you. The information about the time you spend in each state also appears in reports about your performance.

The Agent Desktop application uses icons to represent agent states. Your current state is shown in the upper left-hand corner of Agent Desktop. These icons, the states they represent, and descriptions of those states are described as follows.

Note: Information in the main text of this section is valid if your system is configured to let you handle one customer interaction at a time. This configuration is most typical when you handle calls only. If you process interactions of other types (e.g., chats or emails), then, depending on your contact center practices, you may be expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously. The differences in interpretation of your states in this case are briefly explained in the notes following a state description. For a more detailed explanation, see sections Handling Multiple Chat Sessions and General Information About Handling Email.

Agent States

Ready

You are available to take a service call. In most cases, you make yourself Ready manually. See How to Make Yourself Ready for more information.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As soon as you finish a previous service call
• When the time allocated for after-call work associated with the previous call expires
• When the rest time associated with the previous call expires

You may also be forced into the Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, the Ready state will only be applied when you do not have any active interactions on your desktop. However, in this case you may receive new interactions in states other than Ready.

Ringing

You are unavailable to take service calls because one service call is already being delivered to you. The ringing icon is briefly displayed while your phone is ringing.

Busy

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are already handling a service call. This state is displayed from the moment the call is connected and until it is released. For outbound calls, it also includes the call dialing phase. When your service call is released, depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide, you will be switched automatically to either the After Call Work state, the Not Ready state, or the Ready state.

Note: Even if you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, your state will be displayed as Busy as long as you have at least one active interaction of any media type. However, your actual availability will depend on the number of interactions you are currently handling versus the maximum number of interactions you are expected to be able to handle simultaneously. Therefore, you may receive new interactions when you are in the Busy state.

After Call Work

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are processing information related to the call that you previously handled. This state may or may not be used depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide. If it is used, you will be switched to this state automatically as soon as the call is released by either the customer or yourself. You will remain in this state until you manually make yourself Ready or Not Ready to take another call. Note that your After Call Work state may also end automatically if the time allocated for the after-call work exceeds the limit set by your administrator.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, you may receive new interactions when you are in the After Call Work state. You will be switched to this state only when the last live interaction on your desktop is finished. (Otherwise, you will continue to be in the Busy state.)

Not Ready

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop or busy doing some work that is not directly related to handling of service calls. Under normal circumstances, you make yourself Not Ready manually. Your system may also be configured to let you indicate a specific reason for being Not Ready. For more information, see How to Make Yourself Not Ready and the following Not Ready agent states: Lunch, Away From Desk, and Break. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Not Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As a short rest time after finishing processing of a service call
• Upon rejection of a service call
• If you do not answer a ringing service call within a reasonable time
• When your Agent Desktop loses connection to the system

You may also be forced into the Not Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: You will not receive any interactions while you are in this state regardless of how many interactions you are expected to handle simultaneously.

Lunch

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are on your lunch break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Lunch or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Away From Desk

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Away From Desk or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Break

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are taking a break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Break or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Audio Treatments

Audio treatments are prerecorded audio signals (tones, music, or messages) that the system plays to the listener in specific situations, such as when a call is waiting in queue or on hold. Bright Pattern Contact Center provides default audio treatments for all such situations. You can replace these default treatments with your own custom treatments.

To listen to the current treatments or to replace them with custom treatments, select the Audio Treatments option of the Call Center Configuration menu.

Select the situation for which you wish to use your custom audio treatment. You can click the audio icon to listen to the currently used message. To replace the current treatment with your new custom treatment, click upload and select the desired voice file. The audio content must be encoded in uncompressed PCM A-law or µ-law 16-bit format.

Note that instead of replacing these tones altogether, you can adjust the volume of the existing tones. To do so, click the audio icon, download the corresponding audio files, use a third-party audio-editing application to adjust the volume, and upload the modified file back into the system.

Screen Properties

The Audio Treatments screen properties are described as follows:

Hold and queue music

Hold and queue music is the audio that is played to the party currently waiting on hold or in queue. For specific queues, this signal can be redefined at the scenario level. See the description of the Find Agent block in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Call in queue notification

Call in queue notification indicates that there is a service call waiting in queue. This notification can be provided to agents with matching skills who are currently in the After Call Work state. Note that this message will be played only if enabled as part of service configuration.

Use the repeat every setting to define how often this notification will be played.

Internal chat notification

Internal chat notification indicates the arrival of an internal chat interaction.

External chat and preview record notification

This notification indicates the arrival of an external chat interaction. This signal is also used to indicate the delivery of a preview record for outbound campaigns.

Use the repeat every setting to define how often this notification will be played until the interaction is accepted.

New chat message notification

When enabled, this notification tone will notify agents about the arrival of every new chat message within their established chat sessions.

Note: This setting enables playback for agents only. If you want your customers to receive an audio notification upon arrival of chat messages from agents, you should enable this capability in the code of your mobile chat applications and/or web HTML snippets.

DTMF suppression sound

This is the sound that the agents will hear instead of the actual DTMF for the calls via dial-in scenario entries where the DTMF Suppression Function is enabled. In a multi-party call where there can be multiple agents and multiple external parties, only agents are isolated. Any participant on a call without a user_id may hear the DTMF digits. The user_id is isolated in order to support agents logged in on external numbers (trunk calls) as well as on nailed connections.

Note: For the calls where DTMF was suppressed in the above manner, their voice recordings will also contain the DTMF suppression sound instead of actual DTMF tones.

While logged on external phone

You can redefine the three signal tones that the agents hear when using an external phone (i.e., when they log in with the phone device option An external phone or Dial-in and keep line open):

• incoming call – Equivalent to ringing tone
• call waiting - incoming call while talking – Indication of another incoming call while talking
• line idle – Indication that current active call is terminated

While logged on a softphone

You can redefine the following two signal tones that the agents hear when using a softphone (i.e., when they log in with the phone device option Softphone with computer headset):

• incoming call – Ringing tone
• call waiting - incoming call while talking – Indication of another incoming call while talking
• call end notification - When enabled, this sound indicates that the call has ended
• call on hold end notification - When enabled, this sound indicates that the call is no longer on hold

Outbound - General

The following general campaign settings are configured in the General section of the Services and Campaigns Outbound tab.

General Settings

Type

This is the type of campaign. There are four different campaign types from which to choose.

• In campaigns of the Preview type, the calling records are submitted to the agents participating in the campaign. The agents review record information, dial destination numbers, and monitor call progress. Additionally, this type of campaign allows agents to be reserved for a requested callback without indication to the agent.
• In campaigns of the Progressive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to a fixed (preconfigured) dialing rate, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents.
• In campaigns of the Predictive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to currently optimal dialing rates, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents. The dialing rate is optimized to maintain the desired agent occupancy based on the statistical analysis of outcomes of most recent dialing attempts.
• In campaigns of the Automatic (IVR) type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to a prerecorded interactive voice response (IVR) message. Agents are not involved in campaigns of this type.

Note that the definition of some of the subsequent campaign properties will depend on the selected campaign type.

Enabled

Enabled indicates the current state of the campaign. By default, the campaign is disabled and normally it should remain in this state until it is completely configured. Completeness of campaign configuration can be verified via the Diagnostics page. After the campaign has been completely configured, select the Enabled checkbox to indicate that it is ready to run.

Campaigns can be disabled again when they are no longer active but have to remain in configuration to ensure availability of campaign results. Note that disabling of campaigns is always a manual operation.

Note: For blended services, you should keep the outbound portion of a service enabled at all times, even during the periods without any outbound activity. If you disable the outbound portion, dispositions of the possible callbacks made to the campaign caller ID may not be processed correctly. This may result in repeated attempts to contact customers who are not supposed to be contacted again within the given campaign (e.g., accepted the campaign offer or requested not to be called again). If you need to prevent the outbound portion of a blended service from making calls, remove all of its calling hours.

Status

Status shows whether the outbound campaign has started or if it is stopped (i.e., ready to run). Click Start or Stop to change the status of the outbound campaign.

Start / Stop Automation

After the campaign has been enabled, it can be started and stopped manually at any time using these buttons.

Note that a campaign also can be started and stopped manually form the Agent Desktop application by a user designated as an operator for this campaign.

In addition, the campaign can be started and stopped automatically using the combination of the From/Until and using hours of operation settings as described below.

From

From indicates the moment from which this campaign can be started automatically based on the service hours of operation defined in the Properties tab.

If specified, the campaign will start automatically at the specified time provided that this time is within the specified service hours of operation. If the specified time is outside of the service hours, the campaign will start automatically at the nearest service opening time following the specified campaign start time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign start only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started earlier manually.

using hours of operation

By default, the campaign will be run automatically according to the hours of operation specified in the Properties tab for the given outbound service. If you click this link, you will be taken to the tab where you can modify the service hours.

Note that this schedule reflects the time when the agents of the associated teams will be expected to handle interactions of the given campaign. This schedule is normally defined for the time zone where your contact center is located. The actual calling schedules for various types of phones and other possible time-related calling restrictions are defined in the Calling Hours page relative to the time zone of destination phone numbers.

Until

Until indicates the moment when this campaign will be terminated automatically even if processing of some of the calling records has not been finished or attempted. This setting will not affect the campaign-related calls that may be in progress at the specified time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign termination only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started or resumed manually later.

Campaign link group

Campaigns of the same type with the same hours of operation, and same assigned agent teams can be linked together so that, when processing of all records of one campaign is finished, the next campaign in the group will be started automatically.

To associate this campaign with an existing group select the group from the list. If there are other campaigns associated with the selected list, the system will ask you to confirm that the type of this campaign, its hours of operation, assigned teams, and skills will be redefined to match the corresponding settings of campaigns already in the group.

The service parameters whose settings are controlled by the link group membership will be highlighted with orange dots.

To remove the campaign from a link group it was previously assigned to, select None from the drop-down menu.

Begin this campaign after

By default, the order in which campaigns in the link group will be activated is determined by the order those campaign were added to the group. You can redefine this order for the given campaign by selecting the preceding campaign from the drop-down menu. If the given campaign shall be processed first, select none (1st).

Preview Options

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives a preview record. Normally this is a web page that might contain additional information about the calling record. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop. See the group of variables Outbound Target Work Item Parameters in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

This parameter is optional. If it is not set, only the customer name and phone number to be dialed will be displayed in the contact panel of the Agent Desktop application.

Note that you can display information from calling records using Activity forms.

In addition, the specified web page will be displayed in the Context Information Area of Agent Desktop. This area is not shown when Agent Desktop is run minimized using the Pop-out function. Thus, when using URL screen pop, consider disabling agents' privilege Force pop-out phone window.

Screen-popping CRM URLs

When configuring the general properties of your preview campaign, you can enable specific Salesforce or Zendesk URLs to be screen-popped to the Agent Desktop.

For Salesforce Classic, Salescloud, and Lightning:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of Preview Options, enter the object ID (e.g., $(workitem.otherInfo.SalesforceID)).

For Zendesk:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of preview service, enter the ticket URL with the Zendesk ID (e.g., tickets/$(workitem.otherInfo.ZendeskID)).

Start dialing first number automatically

By default, agents dial numbers from list records manually. Select this checkbox if the first number of the list record shall be dialed automatically after the amount of time allocated for record preview (see option Start dialing after).

Start dialing after

Start dialing after is the amount of time allocated for list record preview. This parameter is essential only if option Start dialing first number automatically is enabled.

Use specific agent assignments for records

Records of the calling lists associated with the given campaign may be assigned to specific agents. If you select this option, any such records will be distributed only to the agents assigned to handle them. For more information, see the description of field type Agent Login ID in section Lists.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Predictive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the default scenario will wait until terminating this call. Note that this setting only applies if the <<Default scenario>> is selected as the scenario to run when answered.

If you apply any other scenario to process answered call attempts (i.e., select anything other than <<Default scenario>> as the scenario to run when answered), you should set the unattended call timeout as the last interval of the Find Agent block of the given scenario. You should also define the action applied to such unattended calls when the timeout expires as the conditional Time Out exit of the given block.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations). In this scenario template, the interval of the Find Agent block is set to 0-2 seconds and its Time Out conditional exit starts an IVR script that introduces the caller and provides the called party with an opt-out option.

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

This setting is reserved for future use.

Dialer Aggressiveness

Target occupancy, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Target occupancy specifies the target occupancy for the agents participating in this campaign that will be used by the predictive algorithm to calculate the dialing frequency. Occupancy is defined as the time spent handling calls relative to the time total working time--that is, (Busy Time + ACW Time) / (Busy Time + ACW Time + Ready Time) * 100.

Changes in the target occupancy of a running campaign will take effect immediately. Such changes may be necessary in order to observe compliance with the telemarketing law for maximum percentage of unattended calls (also known as abandonment rate). The percentage of unattended calls can be monitored in real time (see section General Campaign Metrics View of the Supervisor Guide) and/or historically (see section Telemarketing Compliance Report of the Reporting Reference Guide).

Initial Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Initial Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine the dialing frequency at the start of this campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will initially make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Note that this setting is an inversion of the Estimated Success Rate (ESR), which was used in the product prior to Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.10 for the same purpose. The ESR is defined as the expected percentage of call attempts that will be answered relative to all call attempts that will be made for this campaign; thus, if you upgrade from a previous version of Bright Pattern Contact Center and the ESR for a particular campaign was set to 50%, you will see the Initial Overdial Rate for this campaign set to 200%. (The ESR is displayed as a read-only value next to it.)

Once the system has accumulated enough statistics for dial frequency prediction, the configured Initial Overdial Rate value will be replaced with the actual overdial rate calculated and constantly updated in real time.

You can reset statistics used in calculation of the actual success rate and reapply the configured Initial Overdial Rate value at any time during campaign operation by clicking the Reset statistics button.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Progressive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the Find Agent block of the applied scenario (see Scenario to run when answered above) will wait for an available agent before processing it in the manner defined by the conditional exit Time Out.

Note that the Default scenario will terminate such calls.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

Enter the maximum percentage of allowable dropped calls.

Progressive Power Dialing

Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Progressive mode only.

Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine dialing frequency for the duration of the campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Setting the Overdial Rate to 100% (default) practically means that for any answered call, there will be an agent available to accept it.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Automatic (IVR) options

Max concurrent calls

This option specifies how many calls can be in progress simultaneously.

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. Note that for Automatic (IVR) mode, the scenario containing a recorded IVR message should be explicitly defined.

Detect voice before connection

This option indicates whether upon answer the system shall wait to detect a voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether, upon voice detection, the system shall try to distinguish the voice from an answering machine greeting. It is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This option indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, the disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify the reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for off-line analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Auxiliary Skills

In Bright Pattern Contact Center, distribution of service interactions to agents is based on matching the skills requested by the incoming interaction with the skills possessed by agents. Skills are typically associated with services that the customers are trying to get. Thus, when you configure a service, a default skill representing this service is automatically created by the system. When you assign a team to this service, the default service skill is automatically assigned to all agents of this team.

However, in many cases, a single skill may not sufficiently describe customer’s expectation for the requested service. For example, a general support service may have agents specializing in particular products. In this case, in addition to the default service skill for Support, you may need to define skills for Product Type and assign them to the agents who can provide them for the given type of product. Such additional skills that are defined and assigned manually are referred to as auxiliary skills.

Auxiliary skills also can be used for group-based routing. Consider personal routing, where the system attempts to distribute an interaction to the agent who has handled the previous interaction of the same customer. If this agent is not available, the interaction can be then routed to a group of agents who share a particular property with that specific agent (e.g., work in the same office). Such common properties can also be described as auxiliary skills. For more information, see the description of the Find Agent block in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Note that, starting from version 5.1, the language skills are defined separately via section Language Skills. In previous versions of Bright Pattern Contact Center, languages could be configured in Auxiliary Skills. If you configured languages previously, they will be displayed in Auxiliary Skills as "Language - Old."

Note: Auxiliary skills are supported for voice and chat media channels only.

How to Create Auxiliary Skills

To create auxiliary skills, select Auxiliary Skills from the Call Center Configuration menu. In Bright Pattern Contact Center, related skills are organized in groups. To set up a new group of related skills, click add skill group and enter the group name (e.g., Accounting). To define a skill within this new group, click add skill and enter the skill name (e.g., AP). Repeat the last step for every accounting skill used in your contact center. Note that skill names must be unique within the entire contact center configuration and not just within the group. Note also that auxiliary skill names may not coincide with names of any services since the latter are used for default service skills.

To edit or delete previously defined skills and skill groups, hover the cursor over their names and click either edit or delete . Please note: When you delete a group, all skills within this group will be deleted as well. Unlike the default service skills, auxiliary skills must be assigned to agents explicitly. See section Skills Levels for more information.

Call Recording and Monitoring

Call recording and monitoring settings are configured in Quality Management > Call Recording and Monitoring in the Contact Center Administrator application.

Voice recordings can be subsequently played back via:

• Contact Center Administrator, in the Interaction Record (requires privilege "Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts" or "Listening to call recordings and view chat transcripts on services" in reviewer role; the latter is typically used for BPO client access).

• Agent Desktop, in the contact's Activities (requires privilege "Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts on assigned services" or "Listening to own call recordings and view own chat transcripts").

Voice recordings can also be exported to an external storage.

Note: Call Recording is enabled automatically when a supervisor begins monitoring.

Settings

Call Recording

Select the record calls checkbox to enable call recording. If this property is checked, all voice calls will be recorded (inbound, outbound, and internal).

The GSM codec is used for calls recordings.

Please note that this configuration setting can be overridden by the following actions (listed in the order from least to most powerful):

• Configuration settings for a specific service
• Configuration settings for a specific user
• Value of scenario variable $(doNotRecord)
• Manual pause/resume recording commands by Agent/Supervisor
• Automatic recording when a call is monitored
• Presume recording using corresponding desktop API methods
• Value of scenario variable $(banVoiceRecording)

If a call is transferred, the call recording state is determined by the highest level override present in the main or consult call after transfer. If two or more calls are merged into a conference, the call recording state is determined by the highest level override present in any merged call. Once recording is manually started via API, it can be stopped by only API call or by setting the $(banVoiceRecording) variable. Adding or removing services or other users would not stop the recording started by API.

Play monitoring notification

Select the checkbox for either to agent or to customer to specify who should hear the monitoring notification.

Monitoring prompt

The Monitoring prompt is the sound or other audio message that will be used for the monitoring notification. Click upload to add a voice file (in WAV format).

Play notification tone periodically

When call is recorded

Select the checkbox for either to agent or to customer to specify who should hear a tone when a call is being recorded.

When call is monitored

Select the checkbox for either to agent or to customer to specify who should hear a tone when a call is being monitored.

Periodic Monitoring or Recording prompt

The Periodic Monitoring or Recording prompt is the sound or other audio message that will be used as the notification tone. Click upload to add a voice file (in WAV format).

period, sec

Period, sec is the period of time (in seconds) to wait before playing the periodic monitoring or recording prompt again. For example, specifying 10 seconds here causes the periodic monitoring or recording prompt to be played every 10 seconds.

Stop recording of outbound calls

For voice services, you can discontinue call recording upon transferring a call to an external number.

Instances in which you may not want to record calls include when:

• Customers require calls not to be recorded after transfer to an external number.
• Customers require just the consult portion of the call to be recorded in order to have reference data for the agent.
• Agents must not record calls when transferring to a specific agent.

Stop recording of an outbound call after the last agent leaves

This selection allows an agent to make a consult call to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) destination (i.e., an external phone number), complete the transfer, and have the call recording continue if the agent’s call was recorded. The call will not be recorded once the agent leaves.

Continue recording of the calls transferred outside

This selection specifies that the call will be recorded even after transfer.

except when calling the following numbers

To create exceptions to your call recording/stopping selections, click add. Adding phone numbers allows you to stop recording when transferring to specific clients, as well as to stop call recording after transfer on a per-service basis.

The default value is to stop recording. If you want recording to continue upon transfer, you must make your selection from Call Recording.

Privileges

Registered users of your Bright Pattern Contact Center solution are assigned privileges that can be used to control access to various contact center functions. Privileges are arranged in the same way as they appear on the Roles page of the Contact Center Administrator application. For general information about privileges and roles, see section Roles.

Privileges are organized into six categories (i.e., groups):

• Interaction Handling
• Security and Administration
• Service and Campaign Administration
• Supervision
• System Administration
• BPO Client

Note: Some service configuration changes that affect agent behavior are not picked up dynamically by Agent Desktop. Thus, after making a change to privileges, we recommend that all affected agents re-login to Agent Desktop.

Interaction Handling group

Access full-screen Agent Desktop

The Access full-screen Agent Desktop privilege allows the user to enable full-screen Agent Desktop view within CRM applications.

Because CRM systems typically have their own email and case management capabilities, the full-screen mode normally would be used by supervisors only.

Delete contacts

The Delete contacts privilege allows the deletion of contacts. If enabled, users can delete individual contacts via the Agent Desktop. When a contact is deleted, its activity history is deleted too. Cases are not deleted automatically.

Edit contacts

The Edit contacts privilege provides write access to contacts. If enabled, users can create new contacts, and users can modify any fields in existing contacts (but not activity history).

Force pop-out phone window

This privilege is reserved for future use.

Handle automatically distributed interactions

The Handle automatically distributed interactions allows the user to receive calls from a service queue and preview records. This is the basic privilege that allows the user to perform typical call center agent work (i.e., provide services over the phone and participate in outbound campaigns).

The ability to handle customer chat or email interactions is controlled via separate privileges (see Handle email and Handle service chat).

Handle email

When enabled, the Handle email privilege allows users to:

• Edit cases
• Create new cases manually
• Open cases from search results (even if they are already open by other agent)
• Mark cases as spam

Handle service chats

With the Handle service chats privilege, the user may handle chat interactions with customers. This includes chat interactions started by customers via SMS.

Note that the ability to initiate a chat with a customer via SMS is controlled by a separate privilege (see Initiate SMS conversation). Likewise, the ability to use internal chat is controlled by a separate privilege (see Send internal chats).

Initiate SMS conversation

The Initiate SMS conversation privilege allows the user to initiate chats with customers via SMS.

Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts on assigned services

With this privilege granted, the user may review call recordings and chat transcripts of the services that the user is qualified to handle (i.e., has corresponding service skills).

Listening to own call recordings and view own chat transcripts

This privilege provides Agent Desktop users the capability, via activity history, to access recordings where the agent participated (at least partially). This privilege applies to Agent Desktop only.

Login to Agent Desktop

Login to Agent Desktop allows the user to log in to Agent Desktop application and perform basic back-office telephony functions. Any user who needs access to Agent Desktop must have this privilege. Note that this privilege alone is not sufficient for performing typical contact center agent work.

Note that any user who logs into Agent Desktop will be counted as a concurrent user for the duration of the login session. Your service provider may impose a limit on how many of your users may be logged on concurrently.

Make external calls

A user with the Make external calls privilege may make external calls and blind transfers to external destinations from the Agent Desktop application. If the user does not have this privilege, an attempt to make an external call or blind transfer will result in a text error message displayed on Agent Desktop.

Note that the absence of this privilege does not prevent users from making external calls using the dial pad of their hardphones.

Mask original email content

The Mask original email content privilege allows the user to mask fragments of original customer email text. For more information, see section How to Mask Sensitive Data of the Agent Guide.

Modify own identification data

The Modify own identification data privilege allows the user to be able to modify specific fields of the user profile. If the privilege is not present, the following fields are locked:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Chat Nickname

See other agents/teams in directory

This privilege lets the user see all configured teams and team members in the Agent Desktop directory and view their current availability (presence). For more information, see section How to Use the Directory of the Agent Guide.

See other agents’ cases

See other agents’ cases allows the user to see cases handled by other agents. If the user does not have this privilege, the user will be able to see only cases that with which the user has worked. This privilege affects case search only. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to receive emails related to existing cases that the user has not worked on.

Send internal chats

The Send internal chats privilege allows the user to initiate internal chat conversations.

Start recording of interactions

With this privilege, the user may start call recording.

Stop recording of interactions

Stop recording of interactions allows the user to stop call recording.

Transfer calls

The Transfer calls privilege allows the user to transfer customer interactions to consultation parties and host conferences (both via-consultation and single-step).

Absence of this privilege does not affect user’s ability to

• make blind transfers of customer interactions
• transfer or conference internal calls

Use Calendar

The Use Calendar privilege enables users to use the Agent Desktop calendar for scheduling.

Use Favorites tab

Use Favorites tab is an agent-level privilege that controls whether the user can see and set favorites from the Agent Desktop application. This privilege is an agent behavior control to prevent users from dialing destinations that they should not based on FCC/TCPA and organizational rules.

Use Recent Calls tab

The Use Recent Calls tab privilege lets the user restrict access to recent calls. This privilege uses TCPA manual dialing to limit which agents can access recent calls.

Use RightNow

Use RightNow allows the user to use Agent Desktop embedded into the RightNow application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within RightNow.

For more information, see the RightNow Integration Guide.

Use ServiceNow

Use ServiceNow allows the user to use Agent Desktop embedded into the ServiceNow application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within ServiceNow.

For more information, see the ServiceNow Integration Guide.

Use Zendesk

With the Use Zendesk privilege, the user may use Agent Desktop embedded into the Zendesk application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within Zendesk. To enable full-screen Agent Desktop view within Zendesk application, the user must also have the Access full Agent Desktop privilege.

For more information, see the Zendesk Integration Guide.

Security Administration group

Can edit and erase interaction records

This privilege provides access to the manual erasure functions in accordance with PCI DSS 3.2 and GDPR requirements. With this privilege enabled, users will be able to edit and erase interaction records securely and manually in the event that another user has mistakenly included a customer's sensitive data in interaction content (e.g., call recording, chat, etc.).

This privilege is added to predefined Security Administrator and System Administrator roles.

Grant all privileges

Grant all privileges allows the user to grant any privilege, regardless of the user's May grant or revoke settings with respect to specific privileges. This is helpful during product upgrades where new privileges may be introduced.

Manage roles and security settings

With this privilege enabled, the user has full access to the following settings:

• Roles
• Security Policy
• System Access Restrictions
• Encryption Key Management

Service and Campaign Administration group

Configure reporting settings

With this privilege enabled, the user has full access to the following settings:

• Report Templates
• Scheduled Reports
• Reporting Settings

Configure system-wide settings

The Configure system-wide settings privilege gives the user full access to all pages of the following menus: Tasks, Call Center Configuration, and Quality Management.

For tasks, note that all users who have the Configure system-wide settings privilege enabled will receive an email notification each time a scheduled task fails.

Control campaign operations

Control campaign operations enables the user to view and control assigned campaigns via Agent Desktop.

A user must have this privilege in order to be available for selection as a service/campaign operator via the Services and Campaigns > Assignments page. In the Agent Desktop application, access will be limited to campaigns where the user is assigned as an operator.

If this privilege is revoked from a user, the user's name will appear in red color in the list of operators of any services/campaigns that the user may have been previously assigned to operate.

Edit knowledge base

The Edit knowledge base privilege gives the user full access to the Knowledge Base via the Contact Center Administrator application. It also allows the user to create articles in the Knowledge Base via the Agent Desktop application.

Note that access to the Knowledge Base via the Agent Desktop application is provided in the context of the services that the user can handle.

Manage all services and campaigns

The Manage all services and campaigns privilege allows the user to configure all existing services campaigns regardless of whether the user is assigned to them as an administrator. Note that in order to assign teams to campaigns, the user must also have the Manage teams privilege.

Another privilege exists to enable the user to access only assigned services campaigns (see below). Note that in order to prevent the user from creating new services and campaigns, both these privileges must be disabled.

Manage assigned services and campaigns

With this privilege, the user has full access to configuration of the services and campaigns that the user is assigned to as an administrator. For more information, see section Services and Campaigns - Assignments Tab.

Note that in order to assign teams to a service/campaign, the user must also have the Manage teams privilege.

Another privilege exists to enable the user to access all configured campaigns regardless of assignment (see above). Note that in order to prevent the user from creating new campaigns, both these privileges must be disabled.

Manage lists

The Manage lists privilege gives the user full access to calling lists and do-not-call (DNC) lists. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to associate existing lists with campaigns.

Manage scenarios

The Manage scenarios privilege allows the user to create, view, and edit scenarios. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to configure scenario entries and associate such entries with existing scenarios.

Manage skills

With the Manage skills privilege, the user may create and edit existing auxiliary skills and assign skills to agents with specific levels.

Supervision group

Access Real-time Stats API

The Access Real-time Stats API privilege gives the user access to applications that are connected to Bright Pattern Contact Center via the Real-time Stats API; this includes viewing the wallboard application. Note: The availability of data on the Agent Desktop Home Screen is not affected by this privilege, with the exception of the wallboard icon.

All assigned teams combined view

When enabled, this privilege will show, on the supervisor's home screen, the agents from all teams assigned to the logged in supervisor, specifically with the following metrics:

• State
• Time in State
• Not Ready Reason (if not ready for a reason)
• Team (new metric)
• Active interactions

It shows all services that are the teams are assigned to (individual services can be hidden if needed), specifically the following metrics:

• Calls in Queue
• Service Level
• # of Agents in Queue
• # of Ready Agents
• Current Max Wait Time (for calls in Queue)

Can see contents of email push queues

This privilege allows supervisors of teams with the push distribution method enabled to view push queues. Push queue items appear in team queues when the “All Services with Push Queues” option is selected; however, it is possible to select only one service and see only its queue.

While looking at a push queue, a supervisor can:

• Sort the queue as they like (i.e., using existing pull queue sort controls)
• Assign an item to an agent
• Assign one or more items to another queue and skill requirement
• Open an item to work with
• Delete an item or mark it as spam

Note that this setting is not assigned to any roles by default.

Can update final dispositions

This privilege enables users (i.e., agents, supervisors) to update dispositions even when final.

Change alert configuration

Users with the Change alert configuration privilege may enable/disable alerts available for some real-time metric displayed via Agent Desktop, change their appearance, and modify threshold values that trigger such alerts.

Note that the ability to set configured alerts as system-wide defaults is controlled via a separate privilege (see Set alerts for real-time metrics system-wide).

If the user does not have this privilege, the Alert Configuration dialog of the Agent Desktop will provide read-only information about the current alert configuration.

Change real-time metric views

The Change real-time metric views privilege allows the user to add metrics to, and remove them from, any real-time metric views of the Agent Desktop application. The user may also change the order in which the metrics appear in the table views.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to add services and campaigns to, and remove them from, real-time metric views.

Note that the ability to set created real-time metric views as system-wide defaults is controlled via a separate privilege (see Set real-time metric views system-wide).

Customize Wallboards

The Customize Wallboards privilege allows additional elements to appear on the user's wallboard. These elements include title, selector, flip arrows, and menu. Using these elements, users can customize the look and display of their Agent Desktop wallboard. Using the Wallboard Layout Editor, cards and cells can be added, deleted, scaled, and expanded using mouseovers, click-and-drag, and drag-and-drop movements.

Define/View subteams of selected agents

The privilege Define/View subteams of selected agents enables subteam controls to be displayed in Agent Desktop and the Reports portal. In addition, the privilege allows users to switch between them. Subteams are smaller groups of agents that supervisors have selected from full teams.

Delete cases

The Delete cases privilege allows the deletion of cases. If enabled, users can delete individual cases via the Agent Desktop. When a case is deleted, all interactions related to a case are deleted.

Download recordings and transcripts

With this privilege, the user may download call/screen recordings, chat transcripts, and email messages from the interaction search and review pages of the Contact Center Administrator application.

Force agent states

The Force agent states privilege allows the user to change current agent states of members of any team that the user is assigned to supervise.

Grade interactions

Grade interactions allows the user to grade interactions while monitoring them in real-time via Agent Desktop and/or when reviewing their recordings/transcripts via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Note that in order to grade interactions while reviewing their recordings/transcripts, the user must also have the privilege Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts (see below).

Listen to recordings linked to external CRM records

This privilege allows the user to listen to call recordings linked to activity history in the CRM records.

Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts

With Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts, the user may review voice recordings and chat transcripts via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to review screen recordings in the Agent Timeline or email messages in the Interaction Search.

When removing this privilege from a user, make sure this user also does not have the privilege Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts for assigned services in the BPO Client group (see below).

Manage canned chat responses system-wide

The Manage canned chat responses system-wide privilege allows the user to make canned chat responses available to all other agents of the contact center. For more information, see section How to Create and Edit Canned Chat Responses of the Agent Guide.

Monitor agent screen

When enabled, the Monitor agent screen privilege allows the user to view and monitor the screens of a selected agent that the user is assigned to supervise.

Monitor interactions

The Monitor interactions privilege allows the user to connect to calls handled by agents that the user is assigned to supervise in silent monitoring, coaching, and barge-in modes. For more information, see section Call Monitoring, Coaching and Barge-In of the Supervisor Guide.

Pull screen pop

Pull screen pop allows the user to get snapshots of the Context Information Area of the desktops of agents that the user is assigned to supervise. Note that in order to be able to get a snapshot, the user must be connected to the agent in one of the call monitoring modes. Thus, the user also must have the privilege Monitor interactions (see above).

Push/Pull Global Wallboards

Users with the privilege Push/Pull Global Wallboards can push their personal wallboards to other users and/or teams, as well as pull shared wallboards from a global pool. Note that only global wallboards can be pulled.

Set alerts for real-time metrics system-wide

This privilege allows the user to set alerts that the user configures as system-wide defaults. Note that in order to use this privilege, the user must also have privilege Change alert configuration.

Set real-time metric views system wide

Set real-time metric views system wide allows the user to set real-time metric views that the user configures as system-wide defaults. Note that in order to use this privilege, the user must also have the privilege Change real-time metric views.

For more information, see section Customization of Metric Views of the Supervisor Guide.

View historical reports

The View historical reports privilege allows the user to generate and view reports via the Contact Center Administrator application. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to access any of the general reporting settings or be a recipient of emailed scheduled reports.

View interaction records

With this privilege, the user may search for and review interaction records via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to generate and view the Call Detail Report or Email Detail Report. To prevent access to these reports, use privilege View historical reports (see above).

View real-time agent metrics

View real-time agent metrics allows the user to view real-time metrics for the agents of the teams that the user is assigned to supervise.

View real-time service metrics

With View real-time service metrics, the user may view real-time metrics for all services associated with the teams that the user is assigned to supervise.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to view campaign-specific metrics. To prevent access to these metrics, use privilege Control campaign operations (see above).

Watch agent screen recordings

The privilege Watch agent screen recordings allows supervisors to search for and view the screen recording sessions of agents on their teams. The screen recordings appear in interaction records in agent timeline searches. If a screen recording is available for the selected agent, and if the privilege is enabled, then the Watch screen recording button is shown to the supervisor.

System Administration group

Privileges associated with system administration are described as follows.

Allow recording export API access

This privilege allows users to access the Recording Retrieval API that retrieves call recordings and metadata based on the call identifier.

Bulk Export/Import Contacts

When enabled, the privilege Bulk Export/Import Contacts allows the export/import icon on the Agent Desktop Contacts screen to be shown.

Configure Contact Forms and fields

The Configure Contact Forms and field privilege allows users to edit contact, activity history, and augmentation and case forms.

Configure directory

The Configure directory privilege allows the user to create and modify external contacts that appear in the Directory of the Agent Desktop application.

Manage BPO Clients

When enabled, the Manage BPO Clients privilege allows users to:

• Create, edit, and delete BPO clients in the Contact Center Administrator application
• Assign forms and teams to BPO clients

Manage all teams

If granted the Manage all teams privilege, the user may

• create teams and change configuration of all existing users and teams
• create users and change configuration of existing users, provided that the user also has the Manage users privilege (see below)
• assign skills to, and change skill levels of, all existing agents, provided that the user also has the Manage skills privilege (see above)

For more information, see sections Users, Teams, and Skill Levels.

Note that if a user is assigned as a supervisor of a particular team, absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to change most of the configuration settings of the given team and its current members.

Manage phones

The Manage phones privilege gives the user full access to configuration of softphones, hardphones, access numbers, and scenario entries. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to assign phone numbers to users.

Manage users

The Manage users privilege allows the user to create users and change configuration of existing users, provided that he also has the Manage all teams privilege (see above).

Privileged Access IP Range

The Privileged Access IP Range privilege allows users (e.g., administrators) to be able to log in to the system from any IP address (e.g., a public place such as a coffee shop). Without this privilege, users can only log in from specific IP addresses.

