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This chapter discusses the Network IVR/VRU feature that lets you divert a call to an interactive voice response unit for additional processing. It includes:
Each routing client can have one or more associated Network Voice Response Units (VRUs). A VRU is a telecommunications computer, also called an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) unit, that responds to caller-entered touch-tone digits.
The routing client can be a public network interexchange carrier (IXC) intelligent network, such as the BT INAP, or a private network peripheral, such as an Aspect or Lucent ACD.
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Note Network VRUs are only available for intelligent public network IXCs, not all public network IXCs. |
A Network VRU supports ICM software's service control interface. An ICM routing script can divert a call to a Network VRU and instruct the VRU to perform specific processing before ICM software determines the final destination for the call.
Preparation for using the VRU feature includes:
This chapter describes how to perform these tasks.
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Note For the remainder of this chapter, the term VRU will be used exclusively to be consistent with the on-screen prompts. |
Table 6-1 lists the VRU types that are currently available.
| Type | Description | Nodes to Use with This Type |
|---|---|---|
2 | A VRU at the customer premises. | Required: Translation Route to VRU. Optional: Queue and Run VRU Script. |
3 | A VRU controlled by the routing client. Note Use this type (rather than Type 7) when the routing client can automatically take back the call from the VRU when ICM software returns a destination. (An example: BT Network VRUs.) | Optional: Send to VRU1, Queue, and Run VRU Script. |
5 | A VRU controlled by the routing client. ICM software does not associate a DNIS or correlation ID with the call. Note Use this type (rather than a Type 3 or Type 7) when the routing client itself takes care of mapping the call to requests from ICM software. | Required: Send to VRU. Optional: Queue and Run VRU Script. |
6 | A VRU that receives the call before a route request is sent to ICM software. | The VRU for this type is programmed so that it can recognize such a request based on the call qualifiers, so you can then assume the call is already at the VRU. Optional: Queue and Run VRU Script. |
7 | A VRU controlled by the routing client. Note Use this type (instead of Type 3) when the routing client cannot take back the call from the VRU. That is, ICM software automatically instructs the VRU to release when it sends a route response to the routing client. (An example: CWC Network VRUs.) | Optional: Send to VRU1, Queue, and Run VRU Script. |
8 | Similar to Type 2, but associated with a Customer ICM in a Network ICM environment. | Required: Translation Route to VRU. Optional: Queue and Run VRU Script. |
For Types 3 and 7 you must use the System Information dialog box to configure a range of correlation IDs. These IDs allow ICM software to match calls arriving at the VRU with calls sent there by ICM software. (For Types 2 and 8, ICM software uses the DNIS values associated with the translation route to match up the calls. For Type 6, no matching is required since the call is already at the VRU.)
First, you need to define each logical VRU in the database.
Step 2 In the Network VRU Explorer window, enable Add Network VRU by clicking Retrieve.
Step 3 Click Add Network VRU. The Network VRU property tab appears.
Step 4 Complete the Network VRU property tab.
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Note The Name and Type fields are required. For a description of the available types, see Table 6-1. All other fields are optional. For additional information refer to the online Help. |
Step 5 Click Save to apply your changes.
You must associate all VRU Types (except Type 6) with a Network VRU Label.
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Note For information on defining labels, see the Cisco ICM Software Configuration Guide. |
Step 2 Complete the Label property tab.
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Note The Routing client, Label, and Label type fields are required. All other fields are optional. For additional information refer to the online Help. |
Step 3 Click Save to apply your changes.
For Network VRUs, you must use the System Information dialog box to define a range of correlation IDs so ICM software can communicate with the VRU about the call.
Step 2 In the System Information window, select the Default Network VRU.
Step 3 Enter the Minimum Correlation Number.
Step 4 Enter the Maximum Correlation Number.
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Note For additional information refer to the online Help. For more information on the System Information window, see the Cisco ICM Software Configuration Guide. |
Step 5 Click Save to apply your changes.
To allow a routing script to control the processing on the VRU, you must configure VRU-based scripts within ICM software. An ICM routing script can then direct the VRU to run a specific script.
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Note VRU scripts are defined and maintained on the VRU. ICM software only maintains a name for each VRU script. It does not maintain the scripts themselves. |
Step 2 In the Network VRU Script List window, enable Add by clicking Retrieve.
Step 3 Click Add. The Attributes property tab appears.
Step 4 Complete the Attributes property tab.
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Note The Name, Network VRU, VRU script name, and Timeout fields are required. All other fields are optional. For additional information refer to the online Help. |
Step 5 Click Save to apply your changes. The ICM software database manager automatically generates a unique Network VRU Script ID.
