Call back

[miky1979]

Hi All,

Is it possible to implement a callback solution. Say I call a contact center and they have a lot of traffic at that moment and it gives me a option to enter my phone number and then call me back at my queue position which was 15 minutes. Can it be done through vectors, also how to implement a time based announcement for the queue which tells me my expected answer time in the queue.

[dwalin]

miky1979,

of course it is possible, albeit not entirely with vectors. there's a lot of possible solutions, some fully automated, some fully manual and a plethora of semi-automated ways to do it in between - it depends on many factors, traffic matters most. how many callers will be using callback?
time based announcements can be implemented like this: http://avaya.dwalin.ru/call-center/d...announcements/

[miky1979]

Hi Dwalin,

I checked your blog and thats satisfies the requirement for time based announcements--excellent article, thanks for that.

Now coming onto the call back feature. I want to implement that any caller expecting 15 minutes or greater of wait time can expect a call back, assuming not more than 5 callers will be in this position, can you guide me how to do that also.

Thanks

[dwalin]

miky1979,

well, the first requirement is to determine which callers to offer this feature - this you already got by defining 15-minute interval as calculated by expected-wait-time routine. next, you need to offer some menu, this is easily implemented with announcement/collect digits step in a vector. then you need to store this information somehow and pass it along to agents for further processing. now that's where the circus begins. as i already said, you can implement this feature in many ways, here are some examples:

• if you got intuity audix, you can use messaging step in a vector to allow callers to leave voice mail and say when they want to be called. audix can use message waiting lamp indication - not that robust, people tend not to notice these lights - or send messages via email to, say, some agent's address. that agent will be responsible for playing these messages and calling people back. this way is cheap and easy but not too efficient nor robust, although may be suitable for small call centers or small groups with little traffic.
• if you have cms with external call history interface authorized, you can utilize echi to collect call segment data, filter out abandoned calls and make this data available to agents via web interface, or send it via email - probably even as automated meeting schedules in outlook. this way is cheap and easy too - provided that you already have cms with echi - but nowhere near real time, it can be as slow as once per interval. this may be acceptable, or may not be, depending on your business requirements.
• if you have ivr, you can use it instead of audix and play prompts, store data in a database, send email reminders, etc. this way is definitely better than simple voice mail, but it does not automate the most problematic step - actual calling-back process. agents still have to punch digits, write down results etc, not too effective and still requires ivr and quite extensive programming.
• if you have some kind of crm system, you can use one or more ways described above to generate calling activity in that crm. that would solve most problems, but application development could cost you.
• and finally, you can use a packaged solution, like contact center express - it has callback functionality right out of the box. but, there are "buts" too: cce is not cheap and its robustness is, ahem, questionable at best. at least, for the latest version that has callback function. and here's the question of its longevity as well, too...

so as you see, when i said there's a plethora of solutions to choose from, i really meant it. i don't know your company's business nor your call center, and i cannot tell you which solution would be best for you, at least now and without a lot more data.

[miky1979]

Thanks for the ideas...so in essence there is no built in solution in Avaya for this. I was thinking on the lines of vector variables to store the number and then present that to an agent. I am able to capture the number but not finding a way to play it back to agent.

[mwawiorko]

Originally Posted by dwalin

[*]if you have ivr, you can use it instead of audix and play prompts, store data in a database, send email reminders, etc. this way is definitely better than simple voice mail, but it does not automate the most problematic step - actual calling-back process. agents still have to punch digits, write down results etc, not too effective and still requires ivr and quite extensive programming.

Voice Portal has WSDL service which can create call any time you want - so it can cover callback functionality

[dwalin]

miky1979,

no, there is no built-in functionality in avaya call center so you will have to decide if it's worth bothering for you. i can tell you from experience that manual and semi-automated solutions just do not work in the long run. either people "forget" to listen to those messages or they "forget" to call customers, and it's hard to control whether they actually called or not - i have implemented several such projects with different solutions and every one failed eventually, people just quit using it because it creates more problem than solves. automated solutions like crm or cce do work but they also require human supervision and they're not cheap.

mwawiorko,

i could only wish it was that simple. first, voice portal requires some external application to nudge it on time, calling that "create call" function - whoa there, custom development again? i have seen it implemented by avaya, and i can't say it was either quick or cheap. second, you try developing a voice portal application that will call someone and then transfer the call to an agent - and i do mean it, try and you'll see it's not all roses and chocolate there. not quick nor cheap, definitely. third, using voice portal for automated callback is not actually an option at all - what message would that bring to your customers? "we're so busy here that we can't answer your call on time and even more busy so that even callback is from a piece of iron instead of a human?" that's not customer service.

[mwawiorko]

dwalin,

I implemented callback functionality using AVP WSDL and it works very well - customers are happy... Ofc some developing was needed
Used components: Oracle DB, Jboss (with quartz - scheduled job) and small IVR app.

Almost everything can be done, less or more time consuming

BTW. Since AVP 5 there is Proactive Outreach Solution, which might be helpful implementing callback

Brgs

[dwalin]

mwawiorko,

yeah sure, anything can be developed. yours is not generic one-size-fits-all kind of solution, though, it should be considered on a case basis. just like everything in a call center, in fact.