Editor Step Reference
Call Contact Step Descriptions
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Table of Contents

Call Contact Step Descriptions
 Call Hold
 Call Redirect
 Call Unhold
 Get Call Contact Info
 Place Call

Call Contact Step Descriptions

The steps in the Call Contact palette of the Cisco Customer Response Applications (CRA) Editor provide script designers with a way to manage calls.

The Call Contact palette contains the following steps:

Figure 4-1 shows the steps in the Call Contact palette as they appear in the Palette pane of the CRA Editor.


Figure 4-1   Call Contact Palette Steps


Call Hold

Use the Call Hold step to put a call on hold.

The functionality of this step is available even if no media is associated with the call. Executing this step if the call is already on hold has no impact on the call and produces no errors.

If a call is put on hold and then redirected or connected to an agent, the system automatically removed the call from hold before processing the connection request.

If the Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) ports of the CRA server are configured for Music On Hold in the CTI ports in Cisco CallManager, then the User Hold Audio Source will be played to the caller.

Note   While a call is on hold, media is temporarily disconnected from the CRA server. If you design a script to play back prompts or wait for input from the caller while the call is on hold, the system will attempt, but fail, to play back the prompts, dropping all audio packets and timing out while waiting for caller input. To avoid this problem, you must include a Call Unhold step in the script to remove the call from hold in order to play a prompt or collect digits from the caller.

Figure 4-2 shows the customizer window for the Call Hold step.


Figure 4-2   Call Hold Customizer Window


Table 4-1 describes the property of the Call Hold customizer window.

Table 4-1   Call Hold Property

Property Description

Call Contact

Contact that you want to put on hold.

The default is Triggering Contact, unless another contact is defined.

To use the Call Hold customizer window to put a call on hold, click the Call Contact drop-down arrow to choose a Contact variable, and then click OK.

The Call Contact customizer window closes, and the name of the Contact variable appears next to the Call Contact step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

Call Redirect

Use the Call Redirect step to redirect a call to another extension.

The Call Redirect step is often used in Interactive Voice Response (IVR) applications to transfer a call once a desired extension has been specified.

The Call Redirect step produces four output branches:

  • Successful—The call is ringing at the specified extension.
  • Busy—The specified extension is busy, and the call cannot be transferred.
  • Invalid—The specified extension does not exist.
  • Unsuccessful—The redirect step fails internally.

Place script steps after each of the different branches provided by this step to handle the possible outcomes of a redirected call.

Figure 4-3 shows the customizer window for the Call Redirect step.


Figure 4-3   Call Redirect Customizer Window


Table 4-2 describes the properties of the Call Redirect customizer window.

Table 4-2   Call Redirect Properties

Property Description

Call Contact

Contact that you want to redirect.

The default is Triggering Contact, unless another contact is defined.

Extension

Variable that holds the extension where the call is to be redirected.

(See Table 4-3 for supported extensions.)

Reset CTI Called Address

If Yes, the script resets the original destination of the call to the redirected destination.

If No, the script preserves the original call destination even after the Call Redirect step executes, and the information associated with the call gives no indication that the Route point or CTI port was ever involved with the call.

Default is Yes. Set this field according to the requirements of the redirected destination.

Table 4-3 describes the extensions supported by the Call Redirect step.

Table 4-3   Call Redirect—Supported Extensions

Extension Description

Extensions starting with "#" or "*"

Extensions that trigger a network take-back and transfer where the specified string is outpulsed as is. The redirect is successful if a hang-up event occurs within a maximum of 5 seconds.

Note You can use a comma (,) in the string to insert a pause of 1 second before the next digit is outpulsed.

Extensions ending with ".wav"

Extensions that trigger a network announcement type of redirect in which the system simulates a ring-back tone, then plays back the specified .wav file 4 times, and finally simulates a fastbusy tone.

The redirect is successful if at any time the caller hangs up or the end of the fastbusy tone is reached, at which point the call is disconnected.

Extensions equal to "PROBLEMS"

Extensions that trigger a network announcement type of redirect with a system problem announcement

The redirect is successful if at any time the caller hangs up or the end of the audio is reached. The call will be reported as disconnected, not redirected.

Extensions equal to "BUSY", "RNA"1, "FASTBUSY" or "DIALTONE"

The specified audio treatment is generated before the call is disconnected.

The redirect is successful if at any time the caller hangs up or the end of the audio is reached. The call will be reported as disconnected, not redirected.
1RNA = Ring No Answer

To use the Call Redirect customizer window to redirect a call, perform the following procedure:

Procedure
Step 1   From the Call Contact drop-down menu, choose the Contact variable to trigger the Call Redirect step.

Step 2   From the Extension drop-down menu, choose the variable that holds the extension where the call is to be redirected.

Step 3   In the Reset CTI Called Address field, click the Yes radio button if you want to reset the original destination of the call to the redirected destination, or click the No radio button if you want to preserve the original call destination even after the Call Redirect step executes.

Step 4   Click OK.

The Call Redirect customizer window closes, and the names of the selected Call Contact and extension variables appear next to the Call Redirect step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.




Call Unhold

Use the Call Unhold step to re-establish the connection with a call that you have previously put on hold by means of the Call Hold step.

Figure 4-4 shows the customizer window for the Call Unhold step.


Figure 4-4   Call Unhold Customizer Window


Table 4-4 describes the property of the Call Unhold customizer window.

Table 4-4   Call Unhold Property

Property Description

Call Contact

Contact that you want to unhold.

Default is Triggering Contact, unless another contact is defined.

To use the Call Unhold customizer window to remove a call from hold, click the Call Contact drop-down arrow to choose a Contact variable, and then click OK.