Publish help

Publish help gives the user full access to configuring help screens.

View audit log

With the View audit log privilege, the user can view the audit log.

View usage data

The View usage data privilege allows the user to access to reports about usage of telecom carriers’ resources via Contact Center Administrator > Reports > Usage.

BPO Client group

Listening to call recordings and view chat transcripts on services in reviewer role

With this privilege granted, the user may listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts of the services to which the user is assigned as a reviewer.

Privileges

Registered users of your Bright Pattern Contact Center solution are assigned privileges that can be used to control access to various contact center functions. Privileges are arranged in the same way as they appear on the Roles page of the Contact Center Administrator application. For general information about privileges and roles, see section Roles.

Privileges are organized into six categories (i.e., groups):

• Interaction Handling
• Security and Administration
• Service and Campaign Administration
• Supervision
• System Administration
• BPO Client

Note: Some service configuration changes that affect agent behavior are not picked up dynamically by Agent Desktop. Thus, after making a change to privileges, we recommend that all affected agents re-login to Agent Desktop.

Interaction Handling group

Access full-screen Agent Desktop

The Access full-screen Agent Desktop privilege allows the user to enable full-screen Agent Desktop view within CRM applications.

Because CRM systems typically have their own email and case management capabilities, the full-screen mode normally would be used by supervisors only.

Delete contacts

The Delete contacts privilege allows the deletion of contacts. If enabled, users can delete individual contacts via the Agent Desktop. When a contact is deleted, its activity history is deleted too. Cases are not deleted automatically.

Edit contacts

The Edit contacts privilege provides write access to contacts. If enabled, users can create new contacts, and users can modify any fields in existing contacts (but not activity history).

Force pop-out phone window

This privilege is reserved for future use.

Handle automatically distributed interactions

The Handle automatically distributed interactions allows the user to receive calls from a service queue and preview records. This is the basic privilege that allows the user to perform typical call center agent work (i.e., provide services over the phone and participate in outbound campaigns).

The ability to handle customer chat or email interactions is controlled via separate privileges (see Handle email and Handle service chat).

Handle email

When enabled, the Handle email privilege allows users to:

• Edit cases
• Create new cases manually
• Open cases from search results (even if they are already open by other agent)
• Mark cases as spam

Handle service chats

With the Handle service chats privilege, the user may handle chat interactions with customers. This includes chat interactions started by customers via SMS.

Note that the ability to initiate a chat with a customer via SMS is controlled by a separate privilege (see Initiate SMS conversation). Likewise, the ability to use internal chat is controlled by a separate privilege (see Send internal chats).

Initiate SMS conversation

The Initiate SMS conversation privilege allows the user to initiate chats with customers via SMS.

Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts on assigned services

With this privilege granted, the user may review call recordings and chat transcripts of the services that the user is qualified to handle (i.e., has corresponding service skills).

Listening to own call recordings and view own chat transcripts

This privilege provides Agent Desktop users the capability, via activity history, to access recordings where the agent participated (at least partially). This privilege applies to Agent Desktop only.

Login to Agent Desktop

Login to Agent Desktop allows the user to log in to Agent Desktop application and perform basic back-office telephony functions. Any user who needs access to Agent Desktop must have this privilege. Note that this privilege alone is not sufficient for performing typical contact center agent work.

Note that any user who logs into Agent Desktop will be counted as a concurrent user for the duration of the login session. Your service provider may impose a limit on how many of your users may be logged on concurrently.

Make external calls

A user with the Make external calls privilege may make external calls and blind transfers to external destinations from the Agent Desktop application. If the user does not have this privilege, an attempt to make an external call or blind transfer will result in a text error message displayed on Agent Desktop.

Note that the absence of this privilege does not prevent users from making external calls using the dial pad of their hardphones.

Mask original email content

The Mask original email content privilege allows the user to mask fragments of original customer email text. For more information, see section How to Mask Sensitive Data of the Agent Guide.

Modify own identification data

The Modify own identification data privilege allows the user to be able to modify specific fields of the user profile. If the privilege is not present, the following fields are locked:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Chat Nickname

See other agents/teams in directory

This privilege lets the user see all configured teams and team members in the Agent Desktop directory and view their current availability (presence). For more information, see section How to Use the Directory of the Agent Guide.

See other agents’ cases

See other agents’ cases allows the user to see cases handled by other agents. If the user does not have this privilege, the user will be able to see only cases that with which the user has worked. This privilege affects case search only. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to receive emails related to existing cases that the user has not worked on.

Send internal chats

The Send internal chats privilege allows the user to initiate internal chat conversations.

Start recording of interactions

With this privilege, the user may start call recording.

Stop recording of interactions

Stop recording of interactions allows the user to stop call recording.

Transfer calls

The Transfer calls privilege allows the user to transfer customer interactions to consultation parties and host conferences (both via-consultation and single-step).

Absence of this privilege does not affect user’s ability to

• make blind transfers of customer interactions
• transfer or conference internal calls

Use Calendar

The Use Calendar privilege enables users to use the Agent Desktop calendar for scheduling.

Use Favorites tab

Use Favorites tab is an agent-level privilege that controls whether the user can see and set favorites from the Agent Desktop application. This privilege is an agent behavior control to prevent users from dialing destinations that they should not based on FCC/TCPA and organizational rules.

Use Recent Calls tab

The Use Recent Calls tab privilege lets the user restrict access to recent calls. This privilege uses TCPA manual dialing to limit which agents can access recent calls.

Use RightNow

Use RightNow allows the user to use Agent Desktop embedded into the RightNow application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within RightNow.

For more information, see the RightNow Integration Guide.

Use ServiceNow

Use ServiceNow allows the user to use Agent Desktop embedded into the ServiceNow application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within ServiceNow.

For more information, see the ServiceNow Integration Guide.

Use Zendesk

With the Use Zendesk privilege, the user may use Agent Desktop embedded into the Zendesk application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within Zendesk. To enable full-screen Agent Desktop view within Zendesk application, the user must also have the Access full Agent Desktop privilege.

For more information, see the Zendesk Integration Guide.

Security Administration group

Can edit and erase interaction records

This privilege provides access to the manual erasure functions in accordance with PCI DSS 3.2 and GDPR requirements. With this privilege enabled, users will be able to edit and erase interaction records securely and manually in the event that another user has mistakenly included a customer's sensitive data in interaction content (e.g., call recording, chat, etc.).

This privilege is added to predefined Security Administrator and System Administrator roles.

Grant all privileges

Grant all privileges allows the user to grant any privilege, regardless of the user's May grant or revoke settings with respect to specific privileges. This is helpful during product upgrades where new privileges may be introduced.

Manage roles and security settings

With this privilege enabled, the user has full access to the following settings:

• Roles
• Security Policy
• System Access Restrictions
• Encryption Key Management

Service and Campaign Administration group

Configure reporting settings

With this privilege enabled, the user has full access to the following settings:

• Report Templates
• Scheduled Reports
• Reporting Settings

Configure system-wide settings

The Configure system-wide settings privilege gives the user full access to all pages of the following menus: Tasks, Call Center Configuration, and Quality Management.

For tasks, note that all users who have the Configure system-wide settings privilege enabled will receive an email notification each time a scheduled task fails.

Control campaign operations

Control campaign operations enables the user to view and control assigned campaigns via Agent Desktop.

A user must have this privilege in order to be available for selection as a service/campaign operator via the Services and Campaigns > Assignments page. In the Agent Desktop application, access will be limited to campaigns where the user is assigned as an operator.

If this privilege is revoked from a user, the user's name will appear in red color in the list of operators of any services/campaigns that the user may have been previously assigned to operate.

Edit knowledge base

The Edit knowledge base privilege gives the user full access to the Knowledge Base via the Contact Center Administrator application. It also allows the user to create articles in the Knowledge Base via the Agent Desktop application.

Note that access to the Knowledge Base via the Agent Desktop application is provided in the context of the services that the user can handle.

Manage all services and campaigns

The Manage all services and campaigns privilege allows the user to configure all existing services campaigns regardless of whether the user is assigned to them as an administrator. Note that in order to assign teams to campaigns, the user must also have the Manage teams privilege.

Another privilege exists to enable the user to access only assigned services campaigns (see below). Note that in order to prevent the user from creating new services and campaigns, both these privileges must be disabled.

Manage assigned services and campaigns

With this privilege, the user has full access to configuration of the services and campaigns that the user is assigned to as an administrator. For more information, see section Services and Campaigns - Assignments Tab.

Note that in order to assign teams to a service/campaign, the user must also have the Manage teams privilege.

Another privilege exists to enable the user to access all configured campaigns regardless of assignment (see above). Note that in order to prevent the user from creating new campaigns, both these privileges must be disabled.

Manage lists

The Manage lists privilege gives the user full access to calling lists and do-not-call (DNC) lists. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to associate existing lists with campaigns.

Manage scenarios

The Manage scenarios privilege allows the user to create, view, and edit scenarios. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to configure scenario entries and associate such entries with existing scenarios.

Manage skills

With the Manage skills privilege, the user may create and edit existing auxiliary skills and assign skills to agents with specific levels.

Supervision group

Access Real-time Stats API

The Access Real-time Stats API privilege gives the user access to applications that are connected to Bright Pattern Contact Center via the Real-time Stats API; this includes viewing the wallboard application. Note: The availability of data on the Agent Desktop Home Screen is not affected by this privilege, with the exception of the wallboard icon.

All assigned teams combined view

When enabled, this privilege will show, on the supervisor's home screen, the agents from all teams assigned to the logged in supervisor, specifically with the following metrics:

• State
• Time in State
• Not Ready Reason (if not ready for a reason)
• Team (new metric)
• Active interactions

It shows all services that are the teams are assigned to (individual services can be hidden if needed), specifically the following metrics:

• Calls in Queue
• Service Level
• # of Agents in Queue
• # of Ready Agents
• Current Max Wait Time (for calls in Queue)

Can see contents of email push queues

This privilege allows supervisors of teams with the push distribution method enabled to view push queues. Push queue items appear in team queues when the “All Services with Push Queues” option is selected; however, it is possible to select only one service and see only its queue.

While looking at a push queue, a supervisor can:

• Sort the queue as they like (i.e., using existing pull queue sort controls)
• Assign an item to an agent
• Assign one or more items to another queue and skill requirement
• Open an item to work with
• Delete an item or mark it as spam

Note that this setting is not assigned to any roles by default.

Can update final dispositions

This privilege enables users (i.e., agents, supervisors) to update dispositions even when final.

Change alert configuration

Users with the Change alert configuration privilege may enable/disable alerts available for some real-time metric displayed via Agent Desktop, change their appearance, and modify threshold values that trigger such alerts.

Note that the ability to set configured alerts as system-wide defaults is controlled via a separate privilege (see Set alerts for real-time metrics system-wide).

If the user does not have this privilege, the Alert Configuration dialog of the Agent Desktop will provide read-only information about the current alert configuration.

Change real-time metric views

The Change real-time metric views privilege allows the user to add metrics to, and remove them from, any real-time metric views of the Agent Desktop application. The user may also change the order in which the metrics appear in the table views.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to add services and campaigns to, and remove them from, real-time metric views.

Note that the ability to set created real-time metric views as system-wide defaults is controlled via a separate privilege (see Set real-time metric views system-wide).

Customize Wallboards

The Customize Wallboards privilege allows additional elements to appear on the user's wallboard. These elements include title, selector, flip arrows, and menu. Using these elements, users can customize the look and display of their Agent Desktop wallboard. Using the Wallboard Layout Editor, cards and cells can be added, deleted, scaled, and expanded using mouseovers, click-and-drag, and drag-and-drop movements.

Define/View subteams of selected agents

The privilege Define/View subteams of selected agents enables subteam controls to be displayed in Agent Desktop and the Reports portal. In addition, the privilege allows users to switch between them. Subteams are smaller groups of agents that supervisors have selected from full teams.

Delete cases

The Delete cases privilege allows the deletion of cases. If enabled, users can delete individual cases via the Agent Desktop. When a case is deleted, all interactions related to a case are deleted.

Download recordings and transcripts

With this privilege, the user may download call/screen recordings, chat transcripts, and email messages from the interaction search and review pages of the Contact Center Administrator application.

Force agent states

The Force agent states privilege allows the user to change current agent states of members of any team that the user is assigned to supervise.

Grade interactions

Grade interactions allows the user to grade interactions while monitoring them in real-time via Agent Desktop and/or when reviewing their recordings/transcripts via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Note that in order to grade interactions while reviewing their recordings/transcripts, the user must also have the privilege Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts (see below).

Listen to recordings linked to external CRM records

This privilege allows the user to listen to call recordings linked to activity history in the CRM records.

Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts

With Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts, the user may review voice recordings and chat transcripts via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to review screen recordings in the Agent Timeline or email messages in the Interaction Search.

When removing this privilege from a user, make sure this user also does not have the privilege Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts for assigned services in the BPO Client group (see below).

Manage canned chat responses system-wide

The Manage canned chat responses system-wide privilege allows the user to make canned chat responses available to all other agents of the contact center. For more information, see section How to Create and Edit Canned Chat Responses of the Agent Guide.

Monitor agent screen

When enabled, the Monitor agent screen privilege allows the user to view and monitor the screens of a selected agent that the user is assigned to supervise.

Monitor interactions

The Monitor interactions privilege allows the user to connect to calls handled by agents that the user is assigned to supervise in silent monitoring, coaching, and barge-in modes. For more information, see section Call Monitoring, Coaching and Barge-In of the Supervisor Guide.

Pull screen pop

Pull screen pop allows the user to get snapshots of the Context Information Area of the desktops of agents that the user is assigned to supervise. Note that in order to be able to get a snapshot, the user must be connected to the agent in one of the call monitoring modes. Thus, the user also must have the privilege Monitor interactions (see above).

Push/Pull Global Wallboards

Users with the privilege Push/Pull Global Wallboards can push their personal wallboards to other users and/or teams, as well as pull shared wallboards from a global pool. Note that only global wallboards can be pulled.

Set alerts for real-time metrics system-wide

This privilege allows the user to set alerts that the user configures as system-wide defaults. Note that in order to use this privilege, the user must also have privilege Change alert configuration.

Set real-time metric views system wide

Set real-time metric views system wide allows the user to set real-time metric views that the user configures as system-wide defaults. Note that in order to use this privilege, the user must also have the privilege Change real-time metric views.

For more information, see section Customization of Metric Views of the Supervisor Guide.

View historical reports

The View historical reports privilege allows the user to generate and view reports via the Contact Center Administrator application. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to access any of the general reporting settings or be a recipient of emailed scheduled reports.

View interaction records

With this privilege, the user may search for and review interaction records via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to generate and view the Call Detail Report or Email Detail Report. To prevent access to these reports, use privilege View historical reports (see above).

View real-time agent metrics

View real-time agent metrics allows the user to view real-time metrics for the agents of the teams that the user is assigned to supervise.

View real-time service metrics

With View real-time service metrics, the user may view real-time metrics for all services associated with the teams that the user is assigned to supervise.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to view campaign-specific metrics. To prevent access to these metrics, use privilege Control campaign operations (see above).

Watch agent screen recordings

The privilege Watch agent screen recordings allows supervisors to search for and view the screen recording sessions of agents on their teams. The screen recordings appear in interaction records in agent timeline searches. If a screen recording is available for the selected agent, and if the privilege is enabled, then the Watch screen recording button is shown to the supervisor.

System Administration group

Privileges associated with system administration are described as follows.

Allow recording export API access

This privilege allows users to access the Recording Retrieval API that retrieves call recordings and metadata based on the call identifier.

Bulk Export/Import Contacts

When enabled, the privilege Bulk Export/Import Contacts allows the export/import icon on the Agent Desktop Contacts screen to be shown.

Configure Contact Forms and fields

The Configure Contact Forms and field privilege allows users to edit contact, activity history, and augmentation and case forms.

Configure directory

The Configure directory privilege allows the user to create and modify external contacts that appear in the Directory of the Agent Desktop application.

Manage BPO Clients

When enabled, the Manage BPO Clients privilege allows users to:

• Create, edit, and delete BPO clients in the Contact Center Administrator application
• Assign forms and teams to BPO clients

Manage all teams

If granted the Manage all teams privilege, the user may

• create teams and change configuration of all existing users and teams
• create users and change configuration of existing users, provided that the user also has the Manage users privilege (see below)
• assign skills to, and change skill levels of, all existing agents, provided that the user also has the Manage skills privilege (see above)

For more information, see sections Users, Teams, and Skill Levels.

Note that if a user is assigned as a supervisor of a particular team, absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to change most of the configuration settings of the given team and its current members.

Manage phones

The Manage phones privilege gives the user full access to configuration of softphones, hardphones, access numbers, and scenario entries. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to assign phone numbers to users.

Manage users

The Manage users privilege allows the user to create users and change configuration of existing users, provided that he also has the Manage all teams privilege (see above).

Privileged Access IP Range

The Privileged Access IP Range privilege allows users (e.g., administrators) to be able to log in to the system from any IP address (e.g., a public place such as a coffee shop). Without this privilege, users can only log in from specific IP addresses.

Publish help

Publish help gives the user full access to configuring help screens.

View audit log

With the View audit log privilege, the user can view the audit log.

View usage data

The View usage data privilege allows the user to access to reports about usage of telecom carriers’ resources via Contact Center Administrator > Reports > Usage.

BPO Client group

Listening to call recordings and view chat transcripts on services in reviewer role

With this privilege granted, the user may listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts of the services to which the user is assigned as a reviewer.

How to Interpret Your Current State Information

The agent state is the indication of your current availability to handle service calls. This information is used by the system to decide whether a new service call can be delivered to you. The information about the time you spend in each state also appears in reports about your performance.

The Agent Desktop application uses icons to represent agent states. Your current state is shown in the upper left-hand corner of Agent Desktop. These icons, the states they represent, and descriptions of those states are described as follows.

Note: Information in the main text of this section is valid if your system is configured to let you handle one customer interaction at a time. This configuration is most typical when you handle calls only. If you process interactions of other types (e.g., chats or emails), then, depending on your contact center practices, you may be expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously. The differences in interpretation of your states in this case are briefly explained in the notes following a state description. For a more detailed explanation, see sections Handling Multiple Chat Sessions and General Information About Handling Email.

Agent States

Ready

You are available to take a service call. In most cases, you make yourself Ready manually. See How to Make Yourself Ready for more information.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As soon as you finish a previous service call
• When the time allocated for after-call work associated with the previous call expires
• When the rest time associated with the previous call expires

You may also be forced into the Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, the Ready state will only be applied when you do not have any active interactions on your desktop. However, in this case you may receive new interactions in states other than Ready.

Ringing

You are unavailable to take service calls because one service call is already being delivered to you. The ringing icon is briefly displayed while your phone is ringing.

Busy

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are already handling a service call. This state is displayed from the moment the call is connected and until it is released. For outbound calls, it also includes the call dialing phase. When your service call is released, depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide, you will be switched automatically to either the After Call Work state, the Not Ready state, or the Ready state.

Note: Even if you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, your state will be displayed as Busy as long as you have at least one active interaction of any media type. However, your actual availability will depend on the number of interactions you are currently handling versus the maximum number of interactions you are expected to be able to handle simultaneously. Therefore, you may receive new interactions when you are in the Busy state.

After Call Work

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are processing information related to the call that you previously handled. This state may or may not be used depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide. If it is used, you will be switched to this state automatically as soon as the call is released by either the customer or yourself. You will remain in this state until you manually make yourself Ready or Not Ready to take another call. Note that your After Call Work state may also end automatically if the time allocated for the after-call work exceeds the limit set by your administrator.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, you may receive new interactions when you are in the After Call Work state. You will be switched to this state only when the last live interaction on your desktop is finished. (Otherwise, you will continue to be in the Busy state.)

Not Ready

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop or busy doing some work that is not directly related to handling of service calls. Under normal circumstances, you make yourself Not Ready manually. Your system may also be configured to let you indicate a specific reason for being Not Ready. For more information, see How to Make Yourself Not Ready and the following Not Ready agent states: Lunch, Away From Desk, and Break. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Not Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As a short rest time after finishing processing of a service call
• Upon rejection of a service call
• If you do not answer a ringing service call within a reasonable time
• When your Agent Desktop loses connection to the system

You may also be forced into the Not Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: You will not receive any interactions while you are in this state regardless of how many interactions you are expected to handle simultaneously.

Lunch

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are on your lunch break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Lunch or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Away From Desk

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Away From Desk or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Break

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are taking a break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Break or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Calendars

Unless all services of your contact center operate on a 24/7 basis, you will have to define separately what happens to incoming interactions when the corresponding services are open for business and when they are closed. You can define service operation hours when you configure your services or scenario entries. However, if your contact center has many different services, and some of them operate on the same schedules, it may be more convenient to define such schedules externally first, and then assign them to services and/or scenario entries. In this way, if you need to change a service operation schedule, you do it once, and the change will automatically apply to all services associated with this schedule.

Creating an external schedule involves two steps. First, you create calendars (i.e., define the days that are supposed to have the same hours of operation, such as Monday through Friday or public holidays). Calendars are discussed in this section. After that, you create the schedule itself by combining the different calendars and specifying hours of operation for each assigned calendar. Such complete schedules are discussed in section Hours of Operation. Note that the calendars are also used for defining calling hours of outbound campaigns.

Note: The system provides a number of predefined calendars that include a typical work week, weekends, and US holidays. The latter can be used for defining state calling hours. The default holiday information is current as of the release of version 3.6 of the Bright Pattern Contact Center system (June 2014). It is recommended that you periodically check the federal and state legislation regarding holidays, and update the calendars as may be necessary.

To work with calendars, select the Calendars option from the Call Center Configuration menu.

Screen Properties

The Calendars screen properties are organized into two tabs: Day types and Associations. The screen properties for both are described as follows.

Day types tab

Name

Name refers to the calendar name. This field is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Days

These are the days within this calendar. Note that all days within a calendar are supposed to have the same hours of operation.

To add a day to the calendar click add. Select the recurrence pattern from the drop-down menu and provide the necessary data. For example, for the US Labor Day holiday, select day of Nth week and provide 1^st, Monday, and September.

To remove or edit calendar days, hover the cursor over their names.

clone

This option allows you to define a new calendar based on the currently selected one. When you click clone, a copy of the currently selected calendar is created with default name Copy of [Calendar Name]. You can change the calendar name, as well as add days to, or remove them from, or edit them in, this new calendar.

Associations tab

Services

Services lists the services that use the given calendar. Select a service from the list to see the service definition.

Hours of operations

This property lists the hours of operation (HOPs) that use the given calendar. Select a schedule from the list to see the schedule definition.

Overview

The Bright Pattern Contact Center Virtual Queue Tutorial explains Bright Pattern's virtual queue option, how to configure it, and how enabling it can affect reporting statistics.

Virtual Queuing, also referred to as the Callback Option, is an enhancement of the regular automatic call distribution method (ACD) used in inbound call centers. During periods of significant wait times, this option allows customers to hang up the call while keeping their position in the service queue and to receive a callback when it is their turn to be connected to an agent. The benefits of using virtual queuing include:

• Improved customer satisfaction – After requesting a callback, customers get back to their normal activities instead of being tied on the phone.
• Reduced abandonment rates – Customers who can continue their normal activities are less likely to abandon their service requests (i.e., to ignore the callback).
• Reduced talk time – Customers waiting in a virtual queue are less likely to spend any time venting their frustration with a long wait when they are finally connected to an agent.
• Lower telco costs – Customers waiting in a virtual queue do not occupy physical voice channels.

How It Works

Bright Pattern Contact Center Virtual Queue works in the following way:

For each incoming service call, the system calculates its estimated waiting time (EWT) in queue. If this time exceeds a threshold EWT value preconfigured for the given service, the system notifies the calling customer about the wait time and offers the customer the option of receiving a callback when it is the customer's turn to be connected to an agent. The customer can request the callback to be made to the phone from which the customer is calling, or to a different number that the customer can enter using the phone keypad. The original live call is then disconnected while the customer’s position in the service queue is maintained by the system as if the customer had remained on the line (hence the name Virtual Queuing). When it is the customer’s turn to be connected to an agent, the system makes an outbound call to the designated callback number. Upon answer, this call is connected to an available agent. To the agent, the answered callback appears as a regular incoming call.

If an agent becomes available for a given virtual call before the EWT, the callback is made at the moment when the agent becomes available. Otherwise, the callback attempt is made a few seconds before EWT expiration based on the prediction that an agent will have become available by the time the callback is answered by the customer. If an agent does not become available at that time, the answered call is placed in the first position in the service queue to be connected to the next available agent. An interactive voice response (IVR) announcement can be played for the answered callback to prevent the customer from hanging up a call if it cannot be immediately connected to an agent.

Subsequent processing of answered callbacks delivered to agents is no different from the processing of calls waiting in the queue.

An agent may be reserved by setting the property Start Dialing on the Request Callback scenario block to a value of "0". This will reserve a skilled ready agent for the callback. During this time, agent may not change skill.

Next >

Lists

Lists contain destination data for automated outbound dialing. Each list record provides information about a single destination, and typically includes customer’s name, at least one telephone number, and other information specific to the dialing purpose. For example, lists used in a satisfaction survey campaign may include information about products purchased by the customers. Lists are used in outbound and blended services as discussed in section Services and Campaigns - Lists Tab.

List data is deleted from the calling list database automatically when the

• corresponding list object is deleted from configuration
• list is updated with new content via periodic import with the update policy set to replace list data

To work with lists, select the Lists option from the root menu. To import and configure a new list, click the button with the “+” sign. A list import wizard will open.

List Import

The list import wizard screens and properties are described as follows.

List Type screen

Select list type

Select the method that will be used to import data to this list: a file or Salesforce.com query. For the latter, you must have a Salesforce.com integration account configured in your system.

For detailed instructions on importing data from a Salesforce.com application see section Importing Calling Lists and Exporting Campaign Results of the Salesforce.com Integration Guide.

Name and Source screen

Data source

Data source is the source of data for this list. To upload a file from a local source, select Upload, click Browse, and select the data file. You can use results of previous campaigns, filtered by disposition if necessary, as the source of your list data.

To obtain data from an external source, select the transfer protocol (FTP or SFTP), and specify the address (URL), Username, and Password.

Note that only plain text list files (.CSV or fixed width) are supported as sources for list data. This setting is specified for list type File only.

List name

The list name is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center. The name of the selected data source is offered as the default name.

List format

If you want the format of a list to be based on the format of one of the previously imported lists, select the desired list format from the drop-down menu. Using an existing list format can save you time while going through the subsequent import steps, especially the Fields wizard screen.

If you need to review the desired format before assigning it, close the wizard, locate the desired format in the Format column of the list view, select the corresponding list, and click the view link in the Properties tab.

Note that if you select an existing list format but decide to introduce some changes for the imported list (e.g., change some field names), then upon completion of the wizard, you will be prompted to save these changes as a new format.

If you wish to create a new format using the layout of the imported list, select Create new format. This setting is specified for list type File only.

Salesforce.com integration account

The Salesforce.com integration account is what will be used to obtain Salesforce.com data for this list. This setting is specified for list type Salesforce.com only.

SOQL query to select object for list

Use this field to specify the query for selecting Salesforce.com records for this calling list. The query must be written in the Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL). Note that the records must contain object identifiers and have at least one phone number.

This setting is specified for list type Salesforce.com only. Note that there is a 30 second timeout on the Bright Pattern Contact Center side to begin receiving data from SFDC after the SOQL query is submitted.

Format Type screen (for list type File only)

Delimited

Select Delimited if a character, such as comma or tab, separates each field in the imported data

First line contains field names

Select this checkbox if the first line of the imported data appears to contain column headings. Field names are case insensitive starting from version 3.13. This means field names that differ in case only refer to the same field.

Fixed width

Select this option if fields of the imported data appear to be aligned in columns with spaces between each field.

Input file encoding

The Input file encoding option lets you select the encoding used by the source file. Initially, the UTF-8 encoding is assumed by default. If you select another encoding during a list import, the selected encoding will become the new default for subsequent list imports.

Format Options screen (for list type File only)

Delimiter

Select the character that is used to separate each field in the imported data. If the delimiting character is anything other than the comma, tab, or semicolon, use the Custom option to specify the character. When the correct delimiter is selected, the preview should show the imported data arranged as a table.

Fields screen

Do not import field (skip)

This field indicates whether the selected field is to be imported. Select this checkbox if the data in the selected field is not essential for any contact center operations (i.e., will not be used for dialing, analyzed in a scenario, or displayed for agents) and does not need to appear in campaign results.

Type

Specify the type of data that the selected field contains. If the type of data is anything other than the data types predefined in the drop-down menu, select Other. Note that at least one field of the imported list must have type Phone.

If the first row of the imported data contains column names, the wizard will try to automatically set field types according to matching column names (e.g., a column titled State will be set to field type State). You should review all name-type pairs to make sure the mapping is correct.

Possible uses of the available field types are described as follows.

Account

Account can be used for a field that contains a customer identifier. If defined, the value from this field will be stored as part of the history of all calls initiated by the corresponding calling record and can be used as a selection criterion in interaction record search. Unique account numbers can also be used as calling record keys (see below). A list can have only one field of this type.

Agent Login ID

Agent Login ID can be used to assign list records to specific agents. This may be useful, for example, for proactive contacts within established business relationships where clients might expect/prefer to be contacted by business representatives that they are familiar with. Note that such personal record assignments are used in preview campaigns only. When a list with records assigned to specific agents is used in a predictive, progressive, or automatic/IVR campaign, all such assignments will be ignored.

Caller ID

If calling records contain numbers that should be displayed as caller IDs when dialing corresponding records during campaigns, use the field type Caller ID for the field that contains these numbers. Use of these numbers as Caller IDs for a particular campaign is enabled by the campaign's Caller ID settings (option From list field of type “Caller ID”, otherwise default). Note that your service provider may or may not allow use of arbitrary caller ID numbers for your outgoing calls. If use of arbitrary caller IDs is not available to you, the number specified in the calling record will be used only as a caller ID if it matches one of the access numbers assigned to your contact center; otherwise, the specified default number will be used. When using this field to specify caller IDs for your campaign, be sure to check all legal requirements and restrictions for what can be sent as a caller ID in the jurisdictions where you operate.

Company

Company can be used when calling record contains a company name.

Date/Time

If the calling list is based on customers’ callback requests (opt-in callback list), your local telemarketing regulations may require that such callbacks are made within a specific number of days. In this case, the imported list will typically have information about when the callback request was made. Use the field type Date/Time for this information. Fields of the Date/Time type cannot be used to set campaign quotas.

Date/Time - schedule call at

Date/Time - schedule call at can be used to provide, during list import, information about when this record needs to be called. It can be used to define the exact moment of time when this record needs to be attempted.

Note that the call will happen as close to the specified date and time as possible; the system will make the best attempt. Safe calling hours are not ignored. If the date and time are in the past at the time of list load, the field contents are ignored.

Encrypted data

Encrypted data can be used to store sensitive information that must be stored encrypted and only be presented in clear text to the agent who will be processing the record in case of a successful call attempt. Note that the encrypted data cannot be not automatically processed by the system, and thus, may not include any information used for campaign automation, such as phone numbers, zip codes, states, or any information that is used to set campaign quotas. If you do not see the Encrypted data field type, the data encryption function is not enabled for your contact center by the service provider.

First name

First name is the person's first name.

Integer

Integer is intended for fields with semantically numeric data (e.g., person's age or account balance) that may be used to set a campaign quota.

Last name

Last name is a person's last name.

Other

Other can be used for fields that do not fall into any specific field type uses outlined here.

Phone

Phone should be set for fields with phone numbers that may be dialed during a campaign. A list must contain at least one field of this type.

Postal code

Postal code is a person's postal code. This must be present if the Use safe calling hours option is desired.

Priority

Priority can be used to indicate that the record shall be attempted as soon as possible relative to other records within the same list. This can be useful, for example, in order to give calling priority to the most recent web leads that tend to be most effective when followed up on immediately. A record will be treated as a prioritized record when its priority field is set to any value other than empty string, zero, "no", or "false". The priority setting only affects the first attempt to dial the record; for any possible subsequent attempts the prioritized record will be treated as a regular record. Priority of records can also be set to expire after a specified time period (see property Priority expires after).

State/Province

State/Province is a person's state/province. Either this field or the Postal code field must be present in the calling records in order to observe mandatory State Calling Hours.

Name

If the first line of the imported data contains column headings, these headings will be used as the default field names. Otherwise, default names Field1, Field2,…, FieldN will be assigned. Use this option to change the default field name if necessary. Field names are case-sensitive, which means that field names that differ in case only refer to the same field.

Required Field

Required Field indicates that the data in this field is required. If selected, the import process will not skip records that have no data in this field.

For all fields of the Phone type, this checkbox is preselected automatically. You can unselect it manually for any phone field that is optional. Remember, however, that at least one field of the imported list must have the type Phone.

For lists of the Salesforce.com type, field ID is preselected automatically and cannot be unselected.

Searchable Field

Searchable Field indicates this field may be searched for in the Agent Desktop application when associated with a custom Activity History field that is included in a screenpop activity form. For more information, see section Activity Forms.

The numbers are in the format for

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Phone only.

If all phone numbers in this field are within the USA and/or Canada, select United States and Canada. In this case, the numbers in this field will be processed according the following rules:

• If a number begins with “+” or “011”, it will be kept as is.
• If a number begins with “1” and has eleven digits, it will be kept as is.
• If a number does not begin with “1” and has ten digits, “1” will be prepended.
• In any other case, the record will not be imported.

If some or all numbers in this field are from countries other than the USA or Canada, select Other countries or multiple countries. In this case, the numbers in this field will be processed according the following rules:

• If a number begins with “+”, it will be kept as is.
• In any other case, the number will be assumed to begin with a country code and also kept as is unless modified using the Remove prefix or Default country code settings.

Remove prefix

This setting is displayed for the fields of the type Phone only and can be used when the number format is set to Other countries or multiple countries. If phone numbers in this field contain a prefix that must be removed, specify this prefix here. Otherwise, this setting should be left blank.

Default country code

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Phone only and can be used when the number format is set to Other countries or multiple countries. By default, numbers in a field of type Phone are assumed to have country codes included. In this case, you can leave this field blank. Otherwise, specify the country code here; it will be automatically prepended to each number in the given field unless the number begins with “+”.

Note that a country code must be specified for campaigns with any calling hour restrictions and for campaigns where numbers are checked against DNC lists of the following types: Area Code, Geographic (Postal), and Geographic (State/Province).

Time zone

This setting is displayed for the fields of Date/Time type only. By default, the time in this field is assumed to be specified for the time zone indicated in the general settings of your contact center. You can use this setting to specify another the time zone for this field.

Date/Time format

This setting is displayed for the fields of Date/Time type only and allows you to select the format in which the date and time is specified in this field. If you cannot find a format that matches exactly the date/time pattern used in the imported list, use the editable field to specify this format manually, using the Java SimpleDateFormat conventions.

Note that campaign results report timestamps of call attempts in the following format: MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss z Z, where z Z is the time zone (e.g., 11/09/2015 13:59:57 PST -0800).

Order of prioritized records

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Priority only and defines the order in which prioritized records received during list updates will be attempted.

Priority expires after

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Priority only and specifies the time period during which records with a non-empty value of this field will be considered a prioritized record. Upon expiration, priority of these records will be lowered to normal. If you do not wish the priority of a record to expire at all, set this field to 0.

Key screen (for list type File only)

Fields

This screen allows you to select a field, or a combination of fields, whose values will be used as keys (i.e., will uniquely identify records within the list). Only the fields that were marked as Required in the previous wizard step will appear as possible keys. Records with the same key values are considered duplicates, and only one of such duplicate records will appear in the imported list. Keys are also used to reference the campaign results to the original list records.

Save config only

Click this button, instead of clicking Next, if you wish to save only the list format (i.e., the configured field and key information without the actual data). The result will appear as a new list with zero records in the list view.

Import Complete screen

Import results

This screen provides statistics about the imported list, including the number of successfully imported records, as well as the numbers of records that have not been imported for various reasons.

Calling records that contain the same phone number in multiple fields of the Phone type will be successfully imported. The dialer will detect duplicate numbers while processing the list for use in a specific campaign and will only use the number in the first phone field while ignoring that number in all other phone fields of the same record. For example, if a calling record contains the same number in the field Home Phone, which happens to be the fourth field in the record, and in field Mobile Phone, which is the sixth field, the dialer will use this number according to the calling hours set for home phones. It will ignore this number when dialing mobile numbers (or when sending preview records to agents in case of a preview campaign).

