About Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Below the operation of an IVR is visually displayed, after which each point will be explained.

Visual

Explanation

Below the operation of the queue is visually displayed, after which each point will be explained.

The flow can be interrupted if Agents accept the Call.

Visual

Explanation

The item “Welcome Message” is the first message a Caller will hear when the caller is connected to the IVR. The work flow must be “Welcomeflow”.

For example:

Welcome to Anywhere365, how can we help you today?{break}

The item “Welcome Recording” is the second message a Caller will hear when the call will be recorded. The work flow must be “Welcomeflow”.

For example:

This conversation will be recorded for training purposes {break}

The item “Message Closed” will be played when the UCC is closed, during Holidays or outside Business hours. The work flow must be “NotWithinBusinessHours”.

For example:

At the moment we are closed. Send a mail to info@Anywhere365.net, or press 1 in case of an emergency.

The item “Message Overflow” will be played when the queue is full (size can be configured). The work flow must be “QueueOverflow”.

For example:

At the moment our lines are full. Send a mail to icthelpdesk@Anywhere365.net or try again on another time. The call will now be disconnected.

The item “Queue 1” will be played when the Caller is the first to be served. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”

For example:

Please hold, we are trying to connect you to an Agent.

The item “Queue 2_1” will be played when the Caller is the second to be served. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”

For example:

There is one person before you.

The item “Queue 2_2” will be played when the Caller is the third to be served. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”

For example:

There are two persons before you.

The item “Queue 2_3” will be played when the Caller is the fourth to be served. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”

For example:

There are three persons before you.

The item “Queue 2_4” will be played when the Caller is the fifth to be served. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”

For example:

There are four persons before you.

The item “Queue 2_5” will be played when the Caller is the sixth to be served. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”

For example:

There are five persons before you.

The item “Queue 2_more_5” will be played when the Caller is the seventh (or higher) to be served. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”

For example:

There are more than five persons before you.

The item “Queue 3” will be played as closing message for the Queue 1 and Queue 2 message. The work flow must be “QueuePleaseHold”.

For example:

Please hold, you will be connected as soon as possible.

The item “Message Busy” will be played when a Caller is in the queue longer than the time specified by the setting QueueBusyTimeOut. The work flow must be “QueueBusy”.

For example:

At the moment it is very busy, send a mail to info@Anywhere365.net or stay on the line to keep waiting.

Depending on the license of Anywhere365 (Corporate or higher) it is possible to create multiple layers within the IVR. This can be realized by using Parent IVR Questions. IVR questions without a parent will be played after the welcome messages (in alphabetical order), while IVR questions with a parent will be played (in order of choice) after the parent question is selected by the caller.

The end goal of an IVR is to connect the Caller to the right Agent. Therefore an IVR must always end with a Skill or an Action. Based on the required Skill, Anywhere365 selects an appropriate Agent.

A question can end with a Skill on the first layer (mandatory if Anywhere365 Workgroup is used) or on underlying layers. A question can also end with a Voice Mail (a setting for IVR Questions) or the caller can be redirect to phone number (SIP The Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, is a protocol for multimedia communication (audio, video and data communication). SIP is also used for Voice over IP (VoIP). SIP has interactions with other Internet protocols such as HTTP and SMTP. address).

If the Caller needs to be forwarded to an Agent with a particular Skill without making a choice within the IVR menu this Skill can be configured at the Welcome Message. Anywhere365 will directly hunt an Agent after the welcome message is played.

Below an example of a Welcome Message with a Skill:

IVR Question list

If it is necessary to ask more questions after the first choice is made, a hierarchy needs to be build. This can be realized by configuring a Parent question at the underlying questions. Note that the Parent Questions shouldn’t have a Action.

Below an example of a question hierarchy:

IVR Question list

When a Call needs to be forwarded to a direct number, for example when the UCC is closed, two steps should be taken:

1. A Forward Skill should be created that forwards the call to a phone number (or SIP address);

2. Add this Skill and a choice to the Closed Message.

This way the Caller can select 1 to be forwarded to the emergency number.

Below an example on how to set the Skill and the IVR Question:

Skill list

IVR Question list

When a Call needs to be forwarded to a Voice Mail, for example when the UCC is closed, the Message Closed should be configured. First, a choice should be set for this message and, second the Action should be Voicemail for this message.

Below an example on how to set the IVR Question:

IVR Question list

If leaving a voice mail should be an option in the IVR menu, one of the questions should have the action Voicemail.

For each individual UCC there is only one voice mail available. Although the Voice Mail can be selected in multiple ways, all messages will be collected in a single inbox.

IVR Question list

Use the following placeholders to inform the customer about his position in the waiting queue and how many active agents are available:

• WaitingQueue.QueuePosition: The current Queue Position of the Customer

• WaitingQueue.NumberOfActiveAgents: The current number of Agents active for the Queue in which the Customer is waiting.

To let the customer know their queue position, we can set the Queue 2_more_5 message in the Waiting Queue to the following:

To also let customers know the number of Active Agents, set Queue 2_more_5 to the following:

To use audio files instead of TTS engine, you can do the following:

• Upload a file QueuePositionPrefix.wma to your AudioFiles folder in SharePoint.

  • This file should contain the text "Please hold. There are"

  • Give this file the title QueuePositionPrefix

• Upload a file for every queue position number to your AudioFiles folder in SharePoint.

  • These files should contain only the speech for a specific number

  • Give this file the title Number{Number}, so Number1 for 1, Number2 for 2, and so on.

• Upload a file QueuePositionSuffix.wma to your AudioFiles folder in SharePoint.

  • This file should contain the text "persons ahead of you."

  • Give this file the title QueuePositionSuffix

Set Queue 2_more_5 to the following:

<Play title="QueuePositionPrefix" /><Play title="Number{WaitingQueue.QueuePosition}" /><Play title="QueuePositionSuffix" />

<Play title="QueuePositionPrefix">Please hold. There are</Play><Play title="Number{WaitingQueue.QueuePosition}">{WaitingQueue.QueuePosition}</Play><Play title="QueuePositionSuffix">persons ahead of you.</Play>

1. Open the list.
2. Select the Add new item button.
3. Enter the correct data in the window that appears.
4. Select the Save button.

1. Open the list.
2. Tick the respective item.
3. Select the “Edit Properties” button.
4. Enter the correct data in the window that appears.
5. Select the “Save” button.

1. Open the list.
2. Tick the respective item
3. Select the “Delete Item” button.