The Call Unhold customizer window closes, and the name of the selected Contact variable appears next to the Call Unhold step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

Get Call Contact Info

Use the Get Call Contact step to access call-specific information and to store values in specified variables.

You can use this step to handle a call in a variety of ways depending on the source of the call and other properties associated with the session. For example, you can use this step with a Call Redirect step to transfer a call to another extension, or you can use this step with a Play Prompt step to play a voice prompt.

Figure 4-5 shows the customizer window for the Get Call Contact Info step.


Figure 4-5   Get Call Contact Info Customizer Window


Table 4-5 describes the properties of the Get Call Contact Info customizer window.

Table 4-5   Get Call Contact Info Properties

Property Description

Call Contact

Contact for which you want to get information.

Default is Triggering Contact, unless another contact is defined.

Calling Number

Variable that stores the number of the originator of the call.

If the call is an outbound call, this variable is the number dialed out.

Called Number

Variable that stores the number called by the calling party.

Arrival Type

Variable that holds the arrival type of the call.

(See Table 4-6 for supported arrival types.)

Last Redirected Number

The number from which the last call diversion or transfer was invoked.

This is the number at which the call was placed immediately before the current number.

Original Called Number

Number called from the perspective of the called party.

Table 4-6 describes the arrival types of the Get Call Contact Info step.

Table 4-6   Get Call Contact Info—Arrival Types

(Event) Arrival Type Description

UNKNOWN

The system is unable to determine how the call arrived.

DIRECT

Incoming call that came directly from the originator.

REDIRECT

Incoming call that was redirected to this application.

FORWARD_ALL

Incoming call that was forwarded from its original destination.

FORWARD_BUSY

Call that was forwarded to the current application because the original extension was busy.

FORWARD_NO_ANSWER

Call that was forwarded to the current application because the original extension exceeded the maximum number of rings.

TRANSFER

Incoming call that originated locally as part of the Transfer feature.

OUTBOUND

Call that was the result of an outgoing call created by an application.

TIME_OF_DAY

Call that was the result of a time-of-day forwarding.

DO_NOT_DISTURB

Call that was the result of a do-not-disturb forwarding.

FOLLOW_ME

Call that was the result of a follow-me forwarding.

OUT_OF_SERVICE

Call that was received because the originally called party was out of service.

AWAY

Call that was received because the originally called party was away.

To use the Get Call Contact Info customizer window to access call-specific information, perform the following procedure:

Procedure
Step 1   From the Call Contact drop-down menu, choose the Contact variable for which you want to retrieve information.

Step 2   From the Calling Number drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the number where the call originated.

Step 3   From the Called Number drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the destination number.

Step 4   From the Arrival Type drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the arrival type for the call.

Step 5   From the Last Redirect Number drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the number from which the last call diversion or transfer was invoked.

Step 6   From the Original Called Number drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the original destination number.

Step 7   Click OK.

The Get Call Contact Info customizer window closes, and the name of the selected Call Contact variable appears next to the Get Call Contact Info step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.




Place Call

Use the Place Call step to place outbound calls.

The Place Call step returns successfully if the call is answered in the configured time by a person, voice mail, an answering machine, or a fax machine.

The Place Call step has six output branches:

  • Successful—The call is successfully made.
  • NoAnswer—The call was attempted but the RNA Timeout limit was reached.
  • Busy— The call was attempted but the line was busy.
  • Invalid—The call was attempted but the extension was invalid.
  • NoResource—The call was not attempted because no Resource was available to make the call.
  • Unsuccessful—The call was attempted but failed because of an internal system error.

Figure 4-6 shows the customizer window for the Place Call step.


Figure 4-6   Place Call Customizer Window


Table 4-7 describes the properties of the Place Call customizer window.

Table 4-7   Place Call Properties

Property Description

Destination Telephone No.

Variable that stores the destination number of the outbound call.

RNA Timeout (sec)

Length of time, in seconds, before a Ring No Answer condition stops the script from waiting for the remote side to answer and returns through the RingNoAnswer output branch.

CallControlGroupId

Variable that stores the identifying number of the call group with which the outbound call is associated.

Note This identifier and the identifier for dialog groups will typically be configured as a parameter to the script. This variable is similar to the parameters defined during the configuration of a JTAPI1 trigger.

Primary Dialog Group ID

Variable that stores the identifying number of the primary dialog group for handling the outbound call.

You can leave this field blank if no media is required.

Secondary Dialog Group ID

Variable that stores the identifying number of the secondary dialog group for handling the outbound call.

You can leave this field blank if no media is required.

Call Contact

Variable that stores the call that is created when the step succeeds.
1JTAPI = Java Telephony Application Program Interface

To use the Get Call Contact Info customizer window to place an outbound call, perform the following procedure:

Procedure
Step 1   From the Destination Telephone No. drop-down menu, choose the String variable that stores the destination number, or click the Expression Editor (...) button to enter any valid expression.

Step 2   From the RNA Timeout (Sec) drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the length of time, in seconds, for the Ring No Answer timeout, or click the Expression Editor (...) button to enter any valid expression.

Step 3   From the CallControlGroupId drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the Call Control Group ID.

Step 4   From the Primary Dialog Group ID drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the Primary Dialog Group ID for the call.

Step 5   From the Secondary Dialog Group ID drop-down menu, choose the variable that stores the Secondary Dialog Group ID number for the call.

Step 6   From the Call Contact drop-down menu, choose the Contact variable that indicates where the call that is created will be returned when the step succeeds.

Step 7   Click OK.

The Place Call Info customizer window closes, and the name of the selected Destination Telephone No. variable appears next to the Place Call step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.