Updating Lists

New lists imported via the list import wizard appear in the list view of Lists. You can update these lists manually or set up periodic automatic updates.

Manual List Update

To update a list manually, select it from the list view and click the Add records button at the bottom of the screen. (Note that this function is not available for lists of Salesforce.com type.) A list update wizard appears. Its screens and properties are described as follows.

Name and Source screen

List name

List name is the name of the selected list. It is read-only.

Data source

Data source is the source of data for this list. To upload a file from a local source, select Upload, click Browse, and select the data file. To obtain data from an external source, select the transport protocol (FTP or SFTP), and specify the address (URL), Username, and Password.

Note that only plain text list files (.CSV or fixed width) are supported as sources for list data. Note that the data structure of the selected data source shall correspond to the data structure of the data source used for the original import.

Update Policy screen

replace list data

Select this option if the data from the specified data source shall replace the existing list data. Note the following:

• Any campaign results that may have been associated with the existing list records will be deleted.
• Replacement of existing list data requires internal re-processing of the entire calling list. Thus, if updates with this policy are applied to a list within a running campaign, use of this list within the given campaign will be suspended until list re-processing is complete. The suspension time will depend on the list size and, for long lists, may amount to tens of minutes. Other lists associated with the same campaign will not be affected.

add list data

Select this option if the data from the specified data source shall be added to the existing list data. Note that data records whose keys match with keys of the existing records will not be imported.

Import Complete screen

Import results

This screen provides statistics about the imported list, including the number of successfully imported records, as well as the numbers of records that have not been imported for various reasons.

List Properties and Automated Updates

To view the current content of a list, set up periodic automatic updates, or view the list import/update history, select the desired list from the list view.

Lists screen properties

Properties tab

Name

This is the name of the list. List name is originally defined during the initial list import, but it can be changed at any time. The name must be unique within the contact center.

Format

Format is the name of the format that this list is based on. It is read-only. (The format is selected or defined during the initial list import.)

To review the format, click the view link. A new dialog window will open with description of all fields defined within this format. For more information, see description of the Fields screen of the List Import Wizard above. If any activity forms are mapped to lists based on this format, this view will also show the mapping between the form fields and list fields.

For lists of the Salesforce.com type, the window will also show the SOQL query that is used to extract the list records from the Salesforce.com application. While you cannot change the field composition or formatting, you can modify the data selection criteria for these fields (i.e., any condition in the WHERE part of the query). To do so, hover over the SOQL query and click EDIT. The new selection criteria will be applied upon the next list update.

Campaigns

Click add to associate this list with one or more campaigns. For additional configuration options related to use of the list within the associated campaign, select this campaign in the Services and Campaigns list view and open the Lists tab.

Expire records

You can set the list records to expire in a specified number of days. If a record expires before it is completed according to the regular campaign dial rules, its processing within campaign will be finished with the predefined disposition Record Expired.

To set the records of the given list to expire, select the checkbox, specify the Expiration period, and indicate the starting point from which this period will be counted:

• To count from the date when records appear in the system (either via the initial list import or subsequent list updates), select Count expiration period since record insertion. This expiration mechanism can be used to comply with your local telemarketing regulations that may require periodic scrubbing of calling records against national or state-wide do-not-call lists, after which any unmatched numbers are considered to be good for dialing over a certain period (e.g., 30 days for numbers added to the US National Do-Not-Call Registry or 15 days for numbers ported to mobile phones).
• To count from the date specified in the calling record itself, select Count expiration period using date in record. This expiration mechanism can be used for calling lists that are based on customers’ callback requests (opt-in callback lists) if your local telemarketing regulations require that such callbacks are made within a specific number of days.

Expiration period

Expiration period is the number days in which the records of this list expire. See the description of the Expire records setting for more information.

Expiration field

Expiration field is the field of the calling list that will be used to determine when the callback request was made, which is necessary in order to calculate when it expires. Only fields of type Date/Time are available for selection as expiration fields. This setting is essential if you have selected the Count expiration using date in record option. See the description of the Expire records setting for more information.

Periodic Import

To set up automatic periodic updates for this list, click edit.

In the dialog that appears:

1. Specify the protocol (FTP or SFTP), URL with file name, FTP Username, and FTP Password; this setting is specified for lists of File type only.
2. Select the Start date and time of the first update and specify the desired Import interval.
3. Select the desired Update Policy. (Note that the replace list data policy may suspend use of this list within a running campaign for the time it takes to re-process the list.) This setting is specified for lists of the File type only.
4. Click OK.
5. Once these parameters are defined, select the Enabled checkbox to activate periodic import.

For lists of the Salesforce.com type, new records matching the original SOQL query will be added to the list during each update, while any records that may have been removed from Salesforce will be disabled in the list. If there are campaign results available for such disabled records, they will be preserved.

For lists of the 'Salesforce.com type, there is a 30-second timeout on the Bright Pattern Contact Center side to begin receiving data from SFDC after the SOQL query is submitted.

You can also run import with the above settings at any time by clicking Run import now.

Contents tab

List pane

The List pane shows the entire content of the list. It is read-only.

Record pane

The Record pane shows the content of the record selected from the List pane. It is read-only.

Timestamp

Timestamp is the timestamp of the operation.

Errors is the total number of records that were not imported due to various errors (missing required fields, duplicate keys, incorrect format).

Operator

Operator is the username of the user who performed this operation.

Comment

Comment is the operation result.

Log Tab

Timestamp

Time stamp of the operation

File

Name of the list data source file

Direction

Type of the operation (IN for import/updates, EXP for export of campaign results)

Number of records

Total number of successfully imported/exported records during this operation

Errors

Total number of records that were not imported due to various errors (missing required fields, duplicate keys, incorrect format)

Operator

Username of the user who performed this operation

Comment

Operation result

Outbound - General

The following general campaign settings are configured in the General section of the Services and Campaigns Outbound tab.

General Settings

Type

This is the type of campaign. There are four different campaign types from which to choose.

• In campaigns of the Preview type, the calling records are submitted to the agents participating in the campaign. The agents review record information, dial destination numbers, and monitor call progress. Additionally, this type of campaign allows agents to be reserved for a requested callback without indication to the agent.
• In campaigns of the Progressive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to a fixed (preconfigured) dialing rate, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents.
• In campaigns of the Predictive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to currently optimal dialing rates, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents. The dialing rate is optimized to maintain the desired agent occupancy based on the statistical analysis of outcomes of most recent dialing attempts.
• In campaigns of the Automatic (IVR) type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to a prerecorded interactive voice response (IVR) message. Agents are not involved in campaigns of this type.

Note that the definition of some of the subsequent campaign properties will depend on the selected campaign type.

Enabled

Enabled indicates the current state of the campaign. By default, the campaign is disabled and normally it should remain in this state until it is completely configured. Completeness of campaign configuration can be verified via the Diagnostics page. After the campaign has been completely configured, select the Enabled checkbox to indicate that it is ready to run.

Campaigns can be disabled again when they are no longer active but have to remain in configuration to ensure availability of campaign results. Note that disabling of campaigns is always a manual operation.

Note: For blended services, you should keep the outbound portion of a service enabled at all times, even during the periods without any outbound activity. If you disable the outbound portion, dispositions of the possible callbacks made to the campaign caller ID may not be processed correctly. This may result in repeated attempts to contact customers who are not supposed to be contacted again within the given campaign (e.g., accepted the campaign offer or requested not to be called again). If you need to prevent the outbound portion of a blended service from making calls, remove all of its calling hours.

Status

Status shows whether the outbound campaign has started or if it is stopped (i.e., ready to run). Click Start or Stop to change the status of the outbound campaign.

Start / Stop Automation

After the campaign has been enabled, it can be started and stopped manually at any time using these buttons.

Note that a campaign also can be started and stopped manually form the Agent Desktop application by a user designated as an operator for this campaign.

In addition, the campaign can be started and stopped automatically using the combination of the From/Until and using hours of operation settings as described below.

From

From indicates the moment from which this campaign can be started automatically based on the service hours of operation defined in the Properties tab.

If specified, the campaign will start automatically at the specified time provided that this time is within the specified service hours of operation. If the specified time is outside of the service hours, the campaign will start automatically at the nearest service opening time following the specified campaign start time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign start only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started earlier manually.

using hours of operation

By default, the campaign will be run automatically according to the hours of operation specified in the Properties tab for the given outbound service. If you click this link, you will be taken to the tab where you can modify the service hours.

Note that this schedule reflects the time when the agents of the associated teams will be expected to handle interactions of the given campaign. This schedule is normally defined for the time zone where your contact center is located. The actual calling schedules for various types of phones and other possible time-related calling restrictions are defined in the Calling Hours page relative to the time zone of destination phone numbers.

Until

Until indicates the moment when this campaign will be terminated automatically even if processing of some of the calling records has not been finished or attempted. This setting will not affect the campaign-related calls that may be in progress at the specified time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign termination only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started or resumed manually later.

Campaign link group

Campaigns of the same type with the same hours of operation, and same assigned agent teams can be linked together so that, when processing of all records of one campaign is finished, the next campaign in the group will be started automatically.

To associate this campaign with an existing group select the group from the list. If there are other campaigns associated with the selected list, the system will ask you to confirm that the type of this campaign, its hours of operation, assigned teams, and skills will be redefined to match the corresponding settings of campaigns already in the group.

The service parameters whose settings are controlled by the link group membership will be highlighted with orange dots.

To remove the campaign from a link group it was previously assigned to, select None from the drop-down menu.

Begin this campaign after

By default, the order in which campaigns in the link group will be activated is determined by the order those campaign were added to the group. You can redefine this order for the given campaign by selecting the preceding campaign from the drop-down menu. If the given campaign shall be processed first, select none (1st).

Preview Options

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives a preview record. Normally this is a web page that might contain additional information about the calling record. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop. See the group of variables Outbound Target Work Item Parameters in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

This parameter is optional. If it is not set, only the customer name and phone number to be dialed will be displayed in the contact panel of the Agent Desktop application.

Note that you can display information from calling records using Activity forms.

In addition, the specified web page will be displayed in the Context Information Area of Agent Desktop. This area is not shown when Agent Desktop is run minimized using the Pop-out function. Thus, when using URL screen pop, consider disabling agents' privilege Force pop-out phone window.

Screen-popping CRM URLs

When configuring the general properties of your preview campaign, you can enable specific Salesforce or Zendesk URLs to be screen-popped to the Agent Desktop.

For Salesforce Classic, Salescloud, and Lightning:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of Preview Options, enter the object ID (e.g., $(workitem.otherInfo.SalesforceID)).

For Zendesk:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of preview service, enter the ticket URL with the Zendesk ID (e.g., tickets/$(workitem.otherInfo.ZendeskID)).

Start dialing first number automatically

By default, agents dial numbers from list records manually. Select this checkbox if the first number of the list record shall be dialed automatically after the amount of time allocated for record preview (see option Start dialing after).

Start dialing after

Start dialing after is the amount of time allocated for list record preview. This parameter is essential only if option Start dialing first number automatically is enabled.

Use specific agent assignments for records

Records of the calling lists associated with the given campaign may be assigned to specific agents. If you select this option, any such records will be distributed only to the agents assigned to handle them. For more information, see the description of field type Agent Login ID in section Lists.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Predictive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the default scenario will wait until terminating this call. Note that this setting only applies if the <<Default scenario>> is selected as the scenario to run when answered.

If you apply any other scenario to process answered call attempts (i.e., select anything other than <<Default scenario>> as the scenario to run when answered), you should set the unattended call timeout as the last interval of the Find Agent block of the given scenario. You should also define the action applied to such unattended calls when the timeout expires as the conditional Time Out exit of the given block.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations). In this scenario template, the interval of the Find Agent block is set to 0-2 seconds and its Time Out conditional exit starts an IVR script that introduces the caller and provides the called party with an opt-out option.

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

This setting is reserved for future use.

Dialer Aggressiveness

Target occupancy, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Target occupancy specifies the target occupancy for the agents participating in this campaign that will be used by the predictive algorithm to calculate the dialing frequency. Occupancy is defined as the time spent handling calls relative to the time total working time--that is, (Busy Time + ACW Time) / (Busy Time + ACW Time + Ready Time) * 100.

Changes in the target occupancy of a running campaign will take effect immediately. Such changes may be necessary in order to observe compliance with the telemarketing law for maximum percentage of unattended calls (also known as abandonment rate). The percentage of unattended calls can be monitored in real time (see section General Campaign Metrics View of the Supervisor Guide) and/or historically (see section Telemarketing Compliance Report of the Reporting Reference Guide).

Initial Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Initial Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine the dialing frequency at the start of this campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will initially make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Note that this setting is an inversion of the Estimated Success Rate (ESR), which was used in the product prior to Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.10 for the same purpose. The ESR is defined as the expected percentage of call attempts that will be answered relative to all call attempts that will be made for this campaign; thus, if you upgrade from a previous version of Bright Pattern Contact Center and the ESR for a particular campaign was set to 50%, you will see the Initial Overdial Rate for this campaign set to 200%. (The ESR is displayed as a read-only value next to it.)

Once the system has accumulated enough statistics for dial frequency prediction, the configured Initial Overdial Rate value will be replaced with the actual overdial rate calculated and constantly updated in real time.

You can reset statistics used in calculation of the actual success rate and reapply the configured Initial Overdial Rate value at any time during campaign operation by clicking the Reset statistics button.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Progressive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the Find Agent block of the applied scenario (see Scenario to run when answered above) will wait for an available agent before processing it in the manner defined by the conditional exit Time Out.

Note that the Default scenario will terminate such calls.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

Enter the maximum percentage of allowable dropped calls.

Progressive Power Dialing

Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Progressive mode only.

Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine dialing frequency for the duration of the campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Setting the Overdial Rate to 100% (default) practically means that for any answered call, there will be an agent available to accept it.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Automatic (IVR) options

Max concurrent calls

This option specifies how many calls can be in progress simultaneously.

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. Note that for Automatic (IVR) mode, the scenario containing a recorded IVR message should be explicitly defined.

Detect voice before connection

This option indicates whether upon answer the system shall wait to detect a voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether, upon voice detection, the system shall try to distinguish the voice from an answering machine greeting. It is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This option indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, the disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify the reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for off-line analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Call Recording and Monitoring

Call recording and monitoring settings are configured in Quality Management > Call Recording and Monitoring in the Contact Center Administrator application.

Voice recordings can be subsequently played back via:

• Contact Center Administrator, in the Interaction Record (requires privilege "Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts" or "Listening to call recordings and view chat transcripts on services" in reviewer role; the latter is typically used for BPO client access).

• Agent Desktop, in the contact's Activities (requires privilege "Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts on assigned services" or "Listening to own call recordings and view own chat transcripts").

Voice recordings can also be exported to an external storage.

Note: Call Recording is enabled automatically when a supervisor begins monitoring.

Settings

Call Recording

Select the record calls checkbox to enable call recording. If this property is checked, all voice calls will be recorded (inbound, outbound, and internal).

The GSM codec is used for calls recordings.

Please note that this configuration setting can be overridden by the following actions (listed in the order from least to most powerful):

• Configuration settings for a specific service
• Configuration settings for a specific user
• Value of scenario variable $(doNotRecord)
• Manual pause/resume recording commands by Agent/Supervisor
• Automatic recording when a call is monitored
• Presume recording using corresponding desktop API methods
• Value of scenario variable $(banVoiceRecording)

If a call is transferred, the call recording state is determined by the highest level override present in the main or consult call after transfer. If two or more calls are merged into a conference, the call recording state is determined by the highest level override present in any merged call. Once recording is manually started via API, it can be stopped by only API call or by setting the $(banVoiceRecording) variable. Adding or removing services or other users would not stop the recording started by API.

Play monitoring notification

Select the checkbox for either to agent or to customer to specify who should hear the monitoring notification.

Monitoring prompt

The Monitoring prompt is the sound or other audio message that will be used for the monitoring notification. Click upload to add a voice file (in WAV format).

Play notification tone periodically

When call is recorded

Select the checkbox for either to agent or to customer to specify who should hear a tone when a call is being recorded.

When call is monitored

Select the checkbox for either to agent or to customer to specify who should hear a tone when a call is being monitored.

Periodic Monitoring or Recording prompt

The Periodic Monitoring or Recording prompt is the sound or other audio message that will be used as the notification tone. Click upload to add a voice file (in WAV format).

period, sec

Period, sec is the period of time (in seconds) to wait before playing the periodic monitoring or recording prompt again. For example, specifying 10 seconds here causes the periodic monitoring or recording prompt to be played every 10 seconds.

Stop recording of outbound calls

For voice services, you can discontinue call recording upon transferring a call to an external number.

Instances in which you may not want to record calls include when:

• Customers require calls not to be recorded after transfer to an external number.
• Customers require just the consult portion of the call to be recorded in order to have reference data for the agent.
• Agents must not record calls when transferring to a specific agent.

Stop recording of an outbound call after the last agent leaves

This selection allows an agent to make a consult call to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) destination (i.e., an external phone number), complete the transfer, and have the call recording continue if the agent’s call was recorded. The call will not be recorded once the agent leaves.

Continue recording of the calls transferred outside

This selection specifies that the call will be recorded even after transfer.

except when calling the following numbers

To create exceptions to your call recording/stopping selections, click add. Adding phone numbers allows you to stop recording when transferring to specific clients, as well as to stop call recording after transfer on a per-service basis.

The default value is to stop recording. If you want recording to continue upon transfer, you must make your selection from Call Recording.

Services and Campaigns Overview

A service is a logical concept that reflects a specific reason for customers to contact your business, or, in case of outbound campaigns, a specific reason for your business to contact customers. Services play the key role in design of interaction processing logic, evaluation of contact center efficiency, and workforce management.

Note that when you define a new service, a default skill representing this service is created automatically by the system. When you associate the service with an agent team, this default skill can be automatically assigned to all current and future members of the team.

To set up services or campaigns, select the Services & Campaigns option from the root menu.

Types of Services

To create a service, click the Add service button. The following is a list of the service options and brief descriptions of what they do.

Inbound Voice

Inbound Voice services are used for inbound voice services.

Outbound Voice

Outbound Voice services are used for pure outbound campaigns.

Blended Voice

Blended Voice is for when you expect to receive inbound calls that are logically part of your outbound campaign (i.e., when customers who missed your campaign call attempts call back using one of the campaign Caller IDs) and want those inbound calls to be handled by the same agents and in the same way.

Chat

Chat is for chat services.

Marketing

Marketing services utilize email and voice campaigns for managing and gaining business leads.

Email

Email is for email services.

Understanding Email Cases and Threads

Every email interaction is associated with a case and can be part of a thread. The following is an explanation of these

Cases

A case is an instance of customer service that is created to track all communications related to a specific customer request. It is created when the request arrives, maintained as an active entity while the request is being worked on, and closed when the request is fulfilled.

When a new email request arrives, the system creates a case for it automatically and assigns a number to this case that is unique within your contact center (e.g., 14355). This number is typically communicated to the customer and can be used by both the customer and yourself to refer to the given request in all future communications. This number also helps you quickly find all past communications related to the case in the email history.

You can view cases by selecting My Cases on the Agent Desktop menu.

A case is closed when you assign a final disposition to an email associated with this case. A final disposition is a disposition that indicates that no further follow-up is expected or necessary for the given case (e.g., the customer has confirmed request fulfillment). Dispositions are fully customizable and can often be service-specific. Your system administrator will explain how to use dispositions and point out the ones that can be used to close cases.

Threads

A group of emails related to the same case is called an email thread. Threads are created when the system matches in-reply-to email headers. Additionally, when you reply to a customer’s request for the first time, the system will generate a unique thread identifier and attach it to the email subject. Unlike the case number, the email thread identifier may contain both numbers and letters (e.g., JXA6PDRNQ2SO) and is intended primarily for automatic processing.

For example, when a new email comes in, the system will analyze the subject to see if there is a matching email header. If a matching header is found and recognized, the system will automatically assign that email to the corresponding case. Depending on your service configuration, the system may also attempt to deliver that email to you if you have previously worked on this case.

Messaging/Chat

Messaging/Chat scenario entries are used to associate scenarios with contacts requested via mobile and web applications.

To set up and manage such associations, select the Messaging/Chat option from the Scenario Entries menu.

Messaging/Chat Scenario Entries Screen Properties

The Messaging/Chat Scenario Entries screen properties are described as follows.

Name

Name is the name of this messaging/chat scenario entry. This field is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Unique identifier

The Unique identifier is generated by the system for this scenario entry. This identifier must be used as Application ID in the mobile and/or web applications that will connect to your contact center via this scenario entry. For more information, see section General Information of the Bright Pattern Mobile/Web API Specification.

Scenario

Scenario is the Chat scenario that will process chat requests arriving via this entry point.

Service

This is the service associated with this scenario entry. Entering a service is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Default service for voice callback

Select the voice service to be used when a customer requests a voice callback during a mobile or web chat interaction. The Default service for voice callback drop-down menu displays the voice services that have been added to Services & Campaigns.

Hours of Operation

Hours of Operation (HOP) refers to the schedule for this scenario entry point. This field is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Web HTML snippet

Web HTML snippet provides access to the web elements of the chat application that customers will use to access your contact center via the given scenario entry.

You can either use an out-of-the-box chat application hosted by your service provider, or you can create your own application.

To use the out-of-the-box application, click the HTML snippet button, copy the HTML snippet code, and embed it into your web page(s). Normally, it is not necessary to change the default client web server hostname. You will do so only if instructed by your service provider.

To create your own application, click the Client application button. A zip file with the code of the out-of-the-box application (see above) will be downloaded to your computer. You can modify this code to match the look and feel of your company website, and implement additional application functionality using the Mobile/Web API.

Requested skills

Requested skills are the auxiliary skills that the agents must possess in order to handle chats arriving through this scenario entry. This field is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Parameter expected

A parameter expected is the parameter that may be expected by the scenario in session requests coming from the mobile applications (e.g., customer’s name). Such parameters are optional. They may be used, for example, to look for the most qualified agents to handle the requested chat sessions and/or to display user information for the agents. For more information, see section Expected parameters of the Mobile/Web API Specification.

To define a new parameter, click add, select the parameter type, and specify its name. To edit or remove existing parameters, hover over their names.

SMS/MMS access numbers

Bright Pattern Contact Center enables customers to request and carry on chat conversations via SMS or multimedia messaging service (MMS). Such chat requests are initially made to a dedicated access number. Subsequent treatment of such requests, including routing, Agent Desktop, and reporting, is no different from the processing of regular chat sessions.

Use this setting to specify the number that the customers will use to initiate such SMS/MMS chat conversations. Note that this must be an enabled access number assigned to you by the service provider and dedicated to SMS/MMS communications (i.e., an access number that appears in the [number]/SMS/MMS format in the Access Numbers list view).

You can assign more than one access number to one scenario entry, but the same number cannot be assigned to multiple entries.

Messenger Accounts

Agents can participate in live chats initiated from a customer’s messenger account (e.g., Facebook Messenger, LINE, Telegram, Viber, etc.). Messenger integration accounts that are configured for your call center can be selected from the Messenger accounts drop-down menu. To add a messenger account to your Messaging/Chat scenario entry, click add and select the desired account.

Bot / Chat suggestions engine

Our system integrates with chat bots to provide meaningful suggestions to an agent during chat session, as well as bot functionality for customers to complete self-service tasks without the assistance of a live agent. From the Bot / Chat suggestions engine drop-down menu, you can select one bot / chat suggestion engine integration account as a suggestion engine per service. One such integration account can be selected as chat bot on the chat service launch point. The default engine is None.

Connect agent by phone automatically

Any mobile application contact is initially presented to the agent as a chat request. However, if the mobile application transmits the customer’s mobile phone number, this number will be displayed at the Agent Desktop, and the agent can call the number to establish a voice call with the customer. Select the Connect agent by phone automatically checkbox if you wish for such voice calls to be initiated automatically whenever the phone number is available.

Connect after delay of

If you selected the Connect agent by phone automatically checkbox, you can define how quickly the automated call to the customer mobile number will be initiated. A slight delay may be desirable if, for example, the agent needs some time to review information that comes with the original request.

Queuing priority

Queuing priority is the priority of interactions arriving through this scenario entry. This field is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Chat nick for system messages

Chat nick for system messages is the name that will be displayed to the customers when they get automated chat responses through this scenario entry (e.g., during an initial data collection stage). By default, this is the name of your contact center (tenant name) that is defined at the service provider level.

How long an agent could wait for reply before chat times out

This is the amount of time (in minutes) that an agent could wait for a reply before the chat interaction expires. It can be redefined for each Messaging/Chat scenario entry separately.

This setting overrides the Customer Inactivity Timeout setting.

How long a client browser may stay unresponsive before chat times out

This is the amount of time (in minutes) that the client's browser may stay unresponsive before the chat interaction expires.

Visible to agents

Visible to agents indicates whether this scenario entry shall appear in the Agent Desktop directory. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Checking this box enables agents to transfer chats to another chat directory. In order to be able to transfer chats to another chat scenario, the Messaging/Chat scenario entry must be updated to be visible to agents and have a directory that is named for the transfer. For more information on how agents transfer chats, see the Agent Guide, section How to Transfer Your Chat Session.

Directory folder

Directory folder is the folder of the Agent Desktop directory where this scenario entry will appear if enabled by the previous option. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Scenario parameters

Scenario parameters are optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Chat session icon

The chat session icon appears in the customer-facing chat window during active chat sessions. You have the option of uploading an icon (e.g., logo, photo, etc.) on a system-wide level, which will be seen in chat windows for all customers interacting with agents in your tenant. If uploaded, this icon overrides photos that agents have uploaded to their User Profile in the Agent Desktop application, which are normally seen by customers in their active chat windows.

Leaving this field empty or removing a chat session icon allows chat windows to display the photo that an agent has uploaded to his or her User Profile (if available).

For example, agent Christy Borden has uploaded a photo to her User Profile, as shown. The agent's uploaded photo appears in the customer's active chat window.

Uploading a chat session icon causes the agent's photo in the chat window to be replaced by the icon that you uploaded. Note that you must click Apply to save your changes. Also note that the chat session icon that you upload does not override agents' User Profile photos--only the display photos shown in active chat windows.

In all new chat interactions, the customer's chat window will display the chat session icon that you have uploaded. In addition, web notifications that pop on agent replies when the visitor's browser window with chat is minimized, or overlapped by other windows, will also contain the chat session icon for all agents. Note that web notifications are not supported for Internet Explorer 11 (IE11).

Co-browsing

During a web chat, co-browsing functionality allows the agent to view the customer’s screen and follow the customer’s scrolling movements. Co-browsing is initiated during the chat by the customer--not the agent--and screen sharing ends when either the customer clicks the Co-browsing button or when the chat is terminated.

Co-browsing is configured in the code (see section HTML Snippet above) of the chat application that customers will use to access your contact center. To allow and configure co-browsing for your web chats, you must have system access to either your tenant’s HTML snippet code and/or your organization’s web page itself.

How to Enable Co-browsing

1. In Contact Center Administrator, navigate to Scenario Entries > Messaging/Chat.
   
   
2. Select the desired chat scenario entry.
   
   
3. In the Properties pane, click the HTML snippet button, and copy all of the code to your clipboard.
   
   
   

   HTML Snippet
   
   
   
4. Paste the copied HTML into a text editing application (e.g., Notepad++) to edit it.
   
   
5. In the HTML, make two changes:
   
   
   1. Insert a comma AFTER chatPath: 'https://five.brightpattern.com/clientweb/chat-client-v4/'
      
      
   2. Hit Return and insert the following: togetherJS_enabled : true,
      
      
      
      
      
      
6. Copy all and paste the edited HTML onto your web page. This embeds the chat application into your webpage.
   
   
7. Publish the webpage and refresh any active chats.

How Co-browsing Works

This additional code (togetherJS_enabled : true,) causes the chat application to display the Co-browsing button to customers during active chats. When the customer clicks the Co-browsing button, a request is sent to the agent in the chat message.

When the agent accepts the request, the customer’s screen appears on the agent’s screen. The agent can follow the customer’s scrolling movements and view the customer’s screen only.

A hand icon, along with the label “Viewer”, is displayed on the customer’s screen to indicate that an agent is currently viewing the screen in Co-browsing mode. Similarly, the agent will see a circle icon that indicates the agent is viewing the customer’s screen.

Co-browsing is turned off when the customer clicks the Co-browsing button again on the active chat window.

Chat widget

The chat widget provides access to the web elements of the chat application that customers will use to access your contact center via the given scenario entry. The chat widget may be customized for color, size, fonts, font size, display elements, and more.

To edit the chat widget, click customize. The Chat Widget Configuration window will open. For more information, see the Chat Widget Configuration Guide.

Chat transcript template

The chat transcript template allows you to configure an email template for the purpose of sending chat/messaging transcripts. Note that this chat transcript template is specific to the given Messaging/Chat Scenario Entry; if the template is not defined, the template defined at the system level will be used.

In order for transcripts to be emailed, you will need the following:

• A configured SMTP server - In order for the system to automatically send emails, you will need complete SMTP Configuration.
• A configured pre-chat form with an email field - Transcripts are emailed to the address(es) specified in fields containing the variable $(item.email) when the session ends.
• A chat scenario containing $(item.sendTranscript) - In the corresponding chat scenario, you must include a Set Variable scenario block with the variable $(item.sendTranscript); the value must be set to 1 in order for the transcript to send.

When configuring the settings in this section, you will need the following:

• A sender display name
• A sender email address
• The chat transcript variable - When configuring the template message, you must include the variable $(CHAT_TRANSCRIPT). This variable inserts the transcript into the message.

How to Make a Consultation Call

A consultation call is a call you make with respect to another active call on your desktop.

Follow these steps to make a consultation call:

1. Place your primary call on hold first. See How to Hold and Retrieve a Call for more information.
2. Make a call to the consultation party. See How to Make an Internal Call or How to Make an Outbound Call for more information.
3. The Active Communications List will display both calls, the primary call with the hold icon , and the consultation call with the outgoing call icon .
4. If the consultation party is an agent or a supervisor, you can send the content of the Context Information Area related to the primary call by clicking the Send Screen button.
5. After finishing the consultation, click the End Call button to release the consultation call. (You can instead transfer your primary call to, or conference it with, the consultation party. See How to Transfer a Call and How to Host a Conference for more information.)
6. Retrieve the active call. See How to Hold and Retrieve a Call for more information.

Note: You can also alternate between the primary and consultation calls by retrieving them in turn. (Clicking the Retrieve button will automatically put the current active call on hold).

Outbound - General

The following general campaign settings are configured in the General section of the Services and Campaigns Outbound tab.

General Settings

Type

This is the type of campaign. There are four different campaign types from which to choose.

• In campaigns of the Preview type, the calling records are submitted to the agents participating in the campaign. The agents review record information, dial destination numbers, and monitor call progress. Additionally, this type of campaign allows agents to be reserved for a requested callback without indication to the agent.
• In campaigns of the Progressive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to a fixed (preconfigured) dialing rate, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents.
• In campaigns of the Predictive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to currently optimal dialing rates, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents. The dialing rate is optimized to maintain the desired agent occupancy based on the statistical analysis of outcomes of most recent dialing attempts.
• In campaigns of the Automatic (IVR) type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to a prerecorded interactive voice response (IVR) message. Agents are not involved in campaigns of this type.

Note that the definition of some of the subsequent campaign properties will depend on the selected campaign type.

Enabled

Enabled indicates the current state of the campaign. By default, the campaign is disabled and normally it should remain in this state until it is completely configured. Completeness of campaign configuration can be verified via the Diagnostics page. After the campaign has been completely configured, select the Enabled checkbox to indicate that it is ready to run.

Campaigns can be disabled again when they are no longer active but have to remain in configuration to ensure availability of campaign results. Note that disabling of campaigns is always a manual operation.

Note: For blended services, you should keep the outbound portion of a service enabled at all times, even during the periods without any outbound activity. If you disable the outbound portion, dispositions of the possible callbacks made to the campaign caller ID may not be processed correctly. This may result in repeated attempts to contact customers who are not supposed to be contacted again within the given campaign (e.g., accepted the campaign offer or requested not to be called again). If you need to prevent the outbound portion of a blended service from making calls, remove all of its calling hours.

Status

Status shows whether the outbound campaign has started or if it is stopped (i.e., ready to run). Click Start or Stop to change the status of the outbound campaign.

Start / Stop Automation

After the campaign has been enabled, it can be started and stopped manually at any time using these buttons.

Note that a campaign also can be started and stopped manually form the Agent Desktop application by a user designated as an operator for this campaign.

In addition, the campaign can be started and stopped automatically using the combination of the From/Until and using hours of operation settings as described below.

From

From indicates the moment from which this campaign can be started automatically based on the service hours of operation defined in the Properties tab.

If specified, the campaign will start automatically at the specified time provided that this time is within the specified service hours of operation. If the specified time is outside of the service hours, the campaign will start automatically at the nearest service opening time following the specified campaign start time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign start only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started earlier manually.

using hours of operation

By default, the campaign will be run automatically according to the hours of operation specified in the Properties tab for the given outbound service. If you click this link, you will be taken to the tab where you can modify the service hours.

Note that this schedule reflects the time when the agents of the associated teams will be expected to handle interactions of the given campaign. This schedule is normally defined for the time zone where your contact center is located. The actual calling schedules for various types of phones and other possible time-related calling restrictions are defined in the Calling Hours page relative to the time zone of destination phone numbers.

Until

Until indicates the moment when this campaign will be terminated automatically even if processing of some of the calling records has not been finished or attempted. This setting will not affect the campaign-related calls that may be in progress at the specified time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign termination only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started or resumed manually later.

Campaign link group

Campaigns of the same type with the same hours of operation, and same assigned agent teams can be linked together so that, when processing of all records of one campaign is finished, the next campaign in the group will be started automatically.

To associate this campaign with an existing group select the group from the list. If there are other campaigns associated with the selected list, the system will ask you to confirm that the type of this campaign, its hours of operation, assigned teams, and skills will be redefined to match the corresponding settings of campaigns already in the group.

The service parameters whose settings are controlled by the link group membership will be highlighted with orange dots.

To remove the campaign from a link group it was previously assigned to, select None from the drop-down menu.

Begin this campaign after

By default, the order in which campaigns in the link group will be activated is determined by the order those campaign were added to the group. You can redefine this order for the given campaign by selecting the preceding campaign from the drop-down menu. If the given campaign shall be processed first, select none (1st).

Preview Options

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives a preview record. Normally this is a web page that might contain additional information about the calling record. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop. See the group of variables Outbound Target Work Item Parameters in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

This parameter is optional. If it is not set, only the customer name and phone number to be dialed will be displayed in the contact panel of the Agent Desktop application.

Note that you can display information from calling records using Activity forms.

In addition, the specified web page will be displayed in the Context Information Area of Agent Desktop. This area is not shown when Agent Desktop is run minimized using the Pop-out function. Thus, when using URL screen pop, consider disabling agents' privilege Force pop-out phone window.

Screen-popping CRM URLs

When configuring the general properties of your preview campaign, you can enable specific Salesforce or Zendesk URLs to be screen-popped to the Agent Desktop.

For Salesforce Classic, Salescloud, and Lightning:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of Preview Options, enter the object ID (e.g., $(workitem.otherInfo.SalesforceID)).

For Zendesk:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of preview service, enter the ticket URL with the Zendesk ID (e.g., tickets/$(workitem.otherInfo.ZendeskID)).

Start dialing first number automatically

By default, agents dial numbers from list records manually. Select this checkbox if the first number of the list record shall be dialed automatically after the amount of time allocated for record preview (see option Start dialing after).

Start dialing after

Start dialing after is the amount of time allocated for list record preview. This parameter is essential only if option Start dialing first number automatically is enabled.

Use specific agent assignments for records

Records of the calling lists associated with the given campaign may be assigned to specific agents. If you select this option, any such records will be distributed only to the agents assigned to handle them. For more information, see the description of field type Agent Login ID in section Lists.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Predictive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the default scenario will wait until terminating this call. Note that this setting only applies if the <<Default scenario>> is selected as the scenario to run when answered.