After you have configured a Network VRU and VRU scripts, you can use the Script Editor to write a routing script to send a call to the VRU and invoke a specific VRU script.
To send calls to the Network VRU and invoke VRU scripts, you use the following objects:
For information on how ICM software tracks the interaction with the VRU, see VRU Error Checking.
The sections that follow describe these VRU routing script objects.
The Send To VRU node diverts a call to a VRU for further processing.
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Note This node is valid for use with Type 3, Type 5, and Type 7 VRUs. (For information on VRU types, see Table 6-1.) |
When ICM software executes the Send to VRU node, it does the following:
Once ICM software establishes that the call has been successfully delivered to the VRU, it can then execute a Run VRU Script node instructing the VRU to run its own script. You can also subsequently determine a final destination for the call and return a label to the routing client.
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Note If the call is delivered to the VRU but then abandoned, script execution ends. In monitor mode, a special label on the Send To VRU node accounts for these cases. |
Within Script Editor, place the Send to VRU object in the workspace. (You do not have to set any properties.)
Translation Route to VRU node forwards the call to the VRU but keeps the call active for processing on ICM software. This is useful for executing scripts that reside on the VRU.
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Note This node is valid for use with Type 2 and Type 8 VRUs. (For information on VRU types, see Table 6-1.) |
Step 2 Click the Change button in the Select Type section of the dialog box. The Select Type dialog box appears.
Step 3 Select the Target Type (Enterprise Service, Service, or Service Array).
Step 4 Optionally, select a Business Entity and Enterprise Target.
Step 5 Specify whether the Translation Route to VRU node is to act like a Select or Distribute node:
Step 6 Click OK to close the Select Type dialog box.
Step 7 Click the Add Targets button. The Add Targets dialog box appears, listing available targets of the type you specified.
Step 8 Use the Available Targets list and the Add button to select targets.
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Note If you chose Enterprise Service as a target type, you can select just one item from the list. If you chose Service or Service Array, you can select one or more items from the list. |
Step 9 Click OK to close the Add Targets dialog box. The target members you selected appear in the Properties dialog box.
Step 10 Continue defining Target information for each target member:
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Note You must specify a value for this field. When a call is sent to a translation route, the PG retrieves the final route from ICM software and coordinates the other processing with the VRU. |
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Note This option could be useful in scripts where you want to manipulate specific variables after choosing a target. |
Step 11 Optionally, click the Validate button.
Step 12 Optionally, modify the Labels tab.
Step 13 Click OK to submit the changes and close the dialog box.
ICM software's Run VRU Script node instructs the Network VRU to execute a specific script. You can use multiple Run VRU Script nodes to execute a series of scripts on the VRU.
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Note This node is valid for use with all the VRU types listed in Table 6-1.) |
Execution of ICM software routing script waits for the Run VRU script to finish:
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Note Once a RunScript node exits through the Failure branch, it should test the
variable Call.VRUStatus. If the value is equal to STATUS_TIMED_OUT (2),
then it should avoid executing any subsequent RunScript nodes. The reason is that this status code implies that the VRU is very likely hung. Sending another RunScript to the VRU at this point messes things up even more, and there isn't any way for the VRU PIM to identify this situation and take care of it. |
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Note If the current call is not at a VRU when the Run VRU Script node executes, ICM software sends the call to the associated Network VRU. |
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Note This dialog box lists all Network VRU scripts you have configured in the Configuration Manager. |
Step 2 Select the ICM Script/VRU Script Name you want to execute.
Step 3 Optionally, modify the Comments tab.
Step 4 Optionally, modify the Labels tab.
Step 5 When finished, click OK to submit the changes and close the dialog box.
A special call variable, VruStatus, allows you to check the result of the last VRU node (Send To VRU/Translation Route to VRU/Run VRU Script) that ICM software processed. Table 6-2 lists this variable's value.
| Value | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
0 | VRU_SUCCESS | The last VRU node was successful. |
1 | VRU_ERROR | The last VRU node failed because of a routing or configuration error. |
2 | VRU_TIMEOUT | The last Send To VRU or Translation Route to VRU node failed because the routing client did not respond within 20 seconds or the last Run VRU Script node failed because the timeout limit defined for the script expired. |
3 | VRU_ABORTED | The last VRU node did not complete because the caller hung up or was otherwise lost. (Because this causes the routing script to terminate immediately, this value is never seen.) |
4 | VRU_DIALOG_ FAILED | The last VRU node failed because communication with the VRU ended unexpectedly. |
5 | VRU_SCRIPT_ NOT_FOUND | The VRU failed because the referenced VRU script was not found in ICM software configuration. |
You can queue a call at a Network VRU until a specific resource becomes available. A call can be queued for one or more skill groups, an enterprise skill group, or one or more scheduled targets. As soon as an agent becomes available at one of the specified targets, the call is removed from queue and sent to the target.
