Dialing? You Say iNspire Does Dialing Too?
That’s right, it’s one of the best kept secrets of iNspire. iNspire supports outbound dialing functions. Not only that, but iNspire actually features two different dialing functions known as “Automated” and “Directed” dialing. Below, we explain both dialing functions offered and even provide some technical details to get you started. Of course, if you have any questions, you can always feel free to contact us…
Automated Dialing
As its name suggests, automated dialing is completed without human intervention. As an included feature of iVoice IVR, automated dialing provides the capabilities to:
- Dial a phone number(s) from a list.
- Monitor the line and…
- If the line is busy re-queue the call for a later re-try
- If the call is answered by voicemail (or an answering machine) leave a custom message with data elements included. For example…”Your order number 12345 placed on April 11th has been shipped today. Please allow 3-5 days for delivery.”
- Or, if a human answers, iVoice can begin an interactive conversation!
Remember, the entire process above is completed automatically and you control it all with System i programming. The API used for automated dialing is the iDial API. The dial operation is actually a multi-step process. It takes the line off-hook, dials the telephone number provided and analyzes the response. The variables for the iDial command include: phone number to be dialled and the time to wait for the call to be answered. The return codes include: busy, noanswer, machine and okay; allowing the application to be programmed to leave messages, re-queue calls or start the interactive session with the called party.
Directed Dialing
Unlike automated dialing, directed dialing does involve human interaction. This feature of iAgent helps agents (CSRs) place more outbound dials, make calls faster and make them error free. Directed dialing provides the ability to:
- Integrate the dialing function within any System i application
- Create applications that can prioritize calls for the agent so they can dial from a list or be prompted to make a call.
- Re-queue calls if the agent encounters a busy signal or does not make contact with the intended party.
- Pop a screen on the agent’s desktop associated with the called party. For example…if agents are placing outbound collections calls, iAgent can direct the process and a screen that provides the dialed party’s accounts receivable history may be popped as part of the dialing action.
The API’s used for directed dialing are iPwrDial and AIDialOut. The AIDialOut command sends the selected or entered phone number to one of the Power dial iVoice application lines, which then uses the iVoice API iPwrDial command to call the number and bridge the customer line to the agent line. The variables for the iPwrDial command include: phone number to be dialled, agent id that requested the dial to be performed and the time to wait for the call to be answered.
Code samples for both of the dialing functions detailed above can be found in the iVoice and iAgent manuals. For more information on creating outbound dialing applications, programming samples, and best practices, please contact iMessaging Technical Support at:
Email: support@imessagingsystems.com
Phone: 1-603-424-7788
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, ET.
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