If you apply any other scenario to process answered call attempts (i.e., select anything other than <<Default scenario>> as the scenario to run when answered), you should set the unattended call timeout as the last interval of the Find Agent block of the given scenario. You should also define the action applied to such unattended calls when the timeout expires as the conditional Time Out exit of the given block.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations). In this scenario template, the interval of the Find Agent block is set to 0-2 seconds and its Time Out conditional exit starts an IVR script that introduces the caller and provides the called party with an opt-out option.

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

This setting is reserved for future use.

Dialer Aggressiveness

Target occupancy, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Target occupancy specifies the target occupancy for the agents participating in this campaign that will be used by the predictive algorithm to calculate the dialing frequency. Occupancy is defined as the time spent handling calls relative to the time total working time--that is, (Busy Time + ACW Time) / (Busy Time + ACW Time + Ready Time) * 100.

Changes in the target occupancy of a running campaign will take effect immediately. Such changes may be necessary in order to observe compliance with the telemarketing law for maximum percentage of unattended calls (also known as abandonment rate). The percentage of unattended calls can be monitored in real time (see section General Campaign Metrics View of the Supervisor Guide) and/or historically (see section Telemarketing Compliance Report of the Reporting Reference Guide).

Initial Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Initial Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine the dialing frequency at the start of this campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will initially make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Note that this setting is an inversion of the Estimated Success Rate (ESR), which was used in the product prior to Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.10 for the same purpose. The ESR is defined as the expected percentage of call attempts that will be answered relative to all call attempts that will be made for this campaign; thus, if you upgrade from a previous version of Bright Pattern Contact Center and the ESR for a particular campaign was set to 50%, you will see the Initial Overdial Rate for this campaign set to 200%. (The ESR is displayed as a read-only value next to it.)

Once the system has accumulated enough statistics for dial frequency prediction, the configured Initial Overdial Rate value will be replaced with the actual overdial rate calculated and constantly updated in real time.

You can reset statistics used in calculation of the actual success rate and reapply the configured Initial Overdial Rate value at any time during campaign operation by clicking the Reset statistics button.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Progressive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the Find Agent block of the applied scenario (see Scenario to run when answered above) will wait for an available agent before processing it in the manner defined by the conditional exit Time Out.

Note that the Default scenario will terminate such calls.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

Enter the maximum percentage of allowable dropped calls.

Progressive Power Dialing

Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Progressive mode only.

Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine dialing frequency for the duration of the campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Setting the Overdial Rate to 100% (default) practically means that for any answered call, there will be an agent available to accept it.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Automatic (IVR) options

Max concurrent calls

This option specifies how many calls can be in progress simultaneously.

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. Note that for Automatic (IVR) mode, the scenario containing a recorded IVR message should be explicitly defined.

Detect voice before connection

This option indicates whether upon answer the system shall wait to detect a voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether, upon voice detection, the system shall try to distinguish the voice from an answering machine greeting. It is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This option indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, the disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify the reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for off-line analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Get User Configuration

The Get User Configuration scenario block obtains one or more of the properties of a user, such as username, phone number, email address, or unique identifier, and saves them in scenario variables for future use.

Settings

Title text

Title text is the name of the instance of the block. Enter a name in the text field and click the Update button at the bottom of the Edit pane. The new name of the block appears in the flowchart.

Find user by

Find user by specifies the type of the property that will be used to find the user. You can find a user by using the following properties:

• Login ID – The username
• Email address – The user’s email address
• Phone – The user’s assigned phone extension or default hardphone number
• User ID – The global unique identifier of this user in system configuration; global identifiers can be used, for example, to associate contacts/cases/interactions in third-party systems with agents who handled them

Value

Value specifies the value of the property that will be used to find the user.

User properties to return

Click add to select the type of property that you want to use in the scenario and the name of the variable where its value will be stored. The following property descriptions refer to their names as they appear in the Contact Center Administrator application.

• First Name – The user’s first name
• Last Name – The user’s last name
• Login ID – The user’s username
• Email address – The user’s email address
• Softphone number – The user’s phone extension
• Hardphone number – The user’s default hardphone number
• Team ID – The global unique identifier of the user’s team in system configuration
• Team name – The name of the user’s team
• Voice Mail Greeting URL – The link to user’s currently selected voicemail greeting
• Skill – The name of user’s skill from the specified group; this parameter can be used for group-based routing; see the description of option Specific skill from variable of the Find Agent block for more information
• User ID – The global unique identifier of this user in system configuration; user ID can be used, for example, to associate contacts/cases/interactions in third-party systems with agents who handled them in order to facilitate personal routing; see the description of option Specific agent of the Find Agent block for more information.

Scenario variables can be specified as values using the $(varname) format.

For more information, see Contact Center Administrator Guide sections Users, Teams, and Skill Levels.

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Dial-out Entries

Dial-out entries define how outbound calls are made from the extensions of your contact center. The system recognizes a call as an outbound call by analyzing the first digit (or a set of digits) of the dialed number. Dial-out entries are also used to indicate services that will be associated with such outbound calls by default and to configure caller ID(s) for these calls.

Note the following:

• In order for the Use customer number on transfers and consult calls feature to work, the capability to transfer calls with the original calling party numbers must be enabled for your account. You can determine whether the capability is enabled for your account by looking for the Use customer number on transfers and consult calls checkbox (see below) on the Dial-out Entries screen properties pane. If you do not see it, contact your service provider for assistance.

• Before configuring your caller IDs, be sure to check all legal requirements and restrictions for what can be sent as a caller ID in the jurisdictions where you operate.

To configure a dial-out entry in the Contact Center Administrator application, navigate to Configuration > Directory > Dial-out Entries.

Dial-Out Entries

The Dial-out Entries screen properties are described as follows.

Digits

Digits are the numeric digits which, when dialed from an extension of your private telephone network, will indicate that an outbound call is requested. This set of digits can contain a leading plus (+) sign indicating international calling. This parameter is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Is a prefix

Is a prefix indicates whether the above number is a prefix used only within your private telephone network, as opposed to being part of the PSTN number.

Remove prefix

Remove prefix indicates whether the digit(s) specified in parameter Digits shall be removed before transmitting the dialed number outside of your private telephone network.

Insert prefix

Insert prefix represents a set of digits to be prepended to the number before transmitting the dialed number outside of your private telephone network. The digits can contain a leading plus (+) sign indicating international calling.

Set service

Set service is where you set the service associated with the specified Number. Association of outbound calls with services is optional and is useful when you want to be able to count separately calls made with respect to different services (e.g., for reporting and/or billing purposes).

Note that an outbound call can also be associated with a service via selection of the desired service directly from the Agent Desktop application. In case of a conflict, the service explicitly selected by the agent overrides the service defined by this setting. For more information, see section How to Make an Outbound Call of the Agent Guide.

Use customer number on transfers and consult calls

This option indicates whether a customer’s number of original service calls, if available, will be used as the Caller ID for associated outbound calls (i.e., external consultation calls, two-step and blind transfers, and calls forwarded to external destinations via scenarios) made via this dial-out entry. If this option is enabled, the Caller ID of the original call will be relayed regardless of whether such an original call is inbound, regular outbound, or a campaign call.

Note: This option must be explicitly enabled by your service provider before it can be used in your contact center. If this option is not enabled by the service provider, the Caller ID will be set according to one of the following methods.

Direct mapping of internal phones

Direct mapping of internal phones allows you to select the extensions for which their personal caller IDs will be displayed when making outbound calls via this dial-out entry. Usually these are the DID extensions with direct external access numbers assigned to them. To select such extensions, click edit.

This option will be disregarded for the cases where the above setting applies.

Use Caller ID form service configuration if service information is available, otherwise use this number

This option specifies the number that will be displayed to called parties when they receive a call made through this dial-out entry, unless a service was selected manually for this call (see description of property Set service above).

If a service was selected manually for an outbound call, one of the numbers specified as a caller ID for the selected service will be displayed. For more information, see section Services and Campaigns - Numbers Tab.

This option will be disregarded for the cases where either of the above two settings applies.

Dial-in

The logic of processing a phone call is initially determined by the phone number to which this call is delivered. Call arrival activates a scenario associated with that number. The scenario controls all further steps of call qualification and distribution until the moment when the call is answered by an agent (or sometimes self-serviced). The logical entity that describes the association between a phone number and a call-processing scenario is called a dial-in scenario entry.

To set up and manage such associations, select the Dial-in option from the Scenario Entries menu.

Dial-in Scenario Entries Screen Properties

The Dial-in Scenario Entries screen properties are described as follows.

Name

Name is the name of the dial-in scenario entry. This field is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Scenario

Scenario is the Voice scenario that will process calls arriving at the phone numbers defined in this dial-in scenario entry (see below).

Service

Service refers to the service associated with the dial-in scenario entry. Such direct association between telephone number and a service can be used when your access numbers directly identify your services.

Even if you use one access number for many different services (i.e., use an interactive voice script within the associated scenario for service selection), you may still assign a default service directly to the access number in order to account for the calls abandoned before service selection and for the calls that bypass the service selection stage (e.g., someone is unable to use the keypad to enter service selection choice, or someone is confused about which option to choose).

Hours of Operation

Hours of operation (HOP) is a schedule that defines service hours for each day of the year.

• Choose from service to use HOPs of the services associated with interactions processed by the given scenario.
• Choose select to select one of the preconfigured HOPs.
• Choose specify to define a new HOP specifically for this scenario entry.

Unless you create an entry point for a 24/7 operation, the scenario that you have specified in the Scenario property above must define processing of interaction arriving at this entry outside as well as within the specified hours of operation. That is, the scenario should normally begin with an If block that has the condition The current date and time is (or is not) in hours of operation. For more information, see the example provided in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

HOPs can also be specified at the service level.

Note the following:

• If you use options select or specify to define HOP for this scenario entry, all possible HOP checks within this scenario will use the HOP defined for this entry. Any HOPs specified for any services within this scenario will be disregarded.

• If you use option from service, the HOP check will use the HOP of the service that is associated with the interaction at the time when the check is performed. By default, this is the Service configured for this scenario entry (see above). However, if the service is redefined within the scenario, a subsequent HOP check will use the HOP of that new service.

• If you (1) use option from service, (2) do not have any Service configured for this scenario entry, and (3) use an HOP check before any explicit service assignment within the scenario, all incoming interactions will be treated as if they arrived outside of the service hours.

• This HOP setting only specifies when the services provided via this scenario entry are open/closed. In order to complete the HOP configuration, you need to define the following additional elements in the assigned scenario:
  • Checking whether interactions arrive within or outside the HOP. Use the If scenario block for this purpose with the following condition: "The current date and time" "is not" "scenario default hours of operation".
  • Specifying the action to be applied to interactions if the above condition is met (e.g., play an announcement and exit or offer voicemail).

Internal numbers

Internal numbers are the numbers associated with this scenario. Although service calls normally arrive at external access numbers, you can also set up an internal number to enable agents to transfer calls to this scenario entry. Once assigned, a number cannot be associated with any other scenarios.

Specification of an internal number for a dial-in scenario entry is optional. Note, however, that if you specify an entry without an internal number, it will not be displayed in the Dial-in Scenario Entries list. You will be able to see such an entry point in the list of external access numbers only.

External numbers

These are the external access numbers associated with the scenario. Select the desired number from the drop-down list. If the number is already assigned to another scenario or to an extension number, the drop down list will provide this information. Once assigned, a number cannot be associated with any other scenarios.

Note that the system allows you to define more than one access number within the same scenario entry point. This may be useful, for example, if you intend to provide your customers with a choice of numbers depending on where they call from, while otherwise applying exactly the same processing logic to all such calls.

Requested skills

Requested skills are the auxiliary skills that the agents must possess in order to handle calls arriving via this scenario entry. By defining such skills externally, you can use the same scenario in multiple scenario entries that differ only in auxiliary skills. For example, for your technical support service, you can have separate numbers for Product A support and Product B support, where Product A and B are defined as two different auxiliary skills defined for two different scenario entries associated with the same scenario.

Mute IVR toward agent when conferenced

Select this checkbox if you do not wish the agent to hear IVR prompts when on a conference call with a customer and an IVR. This setting can be used if a conferenced IVR contains prompts confirming sensitive data (e.g., credit card information) received from the customer.

Mute DTMF toward agent when conferenced

Select this checkbox if you do not wish the agent to hear the dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) touchtones when the agent is on a conference call. This setting can be used if a conferenced IVR expects the customer to enter sensitive data (e.g., credit card information) using the DTMF keys of their phones.

Queuing priority

Queuing priority refers to the queuing priority of interactions arriving through the scenario entry. Priority determines how fast these interactions will move through the queue relative to interactions arriving through other scenario entries when they compete for the same agents. The value range for priority setting is from 1 to 100. Decimals are permitted.

Consider the following examples:

• Your platinum-level customers are served by the same agents as all other customers, but you may give them a different number to call the same service. In this case, you may define two different entries for the same scenario with a higher queuing priority for the platinum customers.
• You want to make sure that customer calls internally transferred via queue are answered as soon as possible. In this case, you may define a separate entry for internally transferred calls with a higher priority.

For more information and examples of how priority works, see section Set Priority of the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Visible to agents

Visible to agents provides indication of whether this scenario entry shall appear in the Agent Desktop directory. Select the checkbox if you want your agents to be able to make blind transfers to service queues via this scenario entry.

Directory folder

Directory folder is the folder of the Agent Desktop directory where this scenario entry will appear if enabled by the previous option. You can select an existing folder or define a new one.

Scenario parameters

Bright Pattern Contact Center scenario language has a number of variables that can be set to different values depending on the scenario entry where this scenario is used. If such variables are present in the scenario selected for this entry, they will appear under this option and can be set to the values specific to the given scenario entry. Use of such externally defined variables enables you to have fewer scenarios because they can be re-used for various scenario entries. For more information, see the description of variable $(app.custom.XXX) and voice segment type Voice, from parameter in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Dial-out Entries

Dial-out entries define how outbound calls are made from the extensions of your contact center. The system recognizes a call as an outbound call by analyzing the first digit (or a set of digits) of the dialed number. Dial-out entries are also used to indicate services that will be associated with such outbound calls by default and to configure caller ID(s) for these calls.

Note the following:

• In order for the Use customer number on transfers and consult calls feature to work, the capability to transfer calls with the original calling party numbers must be enabled for your account. You can determine whether the capability is enabled for your account by looking for the Use customer number on transfers and consult calls checkbox (see below) on the Dial-out Entries screen properties pane. If you do not see it, contact your service provider for assistance.

• Before configuring your caller IDs, be sure to check all legal requirements and restrictions for what can be sent as a caller ID in the jurisdictions where you operate.

To configure a dial-out entry in the Contact Center Administrator application, navigate to Configuration > Directory > Dial-out Entries.

Dial-Out Entries

The Dial-out Entries screen properties are described as follows.

Digits

Digits are the numeric digits which, when dialed from an extension of your private telephone network, will indicate that an outbound call is requested. This set of digits can contain a leading plus (+) sign indicating international calling. This parameter is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Is a prefix

Is a prefix indicates whether the above number is a prefix used only within your private telephone network, as opposed to being part of the PSTN number.

Remove prefix

Remove prefix indicates whether the digit(s) specified in parameter Digits shall be removed before transmitting the dialed number outside of your private telephone network.

Insert prefix

Insert prefix represents a set of digits to be prepended to the number before transmitting the dialed number outside of your private telephone network. The digits can contain a leading plus (+) sign indicating international calling.

Set service

Set service is where you set the service associated with the specified Number. Association of outbound calls with services is optional and is useful when you want to be able to count separately calls made with respect to different services (e.g., for reporting and/or billing purposes).

Note that an outbound call can also be associated with a service via selection of the desired service directly from the Agent Desktop application. In case of a conflict, the service explicitly selected by the agent overrides the service defined by this setting. For more information, see section How to Make an Outbound Call of the Agent Guide.

Use customer number on transfers and consult calls

This option indicates whether a customer’s number of original service calls, if available, will be used as the Caller ID for associated outbound calls (i.e., external consultation calls, two-step and blind transfers, and calls forwarded to external destinations via scenarios) made via this dial-out entry. If this option is enabled, the Caller ID of the original call will be relayed regardless of whether such an original call is inbound, regular outbound, or a campaign call.

Note: This option must be explicitly enabled by your service provider before it can be used in your contact center. If this option is not enabled by the service provider, the Caller ID will be set according to one of the following methods.

Direct mapping of internal phones

Direct mapping of internal phones allows you to select the extensions for which their personal caller IDs will be displayed when making outbound calls via this dial-out entry. Usually these are the DID extensions with direct external access numbers assigned to them. To select such extensions, click edit.

This option will be disregarded for the cases where the above setting applies.

Use Caller ID form service configuration if service information is available, otherwise use this number

This option specifies the number that will be displayed to called parties when they receive a call made through this dial-out entry, unless a service was selected manually for this call (see description of property Set service above).

If a service was selected manually for an outbound call, one of the numbers specified as a caller ID for the selected service will be displayed. For more information, see section Services and Campaigns - Numbers Tab.

This option will be disregarded for the cases where either of the above two settings applies.

Dial-in

The logic of processing a phone call is initially determined by the phone number to which this call is delivered. Call arrival activates a scenario associated with that number. The scenario controls all further steps of call qualification and distribution until the moment when the call is answered by an agent (or sometimes self-serviced). The logical entity that describes the association between a phone number and a call-processing scenario is called a dial-in scenario entry.

To set up and manage such associations, select the Dial-in option from the Scenario Entries menu.

Dial-in Scenario Entries Screen Properties

The Dial-in Scenario Entries screen properties are described as follows.

Name

Name is the name of the dial-in scenario entry. This field is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Scenario

Scenario is the Voice scenario that will process calls arriving at the phone numbers defined in this dial-in scenario entry (see below).

Service

Service refers to the service associated with the dial-in scenario entry. Such direct association between telephone number and a service can be used when your access numbers directly identify your services.

Even if you use one access number for many different services (i.e., use an interactive voice script within the associated scenario for service selection), you may still assign a default service directly to the access number in order to account for the calls abandoned before service selection and for the calls that bypass the service selection stage (e.g., someone is unable to use the keypad to enter service selection choice, or someone is confused about which option to choose).

Hours of Operation

Hours of operation (HOP) is a schedule that defines service hours for each day of the year.

• Choose from service to use HOPs of the services associated with interactions processed by the given scenario.
• Choose select to select one of the preconfigured HOPs.
• Choose specify to define a new HOP specifically for this scenario entry.

Unless you create an entry point for a 24/7 operation, the scenario that you have specified in the Scenario property above must define processing of interaction arriving at this entry outside as well as within the specified hours of operation. That is, the scenario should normally begin with an If block that has the condition The current date and time is (or is not) in hours of operation. For more information, see the example provided in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

HOPs can also be specified at the service level.

Note the following:

• If you use options select or specify to define HOP for this scenario entry, all possible HOP checks within this scenario will use the HOP defined for this entry. Any HOPs specified for any services within this scenario will be disregarded.

• If you use option from service, the HOP check will use the HOP of the service that is associated with the interaction at the time when the check is performed. By default, this is the Service configured for this scenario entry (see above). However, if the service is redefined within the scenario, a subsequent HOP check will use the HOP of that new service.

• If you (1) use option from service, (2) do not have any Service configured for this scenario entry, and (3) use an HOP check before any explicit service assignment within the scenario, all incoming interactions will be treated as if they arrived outside of the service hours.

• This HOP setting only specifies when the services provided via this scenario entry are open/closed. In order to complete the HOP configuration, you need to define the following additional elements in the assigned scenario:
  • Checking whether interactions arrive within or outside the HOP. Use the If scenario block for this purpose with the following condition: "The current date and time" "is not" "scenario default hours of operation".
  • Specifying the action to be applied to interactions if the above condition is met (e.g., play an announcement and exit or offer voicemail).

Internal numbers

Internal numbers are the numbers associated with this scenario. Although service calls normally arrive at external access numbers, you can also set up an internal number to enable agents to transfer calls to this scenario entry. Once assigned, a number cannot be associated with any other scenarios.

Specification of an internal number for a dial-in scenario entry is optional. Note, however, that if you specify an entry without an internal number, it will not be displayed in the Dial-in Scenario Entries list. You will be able to see such an entry point in the list of external access numbers only.

External numbers

These are the external access numbers associated with the scenario. Select the desired number from the drop-down list. If the number is already assigned to another scenario or to an extension number, the drop down list will provide this information. Once assigned, a number cannot be associated with any other scenarios.

Note that the system allows you to define more than one access number within the same scenario entry point. This may be useful, for example, if you intend to provide your customers with a choice of numbers depending on where they call from, while otherwise applying exactly the same processing logic to all such calls.

Requested skills

Requested skills are the auxiliary skills that the agents must possess in order to handle calls arriving via this scenario entry. By defining such skills externally, you can use the same scenario in multiple scenario entries that differ only in auxiliary skills. For example, for your technical support service, you can have separate numbers for Product A support and Product B support, where Product A and B are defined as two different auxiliary skills defined for two different scenario entries associated with the same scenario.

Mute IVR toward agent when conferenced

Select this checkbox if you do not wish the agent to hear IVR prompts when on a conference call with a customer and an IVR. This setting can be used if a conferenced IVR contains prompts confirming sensitive data (e.g., credit card information) received from the customer.

Mute DTMF toward agent when conferenced

Select this checkbox if you do not wish the agent to hear the dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) touchtones when the agent is on a conference call. This setting can be used if a conferenced IVR expects the customer to enter sensitive data (e.g., credit card information) using the DTMF keys of their phones.

Queuing priority

Queuing priority refers to the queuing priority of interactions arriving through the scenario entry. Priority determines how fast these interactions will move through the queue relative to interactions arriving through other scenario entries when they compete for the same agents. The value range for priority setting is from 1 to 100. Decimals are permitted.

Consider the following examples:

• Your platinum-level customers are served by the same agents as all other customers, but you may give them a different number to call the same service. In this case, you may define two different entries for the same scenario with a higher queuing priority for the platinum customers.
• You want to make sure that customer calls internally transferred via queue are answered as soon as possible. In this case, you may define a separate entry for internally transferred calls with a higher priority.

For more information and examples of how priority works, see section Set Priority of the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Visible to agents

Visible to agents provides indication of whether this scenario entry shall appear in the Agent Desktop directory. Select the checkbox if you want your agents to be able to make blind transfers to service queues via this scenario entry.

Directory folder

Directory folder is the folder of the Agent Desktop directory where this scenario entry will appear if enabled by the previous option. You can select an existing folder or define a new one.

Scenario parameters

Bright Pattern Contact Center scenario language has a number of variables that can be set to different values depending on the scenario entry where this scenario is used. If such variables are present in the scenario selected for this entry, they will appear under this option and can be set to the values specific to the given scenario entry. Use of such externally defined variables enables you to have fewer scenarios because they can be re-used for various scenario entries. For more information, see the description of variable $(app.custom.XXX) and voice segment type Voice, from parameter in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Dispositions Tab

Dispositions are used to specify the result of an interaction attempt. For example, a disposition may indicate that the requested service was provided, or it might suggest a specific reason why it was not provided. Dispositions are stored in the interaction records and campaign results. They can be used in custom queries and reports for evaluation of service efficiency.

Note: The Dispositions tab is displayed only if the Use dispositions option is selected on the Properties tab.

In outbound campaigns, dispositions are also used to determine subsequent processing of calling records depending on the outcome of each call attempt. See section Outbound - Dial Rules for more information. In outbound campaigns, some of the dispositions can be applied to entire calling records and some others to individual call attempts.

For outbound campaigns of preview type, dispositions are also usually defined for preview records. In such campaigns, agents receive calling records from the system and preview them before making the corresponding outbound calls. During the preview, they may decide to discard some records without dialing. Dispositions in this case can indicate the reason (e.g., incomplete data).

For blended services, inbound dispositions are processed within the context of the campaign that is part of the same service. For example, if a customer misses your campaign call and then calls back using the campaign's caller ID and buys the product you have been offering within the campaign, the disposition of that inbound call should normally prevent subsequent attempts to call this customer within the same campaign. Therefore, for blended services it is important that the

• Inbound and outbound dispositions correlate (i.e., the former normally should be a subset of the latter)
• Outbound portion of your blended campaign is kept enabled at all times--even during the periods without any outbound activity

If the reason for a failed interaction attempt can be recognized automatically, the corresponding disposition can be provided by the system. Dispositions that are specified manually will be displayed by the Agent Desktop and can be selected by the agent at any time during interaction handling, including the after-call work. Dispositions can also be set by a scenario.

Screen Properties

Show dispositions for

This option is displayed only for outbound and blended voice services. To review and edit dispositions for inbound calls and list records, select inbound. To review and edit dispositions for outbound calls and list records, select outbound. To review and edit dispositions for preview records, select preview record.

List of dispositions

This option lists the dispositions for this service. For the services that comprise different types of interactions (inbound, outbound, preview records), the list will display only the dispositions corresponding to the interaction type selected via the Show dispositions for option.

For each interaction type, the system provides a pre-defined set of dispositions. You can edit such predefined dispositions, remove some of them, define new ones, and arrange them in your own folders. The purpose of each predefined disposition is explained in the Description field, which you will see when you click a disposition once.

Even though the system provides a predefined set of dispositions for each new service, you can still control whether these dispositions will or will not be made available to agents for selection when they handle interactions associated with the given service. Furthermore, you can control whether the use of dispositions is mandatory or optional. For more information, see the description of settings Use dispositions and Require dispositions in the Services and Campaigns - Properties tab.

Dispositions properties editor

To create a disposition in an existing folder, click add in the desired folder; this will open the dispositions properties editor, allowing you to configure the following. To edit a disposition, hover over the disposition and click the edit icon. To delete a disposition, hover over the disposition and click the delete icon.

Name

This field is where you specify the disposition’s name. Note that this field is mandatory and must be unique within the given interaction type within the service.

Description

This optional field allows you to provide a free-text description of the disposition.

Agent can select

By default, dispositions that you define will be made available to agents for selection during interaction handling. If you do not want the given disposition to be shown to agents (e.g., you intend to use this disposition in scenarios only), unselect the Agent can select checkbox. Note that dispositions unavailable to agents appear in the disposition list in italic.

Show in toolbar in team queue

This option, available for email services only, allows you to configure an icon for the disposition, which is displayed as a button in the team queue and personal queue toolbar when an email's corresponding checkbox is selected. This button allows agents to apply a disposition to an email without opening it, thus removing it from the queue. Note that when configuring this option, you must select a corresponding toolbar icon.

Buttons mapped to either the Final disposition or Spam disposition apply the Resolved status to all selected emails. Buttons mapped to the Nonfinal disposition do not apply a different status to the selected emails (i.e., all selected emails will retain the New status). On this note, it is recommended that buttons are mapped to dispositions of the Final type to prevent important emails from accidentally being removed from the queue.

Toolbar icon

When the Show in toolbar in team queue option is selected, the toolbar icon option appears; this setting lets you map an icon to a disposition that will be displayed as a button in Agent Desktop's team queue and personal queue. To map the icon to the disposition, select the search icon or click icon search to access the drop-down list of toolbar icons.

Type

Type is a disposition category that executes specific actions when applied to an interaction; available types vary per service. The following is a list of all disposition types. Note: Dispositions considered final (i.e., ones that complete records or cases) are editable by those with the privilege Can update final dispositions only.

Success (completes record or case)

Success is for dispositions indicating successful interaction processing (e.g., the customer has accepted the offer) or closure of a case.

Final (completes record or case)

Final is for dispositions indicating successful interaction processing (e.g., the customer has accepted the offer) or closure of a case; this type is available for email services only.

Failure (completes record)

Failure is for dispositions indicating unsuccessful interaction processing without subsequent attempts (e.g., the customer has rejected the offer); this type is available for voice services only.

Do not Call (completes record)

Do not Call is for dispositions indicating that the customer has requested not to be contacted again for the given reason; this type is available for voice services only.

Continue

Continue is for dispositions indicating unsuccessful interaction processing with possible subsequent attempts (e.g., the customer has asked to be called again at another time) or expected continued processing of a case; by default, any new disposition of this type is associated with action Reschedule (24h); for more information, see section Outbound - Dial Rules.

Nonfinal

For dispositions indicating unsuccessful interaction processing with possible subsequent attempts (e.g., the customer has requested to be contacted at another time) or expected continued processing of a case; this type is available for email services only.

Spam

For dispositions indicating an immediate closure of an email case because the incoming message was spam

For services that comprise different types of interactions (inbound, outbound, preview records), you can also specify if the disposition you define for one interaction type shall be available for interactions of other types within the same service. Select such desired additional interaction types via the Scope option.

Code

If, in addition to the disposition name, you would like to use a short alphanumeric code (string), specify it in the Code field. Disposition codes are optional, and when defined, will appear in campaign results along with disposition names. Codes can also be used instead of disposition names when setting dispositions in scenarios.

There are no predefined disposition codes because you can assign any string to be a disposition code. A disposition code can contain up to nine characters; any characters are allowed. Note that the system does not check uniqueness of disposition codes.

Add folder

The add folder option allows you to create a new folder for dispositions. To add a new folder, click add folder, specify the folder name, then add the desired dispositions.

Import

The Import option imports dispositions and allows you to define dispositions externally and import them in the .CSV format. For each disposition, the following fields must be defined in the specified order:

• Name
• Folder name (disposition category)
• Description
• Code
• Agent can select (true, false)
• Type (SUCCESS, FAILURE, CONTINUE, DO_NOT_CALL)
• Is inbound (true, false)
• Is outbound (true, false)
• Is preview (true, false)
• System type (if defined, the disposition will be followed by the same actions that are defined for the corresponding default dispositions in the Connection Problem and System folders)
  • Possible values include the following: empty string, DROPPED, BUSY, NO_ANSWER, FAX_MODEM, ANSWERING_MACHINE, SILENCE, INVALID_NUMBER, OTHER_CONNECTION_ISSUE, ABANDONED, CONGESTION_REMOTE, NO_AGENT, NO_DISPOSITION, SKIPPED, SYSTEM_FAILURE, AGENT_FAILURE, FINALIZED_BY_DIAL_RULE, MAX_ATTEMPTS_REACHED, DISPOSITION_NOT_FOUND, PHONE_NETWORK_UNAVAILABLE, RECORD_EXPIRED, CALL_FAILED, FAST_BUSY, ANNOUNCEMENT, NETWORK_ANNOUNCEMENT
• Service type (since many dispositions are service/media-type-specific this field must be defined to make sure that the dispositions are not imported into a type of service they are not intended for)
  • Possible values include the following: INBOUND, OUTBOUND, BLENDED, CHAT, EMAIL

Each value must be enclosed in the quotation marks. Optional parameters must be set to an empty string when not defined.

An easy way to create an import file is to export an existing list of dispositions (see Export below) and modify it as may be necessary.

Export

This option exports dispositions in .CSV format. The exported file can be used as a template when defining dispositions externally and importing them into the system. For specification of the fields, see the description of the Import function.

Do Not Call Lists

Do Not Call (DNC) lists contain data about destinations that may not be called during outbound calling campaigns. At the configuration stage, one or more DNC lists may be associated with a campaign. When the campaign is started, records from the campaign’s calling lists are checked against the DNC data, and if a match is found, the number or the entire record is skipped.

For more information about associating DNC lists with campaigns, see the description of the DNC screen of the outbound campaign settings.

To view and edit DNC lists, select the Do Not Call Lists option from the root menu.

When you click the button with the “+” sign to configure a new DNC list, you will be first prompted to select the list type. The set of properties that you will have to configure will depend in part on the DNC list type.

Note that you can import your existing data for DNC lists of all types except Geographic (State/Province). To import list data, click the import button and select a file to upload.

Settings

The Do Not Call Lists screen properties are organized into several tabs: Properties, Contents, and Log. The screen properties are described as follows.

Properties tab

Name

Name is the name of the DNC list. A mandatory field, the name must be unique within the contact center.

Type

Type is the type of this DNC list. It is mandatory, and once specified, it cannot be changed.

The following types of DNC lists are supported:

• Internal: A list of phone numbers created and maintained within your contact center; numbers are added to this list when agents participating in an outbound or blended service finish call processing with disposition Add to DNC; numbers in the calling records that match numbers in DNC lists of this type will not be dialed (but the record itself may continue to be used if it has other numbers in it)
• Geographic (Postal): A list of postal codes; if a postal code of a calling record matches a postal code in this type of DNC list, processing of this calling record within the given campaign will stop. Please note that for this type of DNC you need to have the proper country selected, and the phone numbers of calling lists used in the associated campaigns must start with a country code.
• Geographic (State/Province): A list of states/provinces; if the state/province info of a calling record matches a state/province in this type of DNC list, processing of this calling record within the given campaign will stop. Please note that for this type of DNC you need to have the proper country selected, and the phone numbers of calling lists used in the associated campaigns must start with a country code.
• Area codes: A list of area codes; if the area code of a phone number in a calling record matches an area code in this type of DNC list, this number will not be dialed (but the record itself may continue to be used if it has other numbers in it). DNC area codes can contain country code only if "Each area code has country prefix" option selected in Country setting, in other case (when Country is selected in DNC settings) area codes in this DNC list should not contain a country code.
• Record Exclusion: A list of identifiers of customer records in calling lists (e.g., customers’ account numbers); if a match is found, processing of this calling record within the given campaign will stop; note that DNC lists of this type can be updated periodically via FTP (see property Periodic Import below); the results of such periodic updates are displayed in the Log tab

List field to match

Select the calling list field that will be used as identifier of customer records that must not be dialed. This property is displayed only for DNC lists of the Record Exclusion type and contains list fields from all available calling list formats.

Country

Country is the country whose postal codes or state/provinces that this DNC list shall contain. This property is displayed for DNCs of types Geographic (Postal), Geographic (State/Province), and Area Codes. Note that default country options include the United States and Japan.

Campaigns

These are the campaigns associated with this DNC list. Such association is typically established as part of campaign configuration. However, if you need to associate a new DNC list with an existing campaign, it may be more convenient to do it directly from this screen.

How to create a new DNC list with an existing campaign:

• Click add
• Select the desired Campaign from the drop-down menu
• Specify the Disposition that will be attached to the call attempts (in case of number match) or to completed records (in case of record match)

If the campaign is part of a campaign link group, the selected DNC list can be automatically applied to all other campaigns in the link group. To indicate that the list shall apply to all campaigns in the link group, select the add all linked campaigns checkbox.

When associating an internal DNC list, note that by default it will be possible to add new numbers to this list during the given campaign (e.g., upon request of the called party). If you wish to block this capability, deselect the append OK checkbox.

To associate a DNC list with all campaigns, click add all and select the desired disposition. To remove all previously established associations, click remove all.

Note that numbers are added to internal DNC lists in the context of active campaigns that the corresponding calls are associated with. Therefore:

• If you use multiple internal DNC lists associated with different campaigns, a number will be added only to the list(s) associated with the campaign within which the corresponding call was handled.
• If you use a blended service, you should keep the outbound portion of this service enabled at all times in order to correctly process the possible do-not-call requests of the customers who call back your campaign. If the outbound portion of your blended service is disabled, numbers will not be added in such situations.

States/Provinces

These are the states/provinces whose phone records must be excluded from outbound campaigns associated with this DNC. This property is displayed for DNCs of type Geographic (State/Province) only. To add a state/province to this list, click add.

Periodic Import

Parameters are specified for the periodic list import. These parameters apply to DNC lists of type Record Exclusion only.

To set up automatic periodic updates for this list, click edit.

In the dialog that appears:

• Specify the protocol (FTP or SFTP), URL with file name, FTP Username, and FTP Password.
• Select the Start date and time of the first update and specify the desired Import interval.
• Select the desired Update Policy (see the description of the List Update Wizard properties for more information about the update policies).
• Click OK.

Once the above parameters are defined, select the Enabled checkbox to activate periodic import.

You can also run import with the above settings at any time by clicking Run import now.

Periodic Reset

Parameters for daily list data reset. These parameters apply to DNC lists of type Record Exclusion only.

To enable periodic reset, select the Reset list data daily checkbox, and specify the desired Reset time.

Contents tab

List view

List view shows the entire content of the DNC list. It is read-only. Note that the view will be different depending on the DNC list type.