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Note You can also stop queuing for a call by using the Cancel Queuing node in a routing script. |
Figure 6-4 shows an example of the queuing logic in a routing script.
In this example, the call is first diverted to the Network VRU. This step is required before you queue the call. Next, the call is queued for three skill groups. If the call is successfully queued, the script cycles between a Wait mode and a Run VRU Script node so that the caller hears an announcement every 30 seconds. If an agent in one of the skill groups becomes available, the call is removed from queue and taken back from the VRU. Routing script execution ends and the call is delivered to the target.
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Note In this scenario, you probably want the VRU script to be interruptible so that the routing script can retrieve the call immediately when the resource becomes available. |
The Script Editor has three queue nodes:
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Note The queue nodes are valid for use with Type 2, Type 3, Type 5, Type 6, Type 7, and Type 8 VRUs. (For information on VRU types, see Table 6-1.) |
These nodes are discussed in detail in the sections that follow.
The Queue node places the call in a queue for one or more skill groups, an enterprise skill group, or one or more scheduled targets. If an agent becomes available in one of the skill groups or at one of the scheduled targets, the call is routed to that resource.
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Note If the current call is not at a VRU when the Queue node executes, ICM software sends the call to the associated Network VRU. (This does not apply to Type 2 VRUs, which are VRUs at customer premises.) |
You cannot reference two types of targets (skill groups and scheduled targets, for example) within a single Queue node. However, you can execute multiple Queue nodes sequentially to queue a call to different target types.
The Queue node includes a Priority field, which sets the initial queuing priority for the calls processed through this node versus other calls queued for the same target. The Priority is expressed as an integer from 1 (top priority) to 10 (least priority).
If more than one call is queued to a group when an agent becomes available, the queued call with the lowest priority number is routed to the target first. For example, assume an agent in a skill group becomes available and two calls are queued to that skill group. If one call has priority 3 and the other has priority 5, the call with priority 3, the lower value, is routed to the skill group while the other call continues to wait.
Step 2 Click the Change button in the Queue Type section of the dialog box. The Queue Type dialog box appears.
Step 3 Select a Target Type (Enterprise Skill Group, Scheduled Target, or Skill Group).
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Note You cannot reference more than one type of target within a single Queue node. To queue a call to more than one target type, execute multiple Queue nodes sequentially. |
Step 4 Optionally, select a Business Entity and Enterprise Target.
Step 5 Optionally, select a Priority to set the initial queuing priority for calls processed through this node versus other calls queued for the same target: 1 for top priority to 10 for least priority. (The default is 5.)
Step 6 Click OK to close the Queue Type dialog box.
Step 7 Click the Add Targets button. The Add Targets dialog box appears, listing available targets of the type you specified.
Step 8 Use the Available Targets list and the Add button to select targets.
Step 9 Click OK to close the Add Targets dialog box. The target members you selected appear in the Properties dialog box.
Step 10 Optionally, continue defining Target Type information for each target member:
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Note This list appears only if the Target Type chosen is Scheduled Target. |
Step 11 Optionally, modify the Labels tab.
Step 12 When finished, click OK to submit the changes and close the dialog box.
The Queue node sets the initial queue priority for a call in a queue. You can override this setting with the Queue Priority.
For example, you might modify the script in Table 6-1 to increase the priority of a call after it has waited for a period of time. Figure 6-6, below, shows one way to handle this.
In this example, once the caller has heard the announcement, instead of cycling back to the first Wait node, the call goes to a second Wait node. If 20 seconds passes without an agent in one of the skill groups becoming available, the priority of the call is changed to 2.
Step 2 Specify the queuing priority for a call processed through this node: 1 for top priority to 10 for least priority. This determines the priority the call has versus other calls queued for the same target.
Step 3 Optionally, modify the Comments tab.
Step 4 Optionally, modify the Labels tab.
Step 5 Click OK to submit the changes and close the dialog box.
Use the Cancel Queuing node to remove the current call from any queues.
Step 2 Specify descriptive text to be displayed in the node.
Step 3 Optionally, modify the Labels tab.
Step 4 Click OK to submit changes and to close the dialog box.
Posted: Tue Jun 25 08:30:59 PDT 2002
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