• An Internal list displays the numbers, identifiers of the agents who added them, time and date when they were added, and campaigns during which they were added.
• A Geographical (Postal) list displays postal codes and possible free-text notes. To add a postal code to this list, click the “+” button at the bottom of tab view, specify the desired code in the Postal Code field, enter any additional information in the Notes field, and click Apply.
• An Area Codes list displays area codes and possible free-text notes. To add an area code to this list, click the “+” button at the bottom of tab view, specify the desired code in the Area Code field, enter any additional information in the Notes field, and click Apply.
• A Record Exclusion list displays values of the selected field that should lead to record exclusion when matched.

Log tab

The Log tab is for DNC lists of type Record Exclusion only.

Timestamp

This is the time stamp of the operation.

File

File is the name of the imported/reset file.

Operation

The type of the operation is specified here.

Number of records

Number of records is the total number of successfully imported/reset records during this operation.

Operator

Operator is the username of the user who performed this operation.

Notes

The Notes field gives the operation result.

DNC list data is deleted from the calling list database automatically when the corresponding DNC list object is deleted from configuration. Current data of the DNC lists of type Record Exclusion is also deleted when the list is reset or updated with new content via periodic import (where applicable) with the update policy set to replace list data.

Email Service Configuration

This section outlines the recommended general order of configuring email services associated with a particular email address.

Step 1: Add or edit an email service

Plan the categorization of email interactions arriving at a particular email address, create the corresponding email services, and configure their general settings See section Services and Campaigns - Properties Tab.

Step 2: Assign teams to the email service

Assign agent teams to the selected email service. Note that each service will be created with a default service skill that can be assigned automatically to all members of the associated agent teams. See section Services and Campaigns - Assignments Tab.

Step 3: Create a standard acknowledgment message

Create the acknowledgment message that will be sent to customers automatically to confirm receipt of their email inquiries. See section Knowledge Base.

Step 4: Define service settings

Define all email-specific service settings. See section Services and Campaigns - Email Tab.

Step 5: Create Knowledge Base articles

Create articles in the Knowledge Base that will help agents process emails associated with the above services more efficiently.

Step 6: Create the header and footer

Create the mandatory messages that will be inserted automatically in the email header and footer. This text is placed above and/or below the main text of every email that is sent to a customer.

Step 7: Specify omnichannel settings for emails

Specify the number of emails that agents can have in active processing on their desktops simultaneously. See section Omnichannel Routing.

Step 8: Give agents the privilege to handle email

Make sure the agents who will process email have the privilege Handle email granted to them. See section Roles.

Step 9: Create an email scenario entry

Create an email scenario entry for the given email address and then configure its account settings, default service, and categorization/prioritization rules.

Step 10: Configure an outbound email account (optional)

If, within this service, you intend to send outbound emails that are not related to any existing cases, configure an outbound email account for this service. See section Services and Campaigns - Properties Tab and section Scenario Entries - Email.

Understanding Email Cases and Threads

Every email interaction is associated with a case and can be part of a thread. The following is an explanation of these

Cases

A case is an instance of customer service that is created to track all communications related to a specific customer request. It is created when the request arrives, maintained as an active entity while the request is being worked on, and closed when the request is fulfilled.

When a new email request arrives, the system creates a case for it automatically and assigns a number to this case that is unique within your contact center (e.g., 14355). This number is typically communicated to the customer and can be used by both the customer and yourself to refer to the given request in all future communications. This number also helps you quickly find all past communications related to the case in the email history.

You can view cases by selecting My Cases on the Agent Desktop menu.

A case is closed when you assign a final disposition to an email associated with this case. A final disposition is a disposition that indicates that no further follow-up is expected or necessary for the given case (e.g., the customer has confirmed request fulfillment). Dispositions are fully customizable and can often be service-specific. Your system administrator will explain how to use dispositions and point out the ones that can be used to close cases.

Threads

A group of emails related to the same case is called an email thread. Threads are created when the system matches in-reply-to email headers. Additionally, when you reply to a customer’s request for the first time, the system will generate a unique thread identifier and attach it to the email subject. Unlike the case number, the email thread identifier may contain both numbers and letters (e.g., JXA6PDRNQ2SO) and is intended primarily for automatic processing.

For example, when a new email comes in, the system will analyze the subject to see if there is a matching email header. If a matching header is found and recognized, the system will automatically assign that email to the corresponding case. Depending on your service configuration, the system may also attempt to deliver that email to you if you have previously worked on this case.

Softphones

A softphone is a software program for handling telephone calls using the networking and sound processing capabilities of a general purpose computer. In VoIP systems, a softphone application is associated with a user at the moment of login, and it is identified by the user’s name and extension number for the duration of the login session.

When a new user is created in the system, a softphone extension number is assigned to the user automatically. The extension number can be used for making direct calls to this user when numeric input is preferred or when it is the only way to make a call (e.g., dialing the extension number from a simple hardphone or entering it through an interactive voice (IVR) system). Note that the softphone extensions are recycled (i.e., when you remove a user from the configuration, the user's extension number becomes available for assignment to another new user). All forwarding options of such a recycled softphone extension will be reset to their default values.

In Bright Pattern Contact Center, the softphone functions are implemented in the Agent Desktop Helper Application component, which is an integral part of the Agent Desktop. This component is installed on the computers of all users of the Agent Desktop application. For more information about the functions of this component and methods of its installation, see section Agent Desktop Helper Application.

Note that computers of users of the Agent Desktop application must conform to a number of system requirements.

To view the current extension number assignment, get the real-time softphone status, and set up call forwarding options, select the Softphones option from the Directory menu.

Screen Properties

The Softphones screen properties are organized into two tabs--Phone and Forwarding--which are described as follows.

Phone tab

Number

Number is the softphone extension number. This is a read-only parameter that also shows the first and last name of the user who is currently assigned to this extension number. If you wish to assign a different extension number to the user, click the username.

Phone registers dynamically as

The Phone registers dynamically as property is the unique softphone registration name consisting of the extension number and your tenant access domain name. This parameter is read-only.

Note: The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) registration mechanism is used for detection of softphone connection problems. If the softphone cannot register with the SIP server upon login, or if the softphone loses connection after a successful initial registration, the following error message will be displayed on the Agent Desktop: SIP phone has lost connection with the system. Softphones refresh registration every 15 seconds. On the SIP server side, the timeout for registration renewal is set to 30 seconds. Thus, there may be up to a 15-second delay between loss of connection and the display of the error message.

Forwarding tab

Call forwarding settings

The Forwarding tab contains call forwarding settings related to the softphone extension. The same settings appear in the configuration of the user to whom the softphone extension is assigned.

Hardphones

A hardphone is a telephony device designed specifically for handling telephone calls. Unlike softphones, whose extensions are defined by users who are currently logged on, hardphones have their own extension numbers. In Bright Patter Contact Center, the association between a user and a hardphone number is typically established when, while logging into the Agent Desktop application, the user selects option An internal phone for the phone device setting and specifies a hardphone number. Such an association is maintained for the duration of the login session. After the user logs out, another user can log in with the same hardphone device following the same login procedure.

For users who have permanently assigned hardphones installed at their personal desks, another type of association can be established where such a phone is assigned as a default hardphone number in the user’s configuration (see section Users, property Default hardphone number). In this case, the user will select option Default number for the phone device setting when logging in.

After hardphones have been created in the Bright Pattern Contact Center configuration, the hardphone devices themselves shall be configured with the corresponding extension numbers and registered with the system.

For manual hardphone set up procedures, refer to the documentation provided with your hardphone devices. Bright Pattern Contact Center also supports automatic provisioning for Polycom IP phones (see option Phone MAC address below for more information).

To configure hardphones, get their real-time status, and set up their call forwarding options, select the Hardphones option from the Directory menu.

Screen Properties

The Hardphones screen properties are organized into three tabs: Phone, Authentication, and Forwarding. Their configuration settings are described as follows.

Phone tab

Number

Number is the hardphone extension number. This mandatory field must be unique within the contact center. Note that if you use both softphones and hardphones in your contact center, the uniqueness must be observed within the entire range of extension numbers, including the ones assigned to softphones.

Caller ID

Caller ID is the name that will be displayed to other users when they receive calls from this phone.

MAC address

MAC address is the unique identifier of the hardphone device on the physical network. This parameter is optional and is used for possible automatic provisioning of supported hardphone models. Entering or changing the MAC address will automatically enable authentication and will require a new password for the phone (see screen Authentication below.)

Phone registers dynamically as

Phone registers dynamically as is the unique hardphone registration name consisting of the extension number and tenant access domain name.

Authentication tab

Username

Username is the username for authentication of the hardphone. This field is mandatory.

New Password

New Password is used to change the selected hardphone’s password. Enter the new password here.

Confirm password

Confirm password is the mandatory password confirmation field.

Generate password

Use this button to let the system generate a random password for the hardphone. Note that the generated password will be displayed in clear text only until you close the pop-up window. Thus, you should note and communicate it to the hardphone’s user immediately upon generation. The password will be masked for any subsequent display attempts.

Forwarding tab

General information

The Forwarding tab contains call forwarding settings related to the hardphone extension. These settings are applied regardless of whether users log in with the hardphone temporarily or whether it is used as someone’s permanent (default) hardphone.

Forward all calls for ext…

Forward all calls for ext… indicates whether call forwarding is activated for the hardphone extension.

to

This field is for the phone number to which incoming calls will be forwarded. It must be specified if the Forward all calls to ext… checkbox is selected.

Forward No Answer timeout

Forward No Answer timeout is the time (in seconds) after which incoming calls will be forwarded to the number specified if the user is logged on and does not answer. The amount of time must be specified if the Forward all calls to ext… checkbox is selected. For immediate (unconditional) forwarding, set the timeout to 0.

If the user is unreachable (busy or logged out), incoming calls will be forwarded to the specified number immediately, regardless of this setting.

Hours of Operation

Hours of Operation (HOPs) are the service schedules that you define externally and then assign to services or scenario entries. For more information, see section Calendars.

To define HOPs, select the Hours of Operation option from the Call Center Configuration menu.

Screen Properties

The Hours of Operation screen properties are organized into two tabs: Hours of Operation tab and Associations. Screen properties for both are described as follows.

Hours of Operation tab

Name

The Name refers to the HOP name. It is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Hours

Hours specifies the calendars that comprise this HOP with the hours of operation defined for each. By default (no calendars assigned), this schedule will be treated as a 24/7 operation.

To add a calendar, click add, select the calendar from the drop-down menu, and specify the operation hours for the days in that calendar. If your contact center does not operate during the days of the given calendar, select closed.

You can define a new calendar directly within calendar assignment dialog by clicking add/edit.

To remove or edit previously defined hours, hover the cursor over their names.

If your HOP contains calendars with different levels of specificity, the more specific level takes priority over the more generic one(s). The levels of specificity, from more generic to more specific, are weekly, monthly and day of Nth week, yearly, and a specific date. For example, if HOP has the calendars Mon-Fri 9 am – 7 pm, Sat 10 am – 6 pm, and Jan 1^st 11am – 5 pm defined, the associated services will be open between 11 am and 5 pm on Jan 1^st of every year regardless of what day of the week it is.

If your HOP contains any gaps (i.e., undefined days), Bright Pattern will consider the associated services to be closed during such days. For example, if you have HOP that only have the calendars Mon-Fri 9 am – 7 pm and Sat 10 am – 5 pm defined, the associated service will be considered closed on Sundays.

If your HOP contains two calendars with the same days and with different hours of operation, the resulting hours of operation for such days will be the union of two time intervals. For example, if you have an HOP with calendar Sat 9 am – 3 pm, and with calendar Sat-Sun 10 am – 5 pm, the resulting hours for Saturday in the associated services will be 9 am – 5 pm. One exception is the closed check box that overrides any open hours. For example, if you have an HOP with calendar Sat marked as “closed”, and with calendar Sat-Sun 10 am – 5 pm, Saturday will be considered “closed.”

clone

This option allows you to define a new HOP based on the currently selected one. When you click clone, a copy of the currently selected HOP is created with default name Copy of [Schedule Name]. You can change the HOP name, as well as add calendars to, remove them from, or edit their hours in, this new HOP.

Associations tab

Services

In this tab, services that use the given schedule are listed. Select a service from the list to see the service definition.

Inbound Voice and Chat Service Configuration

This section outlines the recommended general order of configuring an inbound voice or chat service.

For inbound voice services with virtual queuing (callback option), see also Bright Pattern's Virtual Queue Tutorial.

The following steps suggest the order of actions that you should take when configuring an inbound voice or chat service for your contact center.

Step 1: Create and configure an inbound voice or chat service

Create an inbound voice or chat service, and configure its general settings. See section Services and Campaigns - Properties Tab.

Step 2: Assign teams to the service

Assign agent teams to this service. Note that the service will be created with a default service skill that can be assigned automatically to all members of the associated agent teams. See section Services and Campaigns - Assignments Tab.

Step 3: Create additional skills required for this service

Additional skills are called auxiliary skills. Add any other required agent skills for this campaign.

Step 4: Assign the additional skills to agents of the assigned teams

Assign auxiliary skills to agents as required skill levels.

Step 5: Specify service level thresholds

Set the service level threshold for the service. See section Services and Campaigns - Service Level Tab.

Step 6: Create the scenario for the service

Create the interaction processing scenario for this service. For voice, use text-to-speech to generate the voice messages and prompts, and once they are finalized, record them with a voice talent.

Step 7: For voice, specify dial-out information

For voice services, specify the dial-out entries for outbound consultation calls.

Step 8: For voice, set up periodic call recording exports

For voice services, set up periodic exports of call recordings. See section Services and Campaigns - Results Tab.

Step 9: For chat, update omnichannel routing settings

For chat services, specify the number of sessions that agents can handle simultaneously. See section Omnichannel Routing.

Step 10: For voice, configure caller ID

For voice services, configure a caller ID for outbound SMS communications. See section Services and Campaigns - Numbers Tab.

Step 11: For chat, configure SMS access numbers

For chat services, configure an SMS access number for inbound SMS communications. See section Messaging.

Step 12: Associate scenarios

Associate a scenario with the access number (for voice) or web/mobile applications (for chat). See section Scenario Entries.

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Dial-in

The logic of processing a phone call is initially determined by the phone number to which this call is delivered. Call arrival activates a scenario associated with that number. The scenario controls all further steps of call qualification and distribution until the moment when the call is answered by an agent (or sometimes self-serviced). The logical entity that describes the association between a phone number and a call-processing scenario is called a dial-in scenario entry.

To set up and manage such associations, select the Dial-in option from the Scenario Entries menu.

Dial-in Scenario Entries Screen Properties

The Dial-in Scenario Entries screen properties are described as follows.

Name

Name is the name of the dial-in scenario entry. This field is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Scenario

Scenario is the Voice scenario that will process calls arriving at the phone numbers defined in this dial-in scenario entry (see below).

Service

Service refers to the service associated with the dial-in scenario entry. Such direct association between telephone number and a service can be used when your access numbers directly identify your services.

Even if you use one access number for many different services (i.e., use an interactive voice script within the associated scenario for service selection), you may still assign a default service directly to the access number in order to account for the calls abandoned before service selection and for the calls that bypass the service selection stage (e.g., someone is unable to use the keypad to enter service selection choice, or someone is confused about which option to choose).

Hours of Operation

Hours of operation (HOP) is a schedule that defines service hours for each day of the year.

• Choose from service to use HOPs of the services associated with interactions processed by the given scenario.
• Choose select to select one of the preconfigured HOPs.
• Choose specify to define a new HOP specifically for this scenario entry.

Unless you create an entry point for a 24/7 operation, the scenario that you have specified in the Scenario property above must define processing of interaction arriving at this entry outside as well as within the specified hours of operation. That is, the scenario should normally begin with an If block that has the condition The current date and time is (or is not) in hours of operation. For more information, see the example provided in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

HOPs can also be specified at the service level.

Note the following:

• If you use options select or specify to define HOP for this scenario entry, all possible HOP checks within this scenario will use the HOP defined for this entry. Any HOPs specified for any services within this scenario will be disregarded.

• If you use option from service, the HOP check will use the HOP of the service that is associated with the interaction at the time when the check is performed. By default, this is the Service configured for this scenario entry (see above). However, if the service is redefined within the scenario, a subsequent HOP check will use the HOP of that new service.

• If you (1) use option from service, (2) do not have any Service configured for this scenario entry, and (3) use an HOP check before any explicit service assignment within the scenario, all incoming interactions will be treated as if they arrived outside of the service hours.

• This HOP setting only specifies when the services provided via this scenario entry are open/closed. In order to complete the HOP configuration, you need to define the following additional elements in the assigned scenario:
  • Checking whether interactions arrive within or outside the HOP. Use the If scenario block for this purpose with the following condition: "The current date and time" "is not" "scenario default hours of operation".
  • Specifying the action to be applied to interactions if the above condition is met (e.g., play an announcement and exit or offer voicemail).

Internal numbers

Internal numbers are the numbers associated with this scenario. Although service calls normally arrive at external access numbers, you can also set up an internal number to enable agents to transfer calls to this scenario entry. Once assigned, a number cannot be associated with any other scenarios.

Specification of an internal number for a dial-in scenario entry is optional. Note, however, that if you specify an entry without an internal number, it will not be displayed in the Dial-in Scenario Entries list. You will be able to see such an entry point in the list of external access numbers only.

External numbers

These are the external access numbers associated with the scenario. Select the desired number from the drop-down list. If the number is already assigned to another scenario or to an extension number, the drop down list will provide this information. Once assigned, a number cannot be associated with any other scenarios.

Note that the system allows you to define more than one access number within the same scenario entry point. This may be useful, for example, if you intend to provide your customers with a choice of numbers depending on where they call from, while otherwise applying exactly the same processing logic to all such calls.

Requested skills

Requested skills are the auxiliary skills that the agents must possess in order to handle calls arriving via this scenario entry. By defining such skills externally, you can use the same scenario in multiple scenario entries that differ only in auxiliary skills. For example, for your technical support service, you can have separate numbers for Product A support and Product B support, where Product A and B are defined as two different auxiliary skills defined for two different scenario entries associated with the same scenario.

Mute IVR toward agent when conferenced

Select this checkbox if you do not wish the agent to hear IVR prompts when on a conference call with a customer and an IVR. This setting can be used if a conferenced IVR contains prompts confirming sensitive data (e.g., credit card information) received from the customer.

Mute DTMF toward agent when conferenced

Select this checkbox if you do not wish the agent to hear the dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) touchtones when the agent is on a conference call. This setting can be used if a conferenced IVR expects the customer to enter sensitive data (e.g., credit card information) using the DTMF keys of their phones.

Queuing priority

Queuing priority refers to the queuing priority of interactions arriving through the scenario entry. Priority determines how fast these interactions will move through the queue relative to interactions arriving through other scenario entries when they compete for the same agents. The value range for priority setting is from 1 to 100. Decimals are permitted.

Consider the following examples:

• Your platinum-level customers are served by the same agents as all other customers, but you may give them a different number to call the same service. In this case, you may define two different entries for the same scenario with a higher queuing priority for the platinum customers.
• You want to make sure that customer calls internally transferred via queue are answered as soon as possible. In this case, you may define a separate entry for internally transferred calls with a higher priority.

For more information and examples of how priority works, see section Set Priority of the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Visible to agents

Visible to agents provides indication of whether this scenario entry shall appear in the Agent Desktop directory. Select the checkbox if you want your agents to be able to make blind transfers to service queues via this scenario entry.

Directory folder

Directory folder is the folder of the Agent Desktop directory where this scenario entry will appear if enabled by the previous option. You can select an existing folder or define a new one.

Scenario parameters

Bright Pattern Contact Center scenario language has a number of variables that can be set to different values depending on the scenario entry where this scenario is used. If such variables are present in the scenario selected for this entry, they will appear under this option and can be set to the values specific to the given scenario entry. Use of such externally defined variables enables you to have fewer scenarios because they can be re-used for various scenario entries. For more information, see the description of variable $(app.custom.XXX) and voice segment type Voice, from parameter in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

Interaction Records Search

When you select the Interaction Records tab from the top of the screen, the application pane will initially display a search page where you define media type(s) of the interactions you are looking for as well as other search criteria, such as time frame, participating agent(s), and/or service(s) involved.

This section offers an overview of the Interaction Records Search feature. For detailed descriptions of search criteria and search results, see sections List of Interaction Records Search Criteria and Search Results.

Please note, only completed interaction segments appear in the Interaction Records search. For emails, this means that an email will only appear in search results after it has been replied to, closed without reply, or saved as a draft. Thus, emails in the initial distribution queue will not be shown.

The standard aggregation period for the raw data used to produce detailed interaction records and historical reports is 15 minutes; therefore, under normal circumstances, detailed records for completed interactions and agent activities is available in Interaction Records and Agent Timeline with a maximum delay of 15 minutes.

Adding Search Conditions

Your search criteria can have any number of conditions (i.e., search criteria). To add a condition to your search, click add condition. To edit or delete an existing condition, use the mouse-over operation.

Saving Search Conditions

You can save a set of search conditions for future use--a helpful capability for when you regularly run the same searches and you do not want to add conditions manually each time you search. To save a set of search conditions, click Save and assign a name to it. To use a previously saved set of search conditions, click Load, and select its name from the drop-down menu.

Viewing Search Results

When all desired search conditions are specified, click the Search button. The Search Results page will open with the list of interaction records matching your search criteria. Each row of the displayed table describes a single interaction.

Note that an interaction may have multiple segments (e.g., when a call was handled by multiple agents). The number of segments in a call is shown in the Segments column. You can see details for each segment of a selected call by clicking that number.

Some columns show data that is media-type specific (e.g., Case ID Subject is only relevant for emails). You can adjust the format of your table to display only the columns for the data that you need. To remove columns, hover over any column header, open the drop-down menu, and unselect the columns for the data you do not need.

You can download all records that appear in the Search Results page in the .CSV format. To export the records, click the export button at the bottom of the page.

You can also manually download email content, call recordings, and call progress analysis (CPA) recordings for the interactions shown in the Search Results page. Note that manual download is limited to up to 100 emails, 100 call recordings, and 500 CPA recordings, respectively.

Periodic automated export of call/CPA recordings is configured via Services and Campaigns > Results Tab of the Contact Center Administrator application.

Erasing Interaction Content

The Erase feature for an interaction record allows you to remove the content of the record (i.e., voice recording and/or transcript for a call, the transcript for a chat, message body for an email, etc.), which may be necessary in order to comply with privacy laws or security standards. When taking this action, note that you can delete the content of one interaction at a time. For bulk erasure of interaction content, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Results Tab > Interactions Erasing.

How to Erase Interaction Content

To erase content of a single interaction, take the following steps:

1. Configure the desired criteria for your records search and find the desired interaction record.
2. Open the record for review by clicking it's content item.
3. At the bottom of the record, select the Erase button; this will pop the Erase interaction window
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Select Items to erase, which displays the type of content you wish to erase (e.g., a voice recording, a transcript, or both)
5. Fill in the mandatory Reason field; this allows you to provide a reason the content was erased.
6. Select the Erase button and you will see a new prompt, warning you that erasing the interaction is permanent.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Select the Erase button again and the interaction will be permanently erased. Note that for email interactions, the Erase function erases content of one email message at a time. For other media types (voice, chat), the content of the entire interaction will be erased at once, regardless of the number of interaction segments.

Note that in the interaction window, if you select the segment that was erased, a message will display the time, date, user, and reason the interaction was erased.

Outbound - General

The following general campaign settings are configured in the General section of the Services and Campaigns Outbound tab.

General Settings

Type

This is the type of campaign. There are four different campaign types from which to choose.

• In campaigns of the Preview type, the calling records are submitted to the agents participating in the campaign. The agents review record information, dial destination numbers, and monitor call progress. Additionally, this type of campaign allows agents to be reserved for a requested callback without indication to the agent.
• In campaigns of the Progressive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to a fixed (preconfigured) dialing rate, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents.
• In campaigns of the Predictive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to currently optimal dialing rates, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents. The dialing rate is optimized to maintain the desired agent occupancy based on the statistical analysis of outcomes of most recent dialing attempts.
• In campaigns of the Automatic (IVR) type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to a prerecorded interactive voice response (IVR) message. Agents are not involved in campaigns of this type.

Note that the definition of some of the subsequent campaign properties will depend on the selected campaign type.

Enabled

Enabled indicates the current state of the campaign. By default, the campaign is disabled and normally it should remain in this state until it is completely configured. Completeness of campaign configuration can be verified via the Diagnostics page. After the campaign has been completely configured, select the Enabled checkbox to indicate that it is ready to run.

Campaigns can be disabled again when they are no longer active but have to remain in configuration to ensure availability of campaign results. Note that disabling of campaigns is always a manual operation.

Note: For blended services, you should keep the outbound portion of a service enabled at all times, even during the periods without any outbound activity. If you disable the outbound portion, dispositions of the possible callbacks made to the campaign caller ID may not be processed correctly. This may result in repeated attempts to contact customers who are not supposed to be contacted again within the given campaign (e.g., accepted the campaign offer or requested not to be called again). If you need to prevent the outbound portion of a blended service from making calls, remove all of its calling hours.

Status

Status shows whether the outbound campaign has started or if it is stopped (i.e., ready to run). Click Start or Stop to change the status of the outbound campaign.

Start / Stop Automation

After the campaign has been enabled, it can be started and stopped manually at any time using these buttons.

Note that a campaign also can be started and stopped manually form the Agent Desktop application by a user designated as an operator for this campaign.

In addition, the campaign can be started and stopped automatically using the combination of the From/Until and using hours of operation settings as described below.

From

From indicates the moment from which this campaign can be started automatically based on the service hours of operation defined in the Properties tab.

If specified, the campaign will start automatically at the specified time provided that this time is within the specified service hours of operation. If the specified time is outside of the service hours, the campaign will start automatically at the nearest service opening time following the specified campaign start time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign start only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started earlier manually.

using hours of operation

By default, the campaign will be run automatically according to the hours of operation specified in the Properties tab for the given outbound service. If you click this link, you will be taken to the tab where you can modify the service hours.

Note that this schedule reflects the time when the agents of the associated teams will be expected to handle interactions of the given campaign. This schedule is normally defined for the time zone where your contact center is located. The actual calling schedules for various types of phones and other possible time-related calling restrictions are defined in the Calling Hours page relative to the time zone of destination phone numbers.

Until

Until indicates the moment when this campaign will be terminated automatically even if processing of some of the calling records has not been finished or attempted. This setting will not affect the campaign-related calls that may be in progress at the specified time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign termination only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started or resumed manually later.

Campaign link group

Campaigns of the same type with the same hours of operation, and same assigned agent teams can be linked together so that, when processing of all records of one campaign is finished, the next campaign in the group will be started automatically.

To associate this campaign with an existing group select the group from the list. If there are other campaigns associated with the selected list, the system will ask you to confirm that the type of this campaign, its hours of operation, assigned teams, and skills will be redefined to match the corresponding settings of campaigns already in the group.

The service parameters whose settings are controlled by the link group membership will be highlighted with orange dots.

To remove the campaign from a link group it was previously assigned to, select None from the drop-down menu.

Begin this campaign after

By default, the order in which campaigns in the link group will be activated is determined by the order those campaign were added to the group. You can redefine this order for the given campaign by selecting the preceding campaign from the drop-down menu. If the given campaign shall be processed first, select none (1st).

Preview Options

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives a preview record. Normally this is a web page that might contain additional information about the calling record. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop. See the group of variables Outbound Target Work Item Parameters in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

This parameter is optional. If it is not set, only the customer name and phone number to be dialed will be displayed in the contact panel of the Agent Desktop application.

Note that you can display information from calling records using Activity forms.

In addition, the specified web page will be displayed in the Context Information Area of Agent Desktop. This area is not shown when Agent Desktop is run minimized using the Pop-out function. Thus, when using URL screen pop, consider disabling agents' privilege Force pop-out phone window.

Screen-popping CRM URLs

When configuring the general properties of your preview campaign, you can enable specific Salesforce or Zendesk URLs to be screen-popped to the Agent Desktop.

For Salesforce Classic, Salescloud, and Lightning:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of Preview Options, enter the object ID (e.g., $(workitem.otherInfo.SalesforceID)).

For Zendesk:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of preview service, enter the ticket URL with the Zendesk ID (e.g., tickets/$(workitem.otherInfo.ZendeskID)).

Start dialing first number automatically

By default, agents dial numbers from list records manually. Select this checkbox if the first number of the list record shall be dialed automatically after the amount of time allocated for record preview (see option Start dialing after).

Start dialing after

Start dialing after is the amount of time allocated for list record preview. This parameter is essential only if option Start dialing first number automatically is enabled.

Use specific agent assignments for records

Records of the calling lists associated with the given campaign may be assigned to specific agents. If you select this option, any such records will be distributed only to the agents assigned to handle them. For more information, see the description of field type Agent Login ID in section Lists.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Predictive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the default scenario will wait until terminating this call. Note that this setting only applies if the <<Default scenario>> is selected as the scenario to run when answered.

If you apply any other scenario to process answered call attempts (i.e., select anything other than <<Default scenario>> as the scenario to run when answered), you should set the unattended call timeout as the last interval of the Find Agent block of the given scenario. You should also define the action applied to such unattended calls when the timeout expires as the conditional Time Out exit of the given block.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations). In this scenario template, the interval of the Find Agent block is set to 0-2 seconds and its Time Out conditional exit starts an IVR script that introduces the caller and provides the called party with an opt-out option.

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

This setting is reserved for future use.

Dialer Aggressiveness

Target occupancy, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Target occupancy specifies the target occupancy for the agents participating in this campaign that will be used by the predictive algorithm to calculate the dialing frequency. Occupancy is defined as the time spent handling calls relative to the time total working time--that is, (Busy Time + ACW Time) / (Busy Time + ACW Time + Ready Time) * 100.

Changes in the target occupancy of a running campaign will take effect immediately. Such changes may be necessary in order to observe compliance with the telemarketing law for maximum percentage of unattended calls (also known as abandonment rate). The percentage of unattended calls can be monitored in real time (see section General Campaign Metrics View of the Supervisor Guide) and/or historically (see section Telemarketing Compliance Report of the Reporting Reference Guide).

Initial Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Initial Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine the dialing frequency at the start of this campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will initially make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Note that this setting is an inversion of the Estimated Success Rate (ESR), which was used in the product prior to Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.10 for the same purpose. The ESR is defined as the expected percentage of call attempts that will be answered relative to all call attempts that will be made for this campaign; thus, if you upgrade from a previous version of Bright Pattern Contact Center and the ESR for a particular campaign was set to 50%, you will see the Initial Overdial Rate for this campaign set to 200%. (The ESR is displayed as a read-only value next to it.)

Once the system has accumulated enough statistics for dial frequency prediction, the configured Initial Overdial Rate value will be replaced with the actual overdial rate calculated and constantly updated in real time.

You can reset statistics used in calculation of the actual success rate and reapply the configured Initial Overdial Rate value at any time during campaign operation by clicking the Reset statistics button.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Progressive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the Find Agent block of the applied scenario (see Scenario to run when answered above) will wait for an available agent before processing it in the manner defined by the conditional exit Time Out.

Note that the Default scenario will terminate such calls.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

Enter the maximum percentage of allowable dropped calls.

Progressive Power Dialing

Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Progressive mode only.

Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine dialing frequency for the duration of the campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Setting the Overdial Rate to 100% (default) practically means that for any answered call, there will be an agent available to accept it.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Automatic (IVR) options

Max concurrent calls

This option specifies how many calls can be in progress simultaneously.

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. Note that for Automatic (IVR) mode, the scenario containing a recorded IVR message should be explicitly defined.

Detect voice before connection

This option indicates whether upon answer the system shall wait to detect a voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether, upon voice detection, the system shall try to distinguish the voice from an answering machine greeting. It is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This option indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, the disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify the reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for off-line analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base is a repository of articles that help agents quickly find answers to customer inquiries and improve response times via using predefined/approved text in email and chat communications.

To work with Knowledge Base, select the Knowledge Base option from the Call Center Configuration menu.

Note: While the Knowledge Base screen is the main interface for creation and editing of articles, you can also allow some of your agents to contribute to Knowledge Base directly from their Agent Desktops. Such agents, as well as any other users who are expected to contribute to Knowledge Base, must have the Edit knowledge base privilege. For more information about user roles and privileges, see section Roles.

Using Folders and Subfolders

The list view of the Knowledge Base screen displays existing articles arranged in folders and subfolders.

How to create a folder at the root level

1. Select an existing folder at this level without unfolding it.
2. Click .

How to create a subfolder in a certain folder

1. Unfold and select the folder.
2. Click .

How to create an article in a certain folder

1. Unfold and select the folder.
2. Click .

How to export specific articles/folders

1. Select the articles or folders from the list and click .
2. In the dialog that appears, click Export to confirm. Doing so allows you to export the entire Knowledge Base or some selected sections (both folders and articles).

How to export the entire Knowledge Base

• Click at any time.
• In the dialog that appears, click Export All.

Knowledge Base content is exported in a zipped YAML file. You can edit the exported content using one of the editors that support YAML, such as Geany.

You can also import content into Knowledge Base. Content should be prepared as a zipped YAML file. To import, click and select the desired .zip file.

Screen Properties

The Knowledge Base screen properties are described as follows.

Name

The name of the folder or article is mandatory and must be unique within the folder.

Language

Language refers to the language(s) in which the article is written. For chats, language selection is controlled via scenarios. For emails, the system will automatically attempt to detect the language of incoming email messages. If the detection is successful, only articles written in the same language will be offered to the agent as possible replies.

Keywords

Keywords are statements of a customer problem or question that this article will address. In a more general sense, this field can be used for any kind of information that will help agents quickly assess relevance of the article to the interactions that they handle. Content of this field will not appear in the email draft or chat text input field.

Answer

Answer is the text that will be inserted into the email draft or chat text input field if the agent chooses to use this article. To insert a substitution field, click the Insert $() button. The following substitution fields can be used:

• $(user.firstName) – Agent’s first name
• $(user.lastName) – Agent’s last name
• $(user.email) – Agent’s email address from agent’s user settings; note that this setting is optional and may not have direct relevance to any email services; see section Users for more information
• $(from.name) – Customer’s name (for email interactions, the display name taken from the From: field of the email for which the given reply is composed)
• $(from.emailAddress) - Customer’s email address (for email interactions, the email address taken from the From: field of the email for which the given reply is composed)
• $(case.number) – Number of the case this message is related to
• $(app.emailAddress) – Email address of the email scenario entry (this is the same address will appear in the From: field of any outgoing emails sent via this scenario entry); see section Scenario Entries > Email for more information
• $(cursor) – Position of the input text cursor immediately after the article is inserted

Usage notes

Usage notes are the notes, comments, and suggestions regarding usage of this article. The content of this field will not appear in the email draft or chat text input field.

Services

Services are the services that this article can be used for. The system automatically assigns a service to every customer interaction. When looking for articles, the agent will be able to limit search to the articles associated with the same service.

This is the default article for

This property names the service for which this article will be displayed as a suggested reply in the email draft pane or chat text input field of the agent desktop.

Note: Some service configuration changes that affect agent behavior are not picked up dynamically by Agent Desktop. Thus, after making a change to this property, we recommend that all affected logged-in agents refresh their browser page.

Custom Fields

With Custom Fields, an agent working on a call with an activity form may use a Knowledge Base article and use its contents to fill the form. When they click the Use button, a number of fields on the form will be prefilled with these associated custom field values. Fields may be created in the Knowledge Base Custom Fields subsection of Case & Contact Management. When editing a Knowledge Base article, custom fields can be filled or left empty.

Additionally, you may enter values that represent JSON arrays, which then prefill form text fields (e.g. [“option1”, “option2”, “option3”]. Doing this allows these text fields convert into combo boxes with these values/ options. If a value is not set for the article, the field does not prefill the form.

Lists

Lists contain destination data for automated outbound dialing. Each list record provides information about a single destination, and typically includes customer’s name, at least one telephone number, and other information specific to the dialing purpose. For example, lists used in a satisfaction survey campaign may include information about products purchased by the customers. Lists are used in outbound and blended services as discussed in section Services and Campaigns - Lists Tab.

List data is deleted from the calling list database automatically when the

• corresponding list object is deleted from configuration
• list is updated with new content via periodic import with the update policy set to replace list data

To work with lists, select the Lists option from the root menu. To import and configure a new list, click the button with the “+” sign. A list import wizard will open.

List Import

The list import wizard screens and properties are described as follows.

List Type screen

Select list type

Select the method that will be used to import data to this list: a file or Salesforce.com query. For the latter, you must have a Salesforce.com integration account configured in your system.

For detailed instructions on importing data from a Salesforce.com application see section Importing Calling Lists and Exporting Campaign Results of the Salesforce.com Integration Guide.

Name and Source screen

Data source

Data source is the source of data for this list. To upload a file from a local source, select Upload, click Browse, and select the data file. You can use results of previous campaigns, filtered by disposition if necessary, as the source of your list data.

To obtain data from an external source, select the transfer protocol (FTP or SFTP), and specify the address (URL), Username, and Password.

Note that only plain text list files (.CSV or fixed width) are supported as sources for list data. This setting is specified for list type File only.

List name

The list name is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center. The name of the selected data source is offered as the default name.

List format

If you want the format of a list to be based on the format of one of the previously imported lists, select the desired list format from the drop-down menu. Using an existing list format can save you time while going through the subsequent import steps, especially the Fields wizard screen.

If you need to review the desired format before assigning it, close the wizard, locate the desired format in the Format column of the list view, select the corresponding list, and click the view link in the Properties tab.

Note that if you select an existing list format but decide to introduce some changes for the imported list (e.g., change some field names), then upon completion of the wizard, you will be prompted to save these changes as a new format.

If you wish to create a new format using the layout of the imported list, select Create new format. This setting is specified for list type File only.

Salesforce.com integration account

The Salesforce.com integration account is what will be used to obtain Salesforce.com data for this list. This setting is specified for list type Salesforce.com only.

SOQL query to select object for list

Use this field to specify the query for selecting Salesforce.com records for this calling list. The query must be written in the Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL). Note that the records must contain object identifiers and have at least one phone number.

This setting is specified for list type Salesforce.com only. Note that there is a 30 second timeout on the Bright Pattern Contact Center side to begin receiving data from SFDC after the SOQL query is submitted.

Format Type screen (for list type File only)

Delimited

Select Delimited if a character, such as comma or tab, separates each field in the imported data

First line contains field names

Select this checkbox if the first line of the imported data appears to contain column headings. Field names are case insensitive starting from version 3.13. This means field names that differ in case only refer to the same field.

Fixed width

Select this option if fields of the imported data appear to be aligned in columns with spaces between each field.

Input file encoding

The Input file encoding option lets you select the encoding used by the source file. Initially, the UTF-8 encoding is assumed by default. If you select another encoding during a list import, the selected encoding will become the new default for subsequent list imports.

Format Options screen (for list type File only)

Delimiter

Select the character that is used to separate each field in the imported data. If the delimiting character is anything other than the comma, tab, or semicolon, use the Custom option to specify the character. When the correct delimiter is selected, the preview should show the imported data arranged as a table.

Fields screen

Do not import field (skip)

This field indicates whether the selected field is to be imported. Select this checkbox if the data in the selected field is not essential for any contact center operations (i.e., will not be used for dialing, analyzed in a scenario, or displayed for agents) and does not need to appear in campaign results.

Type

Specify the type of data that the selected field contains. If the type of data is anything other than the data types predefined in the drop-down menu, select Other. Note that at least one field of the imported list must have type Phone.

If the first row of the imported data contains column names, the wizard will try to automatically set field types according to matching column names (e.g., a column titled State will be set to field type State). You should review all name-type pairs to make sure the mapping is correct.

Possible uses of the available field types are described as follows.

Account

Account can be used for a field that contains a customer identifier. If defined, the value from this field will be stored as part of the history of all calls initiated by the corresponding calling record and can be used as a selection criterion in interaction record search. Unique account numbers can also be used as calling record keys (see below). A list can have only one field of this type.

Agent Login ID

Agent Login ID can be used to assign list records to specific agents. This may be useful, for example, for proactive contacts within established business relationships where clients might expect/prefer to be contacted by business representatives that they are familiar with. Note that such personal record assignments are used in preview campaigns only. When a list with records assigned to specific agents is used in a predictive, progressive, or automatic/IVR campaign, all such assignments will be ignored.

Caller ID

If calling records contain numbers that should be displayed as caller IDs when dialing corresponding records during campaigns, use the field type Caller ID for the field that contains these numbers. Use of these numbers as Caller IDs for a particular campaign is enabled by the campaign's Caller ID settings (option From list field of type “Caller ID”, otherwise default). Note that your service provider may or may not allow use of arbitrary caller ID numbers for your outgoing calls. If use of arbitrary caller IDs is not available to you, the number specified in the calling record will be used only as a caller ID if it matches one of the access numbers assigned to your contact center; otherwise, the specified default number will be used. When using this field to specify caller IDs for your campaign, be sure to check all legal requirements and restrictions for what can be sent as a caller ID in the jurisdictions where you operate.

Company

Company can be used when calling record contains a company name.

Date/Time

If the calling list is based on customers’ callback requests (opt-in callback list), your local telemarketing regulations may require that such callbacks are made within a specific number of days. In this case, the imported list will typically have information about when the callback request was made. Use the field type Date/Time for this information. Fields of the Date/Time type cannot be used to set campaign quotas.

Date/Time - schedule call at

Date/Time - schedule call at can be used to provide, during list import, information about when this record needs to be called. It can be used to define the exact moment of time when this record needs to be attempted.

Note that the call will happen as close to the specified date and time as possible; the system will make the best attempt. Safe calling hours are not ignored. If the date and time are in the past at the time of list load, the field contents are ignored.

Encrypted data

Encrypted data can be used to store sensitive information that must be stored encrypted and only be presented in clear text to the agent who will be processing the record in case of a successful call attempt. Note that the encrypted data cannot be not automatically processed by the system, and thus, may not include any information used for campaign automation, such as phone numbers, zip codes, states, or any information that is used to set campaign quotas. If you do not see the Encrypted data field type, the data encryption function is not enabled for your contact center by the service provider.

First name

First name is the person's first name.

Integer

Integer is intended for fields with semantically numeric data (e.g., person's age or account balance) that may be used to set a campaign quota.

Last name

Last name is a person's last name.

Other

Other can be used for fields that do not fall into any specific field type uses outlined here.

Phone

Phone should be set for fields with phone numbers that may be dialed during a campaign. A list must contain at least one field of this type.

Postal code

Postal code is a person's postal code. This must be present if the Use safe calling hours option is desired.

Priority

Priority can be used to indicate that the record shall be attempted as soon as possible relative to other records within the same list. This can be useful, for example, in order to give calling priority to the most recent web leads that tend to be most effective when followed up on immediately. A record will be treated as a prioritized record when its priority field is set to any value other than empty string, zero, "no", or "false". The priority setting only affects the first attempt to dial the record; for any possible subsequent attempts the prioritized record will be treated as a regular record. Priority of records can also be set to expire after a specified time period (see property Priority expires after).

State/Province

State/Province is a person's state/province. Either this field or the Postal code field must be present in the calling records in order to observe mandatory State Calling Hours.

Name

If the first line of the imported data contains column headings, these headings will be used as the default field names. Otherwise, default names Field1, Field2,…, FieldN will be assigned. Use this option to change the default field name if necessary. Field names are case-sensitive, which means that field names that differ in case only refer to the same field.

Required Field

Required Field indicates that the data in this field is required. If selected, the import process will not skip records that have no data in this field.

For all fields of the Phone type, this checkbox is preselected automatically. You can unselect it manually for any phone field that is optional. Remember, however, that at least one field of the imported list must have the type Phone.

For lists of the Salesforce.com type, field ID is preselected automatically and cannot be unselected.

Searchable Field

Searchable Field indicates this field may be searched for in the Agent Desktop application when associated with a custom Activity History field that is included in a screenpop activity form. For more information, see section Activity Forms.

The numbers are in the format for

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Phone only.

If all phone numbers in this field are within the USA and/or Canada, select United States and Canada. In this case, the numbers in this field will be processed according the following rules:

• If a number begins with “+” or “011”, it will be kept as is.
• If a number begins with “1” and has eleven digits, it will be kept as is.
• If a number does not begin with “1” and has ten digits, “1” will be prepended.
• In any other case, the record will not be imported.

If some or all numbers in this field are from countries other than the USA or Canada, select Other countries or multiple countries. In this case, the numbers in this field will be processed according the following rules:

• If a number begins with “+”, it will be kept as is.
• In any other case, the number will be assumed to begin with a country code and also kept as is unless modified using the Remove prefix or Default country code settings.

Remove prefix

This setting is displayed for the fields of the type Phone only and can be used when the number format is set to Other countries or multiple countries. If phone numbers in this field contain a prefix that must be removed, specify this prefix here. Otherwise, this setting should be left blank.

Default country code

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Phone only and can be used when the number format is set to Other countries or multiple countries. By default, numbers in a field of type Phone are assumed to have country codes included. In this case, you can leave this field blank. Otherwise, specify the country code here; it will be automatically prepended to each number in the given field unless the number begins with “+”.

Note that a country code must be specified for campaigns with any calling hour restrictions and for campaigns where numbers are checked against DNC lists of the following types: Area Code, Geographic (Postal), and Geographic (State/Province).

Time zone

This setting is displayed for the fields of Date/Time type only. By default, the time in this field is assumed to be specified for the time zone indicated in the general settings of your contact center. You can use this setting to specify another the time zone for this field.

Date/Time format

This setting is displayed for the fields of Date/Time type only and allows you to select the format in which the date and time is specified in this field. If you cannot find a format that matches exactly the date/time pattern used in the imported list, use the editable field to specify this format manually, using the Java SimpleDateFormat conventions.

Note that campaign results report timestamps of call attempts in the following format: MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss z Z, where z Z is the time zone (e.g., 11/09/2015 13:59:57 PST -0800).

Order of prioritized records

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Priority only and defines the order in which prioritized records received during list updates will be attempted.

Priority expires after

This setting is displayed for the fields of type Priority only and specifies the time period during which records with a non-empty value of this field will be considered a prioritized record. Upon expiration, priority of these records will be lowered to normal. If you do not wish the priority of a record to expire at all, set this field to 0.

Key screen (for list type File only)

Fields

This screen allows you to select a field, or a combination of fields, whose values will be used as keys (i.e., will uniquely identify records within the list). Only the fields that were marked as Required in the previous wizard step will appear as possible keys. Records with the same key values are considered duplicates, and only one of such duplicate records will appear in the imported list. Keys are also used to reference the campaign results to the original list records.

Save config only

Click this button, instead of clicking Next, if you wish to save only the list format (i.e., the configured field and key information without the actual data). The result will appear as a new list with zero records in the list view.

Import Complete screen

Import results

This screen provides statistics about the imported list, including the number of successfully imported records, as well as the numbers of records that have not been imported for various reasons.

Calling records that contain the same phone number in multiple fields of the Phone type will be successfully imported. The dialer will detect duplicate numbers while processing the list for use in a specific campaign and will only use the number in the first phone field while ignoring that number in all other phone fields of the same record. For example, if a calling record contains the same number in the field Home Phone, which happens to be the fourth field in the record, and in field Mobile Phone, which is the sixth field, the dialer will use this number according to the calling hours set for home phones. It will ignore this number when dialing mobile numbers (or when sending preview records to agents in case of a preview campaign).

Updating Lists

New lists imported via the list import wizard appear in the list view of Lists. You can update these lists manually or set up periodic automatic updates.

Manual List Update

To update a list manually, select it from the list view and click the Add records button at the bottom of the screen. (Note that this function is not available for lists of Salesforce.com type.) A list update wizard appears. Its screens and properties are described as follows.

Name and Source screen

List name

List name is the name of the selected list. It is read-only.

Data source

Data source is the source of data for this list. To upload a file from a local source, select Upload, click Browse, and select the data file. To obtain data from an external source, select the transport protocol (FTP or SFTP), and specify the address (URL), Username, and Password.

Note that only plain text list files (.CSV or fixed width) are supported as sources for list data. Note that the data structure of the selected data source shall correspond to the data structure of the data source used for the original import.

Update Policy screen

replace list data

Select this option if the data from the specified data source shall replace the existing list data. Note the following:

• Any campaign results that may have been associated with the existing list records will be deleted.
• Replacement of existing list data requires internal re-processing of the entire calling list. Thus, if updates with this policy are applied to a list within a running campaign, use of this list within the given campaign will be suspended until list re-processing is complete. The suspension time will depend on the list size and, for long lists, may amount to tens of minutes. Other lists associated with the same campaign will not be affected.

add list data

Select this option if the data from the specified data source shall be added to the existing list data. Note that data records whose keys match with keys of the existing records will not be imported.

Import Complete screen

Import results

This screen provides statistics about the imported list, including the number of successfully imported records, as well as the numbers of records that have not been imported for various reasons.

List Properties and Automated Updates

To view the current content of a list, set up periodic automatic updates, or view the list import/update history, select the desired list from the list view.

Lists screen properties

Properties tab

Name

This is the name of the list. List name is originally defined during the initial list import, but it can be changed at any time. The name must be unique within the contact center.

Format

Format is the name of the format that this list is based on. It is read-only. (The format is selected or defined during the initial list import.)

To review the format, click the view link. A new dialog window will open with description of all fields defined within this format. For more information, see description of the Fields screen of the List Import Wizard above. If any activity forms are mapped to lists based on this format, this view will also show the mapping between the form fields and list fields.

For lists of the Salesforce.com type, the window will also show the SOQL query that is used to extract the list records from the Salesforce.com application. While you cannot change the field composition or formatting, you can modify the data selection criteria for these fields (i.e., any condition in the WHERE part of the query). To do so, hover over the SOQL query and click EDIT. The new selection criteria will be applied upon the next list update.

Campaigns

Click add to associate this list with one or more campaigns. For additional configuration options related to use of the list within the associated campaign, select this campaign in the Services and Campaigns list view and open the Lists tab.

Expire records

You can set the list records to expire in a specified number of days. If a record expires before it is completed according to the regular campaign dial rules, its processing within campaign will be finished with the predefined disposition Record Expired.

To set the records of the given list to expire, select the checkbox, specify the Expiration period, and indicate the starting point from which this period will be counted:

• To count from the date when records appear in the system (either via the initial list import or subsequent list updates), select Count expiration period since record insertion. This expiration mechanism can be used to comply with your local telemarketing regulations that may require periodic scrubbing of calling records against national or state-wide do-not-call lists, after which any unmatched numbers are considered to be good for dialing over a certain period (e.g., 30 days for numbers added to the US National Do-Not-Call Registry or 15 days for numbers ported to mobile phones).
• To count from the date specified in the calling record itself, select Count expiration period using date in record. This expiration mechanism can be used for calling lists that are based on customers’ callback requests (opt-in callback lists) if your local telemarketing regulations require that such callbacks are made within a specific number of days.

Expiration period

Expiration period is the number days in which the records of this list expire. See the description of the Expire records setting for more information.

Expiration field

Expiration field is the field of the calling list that will be used to determine when the callback request was made, which is necessary in order to calculate when it expires. Only fields of type Date/Time are available for selection as expiration fields. This setting is essential if you have selected the Count expiration using date in record option. See the description of the Expire records setting for more information.

Periodic Import

To set up automatic periodic updates for this list, click edit.

In the dialog that appears:

1. Specify the protocol (FTP or SFTP), URL with file name, FTP Username, and FTP Password; this setting is specified for lists of File type only.
2. Select the Start date and time of the first update and specify the desired Import interval.
3. Select the desired Update Policy. (Note that the replace list data policy may suspend use of this list within a running campaign for the time it takes to re-process the list.) This setting is specified for lists of the File type only.
4. Click OK.
5. Once these parameters are defined, select the Enabled checkbox to activate periodic import.

For lists of the Salesforce.com type, new records matching the original SOQL query will be added to the list during each update, while any records that may have been removed from Salesforce will be disabled in the list. If there are campaign results available for such disabled records, they will be preserved.

For lists of the 'Salesforce.com type, there is a 30-second timeout on the Bright Pattern Contact Center side to begin receiving data from SFDC after the SOQL query is submitted.

You can also run import with the above settings at any time by clicking Run import now.

Contents tab

List pane

The List pane shows the entire content of the list. It is read-only.

Record pane

The Record pane shows the content of the record selected from the List pane. It is read-only.

Timestamp

Timestamp is the timestamp of the operation.

Errors is the total number of records that were not imported due to various errors (missing required fields, duplicate keys, incorrect format).

Operator

Operator is the username of the user who performed this operation.

Comment

Comment is the operation result.

Log Tab

Timestamp

Time stamp of the operation

File

Name of the list data source file

Direction

Type of the operation (IN for import/updates, EXP for export of campaign results)

Number of records

Total number of successfully imported/exported records during this operation

Errors

Total number of records that were not imported due to various errors (missing required fields, duplicate keys, incorrect format)

Operator

Username of the user who performed this operation

Comment

Operation result

Messaging/Chat

Messaging/Chat scenario entries are used to associate scenarios with contacts requested via mobile and web applications.

To set up and manage such associations, select the Messaging/Chat option from the Scenario Entries menu.

Messaging/Chat Scenario Entries Screen Properties

The Messaging/Chat Scenario Entries screen properties are described as follows.

Name

Name is the name of this messaging/chat scenario entry. This field is mandatory and must be unique within the contact center.

Unique identifier

The Unique identifier is generated by the system for this scenario entry. This identifier must be used as Application ID in the mobile and/or web applications that will connect to your contact center via this scenario entry. For more information, see section General Information of the Bright Pattern Mobile/Web API Specification.

Scenario

Scenario is the Chat scenario that will process chat requests arriving via this entry point.

Service

This is the service associated with this scenario entry. Entering a service is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Default service for voice callback

Select the voice service to be used when a customer requests a voice callback during a mobile or web chat interaction. The Default service for voice callback drop-down menu displays the voice services that have been added to Services & Campaigns.

Hours of Operation

Hours of Operation (HOP) refers to the schedule for this scenario entry point. This field is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Web HTML snippet

Web HTML snippet provides access to the web elements of the chat application that customers will use to access your contact center via the given scenario entry.

You can either use an out-of-the-box chat application hosted by your service provider, or you can create your own application.

To use the out-of-the-box application, click the HTML snippet button, copy the HTML snippet code, and embed it into your web page(s). Normally, it is not necessary to change the default client web server hostname. You will do so only if instructed by your service provider.

To create your own application, click the Client application button. A zip file with the code of the out-of-the-box application (see above) will be downloaded to your computer. You can modify this code to match the look and feel of your company website, and implement additional application functionality using the Mobile/Web API.

Requested skills

Requested skills are the auxiliary skills that the agents must possess in order to handle chats arriving through this scenario entry. This field is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Parameter expected

A parameter expected is the parameter that may be expected by the scenario in session requests coming from the mobile applications (e.g., customer’s name). Such parameters are optional. They may be used, for example, to look for the most qualified agents to handle the requested chat sessions and/or to display user information for the agents. For more information, see section Expected parameters of the Mobile/Web API Specification.

To define a new parameter, click add, select the parameter type, and specify its name. To edit or remove existing parameters, hover over their names.

SMS/MMS access numbers

Bright Pattern Contact Center enables customers to request and carry on chat conversations via SMS or multimedia messaging service (MMS). Such chat requests are initially made to a dedicated access number. Subsequent treatment of such requests, including routing, Agent Desktop, and reporting, is no different from the processing of regular chat sessions.

Use this setting to specify the number that the customers will use to initiate such SMS/MMS chat conversations. Note that this must be an enabled access number assigned to you by the service provider and dedicated to SMS/MMS communications (i.e., an access number that appears in the [number]/SMS/MMS format in the Access Numbers list view).

You can assign more than one access number to one scenario entry, but the same number cannot be assigned to multiple entries.

Messenger Accounts

Agents can participate in live chats initiated from a customer’s messenger account (e.g., Facebook Messenger, LINE, Telegram, Viber, etc.). Messenger integration accounts that are configured for your call center can be selected from the Messenger accounts drop-down menu. To add a messenger account to your Messaging/Chat scenario entry, click add and select the desired account.

Bot / Chat suggestions engine

Our system integrates with chat bots to provide meaningful suggestions to an agent during chat session, as well as bot functionality for customers to complete self-service tasks without the assistance of a live agent. From the Bot / Chat suggestions engine drop-down menu, you can select one bot / chat suggestion engine integration account as a suggestion engine per service. One such integration account can be selected as chat bot on the chat service launch point. The default engine is None.

Connect agent by phone automatically

Any mobile application contact is initially presented to the agent as a chat request. However, if the mobile application transmits the customer’s mobile phone number, this number will be displayed at the Agent Desktop, and the agent can call the number to establish a voice call with the customer. Select the Connect agent by phone automatically checkbox if you wish for such voice calls to be initiated automatically whenever the phone number is available.

Connect after delay of

If you selected the Connect agent by phone automatically checkbox, you can define how quickly the automated call to the customer mobile number will be initiated. A slight delay may be desirable if, for example, the agent needs some time to review information that comes with the original request.

Queuing priority

Queuing priority is the priority of interactions arriving through this scenario entry. This field is optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Chat nick for system messages

Chat nick for system messages is the name that will be displayed to the customers when they get automated chat responses through this scenario entry (e.g., during an initial data collection stage). By default, this is the name of your contact center (tenant name) that is defined at the service provider level.

How long an agent could wait for reply before chat times out

This is the amount of time (in minutes) that an agent could wait for a reply before the chat interaction expires. It can be redefined for each Messaging/Chat scenario entry separately.

This setting overrides the Customer Inactivity Timeout setting.

How long a client browser may stay unresponsive before chat times out

This is the amount of time (in minutes) that the client's browser may stay unresponsive before the chat interaction expires.

Visible to agents

Visible to agents indicates whether this scenario entry shall appear in the Agent Desktop directory. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Checking this box enables agents to transfer chats to another chat directory. In order to be able to transfer chats to another chat scenario, the Messaging/Chat scenario entry must be updated to be visible to agents and have a directory that is named for the transfer. For more information on how agents transfer chats, see the Agent Guide, section How to Transfer Your Chat Session.

Directory folder

Directory folder is the folder of the Agent Desktop directory where this scenario entry will appear if enabled by the previous option. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Scenario parameters

Scenario parameters are optional. See the corresponding description for the Dial-in scenario entries for more information.

Chat session icon

The chat session icon appears in the customer-facing chat window during active chat sessions. You have the option of uploading an icon (e.g., logo, photo, etc.) on a system-wide level, which will be seen in chat windows for all customers interacting with agents in your tenant. If uploaded, this icon overrides photos that agents have uploaded to their User Profile in the Agent Desktop application, which are normally seen by customers in their active chat windows.

Leaving this field empty or removing a chat session icon allows chat windows to display the photo that an agent has uploaded to his or her User Profile (if available).

For example, agent Christy Borden has uploaded a photo to her User Profile, as shown. The agent's uploaded photo appears in the customer's active chat window.

Uploading a chat session icon causes the agent's photo in the chat window to be replaced by the icon that you uploaded. Note that you must click Apply to save your changes. Also note that the chat session icon that you upload does not override agents' User Profile photos--only the display photos shown in active chat windows.

In all new chat interactions, the customer's chat window will display the chat session icon that you have uploaded. In addition, web notifications that pop on agent replies when the visitor's browser window with chat is minimized, or overlapped by other windows, will also contain the chat session icon for all agents. Note that web notifications are not supported for Internet Explorer 11 (IE11).

Co-browsing

During a web chat, co-browsing functionality allows the agent to view the customer’s screen and follow the customer’s scrolling movements. Co-browsing is initiated during the chat by the customer--not the agent--and screen sharing ends when either the customer clicks the Co-browsing button or when the chat is terminated.

Co-browsing is configured in the code (see section HTML Snippet above) of the chat application that customers will use to access your contact center. To allow and configure co-browsing for your web chats, you must have system access to either your tenant’s HTML snippet code and/or your organization’s web page itself.

How to Enable Co-browsing

1. In Contact Center Administrator, navigate to Scenario Entries > Messaging/Chat.
   
   
2. Select the desired chat scenario entry.
   
   
3. In the Properties pane, click the HTML snippet button, and copy all of the code to your clipboard.
   
   
   

   HTML Snippet
   
   
   
4. Paste the copied HTML into a text editing application (e.g., Notepad++) to edit it.
   
   
5. In the HTML, make two changes:
   
   
   1. Insert a comma AFTER chatPath: 'https://five.brightpattern.com/clientweb/chat-client-v4/'
      
      
   2. Hit Return and insert the following: togetherJS_enabled : true,
      
      
      
      
      
      
6. Copy all and paste the edited HTML onto your web page. This embeds the chat application into your webpage.
   
   
7. Publish the webpage and refresh any active chats.

How Co-browsing Works

This additional code (togetherJS_enabled : true,) causes the chat application to display the Co-browsing button to customers during active chats. When the customer clicks the Co-browsing button, a request is sent to the agent in the chat message.

When the agent accepts the request, the customer’s screen appears on the agent’s screen. The agent can follow the customer’s scrolling movements and view the customer’s screen only.

A hand icon, along with the label “Viewer”, is displayed on the customer’s screen to indicate that an agent is currently viewing the screen in Co-browsing mode. Similarly, the agent will see a circle icon that indicates the agent is viewing the customer’s screen.

Co-browsing is turned off when the customer clicks the Co-browsing button again on the active chat window.

Chat widget

The chat widget provides access to the web elements of the chat application that customers will use to access your contact center via the given scenario entry. The chat widget may be customized for color, size, fonts, font size, display elements, and more.

To edit the chat widget, click customize. The Chat Widget Configuration window will open. For more information, see the Chat Widget Configuration Guide.

Chat transcript template

The chat transcript template allows you to configure an email template for the purpose of sending chat/messaging transcripts. Note that this chat transcript template is specific to the given Messaging/Chat Scenario Entry; if the template is not defined, the template defined at the system level will be used.

In order for transcripts to be emailed, you will need the following:

• A configured SMTP server - In order for the system to automatically send emails, you will need complete SMTP Configuration.
• A configured pre-chat form with an email field - Transcripts are emailed to the address(es) specified in fields containing the variable $(item.email) when the session ends.
• A chat scenario containing $(item.sendTranscript) - In the corresponding chat scenario, you must include a Set Variable scenario block with the variable $(item.sendTranscript); the value must be set to 1 in order for the transcript to send.

When configuring the settings in this section, you will need the following:

• A sender display name
• A sender email address
• The chat transcript variable - When configuring the template message, you must include the variable $(CHAT_TRANSCRIPT). This variable inserts the transcript into the message.

General Information About Mobile Interactions

Customers have increasingly been able to contact businesses via applications that they download to their smartphones. Such applications were originally designed for self-service and web-form inquiries. More recently, however, web and mobile applications have begun to support live interactions, including chat, voice, and video calling. The picture below shows an example of a customer communicating with an insurance agent via a mobile chat application.

Thus, depending on your service configuration, you may be expected to handle interactions that customers initiate via such smartphone applications. Generally speaking, you handle mobile voice and chat interactions in the same way that you handle regular service calls and service chats. A few differences that you may need to be aware of while handling mobile interactions are discussed in the sections that follow.

Selecting a Phone Device

During login, it is possible to make a selection of the device you will use to handle phone calls. Your system administrator will advise you about the option you should select on your first login. The selected option will be remembered for subsequent login attempts with this browser on your computer.

To select the device, click the current setting of the Phone device property in the login dialog box. A list of phone device options appears.

Phone Device Options

Choose one of the following phone devices to use in the Agent Desktop application.

Softphone with computer headset

This device is a softphone application working as a phone in your computer. A high-quality headset is recommended for this option, such as Plantronics USB DSP series. When you select this option, the extension number assigned to you in configuration will be your phone number for the duration of the login session.

An internal phone

An internal phone is a hardware phone connected directly to the system. This can be a SIP-based phone on your desk, such as Polycom SoundPoint. Enter the desired phone number in the field next to this option.

An external phone

An external phone is any public phone number that can be dialed from the system (e.g., your home or mobile phone when working from home). Enter the desired phone number in the field next to this option.

Depending on your system configuration, once established, your external phone connection may be kept open even when the remote party hangs up. This is normal behavior that is sometimes used to optimize utilization of the established PSTN phone connections. If this option is used in your contact center, you will not need to hang up the phone on your side. Termination of a current active call will be indicated using a special tone. Arrival of the next call will be announced both visually via your Agent Desktop application and via another special tone on your open phone connection. You can accept this call using the Accept button on your screen. For more information, see section How to Answer an Incoming Call.

Note that the open line may be automatically disconnected if it stays open for longer than a few minutes without any active calls. If the open line is disconnected automatically or if you release it manually, arrival of the next call will be announced via the regular ringing signal. Your administrator will provide more information about the correct use of the external phone and any configured timeouts.

Default phone

Default phone is a hardware phone permanently assigned to you in the system configuration.

Dial-in and keep line open

Also known as a nailed connection, this option allows you to establish a phone connection with the system from any phone upon login and use this established physical connection for handling of all subsequent calls within your login session. If this option is used, the phone number to call for the initial connection will be provided to you by your administrator. Arrival of calls will be announced both visually via your Agent Desktop application and via a special tone on your open phone connection. You can accept these calls using the Accept button on your screen. For more information, see section How to Answer an Incoming Call. Termination of active calls will be indicated via another special tone.

Normally, the line will be kept open until you log out of the Agent Desktop application. If your application or browser are closed without a logout while you have a customer call, the system will wait for this call to be released by the remote party before closing the nailed connection. See section How to Terminate Your Working Session for more information.

No phone

You can use this option if you plan to work with text-based interactions only (i.e., chat and email).

How to Interpret Your Current State Information

The agent state is the indication of your current availability to handle service calls. This information is used by the system to decide whether a new service call can be delivered to you. The information about the time you spend in each state also appears in reports about your performance.

The Agent Desktop application uses icons to represent agent states. Your current state is shown in the upper left-hand corner of Agent Desktop. These icons, the states they represent, and descriptions of those states are described as follows.

Note: Information in the main text of this section is valid if your system is configured to let you handle one customer interaction at a time. This configuration is most typical when you handle calls only. If you process interactions of other types (e.g., chats or emails), then, depending on your contact center practices, you may be expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously. The differences in interpretation of your states in this case are briefly explained in the notes following a state description. For a more detailed explanation, see sections Handling Multiple Chat Sessions and General Information About Handling Email.

Agent States

Ready

You are available to take a service call. In most cases, you make yourself Ready manually. See How to Make Yourself Ready for more information.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As soon as you finish a previous service call
• When the time allocated for after-call work associated with the previous call expires
• When the rest time associated with the previous call expires

You may also be forced into the Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, the Ready state will only be applied when you do not have any active interactions on your desktop. However, in this case you may receive new interactions in states other than Ready.

Ringing

You are unavailable to take service calls because one service call is already being delivered to you. The ringing icon is briefly displayed while your phone is ringing.

Busy

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are already handling a service call. This state is displayed from the moment the call is connected and until it is released. For outbound calls, it also includes the call dialing phase. When your service call is released, depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide, you will be switched automatically to either the After Call Work state, the Not Ready state, or the Ready state.

Note: Even if you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, your state will be displayed as Busy as long as you have at least one active interaction of any media type. However, your actual availability will depend on the number of interactions you are currently handling versus the maximum number of interactions you are expected to be able to handle simultaneously. Therefore, you may receive new interactions when you are in the Busy state.

After Call Work

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are processing information related to the call that you previously handled. This state may or may not be used depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide. If it is used, you will be switched to this state automatically as soon as the call is released by either the customer or yourself. You will remain in this state until you manually make yourself Ready or Not Ready to take another call. Note that your After Call Work state may also end automatically if the time allocated for the after-call work exceeds the limit set by your administrator.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, you may receive new interactions when you are in the After Call Work state. You will be switched to this state only when the last live interaction on your desktop is finished. (Otherwise, you will continue to be in the Busy state.)

Not Ready

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop or busy doing some work that is not directly related to handling of service calls. Under normal circumstances, you make yourself Not Ready manually. Your system may also be configured to let you indicate a specific reason for being Not Ready. For more information, see How to Make Yourself Not Ready and the following Not Ready agent states: Lunch, Away From Desk, and Break. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Not Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As a short rest time after finishing processing of a service call
• Upon rejection of a service call
• If you do not answer a ringing service call within a reasonable time
• When your Agent Desktop loses connection to the system

You may also be forced into the Not Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: You will not receive any interactions while you are in this state regardless of how many interactions you are expected to handle simultaneously.

Lunch

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are on your lunch break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Lunch or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Away From Desk

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Away From Desk or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Break

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are taking a break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Break or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

How to Make Yourself Not Ready

During your working session, you may need to make yourself temporarily unavailable to handle interactions (e.g., to take a scheduled break, to have a meal, or to attend a meeting). You may be required to indicate a specific reason for becoming unavailable every time you make yourself Not Ready. You can make yourself Not Ready if your current state is either Ready or After Call Work. You can also change reasons for being Not Ready.

First, specify why you are Not Ready.

• Click User Status Indicator/Selector.

• From the drop-down menu, select Not Ready or any specific reason for becoming not ready, such as Break or Lunch. The exact set of reasons is specific to your contact center.

• You can also press F8, select the desired Not Ready state with the cursor keys, and press Enter.

Your state changes to Not Ready. You will not receive any service calls while you are in this state. You will have to make yourself Ready manually when you are ready to take service calls again. See How to Make Yourself Ready for more information.

Note that you can request Not Ready to be your next state while you are in the Busy state (i.e., while actively handling an interaction). Your current state will not change, but the system will note your desired next state and will switch you to this state after you finish processing the current interaction. The requested Not Ready state will be displayed as Next under the current state display.

Note: If you have two or more active interactions on your desktop, you will only be switched to the requested Not Ready state after you finish processing all those interactions. However, you will stop receiving new interactions as soon as you request Not Ready.

Outbound - General

The following general campaign settings are configured in the General section of the Services and Campaigns Outbound tab.

General Settings

Type

This is the type of campaign. There are four different campaign types from which to choose.

• In campaigns of the Preview type, the calling records are submitted to the agents participating in the campaign. The agents review record information, dial destination numbers, and monitor call progress. Additionally, this type of campaign allows agents to be reserved for a requested callback without indication to the agent.
• In campaigns of the Progressive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to a fixed (preconfigured) dialing rate, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents.
• In campaigns of the Predictive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to currently optimal dialing rates, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents. The dialing rate is optimized to maintain the desired agent occupancy based on the statistical analysis of outcomes of most recent dialing attempts.
• In campaigns of the Automatic (IVR) type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to a prerecorded interactive voice response (IVR) message. Agents are not involved in campaigns of this type.

Note that the definition of some of the subsequent campaign properties will depend on the selected campaign type.

Enabled

Enabled indicates the current state of the campaign. By default, the campaign is disabled and normally it should remain in this state until it is completely configured. Completeness of campaign configuration can be verified via the Diagnostics page. After the campaign has been completely configured, select the Enabled checkbox to indicate that it is ready to run.

Campaigns can be disabled again when they are no longer active but have to remain in configuration to ensure availability of campaign results. Note that disabling of campaigns is always a manual operation.

Note: For blended services, you should keep the outbound portion of a service enabled at all times, even during the periods without any outbound activity. If you disable the outbound portion, dispositions of the possible callbacks made to the campaign caller ID may not be processed correctly. This may result in repeated attempts to contact customers who are not supposed to be contacted again within the given campaign (e.g., accepted the campaign offer or requested not to be called again). If you need to prevent the outbound portion of a blended service from making calls, remove all of its calling hours.

Status

Status shows whether the outbound campaign has started or if it is stopped (i.e., ready to run). Click Start or Stop to change the status of the outbound campaign.

Start / Stop Automation

After the campaign has been enabled, it can be started and stopped manually at any time using these buttons.

Note that a campaign also can be started and stopped manually form the Agent Desktop application by a user designated as an operator for this campaign.

In addition, the campaign can be started and stopped automatically using the combination of the From/Until and using hours of operation settings as described below.

From

From indicates the moment from which this campaign can be started automatically based on the service hours of operation defined in the Properties tab.

If specified, the campaign will start automatically at the specified time provided that this time is within the specified service hours of operation. If the specified time is outside of the service hours, the campaign will start automatically at the nearest service opening time following the specified campaign start time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign start only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started earlier manually.

using hours of operation

By default, the campaign will be run automatically according to the hours of operation specified in the Properties tab for the given outbound service. If you click this link, you will be taken to the tab where you can modify the service hours.

Note that this schedule reflects the time when the agents of the associated teams will be expected to handle interactions of the given campaign. This schedule is normally defined for the time zone where your contact center is located. The actual calling schedules for various types of phones and other possible time-related calling restrictions are defined in the Calling Hours page relative to the time zone of destination phone numbers.

Until

Until indicates the moment when this campaign will be terminated automatically even if processing of some of the calling records has not been finished or attempted. This setting will not affect the campaign-related calls that may be in progress at the specified time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign termination only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started or resumed manually later.

Campaign link group

Campaigns of the same type with the same hours of operation, and same assigned agent teams can be linked together so that, when processing of all records of one campaign is finished, the next campaign in the group will be started automatically.

To associate this campaign with an existing group select the group from the list. If there are other campaigns associated with the selected list, the system will ask you to confirm that the type of this campaign, its hours of operation, assigned teams, and skills will be redefined to match the corresponding settings of campaigns already in the group.

The service parameters whose settings are controlled by the link group membership will be highlighted with orange dots.

To remove the campaign from a link group it was previously assigned to, select None from the drop-down menu.

Begin this campaign after

By default, the order in which campaigns in the link group will be activated is determined by the order those campaign were added to the group. You can redefine this order for the given campaign by selecting the preceding campaign from the drop-down menu. If the given campaign shall be processed first, select none (1st).

Preview Options

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives a preview record. Normally this is a web page that might contain additional information about the calling record. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop. See the group of variables Outbound Target Work Item Parameters in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

This parameter is optional. If it is not set, only the customer name and phone number to be dialed will be displayed in the contact panel of the Agent Desktop application.

Note that you can display information from calling records using Activity forms.

In addition, the specified web page will be displayed in the Context Information Area of Agent Desktop. This area is not shown when Agent Desktop is run minimized using the Pop-out function. Thus, when using URL screen pop, consider disabling agents' privilege Force pop-out phone window.

Screen-popping CRM URLs

When configuring the general properties of your preview campaign, you can enable specific Salesforce or Zendesk URLs to be screen-popped to the Agent Desktop.

For Salesforce Classic, Salescloud, and Lightning:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of Preview Options, enter the object ID (e.g., $(workitem.otherInfo.SalesforceID)).

For Zendesk:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of preview service, enter the ticket URL with the Zendesk ID (e.g., tickets/$(workitem.otherInfo.ZendeskID)).

Start dialing first number automatically

By default, agents dial numbers from list records manually. Select this checkbox if the first number of the list record shall be dialed automatically after the amount of time allocated for record preview (see option Start dialing after).

Start dialing after

Start dialing after is the amount of time allocated for list record preview. This parameter is essential only if option Start dialing first number automatically is enabled.

Use specific agent assignments for records

Records of the calling lists associated with the given campaign may be assigned to specific agents. If you select this option, any such records will be distributed only to the agents assigned to handle them. For more information, see the description of field type Agent Login ID in section Lists.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Predictive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the default scenario will wait until terminating this call. Note that this setting only applies if the <<Default scenario>> is selected as the scenario to run when answered.

If you apply any other scenario to process answered call attempts (i.e., select anything other than <<Default scenario>> as the scenario to run when answered), you should set the unattended call timeout as the last interval of the Find Agent block of the given scenario. You should also define the action applied to such unattended calls when the timeout expires as the conditional Time Out exit of the given block.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations). In this scenario template, the interval of the Find Agent block is set to 0-2 seconds and its Time Out conditional exit starts an IVR script that introduces the caller and provides the called party with an opt-out option.

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

This setting is reserved for future use.

Dialer Aggressiveness

Target occupancy, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Target occupancy specifies the target occupancy for the agents participating in this campaign that will be used by the predictive algorithm to calculate the dialing frequency. Occupancy is defined as the time spent handling calls relative to the time total working time--that is, (Busy Time + ACW Time) / (Busy Time + ACW Time + Ready Time) * 100.

Changes in the target occupancy of a running campaign will take effect immediately. Such changes may be necessary in order to observe compliance with the telemarketing law for maximum percentage of unattended calls (also known as abandonment rate). The percentage of unattended calls can be monitored in real time (see section General Campaign Metrics View of the Supervisor Guide) and/or historically (see section Telemarketing Compliance Report of the Reporting Reference Guide).

Initial Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Initial Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine the dialing frequency at the start of this campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will initially make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Note that this setting is an inversion of the Estimated Success Rate (ESR), which was used in the product prior to Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.10 for the same purpose. The ESR is defined as the expected percentage of call attempts that will be answered relative to all call attempts that will be made for this campaign; thus, if you upgrade from a previous version of Bright Pattern Contact Center and the ESR for a particular campaign was set to 50%, you will see the Initial Overdial Rate for this campaign set to 200%. (The ESR is displayed as a read-only value next to it.)

Once the system has accumulated enough statistics for dial frequency prediction, the configured Initial Overdial Rate value will be replaced with the actual overdial rate calculated and constantly updated in real time.

You can reset statistics used in calculation of the actual success rate and reapply the configured Initial Overdial Rate value at any time during campaign operation by clicking the Reset statistics button.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Progressive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the Find Agent block of the applied scenario (see Scenario to run when answered above) will wait for an available agent before processing it in the manner defined by the conditional exit Time Out.

Note that the Default scenario will terminate such calls.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

Enter the maximum percentage of allowable dropped calls.

Progressive Power Dialing

Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Progressive mode only.

Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine dialing frequency for the duration of the campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Setting the Overdial Rate to 100% (default) practically means that for any answered call, there will be an agent available to accept it.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Automatic (IVR) options

Max concurrent calls

This option specifies how many calls can be in progress simultaneously.

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. Note that for Automatic (IVR) mode, the scenario containing a recorded IVR message should be explicitly defined.

Detect voice before connection

This option indicates whether upon answer the system shall wait to detect a voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether, upon voice detection, the system shall try to distinguish the voice from an answering machine greeting. It is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This option indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, the disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify the reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for off-line analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Outbound - General

The following general campaign settings are configured in the General section of the Services and Campaigns Outbound tab.

General Settings

Type

This is the type of campaign. There are four different campaign types from which to choose.

• In campaigns of the Preview type, the calling records are submitted to the agents participating in the campaign. The agents review record information, dial destination numbers, and monitor call progress. Additionally, this type of campaign allows agents to be reserved for a requested callback without indication to the agent.
• In campaigns of the Progressive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to a fixed (preconfigured) dialing rate, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents.
• In campaigns of the Predictive type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records according to currently optimal dialing rates, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to available agents. The dialing rate is optimized to maintain the desired agent occupancy based on the statistical analysis of outcomes of most recent dialing attempts.
• In campaigns of the Automatic (IVR) type, the system automatically dials numbers from list records, monitors call progress, and connects successful (answered) call attempts to a prerecorded interactive voice response (IVR) message. Agents are not involved in campaigns of this type.

Note that the definition of some of the subsequent campaign properties will depend on the selected campaign type.

Enabled

Enabled indicates the current state of the campaign. By default, the campaign is disabled and normally it should remain in this state until it is completely configured. Completeness of campaign configuration can be verified via the Diagnostics page. After the campaign has been completely configured, select the Enabled checkbox to indicate that it is ready to run.

Campaigns can be disabled again when they are no longer active but have to remain in configuration to ensure availability of campaign results. Note that disabling of campaigns is always a manual operation.

Note: For blended services, you should keep the outbound portion of a service enabled at all times, even during the periods without any outbound activity. If you disable the outbound portion, dispositions of the possible callbacks made to the campaign caller ID may not be processed correctly. This may result in repeated attempts to contact customers who are not supposed to be contacted again within the given campaign (e.g., accepted the campaign offer or requested not to be called again). If you need to prevent the outbound portion of a blended service from making calls, remove all of its calling hours.

Status

Status shows whether the outbound campaign has started or if it is stopped (i.e., ready to run). Click Start or Stop to change the status of the outbound campaign.

Start / Stop Automation

After the campaign has been enabled, it can be started and stopped manually at any time using these buttons.

Note that a campaign also can be started and stopped manually form the Agent Desktop application by a user designated as an operator for this campaign.

In addition, the campaign can be started and stopped automatically using the combination of the From/Until and using hours of operation settings as described below.

From

From indicates the moment from which this campaign can be started automatically based on the service hours of operation defined in the Properties tab.

If specified, the campaign will start automatically at the specified time provided that this time is within the specified service hours of operation. If the specified time is outside of the service hours, the campaign will start automatically at the nearest service opening time following the specified campaign start time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign start only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started earlier manually.

using hours of operation

By default, the campaign will be run automatically according to the hours of operation specified in the Properties tab for the given outbound service. If you click this link, you will be taken to the tab where you can modify the service hours.

Note that this schedule reflects the time when the agents of the associated teams will be expected to handle interactions of the given campaign. This schedule is normally defined for the time zone where your contact center is located. The actual calling schedules for various types of phones and other possible time-related calling restrictions are defined in the Calling Hours page relative to the time zone of destination phone numbers.

Until

Until indicates the moment when this campaign will be terminated automatically even if processing of some of the calling records has not been finished or attempted. This setting will not affect the campaign-related calls that may be in progress at the specified time.

Note that this parameter controls automatic campaign termination only. Even if it is defined, the campaign can still be started or resumed manually later.

Campaign link group

Campaigns of the same type with the same hours of operation, and same assigned agent teams can be linked together so that, when processing of all records of one campaign is finished, the next campaign in the group will be started automatically.

To associate this campaign with an existing group select the group from the list. If there are other campaigns associated with the selected list, the system will ask you to confirm that the type of this campaign, its hours of operation, assigned teams, and skills will be redefined to match the corresponding settings of campaigns already in the group.

The service parameters whose settings are controlled by the link group membership will be highlighted with orange dots.

To remove the campaign from a link group it was previously assigned to, select None from the drop-down menu.

Begin this campaign after

By default, the order in which campaigns in the link group will be activated is determined by the order those campaign were added to the group. You can redefine this order for the given campaign by selecting the preceding campaign from the drop-down menu. If the given campaign shall be processed first, select none (1st).

Preview Options

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives a preview record. Normally this is a web page that might contain additional information about the calling record. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop. See the group of variables Outbound Target Work Item Parameters in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

This parameter is optional. If it is not set, only the customer name and phone number to be dialed will be displayed in the contact panel of the Agent Desktop application.

Note that you can display information from calling records using Activity forms.

In addition, the specified web page will be displayed in the Context Information Area of Agent Desktop. This area is not shown when Agent Desktop is run minimized using the Pop-out function. Thus, when using URL screen pop, consider disabling agents' privilege Force pop-out phone window.

Screen-popping CRM URLs

When configuring the general properties of your preview campaign, you can enable specific Salesforce or Zendesk URLs to be screen-popped to the Agent Desktop.

For Salesforce Classic, Salescloud, and Lightning:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of Preview Options, enter the object ID (e.g., $(workitem.otherInfo.SalesforceID)).

For Zendesk:

1. In the Screenpop URL field of preview service, enter the ticket URL with the Zendesk ID (e.g., tickets/$(workitem.otherInfo.ZendeskID)).

Start dialing first number automatically

By default, agents dial numbers from list records manually. Select this checkbox if the first number of the list record shall be dialed automatically after the amount of time allocated for record preview (see option Start dialing after).

Start dialing after

Start dialing after is the amount of time allocated for list record preview. This parameter is essential only if option Start dialing first number automatically is enabled.

Use specific agent assignments for records

Records of the calling lists associated with the given campaign may be assigned to specific agents. If you select this option, any such records will be distributed only to the agents assigned to handle them. For more information, see the description of field type Agent Login ID in section Lists.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Predictive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the default scenario will wait until terminating this call. Note that this setting only applies if the <<Default scenario>> is selected as the scenario to run when answered.

If you apply any other scenario to process answered call attempts (i.e., select anything other than <<Default scenario>> as the scenario to run when answered), you should set the unattended call timeout as the last interval of the Find Agent block of the given scenario. You should also define the action applied to such unattended calls when the timeout expires as the conditional Time Out exit of the given block.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations). In this scenario template, the interval of the Find Agent block is set to 0-2 seconds and its Time Out conditional exit starts an IVR script that introduces the caller and provides the called party with an opt-out option.

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

This setting is reserved for future use.

Dialer Aggressiveness

Target occupancy, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Target occupancy specifies the target occupancy for the agents participating in this campaign that will be used by the predictive algorithm to calculate the dialing frequency. Occupancy is defined as the time spent handling calls relative to the time total working time--that is, (Busy Time + ACW Time) / (Busy Time + ACW Time + Ready Time) * 100.

Changes in the target occupancy of a running campaign will take effect immediately. Such changes may be necessary in order to observe compliance with the telemarketing law for maximum percentage of unattended calls (also known as abandonment rate). The percentage of unattended calls can be monitored in real time (see section General Campaign Metrics View of the Supervisor Guide) and/or historically (see section Telemarketing Compliance Report of the Reporting Reference Guide).

Initial Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Predictive mode only.

Initial Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine the dialing frequency at the start of this campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will initially make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Note that this setting is an inversion of the Estimated Success Rate (ESR), which was used in the product prior to Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.10 for the same purpose. The ESR is defined as the expected percentage of call attempts that will be answered relative to all call attempts that will be made for this campaign; thus, if you upgrade from a previous version of Bright Pattern Contact Center and the ESR for a particular campaign was set to 50%, you will see the Initial Overdial Rate for this campaign set to 200%. (The ESR is displayed as a read-only value next to it.)

Once the system has accumulated enough statistics for dial frequency prediction, the configured Initial Overdial Rate value will be replaced with the actual overdial rate calculated and constantly updated in real time.

You can reset statistics used in calculation of the actual success rate and reapply the configured Initial Overdial Rate value at any time during campaign operation by clicking the Reset statistics button.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Progressive Options

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with the disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. The Default scenario will provide a simple connect to the longest available agent while the calls that are not connected to agents within the specified Unattended call timeout (see below) will be terminated.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Detect voice before connection

This indicates whether, upon answer, the system shall wait to detect voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether upon voice detection the system shall try to distinguish live voice from an answering machine greeting or other prerecorded announcement. This setting is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for offline analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Unattended call timeout

Unattended call timeout specifies for how long, from the moment a call is answered by the called party, the Find Agent block of the applied scenario (see Scenario to run when answered above) will wait for an available agent before processing it in the manner defined by the conditional exit Time Out.

Note that the Default scenario will terminate such calls.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a scenario template called Predictive Telemarketing Campaign that serves as an example of how unattended calls can be treated in a compliant manner (according to the current FCC regulations).

Maximum dropped calls (reporting threshold), %

Enter the maximum percentage of allowable dropped calls.

Progressive Power Dialing

Overdial Rate, %

This setting is used in Progressive mode only.

Overdial Rate, % specifies the percentage of call attempts that will be made for this campaign relative to call attempts that are expected to be answered. This configured value will determine dialing frequency for the duration of the campaign. For example, if you expect only every second attempt to be successful, you can set the initial overdial rate to 200%, and the system will make twice as many call attempts as there are agents in the Ready state.

Setting the Overdial Rate to 100% (default) practically means that for any answered call, there will be an agent available to accept it.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Automatic (IVR) options

Max concurrent calls

This option specifies how many calls can be in progress simultaneously.

No Answer timeout

If the ring back tone is received, No Answer timeout specifies for how long the system shall wait for an answer before abandoning the call attempt with disposition No Answer.

Scenario to run when answered

Scenario to run when answered indicates which scenario should be run upon answer. Note that for Automatic (IVR) mode, the scenario containing a recorded IVR message should be explicitly defined.

Detect voice before connection

This option indicates whether upon answer the system shall wait to detect a voice before connecting this call to an agent. Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon answer.

Detect answering machine

Detect answering machine indicates whether, upon voice detection, the system shall try to distinguish the voice from an answering machine greeting. It is essential only if the Detect voice before connection setting is enabled (see above). Deselect this checkbox if the calls should be connected to agents immediately upon detection of a voice.

Wait for beep when detecting answering machine

This option indicates whether the “announcement vs. answering machine” decision shall be based on detection of a beep sound after the speech segment. (If disabled, the disposition Announcement will be used for all long speech messages.) It is essential only if the Detect answering machine setting is enabled (see above).

Record CPA phase of call attempts

Record CPA phase of call attempts indicates whether the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) phase of the campaign calls shall be recorded. Such recordings are stored in separate audio files and can be used to verify the reaction of the system to various call attempt outcomes. CPA recordings can be checked using the Quality Management playback function and also exported for off-line analysis.

This option is visible and available to you only if specifically activated for your contact center at the service provider level.

Limit manual outbound calls to numbers in lists and record manual call results in campaigns

When enabled, this setting allows manually dialed phone numbers to be included in outbound or blended campaigns, should the phone number match one of the campaign’s dialable phone numbers; click-to-call numbers are also included. Once included in a campaign, manually dialed calls will be counted toward related campaign metrics.

Additionally, when this setting is selected, the following applies:

• Calls adhere to Do Not Call (DNC) lists and safe-calling hours
• Calls count toward dial attempts
• Dial rules by disposition are allowed
• Calls on closed records are prevented

Note that this checkbox is unchecked by default and this setting is not currently available for use with hardphones.

Privileges

Registered users of your Bright Pattern Contact Center solution are assigned privileges that can be used to control access to various contact center functions. Privileges are arranged in the same way as they appear on the Roles page of the Contact Center Administrator application. For general information about privileges and roles, see section Roles.

Privileges are organized into six categories (i.e., groups):

• Interaction Handling
• Security and Administration
• Service and Campaign Administration
• Supervision
• System Administration
• BPO Client

Note: Some service configuration changes that affect agent behavior are not picked up dynamically by Agent Desktop. Thus, after making a change to privileges, we recommend that all affected agents re-login to Agent Desktop.

Interaction Handling group

Access full-screen Agent Desktop

The Access full-screen Agent Desktop privilege allows the user to enable full-screen Agent Desktop view within CRM applications.

Because CRM systems typically have their own email and case management capabilities, the full-screen mode normally would be used by supervisors only.

Delete contacts

The Delete contacts privilege allows the deletion of contacts. If enabled, users can delete individual contacts via the Agent Desktop. When a contact is deleted, its activity history is deleted too. Cases are not deleted automatically.

Edit contacts

The Edit contacts privilege provides write access to contacts. If enabled, users can create new contacts, and users can modify any fields in existing contacts (but not activity history).

Force pop-out phone window

This privilege is reserved for future use.

Handle automatically distributed interactions

The Handle automatically distributed interactions allows the user to receive calls from a service queue and preview records. This is the basic privilege that allows the user to perform typical call center agent work (i.e., provide services over the phone and participate in outbound campaigns).

The ability to handle customer chat or email interactions is controlled via separate privileges (see Handle email and Handle service chat).

Handle email

When enabled, the Handle email privilege allows users to:

• Edit cases
• Create new cases manually
• Open cases from search results (even if they are already open by other agent)
• Mark cases as spam

Handle service chats

With the Handle service chats privilege, the user may handle chat interactions with customers. This includes chat interactions started by customers via SMS.

Note that the ability to initiate a chat with a customer via SMS is controlled by a separate privilege (see Initiate SMS conversation). Likewise, the ability to use internal chat is controlled by a separate privilege (see Send internal chats).

Initiate SMS conversation

The Initiate SMS conversation privilege allows the user to initiate chats with customers via SMS.

Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts on assigned services

With this privilege granted, the user may review call recordings and chat transcripts of the services that the user is qualified to handle (i.e., has corresponding service skills).

Listening to own call recordings and view own chat transcripts

This privilege provides Agent Desktop users the capability, via activity history, to access recordings where the agent participated (at least partially). This privilege applies to Agent Desktop only.

Login to Agent Desktop

Login to Agent Desktop allows the user to log in to Agent Desktop application and perform basic back-office telephony functions. Any user who needs access to Agent Desktop must have this privilege. Note that this privilege alone is not sufficient for performing typical contact center agent work.

Note that any user who logs into Agent Desktop will be counted as a concurrent user for the duration of the login session. Your service provider may impose a limit on how many of your users may be logged on concurrently.

Make external calls

A user with the Make external calls privilege may make external calls and blind transfers to external destinations from the Agent Desktop application. If the user does not have this privilege, an attempt to make an external call or blind transfer will result in a text error message displayed on Agent Desktop.

Note that the absence of this privilege does not prevent users from making external calls using the dial pad of their hardphones.

Mask original email content

The Mask original email content privilege allows the user to mask fragments of original customer email text. For more information, see section How to Mask Sensitive Data of the Agent Guide.

Modify own identification data

The Modify own identification data privilege allows the user to be able to modify specific fields of the user profile. If the privilege is not present, the following fields are locked:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Chat Nickname

See other agents/teams in directory

This privilege lets the user see all configured teams and team members in the Agent Desktop directory and view their current availability (presence). For more information, see section How to Use the Directory of the Agent Guide.

See other agents’ cases

See other agents’ cases allows the user to see cases handled by other agents. If the user does not have this privilege, the user will be able to see only cases that with which the user has worked. This privilege affects case search only. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to receive emails related to existing cases that the user has not worked on.

Send internal chats

The Send internal chats privilege allows the user to initiate internal chat conversations.

Start recording of interactions

With this privilege, the user may start call recording.

Stop recording of interactions

Stop recording of interactions allows the user to stop call recording.

Transfer calls

The Transfer calls privilege allows the user to transfer customer interactions to consultation parties and host conferences (both via-consultation and single-step).

Absence of this privilege does not affect user’s ability to

• make blind transfers of customer interactions
• transfer or conference internal calls

Use Calendar

The Use Calendar privilege enables users to use the Agent Desktop calendar for scheduling.

Use Favorites tab

Use Favorites tab is an agent-level privilege that controls whether the user can see and set favorites from the Agent Desktop application. This privilege is an agent behavior control to prevent users from dialing destinations that they should not based on FCC/TCPA and organizational rules.

Use Recent Calls tab

The Use Recent Calls tab privilege lets the user restrict access to recent calls. This privilege uses TCPA manual dialing to limit which agents can access recent calls.

Use RightNow

Use RightNow allows the user to use Agent Desktop embedded into the RightNow application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within RightNow.

For more information, see the RightNow Integration Guide.

Use ServiceNow

Use ServiceNow allows the user to use Agent Desktop embedded into the ServiceNow application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within ServiceNow.

For more information, see the ServiceNow Integration Guide.

Use Zendesk

With the Use Zendesk privilege, the user may use Agent Desktop embedded into the Zendesk application. This privilege enables access to the Agent Desktop widget within Zendesk. To enable full-screen Agent Desktop view within Zendesk application, the user must also have the Access full Agent Desktop privilege.

For more information, see the Zendesk Integration Guide.

Security Administration group

Can edit and erase interaction records

This privilege provides access to the manual erasure functions in accordance with PCI DSS 3.2 and GDPR requirements. With this privilege enabled, users will be able to edit and erase interaction records securely and manually in the event that another user has mistakenly included a customer's sensitive data in interaction content (e.g., call recording, chat, etc.).

This privilege is added to predefined Security Administrator and System Administrator roles.

Grant all privileges

Grant all privileges allows the user to grant any privilege, regardless of the user's May grant or revoke settings with respect to specific privileges. This is helpful during product upgrades where new privileges may be introduced.

Manage roles and security settings

With this privilege enabled, the user has full access to the following settings:

• Roles
• Security Policy
• System Access Restrictions
• Encryption Key Management

Service and Campaign Administration group

Configure reporting settings

With this privilege enabled, the user has full access to the following settings:

• Report Templates
• Scheduled Reports
• Reporting Settings

Configure system-wide settings

The Configure system-wide settings privilege gives the user full access to all pages of the following menus: Tasks, Call Center Configuration, and Quality Management.

For tasks, note that all users who have the Configure system-wide settings privilege enabled will receive an email notification each time a scheduled task fails.

Control campaign operations

Control campaign operations enables the user to view and control assigned campaigns via Agent Desktop.

A user must have this privilege in order to be available for selection as a service/campaign operator via the Services and Campaigns > Assignments page. In the Agent Desktop application, access will be limited to campaigns where the user is assigned as an operator.

If this privilege is revoked from a user, the user's name will appear in red color in the list of operators of any services/campaigns that the user may have been previously assigned to operate.

Edit knowledge base

The Edit knowledge base privilege gives the user full access to the Knowledge Base via the Contact Center Administrator application. It also allows the user to create articles in the Knowledge Base via the Agent Desktop application.

Note that access to the Knowledge Base via the Agent Desktop application is provided in the context of the services that the user can handle.

Manage all services and campaigns

The Manage all services and campaigns privilege allows the user to configure all existing services campaigns regardless of whether the user is assigned to them as an administrator. Note that in order to assign teams to campaigns, the user must also have the Manage teams privilege.

Another privilege exists to enable the user to access only assigned services campaigns (see below). Note that in order to prevent the user from creating new services and campaigns, both these privileges must be disabled.

Manage assigned services and campaigns

With this privilege, the user has full access to configuration of the services and campaigns that the user is assigned to as an administrator. For more information, see section Services and Campaigns - Assignments Tab.

Note that in order to assign teams to a service/campaign, the user must also have the Manage teams privilege.

Another privilege exists to enable the user to access all configured campaigns regardless of assignment (see above). Note that in order to prevent the user from creating new campaigns, both these privileges must be disabled.

Manage lists

The Manage lists privilege gives the user full access to calling lists and do-not-call (DNC) lists. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to associate existing lists with campaigns.

Manage scenarios

The Manage scenarios privilege allows the user to create, view, and edit scenarios. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to configure scenario entries and associate such entries with existing scenarios.

Manage skills

With the Manage skills privilege, the user may create and edit existing auxiliary skills and assign skills to agents with specific levels.

Supervision group

Access Real-time Stats API

The Access Real-time Stats API privilege gives the user access to applications that are connected to Bright Pattern Contact Center via the Real-time Stats API; this includes viewing the wallboard application. Note: The availability of data on the Agent Desktop Home Screen is not affected by this privilege, with the exception of the wallboard icon.

All assigned teams combined view

When enabled, this privilege will show, on the supervisor's home screen, the agents from all teams assigned to the logged in supervisor, specifically with the following metrics:

• State
• Time in State
• Not Ready Reason (if not ready for a reason)
• Team (new metric)
• Active interactions

It shows all services that are the teams are assigned to (individual services can be hidden if needed), specifically the following metrics:

• Calls in Queue
• Service Level
• # of Agents in Queue
• # of Ready Agents
• Current Max Wait Time (for calls in Queue)

Can see contents of email push queues

This privilege allows supervisors of teams with the push distribution method enabled to view push queues. Push queue items appear in team queues when the “All Services with Push Queues” option is selected; however, it is possible to select only one service and see only its queue.

While looking at a push queue, a supervisor can:

• Sort the queue as they like (i.e., using existing pull queue sort controls)
• Assign an item to an agent
• Assign one or more items to another queue and skill requirement
• Open an item to work with
• Delete an item or mark it as spam

Note that this setting is not assigned to any roles by default.

Can update final dispositions

This privilege enables users (i.e., agents, supervisors) to update dispositions even when final.

Change alert configuration

Users with the Change alert configuration privilege may enable/disable alerts available for some real-time metric displayed via Agent Desktop, change their appearance, and modify threshold values that trigger such alerts.

Note that the ability to set configured alerts as system-wide defaults is controlled via a separate privilege (see Set alerts for real-time metrics system-wide).

If the user does not have this privilege, the Alert Configuration dialog of the Agent Desktop will provide read-only information about the current alert configuration.

Change real-time metric views

The Change real-time metric views privilege allows the user to add metrics to, and remove them from, any real-time metric views of the Agent Desktop application. The user may also change the order in which the metrics appear in the table views.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to add services and campaigns to, and remove them from, real-time metric views.

Note that the ability to set created real-time metric views as system-wide defaults is controlled via a separate privilege (see Set real-time metric views system-wide).

Customize Wallboards

The Customize Wallboards privilege allows additional elements to appear on the user's wallboard. These elements include title, selector, flip arrows, and menu. Using these elements, users can customize the look and display of their Agent Desktop wallboard. Using the Wallboard Layout Editor, cards and cells can be added, deleted, scaled, and expanded using mouseovers, click-and-drag, and drag-and-drop movements.

Define/View subteams of selected agents

The privilege Define/View subteams of selected agents enables subteam controls to be displayed in Agent Desktop and the Reports portal. In addition, the privilege allows users to switch between them. Subteams are smaller groups of agents that supervisors have selected from full teams.

Delete cases

The Delete cases privilege allows the deletion of cases. If enabled, users can delete individual cases via the Agent Desktop. When a case is deleted, all interactions related to a case are deleted.

Download recordings and transcripts

With this privilege, the user may download call/screen recordings, chat transcripts, and email messages from the interaction search and review pages of the Contact Center Administrator application.

Force agent states

The Force agent states privilege allows the user to change current agent states of members of any team that the user is assigned to supervise.

Grade interactions

Grade interactions allows the user to grade interactions while monitoring them in real-time via Agent Desktop and/or when reviewing their recordings/transcripts via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Note that in order to grade interactions while reviewing their recordings/transcripts, the user must also have the privilege Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts (see below).

Listen to recordings linked to external CRM records

This privilege allows the user to listen to call recordings linked to activity history in the CRM records.

Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts

With Listening to all call recordings and view all chat transcripts, the user may review voice recordings and chat transcripts via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to review screen recordings in the Agent Timeline or email messages in the Interaction Search.

When removing this privilege from a user, make sure this user also does not have the privilege Listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts for assigned services in the BPO Client group (see below).

Manage canned chat responses system-wide

The Manage canned chat responses system-wide privilege allows the user to make canned chat responses available to all other agents of the contact center. For more information, see section How to Create and Edit Canned Chat Responses of the Agent Guide.

Monitor agent screen

When enabled, the Monitor agent screen privilege allows the user to view and monitor the screens of a selected agent that the user is assigned to supervise.

Monitor interactions

The Monitor interactions privilege allows the user to connect to calls handled by agents that the user is assigned to supervise in silent monitoring, coaching, and barge-in modes. For more information, see section Call Monitoring, Coaching and Barge-In of the Supervisor Guide.

Pull screen pop

Pull screen pop allows the user to get snapshots of the Context Information Area of the desktops of agents that the user is assigned to supervise. Note that in order to be able to get a snapshot, the user must be connected to the agent in one of the call monitoring modes. Thus, the user also must have the privilege Monitor interactions (see above).

Push/Pull Global Wallboards

Users with the privilege Push/Pull Global Wallboards can push their personal wallboards to other users and/or teams, as well as pull shared wallboards from a global pool. Note that only global wallboards can be pulled.

Set alerts for real-time metrics system-wide

This privilege allows the user to set alerts that the user configures as system-wide defaults. Note that in order to use this privilege, the user must also have privilege Change alert configuration.

Set real-time metric views system wide

Set real-time metric views system wide allows the user to set real-time metric views that the user configures as system-wide defaults. Note that in order to use this privilege, the user must also have the privilege Change real-time metric views.

For more information, see section Customization of Metric Views of the Supervisor Guide.

View historical reports

The View historical reports privilege allows the user to generate and view reports via the Contact Center Administrator application. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to access any of the general reporting settings or be a recipient of emailed scheduled reports.

View interaction records

With this privilege, the user may search for and review interaction records via the Contact Center Administrator application.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to generate and view the Call Detail Report or Email Detail Report. To prevent access to these reports, use privilege View historical reports (see above).

View real-time agent metrics

View real-time agent metrics allows the user to view real-time metrics for the agents of the teams that the user is assigned to supervise.

View real-time service metrics

With View real-time service metrics, the user may view real-time metrics for all services associated with the teams that the user is assigned to supervise.

Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to view campaign-specific metrics. To prevent access to these metrics, use privilege Control campaign operations (see above).

Watch agent screen recordings

The privilege Watch agent screen recordings allows supervisors to search for and view the screen recording sessions of agents on their teams. The screen recordings appear in interaction records in agent timeline searches. If a screen recording is available for the selected agent, and if the privilege is enabled, then the Watch screen recording button is shown to the supervisor.

System Administration group

Privileges associated with system administration are described as follows.

Allow recording export API access

This privilege allows users to access the Recording Retrieval API that retrieves call recordings and metadata based on the call identifier.

Bulk Export/Import Contacts

When enabled, the privilege Bulk Export/Import Contacts allows the export/import icon on the Agent Desktop Contacts screen to be shown.

Configure Contact Forms and fields

The Configure Contact Forms and field privilege allows users to edit contact, activity history, and augmentation and case forms.

Configure directory

The Configure directory privilege allows the user to create and modify external contacts that appear in the Directory of the Agent Desktop application.

Manage BPO Clients

When enabled, the Manage BPO Clients privilege allows users to:

• Create, edit, and delete BPO clients in the Contact Center Administrator application
• Assign forms and teams to BPO clients

Manage all teams

If granted the Manage all teams privilege, the user may

• create teams and change configuration of all existing users and teams
• create users and change configuration of existing users, provided that the user also has the Manage users privilege (see below)
• assign skills to, and change skill levels of, all existing agents, provided that the user also has the Manage skills privilege (see above)

For more information, see sections Users, Teams, and Skill Levels.

Note that if a user is assigned as a supervisor of a particular team, absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to change most of the configuration settings of the given team and its current members.

Manage phones

The Manage phones privilege gives the user full access to configuration of softphones, hardphones, access numbers, and scenario entries. Absence of this privilege does not affect the user’s ability to assign phone numbers to users.

Manage users

The Manage users privilege allows the user to create users and change configuration of existing users, provided that he also has the Manage all teams privilege (see above).

Privileged Access IP Range

The Privileged Access IP Range privilege allows users (e.g., administrators) to be able to log in to the system from any IP address (e.g., a public place such as a coffee shop). Without this privilege, users can only log in from specific IP addresses.

Publish help

Publish help gives the user full access to configuring help screens.

View audit log

With the View audit log privilege, the user can view the audit log.

View usage data

The View usage data privilege allows the user to access to reports about usage of telecom carriers’ resources via Contact Center Administrator > Reports > Usage.

BPO Client group

Listening to call recordings and view chat transcripts on services in reviewer role

With this privilege granted, the user may listen to call recordings and view chat transcripts of the services to which the user is assigned as a reviewer.

Email Tab

The Email tab includes settings specific to email services.

To view and edit these settings, select the Email tab of the desired email service.

Email Service Settings

Email tab settings are described as follows.

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgment is the message that will be sent as an immediate response to inbound emails associated with this service. Normally this is done to acknowledge receipt of the request and advise the sender about the estimated reply time.

Acknowledgment is not considered a reply and will not affect any metrics related to this service. Acknowledgment is only sent for the initial email in an email thread.

Acknowledgments must initially be prepared as articles in the Knowledge Base.

To select an article that will be used as an acknowledgment for the given service, click the link, enter some article keywords in the search field, and choose the language. A list of matching articles will be displayed in the list below. Select the desired article; it will be displayed in the preview field.

Note that in the current product version, acknowledgment can be defined in one language only.

Distribution method

Distribution method is the method of email delivery to the Agent Desktop.

With the pull method, all incoming emails remain in the service queue and will be visible to the agents of the teams associated with this service (see the description of the Assignments tab). The agents will be expected to select emails manually for processing from this queue.

With the push method, incoming emails are delivered directly to the Agent Desktop in the same manner as calls and chats. The agents will be able to either accept incoming email for immediate processing or move it to My Queue for processing at a later time. For information about agents' availability to process email interactions, see section Omni-Channel Routing.

Note that the order in which incoming emails are delivered to agents (for the push method) or appear in the service queue (for the pull method) is determined first by priority and then by the shortest remaining time to breach the configured service level (see the description of the Service Level settings below). For more information about email priority, see section Scenario Entries - Email.

Enable personal routing

Enable personal routing indicates whether personal email routing is enabled for this service.

If enabled, the system will attempt to deliver any email identified as part of an existing email thread to the agent who composed the previous reply within that thread.

Personal routing timeout

If personal routing is enabled (see Enable personal routing above), this timeout specifies for how long the system will wait for the agent who composed the previous reply to become available before switching to the regular distribution method involving all qualified agents.

This timeout is essential for the push method only. For the pull method, such emails will be immediately delivered to the agent’s My Queue.

Return emails to general queue after

Return emails to general queue after specifies how long the system will wait (from the moment the email is placed in an agent’s My Queue) before returning this email to the general service queue.

If the option to return emails to general queue if SLA is breached" is selected (see below), such messages will be returned back to the general queue, even when they are put in the agent's My queue after the SLA is breached.

Return emails to general queue if SLA is breached

This setting indicates whether emails that have breached service level while in My Queues will be returned to the general service queue. See the description of the following Service Level settings.

Service level, Replied emails

This setting specifies the percentage of emails associated with this service that are expected to be replied within the specified service level threshold (see below) relative to all replied emails.

Service level, Within threshold

Service level, Within threshold sets the service level threshold for this service. A service level threshold is the amount of time in which emails associated with this service are expected to get a reply. The reply time is measured from the moment the email is placed in the service queue to the moment when the first reply is sent. Acknowledgement (see above) is not considered a reply.

The email service level threshold can be specified either in hours or in days and in either case excludes the time that is outside of the hours of operation specified for the given service.

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives an email associated with the given service. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop.

The following variables are supported:

• $(item.from) – sender’s email address
• $(item.to) – emails address in the To: field
• $(item.subject) – content of email subject

The Screenpop URL parameter is optional.

Email Tab

The Email tab includes settings specific to email services.

To view and edit these settings, select the Email tab of the desired email service.

Email Service Settings

Email tab settings are described as follows.

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgment is the message that will be sent as an immediate response to inbound emails associated with this service. Normally this is done to acknowledge receipt of the request and advise the sender about the estimated reply time.

Acknowledgment is not considered a reply and will not affect any metrics related to this service. Acknowledgment is only sent for the initial email in an email thread.

Acknowledgments must initially be prepared as articles in the Knowledge Base.

To select an article that will be used as an acknowledgment for the given service, click the link, enter some article keywords in the search field, and choose the language. A list of matching articles will be displayed in the list below. Select the desired article; it will be displayed in the preview field.

Note that in the current product version, acknowledgment can be defined in one language only.

Distribution method

Distribution method is the method of email delivery to the Agent Desktop.

With the pull method, all incoming emails remain in the service queue and will be visible to the agents of the teams associated with this service (see the description of the Assignments tab). The agents will be expected to select emails manually for processing from this queue.

With the push method, incoming emails are delivered directly to the Agent Desktop in the same manner as calls and chats. The agents will be able to either accept incoming email for immediate processing or move it to My Queue for processing at a later time. For information about agents' availability to process email interactions, see section Omni-Channel Routing.

Note that the order in which incoming emails are delivered to agents (for the push method) or appear in the service queue (for the pull method) is determined first by priority and then by the shortest remaining time to breach the configured service level (see the description of the Service Level settings below). For more information about email priority, see section Scenario Entries - Email.

Enable personal routing

Enable personal routing indicates whether personal email routing is enabled for this service.

If enabled, the system will attempt to deliver any email identified as part of an existing email thread to the agent who composed the previous reply within that thread.

Personal routing timeout

If personal routing is enabled (see Enable personal routing above), this timeout specifies for how long the system will wait for the agent who composed the previous reply to become available before switching to the regular distribution method involving all qualified agents.

This timeout is essential for the push method only. For the pull method, such emails will be immediately delivered to the agent’s My Queue.

Return emails to general queue after

Return emails to general queue after specifies how long the system will wait (from the moment the email is placed in an agent’s My Queue) before returning this email to the general service queue.

If the option to return emails to general queue if SLA is breached" is selected (see below), such messages will be returned back to the general queue, even when they are put in the agent's My queue after the SLA is breached.

Return emails to general queue if SLA is breached

This setting indicates whether emails that have breached service level while in My Queues will be returned to the general service queue. See the description of the following Service Level settings.

Service level, Replied emails

This setting specifies the percentage of emails associated with this service that are expected to be replied within the specified service level threshold (see below) relative to all replied emails.

Service level, Within threshold

Service level, Within threshold sets the service level threshold for this service. A service level threshold is the amount of time in which emails associated with this service are expected to get a reply. The reply time is measured from the moment the email is placed in the service queue to the moment when the first reply is sent. Acknowledgement (see above) is not considered a reply.

The email service level threshold can be specified either in hours or in days and in either case excludes the time that is outside of the hours of operation specified for the given service.

Screenpop URL

Screenpop URL is the URL of the web page that will be displayed by the Agent Desktop application when the agent receives an email associated with the given service. A query string can be added to supply variables for the screen pop.

The following variables are supported:

• $(item.from) – sender’s email address
• $(item.to) – emails address in the To: field
• $(item.subject) – content of email subject

The Screenpop URL parameter is optional.

General Information About Quality Management

In contact centers, quality management usually refers to the assessment of the quality of agent work via reviewing the available call and screen recordings, chat transcripts, and email messages. In Bright Pattern Contact Center, the results of such reviews can be expressed using a number of customizable grading categories, such as politeness and knowledge.

In this Reporting Reference Guide, Quality Management sections Call Recordings, Chat Transcripts, Email Messages, and Screen Recordings relate to the data provided in the Interaction Records Search Results.

How to Review Call Recordings, Chat Transcripts, and Email

To review call recordings, chat transcripts, or email messages, first select the desired interactions as described in section Interaction Records Search. The search conditions depend on your quality management practices. For example, if quality monitoring is based on random checks of agent recordings or transcripts, it is usually sufficient to define the agent’s username and the desired time frame as your search conditions. If, on the other hand, you follow-up on a specific customer complaint, your search conditions may contain the customer’s phone number, service name, and time frame.

When all desired search conditions are specified, click the Search button. The Search Results page will open with the list of interaction records matching your search criteria. If a particular interaction has been previously reviewed and rated, the user name will appear in the Reviewed by column.

Recording Availability

For phone calls, the availability of a recording for a particular call will be indicated by the audio icon in the Recording column. The percentage of recorded calls is specified in your contact center configuration and can be redefined for each service and each individual agent separately. If not all calls in your contact center are recorded, you can use filter has recording to limit your search results to call records that actually have recordings.

For chat interactions, the availability of a chat transcript is indicated by the messaging icon in the Recording column. Bright Pattern Contact Center unconditionally records transcripts for all chat service interactions and stores them for the same amount of time as the corresponding interaction records themselves. Therefore, you do not need to use any special filters to get access to chat interactions with transcripts.

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How to Interpret Your Current State Information

The agent state is the indication of your current availability to handle service calls. This information is used by the system to decide whether a new service call can be delivered to you. The information about the time you spend in each state also appears in reports about your performance.

The Agent Desktop application uses icons to represent agent states. Your current state is shown in the upper left-hand corner of Agent Desktop. These icons, the states they represent, and descriptions of those states are described as follows.

Note: Information in the main text of this section is valid if your system is configured to let you handle one customer interaction at a time. This configuration is most typical when you handle calls only. If you process interactions of other types (e.g., chats or emails), then, depending on your contact center practices, you may be expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously. The differences in interpretation of your states in this case are briefly explained in the notes following a state description. For a more detailed explanation, see sections Handling Multiple Chat Sessions and General Information About Handling Email.

Agent States

Ready

You are available to take a service call. In most cases, you make yourself Ready manually. See How to Make Yourself Ready for more information.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As soon as you finish a previous service call
• When the time allocated for after-call work associated with the previous call expires
• When the rest time associated with the previous call expires

You may also be forced into the Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, the Ready state will only be applied when you do not have any active interactions on your desktop. However, in this case you may receive new interactions in states other than Ready.

Ringing

You are unavailable to take service calls because one service call is already being delivered to you. The ringing icon is briefly displayed while your phone is ringing.

Busy

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are already handling a service call. This state is displayed from the moment the call is connected and until it is released. For outbound calls, it also includes the call dialing phase. When your service call is released, depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide, you will be switched automatically to either the After Call Work state, the Not Ready state, or the Ready state.

Note: Even if you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, your state will be displayed as Busy as long as you have at least one active interaction of any media type. However, your actual availability will depend on the number of interactions you are currently handling versus the maximum number of interactions you are expected to be able to handle simultaneously. Therefore, you may receive new interactions when you are in the Busy state.

After Call Work

You are unavailable to take new service calls because you are processing information related to the call that you previously handled. This state may or may not be used depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide. If it is used, you will be switched to this state automatically as soon as the call is released by either the customer or yourself. You will remain in this state until you manually make yourself Ready or Not Ready to take another call. Note that your After Call Work state may also end automatically if the time allocated for the after-call work exceeds the limit set by your administrator.

Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, you may receive new interactions when you are in the After Call Work state. You will be switched to this state only when the last live interaction on your desktop is finished. (Otherwise, you will continue to be in the Busy state.)

Not Ready

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop or busy doing some work that is not directly related to handling of service calls. Under normal circumstances, you make yourself Not Ready manually. Your system may also be configured to let you indicate a specific reason for being Not Ready. For more information, see How to Make Yourself Not Ready and the following Not Ready agent states: Lunch, Away From Desk, and Break. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Depending on your contact center practices, the Not Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:

• Upon login
• As a short rest time after finishing processing of a service call
• Upon rejection of a service call
• If you do not answer a ringing service call within a reasonable time
• When your Agent Desktop loses connection to the system

You may also be forced into the Not Ready state by your supervisor.

Note: You will not receive any interactions while you are in this state regardless of how many interactions you are expected to handle simultaneously.

Lunch

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are on your lunch break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Lunch or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Away From Desk

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are temporarily away from your desktop. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Away From Desk or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Break

You are unavailable to take service calls because you are taking a break. Under normal circumstances, you manually set the agent state to Break or some other Not Ready reason. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. These reasons are specific to your contact center. You will get detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.

Email

The logic of processing of an inbound email interaction is initially determined by the email address that was used by the email sender. In the simplest case, such email addresses can correspond to your email services (e.g., your sales@company-name.com and support@company-name.com may be associated with your Sales and Support services, respectively). In a more complex configuration, you may want to apply some keyword-based analysis of email texts to associated emails with appropriate services (e.g., an email coming to support@company-name.com can be further categorized into Smartphone Support and Tablet Support services based on the presence of the words phone and tablet in the text of email messages).

The logical entity that describes association between email addresses and keywords on the one hand and email services on the other hand is called email scenario entry. Unlike the other types of scenario entries, the email entries do not currently refer to any actual scenarios. All information required for association of incoming emails with services in the current release is contained in the configuration settings of the email entries themselves.

Note that before you configure an email scenario entry, you should set up a corresponding email service. If you plan any keyword-based categorization, it may also be easier to define upfront all of the known services to which the emails arriving via this entry may be attributed. Once the email entry is set up according to your initial needs, you can add more services and update the categorization rules at any time.

Note: Bright Pattern Contact Center stores all processed emails for activity history, reporting, and quality management purposes. These storage practices may not coincide with the general email retention policies of your organization. For compliance with such general retention policies, we recommend that you always store copies of all emails received to and sent from the email addresses used for email scenario entries.

Email scenario entries are managed in the Contact Center Administrator application. To set up and manage email scenario entries, navigate to Configuration > Scenario Entries > Email.

Note: This option is visible and available to you only if the email management capability is enabled for your contact center at the service provider level.

If you have no email scenario entries set up, create them by clicking the "+" button. Once you have added an email scenario entry, screen properties will be visible on the right-hand pane of the screen.

Screen Properties

The screen properties for email scenario entries are organized into three tabs: Account, Services, and Case Fields. The settings for each tab are described as follows.

Account tab

Email address

Email address is the address that customers will use to send emails to a specific service or a range of services. This address will also appear in the From: field of corresponding email replies as well as any outbound emails related to services associated with this scenario entry. This parameter is mandatory.

Display name

Display name is the name that will be shown for the email address that customers will use to send emails to a specific service or a range of services (e.g., "Bright Pattern Support" is a display name for "support@brightpattern.com"). This parameter is mandatory.

Server type

Server type defines what protocols are used to send and retrieve email messages. The POP3/SMTP protocol is supported, as is the Microsoft Exchange Web Services protocol.

The pull-down menu provides two options: POP3/SMTP and Microsoft exchange. The email settings that follow are dependent on the server type that you select.

Microsoft Exchange email retrieval and email sending is supported as of Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.15. The protocol works for users who have on-premise Microsoft Exchange 2013 accounts with only the Exchange Web Services protocol available (i.e., for users who without POP3), as well as for users who plan to move to an Outlook365 managed service. The protocol works with Exchange 2013, Outlook.com, and Hotmail.com managed services.

POP3 Properties

Selecting server type POP3/SMTP will bring up the following properties for Incoming Mail and Outgoing Mail.

Incoming Mail

Server type

Server type is the type of server used for the transmission of email messages to the email address. It is read-only. The POP3 protocol is supported.

Host

Host is the name of the host where the server is run. This parameter is mandatory.

Connection security

Connection security provides indication of whether a cryptographic protocol (TLS or SSL) will be used to secure this connection.

• For a nonsecure connection, select none.
• To negotiate encryption in a plain connection, select negotiate encryption in a plain connection (STARTTLS).
• For an immediate secure connection, select use an encrypted connection (TLS/SSL v3).

Port

Port is the port assigned to the server on the host. This parameter is mandatory.

Username

Username is the username for email client authentication. This parameter is mandatory.

Password

Password is the password for email client authentication. This parameter is mandatory.

Retrieval interval

Retrieval interval is the mail retrieval period. By default, the account is checked for the presence of new mail every 15 seconds. Some POP3 mail servers may be configured to lock out accounts that access mailboxes at this rate due to excessive activity. If this is the case, use this Incoming Mail, Retrieval interval parameter to increase the retrieval period to any value between 15 and 86400 seconds.

Enabled

Enabled indicates whether the account is currently enabled. Accounts can be disabled manually or automatically, as described. Accounts can only be enabled manually.

After incoming emails have been retrieved for processing, Bright Pattern Contact Center normally deletes those emails from the mailbox. However, if the POP3 server is configured for read-only access, the emails will stay in the mailbox and will be retrieved repeatedly until the system runs out of disk space. To prevent this from happening, the system will automatically disable the email account if an attempt to delete incoming mail returns an error from the POP3 server.

If an account is disabled, you should check the Last error message. If the message indicates that the account has been disabled for the aforementioned reason, reconfigure your POP3 server for full access, and enable the account manually.

Last error

In case the account has been disabled automatically (see above), the Last error parameter displays the error message that caused the system to disable the account. This parameter is read-only.

Test

The Test button is used to verify the correctness of your connection settings.

Outgoing Mail

Server type

Server type defines what protocols are used to send and retrieve email messages. It is read-only. The SMTP protocol is supported.

Host

Host is the name of the host where the server is run. This parameter is mandatory.

Connection security

Connection security provides indication of whether a cryptographic protocol (TLS or SSL) will be used to secure this connection.

• For a nonsecure connection, select none.
• To negotiate encryption in a plain connection, select negotiate encryption in a plain connection (STARTTLS).
• For an immediate secure connection, select use an encrypted connection (TLS/SSL v3).

Port

Port is the port assigned to the server on the host. This parameter is mandatory.

Server requires authentication

Selecting the Server requires authentication checkbox forces the user to enter a username and password for email client authentication. If you do not select the checkbox, a username and password will not be necessary.

Username

Username is the username for email client authentication. This parameter is mandatory.

Password

Password is the password for email client authentication. This parameter is mandatory.

Test

The Test button is used to verify the correctness of your connection settings.

Microsoft Web Exchange Service Properties

Selecting server type Microsoft exchange will bring up the following properties for Incoming Mail and Outgoing Mail.

EWS URL

EWS URL is the Exchange Web Service URL from which the email will be retrieved.

Username

Username is the username for email client authentication. This parameter is mandatory.

Password

Password is the password for email client authentication. This parameter is mandatory.

Retrieval interval

Retrieval interval is the mail retrieval period. By default, the account is checked for the presence of new mail every 15 seconds. Some mail servers may be configured to lock out accounts that access mailboxes at this rate due to excessive activity. If this is the case, use this Incoming Mail, Retrieval interval parameter to increase the retrieval period to any value between 15 and 86400 seconds.

Enabled

Enabled indicates whether the account is currently enabled. Accounts can be disabled manually or automatically, as described. Accounts can only be enabled manually.

After incoming emails have been retrieved for processing, Bright Pattern Contact Center normally deletes those emails from the mailbox. However, if the Microsoft Web Exchange Service server is configured for read-only access, the emails will stay in the mailbox and will be retrieved repeatedly until the system runs out of disk space. To prevent this from happening, the system will automatically disable the email account if an attempt to delete incoming mail returns an error from the Microsoft Web Exchange Service server.

If an account is disabled, you should check the Last error message. If the message indicates that the account has been disabled for the aforementioned reason, reconfigure your Microsoft Web Exchange Service server for full access, and enable the account manually.

Last error

In case the account has been disabled automatically (see above), the Last error parameter displays the error message that caused the system to disable the account. This parameter is read-only.

Services tab

The Services tab presents settings related to email services.

Default service

Default service is the email service that will be associated with emails arriving via this entry if categorization rules are not set or do not provide any keyword matches. This parameter is mandatory.

Default priority

Default priority is the queueing priority that will be given to emails attributed to the default service. Priority determines the position of the email interaction requesting the default service in the queue, relative to email interactions associated with other services that are competing for the same agents.

The value range is from 1 (the lowest and the default value) to 100. Unlike other media types, the priority of email is absolute (i.e., an email with a higher priority always will be distributed to a qualified resource before emails with lower priority regardless of the time any of those emails spent in the queue).

Customer reply priority

Customer reply priority is the queuing priority of customer emails related to existing email threads.

The system automatically checks whether an incoming email may be part of an existing email thread (e.g., after receiving a reply to an original email request, the customer may have additional questions). Such emails bypass the keyword-based analysis. Instead, they are automatically attributed to the same service as the original request. This parameter allows you to distribute such emails with a higher priority than any new email requests.

For more information about email priority, see the description of the Default priority setting.

Ignore Reply-To Header

The Ignore Reply-To Header checkbox, when selected, allows the system to ignore the header in the reply-to field of an email. When this setting is checked, the behavior is as follows:

• The From field is used for identification.
• The From field is used for agent replies.
• The Return-Path header is used for auto-replies.

If this setting is unchecked, the behavior is as follows:

• If a reply-to header is present, it is used for identification, agent replies, and auto-replies.
• If a reply-to header is missing, the behavior is the same as if the Ignore Reply-To Header box is checked.

Set Language Skill Based on Detected Language

The Set Language Skill Based on Detected Language checkbox, when selected, allows the following:

• Emails with undetected languages will be sent to the default email service regardless of keyword matches.
• If the detected language of an email is not in the call center's list of configured languages, the email will be sent to the default email service, regardless of keyword matches.

Optional Filters

Optional Filters is where you add the list of filters that will be used to assign emails arriving at the given email scenario entry to different services using keyword-based analysis of the email subjects and body text.

To add a filter, click add.

Filters are checked for possible keyword matches in the order in which they appear on the list. As soon as a match is found, the corresponding service and priority are assigned to the email interaction. Note that this order may be affected by the language setting of the filter. See the description of the Language setting for more details.

Newly created filters will appear at the end of the list. To change the position of a filter in the list, drag it to the desired location.

To edit or remove an existing filter, hover over it and select the desired function.

Language

The Language setting is where you select the language in which the keywords of the given filter will be written. This setting only matters if the filter’s keywords may have different meanings in different languages. Otherwise, leave this parameter set to the default value <Any>. The list of languages here is limited to the configured Language Skills that are auto-detectable.

Initially, the system will try to detect the language of the email text automatically. If the language is not identified, only the filters set to Any will be checked for keyword matches. If the language is identified, the system will first check the filters set to Any and then check the filters set to the detected language.

Keywords

Keywords are the keyword expressions that you specify. Each keyword/phrase in the expression must be set in quotation marks. Logical expressions can include logical operators AND, OR, XOR, NOT, and parentheses (e.g., “connection loss” AND (“router” OR “modem”)).

Service and Priority

The Service is the email service that will be associated with email interactions matching this filter.

The Priority is the priority that will be assigned to email interactions matching the filter. For more information about email priority, see the description of the Default priority setting.

Natural Language Understanding

Our contact center solution integrates with IBM Watson to provide Natural Language Understanding (NLU) functionality and sentiment analysis capabilities to your tenant on a per-service basis. To enable NLU for email scenario entries, select the applicable integration account from the Natural Language Understanding drop-down menu.

Integration account

The default integration account is < < None > >. If no integration accounts are listed, that means no integration accounts of the type "Natural Language Understanding" have been configured for your tenant. To add an integration account, see section Integration Accounts of the Contact Center Administrator Guide.

Salesforce.com synchronization

The Agent Desktop application can be integrated with Salesforce.com (SFDC) for email routing and reporting.

Agent Desktop is used for handling emails, and Salesforce.com (SFDC) is used for handling screen pop. Note that SFDC licenses are required. Bright Pattern and SFDC are integrated on both a server and a client side.

Bright Pattern Contact Center can be integrated with SFDC for email handling in the following manner:

• Bright Pattern Contact Center receives incoming emails and routes them to agents.
• Email replies are drafted in Agent Desktop and sent directly.
• The cases and emails are synchronized to SFDC as cases and emails in Activity history, and they are linked to an agent (user) and a contact.
• The first email routed in such a way results in a screen pop of the customer/contact record in SFDC.
• Agent Desktop will also display the contact and activity history (if contact feature is used).
• Each subsequent email results in a screen pop of the SFDC case.
• Bright Pattern Contact Center would retain all of the routing control and reporting data. Switching between two screens (Agent Desktop and SFDC) is required.

Note that Bright Pattern and SFDC need to be integrated on both the server and client side. For more information on SFDC integration, see the Salesforce.com Integration Guide.

Integration account

The default integration account is < < None > >. If no integration accounts are listed, that means no integration accounts of the type "Salesforce.com" have been configured for your tenant. To add an integration account, see section Integration Accounts of the Contact Center Administrator Guide.

Case Fields Tab

You may utilize custom case fields when configuring email to pull data from email subject line and body; these custom case fields then can be used in custom reporting fields.

Parse email Subject into case fields

To create case fields from the text in an email subject line, you will need to first configure a regex expression. Once this has been configured, name the configured expression in the case field field.

Parse email Body into case fields

To create case fields from the text in an email body, enter in words or phrases your customers use at the beginning of sentences in the Line starting with field. Once configured, name the field in case field.

Skill Levels

In Bright Pattern Contact Center, skills assigned to an agent with certain proficiency levels define the types of customer interactions that the agent is able to handle. Before skills can be assigned to an agent, they must be defined in your contact center configuration.

Defining Skills

There are three different ways to define skills in Bright Pattern Contact Center, as well as three corresponding methods to assign such skills to agents.

With the first method, when you create your services, a default service skill representing qualification to provide the corresponding service is created automatically. When you assign a service to an agent team, you will have an option to assign this default service skill to all members of this team with a specific level. If you select this option, all current and future members of the team will get the service skill automatically. Note that the individual skill levels can be changed manually later.

With the second method, skills are created independently of services. Such auxiliary skills are organized in groups and can be used in combination with the default service skills (see above) to identify the most qualified agents to handle a specific interaction. For example, an auxiliary "IT" skill can be used with the default service skill for technical support; this connects "IT" skilled agents with customers inquiring about this topic. Auxiliary skills are assigned to agents manually. For more information, see section Auxiliary Skills.

For the third method, language skills are assigned to agents. Language Skills are selected from a pre-configured list and also can be used in combination with the default service skills; this is used to identify the most qualified agents to handle an interaction in a specific language. For example, a "Spanish" language skill can be used with the default service skill for technical support, and then provide support in Spanish to the customer. Language skills are assigned to agents manually. Please note: In previous versions of Bright Pattern Contact Center, languages could be configured in Auxiliary Skills. If you configured languages previously, they will be displayed in Auxiliary Skills as "Language - Old." For more information, see section Language Skills.

Understanding Skill Assignments

To view and change assigned agent skills, select the Skill Levels option from the Users & Teams menu.

The list that appears will contain all users of your contact center. You can limit the view to members of one or several specific teams by selecting those teams from the drop-down menu above the list. For each user, information about his team membership and assigned roles will be displayed.

The other columns of the list represent your contact center skills arranged according to their groups. The default service skills will be arranged under the group Services. Note that when you limit the list view to show the members of a specific team, only the default skills of the services associated with this team will be displayed.

To focus on the particular skills whose assignments you wish to view and modify, click the Skill columns button and deselect the skills that you do not wish to work with right now. Please note: The modifiable user skill columns shown here are auxiliary skills; the view of languages columns cannot be modified. To edit either auxiliary or language skills, click on the corresponding links located here.

Numeric Values

The numeric values in the skill columns define the relative levels of proficiency in the given skill for the agents in the corresponding rows. Absence of any skill level value in a specific skill column for a specific agent means that the agent does not possess the given skill at all. Note that for default service skills, the skill levels will usually contain a certain default value specified at the time when the corresponding service became associated with the agent team. For auxiliary skills, levels will be initially absent and must be specified manually.

To assign a skill to an agent, click the corresponding skill level cell, specify the desired value, and press the Enter key. The value must be an integer within the 0 to 100 range. Best practice is to set skills at intervals of 25 (e.g., 100, 75, 50). What this will do is cause the service scenario to find an agent with a skill level of 100 first, then 75, then 50, and so forth. The higher-skilled agents will get the messages before the lower-skilled agents, and the agents with no skill will not be served.

Use the same operation to change the levels of the existing agent skills. Deleting an existing value or setting it to 0 means that the user will no longer possess the corresponding skill.

You can change any number of skill levels for any number of agents while in the Skill Levels screen. All cells with updated values will be highlighted with a red mark in the upper left corner. Click Apply to store the new values in the configuration.

How to Answer an Incoming Call

When a call is delivered to your desktop, you will hear a ringing tone in your headset and you will see a call alert pop-up window indicating an incoming call.

Your state will change from Ready to Busy, and the ringing icon will indicate the ringing phase of the call.

Call Alert Window

The call alert window will display relevant data that is dependent on the type of call.

• If the incoming call is a service call, the call alert window will display the service name to which the call was made.
• If the incoming call is an internal call from another agent or a supervisor, the call alert window will display the name and extension number of the calling party.

There are two buttons: Accept and Reject.

• To answer the call, click the Accept button.
• The Active Communications List will display the inbound call icon indicating that the call is now established and the timer for this call will start.

For service calls, depending on your contact center configuration, you may hear an announcement of the service number to which the call was made. The calling party will not hear this announcement.

You can now greet the calling party and begin a conversation.

Note: If you do not answer a ringing service call within a predefined amount of time, you will be automatically switched to the Not Ready state. You will receive a clear indication for the reason of being in the Not Ready state and will need to make yourself manually Ready when you are ready to receive another call. Unanswered service calls will appear in your performance and activity reports.

Roles

A role is a combination of privileges (i.e., permissions) that allow a user to access specific functionality within Bright Pattern Contact Center. Roles, therefore, define the type of work that users are allowed to do in the contact center. For example, in order to design call distribution scenarios, a user must have a role that has the Manage Scenarios privilege. A user may have any number of roles assigned simultaneously.

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a number of preconfigured roles that are available upon the initial solution installation. It is recommended that you review these roles first to see if they sufficiently reflect your contact center organization. If any changes are desired, you can modify the default privilege set of any preconfigured role, delete some of the preconfigured roles, and/or create some additional roles.

To work with roles, select the Roles option from the Users & Teams menu.

Screen Properties

Roles

The Roles screen properties are described as follows.

Name

Name is the role name. This name must be unique within the contact center.

Licenses

This property is reserved for future use.

Assign this role to newly created users

Assign this role to newly created users indicates whether the given role will be assigned automatically to every new user registered in your configuration. For example, if you want all or most of your users to be able to handle service interactions, you can select this property for the default role Agent and all new users automatically will get the corresponding permission. Remember that you can always remove a role assigned by default manually.

Privileges

This tab defines the privileges granted with this role. A privilege is permission to access specific functionality within Bright Pattern Contact Center.

Note that there are two columns:

• Has defines whether users who have this privilege can access the corresponding functions.
• May grant or revoke defines whether users can assign roles containing such privileges to other users or to revoke them from other users.

For detailed descriptions of all privileges, see section Privileges. Note that access to some functions may require a combination of privileges.

Note: The BPO Client group of privileges exists to support BPO call center operations, where BPO clients may want to have access to some system functions, such as quality monitoring. This access will be limited to the services that the BPO contact center handles for the given client. Any privilege in this group will be provided only with respect to the services where the corresponding user is assigned as a reviewer. For more information, see section Services and Campaigns - Assignment Tab. If you assign a certain role to new users by default (see setting Assign this role to newly created users), you may have to remove that role explicitly from your BPO clients to prevent them from using system functions other than the ones implied by their BPO client role.

Users tab

The List of users shows all the users who currently have the selected role assigned to them. First name, last name, extension number, and team membership are displayed for each user. Double click a specific user row to manage settings of this user.

To assign the selected role to multiple users, click the Assign users button.

Scenarios Overview

Scenarios define the logic of automated interaction processing in your contact center. Execution of a scenario with respect to a specific interaction is triggered by a particular event, such as the arrival of a call at a specific access number or the initiation of a chat session from a specific web page; these scenarios are executed by the Scenario Engine.

Scenarios can perform many different automated actions. For example, with respect to an inbound call, scenarios can collect additional information via Interactive Voice Response (IVR), identify the requested service, and distribute the call to one of the qualified and available contact center agents. Additionally, should a scenario failover occur (i.e., a Scenario Engine fails while processing a Voice scenario), the scenario will be transferred to a backup Scenario Engine; this will restart the scenario from the last executed block and prevent active, connected calls from being disconnected.

The list in the left pane of the scenario view displays the existing voice scenarios. If a scenario is being edited by someone else at the moment, the name of the editor will appear in the Currently Edited By column.

For further information, see Scenario Builder Overview in the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.

How to Create, Edit, and Delete Scenarios

To create a scenario:

1. First select the media type of the interactions that this scenario will process (voice or chat).
2. In the scenario list view, click the Add scenario button at the bottom of the list.

To edit a selected scenario:

1. Click the Edit scenario button at the bottom of the list.

To delete a scenario:

1. Click the Delete scenario button at the bottom of the list.

Clicking either the Add scenario button or the Edit scenario button will open the Scenario Builder application in a new browser window or tab. The Scenario Builder application includes all the control elements that may be used in automated interaction processing.

How to Use Scenario Templates

Bright Pattern Contact Center provides a number of scenario templates for some standard functions, such as virtual queue and compliant telemarketing calls. Depending on the type of scenario your are working on, it may be easier to select a corresponding template and customize it to the requirements of your contact center, as opposed to creating a scenario from scratch.

To create a scenario using a template:

1. Click the Add from template button, which will open the Select template window.

The Select template window will offer a drop-down menu with the following templates from which to choose:

• Auto-Attendant
• Campaign Return Calls
• External Agent Dial-in
• IVR Campaign
• Inbound Service
• Predictive Telemarketing Campaign
• Right Party Connect Campaign
• Salesforce Integration Example
• Virtual Queue (Callback)
• Voice Prompt Recording
• Voice Signature

These templates are described in section Voice of this guide.

Select the desired template, modify the content as needed, and save it as your new scenario.

How to Export and Import Scenarios

To export a scenario:

1. First, select the media type of the scenario you will export (i.e., voice or chat).
2. In the scenario list view, select/highlight the name of the scenario you wish to export.
3. After selecting the desired scenario, click the Export scenario button. Note that the file will download as soon as you select this button.
4. The exported file will be in .ZIP format.

To import a scenario:

1. Before importing a scenario, note that the file should be in .ZIP format (i.e., the same format as an exported scenario).
2. Select the media type of the scenario you will import (i.e., voice or chat).
3. In the scenario list view, click the Import scenario button, which will open the Import Scenario window.
4. In the Scenario name field, enter the name you would like to give the imported scenario.
5. In the Import from field, click the Browse button to find and select the file you would like to import.
6. After naming and selecting the file, click the Import scenario button.

Scenario Entries Overview

The logic of automated interaction processing is defined in scenarios. Execution of a scenario with respect to a specific interaction is triggered by an interaction arrival at a specific access point (e.g., a phone number in the case of inbound calls, or a web page in the case of web chats). The logical entities that associate specific scenarios with access points are called scenario entries.

How to Schedule a Follow-up Activity

While talking to a customer or colleague, you can schedule follow-up activities related to your present call. For example, you can schedule an outbound call or email to confirm fulfillment of a customer’s request.

To schedule a follow-up activity in the context of your current interaction, follow these steps:

1. In the Contact Info Panel, click the Schedule follow-up activity button . The dialog window and calendar that appear will have the available contact information (e.g., name and phone number) pre-filled for you.
2. Add missing contact information (e.g., email address) if necessary.
3. Enter the activity Title and Notes.
4. Specify the activity Start and End time, and set the Reminder.
5. Click Save.

Scheduled activities will appear in your personal calendar, and you will get reminders when those activities are due. For general information about the calendar and reminders, see section How to Open the Calendar.

Services and Campaigns Overview

A service is a logical concept that reflects a specific reason for customers to contact your business, or, in case of outbound campaigns, a specific reason for your business to contact customers. Services play the key role in design of interaction processing logic, evaluation of contact center efficiency, and workforce management.

Note that when you define a new service, a default skill representing this service is created automatically by the system. When you associate the service with an agent team, this default skill can be automatically assigned to all current and future members of the team.

To set up services or campaigns, select the Services & Campaigns option from the root menu.

Types of Services

To create a service, click the Add service button. The following is a list of the service options and brief descriptions of what they do.

Inbound Voice

Inbound Voice services are used for inbound voice services.

Outbound Voice

Outbound Voice services are used for pure outbound campaigns.

Blended Voice

Blended Voice is for when you expect to receive inbound calls that are logically part of your outbound campaign (i.e., when customers who missed your campaign call attempts call back using one of the campaign Caller IDs) and want those inbound calls to be handled by the same agents and in the same way.

Chat

Chat is for chat services.

Marketing

Marketing services utilize email and voice campaigns for managing and gaining business leads.

Email

Email is for email services.

Service Metrics Report

This report provides a full set of key performance indicators for selected inbound services.

The related metrics in this report are calculated for call and/or chat media types. For email service metrics, use the Email Service Report.

Metric Descriptions

Number of Calls Received

Number of Calls Received is the total number of calls/chat interactions that requested this service in the given reporting interval.

If a call requests a service upon arrival and then is transferred to the same service internally, it will be counted twice in this metric. Likewise, if a chat interaction requests a service upon arrival and then is transferred to the same service internally, it will be counted twice in this metric.

Received as Transfers

For voice calls only, Received as Transfers is the number of calls that requested this service via transfer operation.

Service Level

Service Level is the percentage of calls or chats to this service that were answered within the predefined service level threshold relative to all answered or abandoned calls/chats except the calls/chats abandoned within that threshold.

Self Service

For voice calls only, Self Service is the number of calls serviced by an IVR application (as indicated by execution of scenario block Self-Service Provided).

%

For voice calls only, % is the percentage of calls serviced by an IVR application relative to total number of calls that requested this service.

Abandoned in IVR

Abandoned in IVR is the number of calls/chats to this service that were abandoned before entering the queue (e.g., while still in the IVR stage).

%

% is the percentage of calls/chats to this service that were abandoned in IVR relative to total number of calls that requested this service.

Queued

Queued is the number of calls/chats to this service that entered the queue, including calls/chats that selected the Virtual Queue option.

%

% is the percentage of calls/chats to this service that entered the queue relative to total number of calls/chats that requested this service.

Abandoned

Abandoned is the number of calls/chats to this service that abandoned after they were placed in the service queue. Note that if the Service Level is configured for this service, this metric will exclude the calls that abandoned within the service level threshold (i.e., short abandoned calls).

This metric includes:

• Calls that were abandoned while ringing
• Chats that were closed after the chat interaction was initiated
• Calls that selected the Virtual Queue option (i.e., a callback was requested), and
  • Did not answer when called back, or
  • Were busy when called back, or
  • Answered when called back but hung up before being connected to the agent

%

% is the percentage of calls/chats to this service that were abandoned outside of the service level threshold relative to the total number of calls/chats that requested this service except the calls/chats abandoned within the service level threshold.

Abandonment Time, Average

Abandonment Time, Average is the average time that the abandoned calls/chats to this service spent waiting in the service queue. For voice calls, Abandonment Time, Average could be the average time that the call was ringing before being abandoned (excluding calls abandoned within the service level threshold).

Overflow

Overflow is the n