Table of Contents

Prompt Step Descriptions

The steps in the Prompt palette of the Cisco Customer Response Applications (CRA) Editor provide script designers with a way to create intelligent prompts.

The Prompt palette contains the following steps:

Figure 9-1 shows the steps in the Prompt palette as they appear in the Palette pane of the CRA Editor.

Create Conditional Prompt

Use the Create Conditional Prompt step to create a prompt based on the result of evaluating a specified Boolean expression.

The prompts passed are evaluated immediately as prompt objects, but they are not resolved until the time of playback. This means that if the values of any variables entered as part of the expression change between the time this prompt was created and the time the prompt is played back, then the new value of the variable is used to evaluate the conditional expression.

As an example, you can write a script that offers callers the choice between pressing digits or speaking a number. The conditional prompt provides prompts for both situations and lets the caller's choice determine which prompt the script plays in the given case.

Figure 9-2 shows the customizer window for the Create Conditional Prompt step.

Table 9-1 describes the properties of the Create Conditional Prompt customizer window.

To use the Create Conditional Prompt customizer window to create a conditional prompt, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Step 2   In the Condition Expression field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 3   In the Prompt If True field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 4   In the Prompt If False field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 5   Click OK.

The Create Conditional Prompt customizer window closes, and the name of the conditional prompt appears next to the Create Conditional Prompt step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

Create Container Prompt

Use the Container Prompt step to combine multiple prompts into one larger prompt. You can create three types of container prompts:

For example, for a prompt of "Your checking account balance is one hundred and sixty-eight dollars", you can create a concatenated prompt that (1) begins with a user prompt "Your"; (2) continues with a conditional prompt that specifies a condition such as <accountType == "check">, and plays "checking account" if the condition is True or "savings account" if the condition is False; and (3) ends with the balance amount.

For example, for a prompt that provides the caller with more information as needed, you can create an escalating prompt that, when passed to a media step such as the Get Digit String step, begins by playing the first concise prompt inside the escalating prompt, such as "What is your account number?"

If the step fails to collect the account number due to the caller's failure to provide it, a second prompt plays, such as "Please provide your account number by either pressing the account number using your touch tone phone followed by the pound key, or simply speaking out the account number digits."

Figure 9-3 shows the customizer window for the Create Container Prompt step.

Table 9-2 describes the properties of the Create Container Prompt customizer window.

To use the Create Container Prompt customizer window to create a concatenated prompt, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Step 2   From the Prompt Container drop-down menu, choose Concatenated.

Step 3   To add an individual prompt to be concatenated, click Add.

The Add Prompt dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-4.)

Step 4   In the Prompt field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 5   Click OK.

The Add Prompt dialog box closes, and the name of the prompt variable appears in the Prompts list box in the Create Container Prompt customizer window.

Step 6   Repeat Steps 3 to 5 as needed to add prompts until all the prompts that you want to concatenate appear in the Prompts list box.

Step 7   To determine the order of playback of the prompts in the concatenated prompt, select an individual prompt and click the Up button to move it up a level or the Down button to move it down a level.

Step 8   Repeat Step 7 as needed until the prompts in the concatenated prompt are listed in the playback order you want.

(To modify a prompt that is contained in the concatenated prompt, select the prompt in the Prompts list box, and then click Modify. The Modify Prompt dialog box appears, which contains the same property as the Add Prompt dialog box and is configured in the same way.)

Step 9   To specify a different language for the playback of the concatenated prompt, take one of the following actions:

The Define Language dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-5 .)

The Define Language dialog box closes, and the specified language appears in the Override Language text field.

Step 10   Click OK.

The Create Container Prompt customizer window closes, and the name of the concatenated prompt appears next to the Create Container Prompt step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

To use the Create Container Prompt customizer window to create an escalating prompt, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Step 2   From the Prompt Container drop-down menu, choose Escalating.

Step 3   To add an individual prompt to be included in the escalating prompt, click Add.

The Add Prompt dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-4.)

Step 4   In the Prompt field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 5   Click OK.

The Add Prompt dialog box closes, and the name of the prompt variable appears in the Prompts list of the Create Container Prompt customizer window.

Step 6   Repeat Steps 3 to 5 as needed to add prompts until all the prompts that you want to include in the escalating prompt appear in the Prompts list box.

Step 7   To determine the order of playback of the prompts in the escalating prompt, select an individual prompt and click the Up button to move it up a level or the Down button to move it down a level.

Step 8   Repeat Step 7 as needed until the prompts in the escalating prompt are listed in the playback order you want.

(To modify a prompt that is contained in the escalating prompt, select the prompt in the Prompts list box, and then click Modify. The Modify Prompt dialog box appears, which contains the same property as the Add Prompt dialog box and is configured in the same way.)

Step 9   To specify a different language for the playback of the escalating prompt, take one of the following actions:

The Define Language dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-5 .)

The Define Language dialog box closes, and the specified language appears in the Override Language text field.

Step 10   Click OK.

The Create Container Prompt customizer window closes, and the name of the escalating prompt appears next to the Create Container Prompt step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

To use the Create Container Prompt customizer window to create a random prompt, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Step 2   From the Prompt Container drop-down menu, choose Random.

When you choose the random prompt, Prompt and Weight columns appear in the Prompts list box. (See Figure 9-6.)

Step 3   To add an individual prompt to be included in a random sequence, click Add.

The Add Prompt dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-7 .)

Step 4   In the Prompt field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 5   From the Weight drop-down menu, choose a number to represent the priority of the prompt in the sequence.

Step 6   Click OK.

The Add Prompt dialog box closes, and the name and weight of the prompt variable appears in the Prompts list of the Create Container Prompt customizer window.

Step 7   Repeat Steps 3 to 6 as needed to add prompts until all the prompts that you want to play randomly appear in the Prompts list box.

Step 8   To make an individual prompt play more or less often than other prompts, select it and click the Up button to move it up a level in priority or the Down button to move it down a level in priority.

Step 9   Repeat Step 8 as needed until the prompts in the random prompt are listed in the priority order you want.

(To modify a prompt that is contained in the random prompt, select the prompt in the Prompts list box, and then click Modify. The Modify Prompt dialog box appears, which contains the same property as the Add Prompt dialog box and is configured in the same way.)

Step 10   To specify a different language for the playback of the random prompt, take one of the following actions:

The Define Language dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-5 .)

The Define Language dialog box closes, and the specified language appears in the Override Language text field.

Step 11   Click OK.

The Create Container Prompt customizer window closes, and the name of the random prompt appears next to the Create Container Prompt step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

Create Generated Prompt

Use the Generated Prompt step to create prompt phrases from intermediate variables whose values are dynamically determined based on run-time script information.

For example, you can create the prompt phrase of "account balance is one hundred and sixty-eight dollars" by querying the database of account balances at a particular point in the script and using a currency generator to generate the number.

Note   The Create Generated Prompt step accepts only the 4-digit year format only. A 3-digit date format is not accepted.

Note   If the Generate Prompt step encounters an invalid time, it outputs 4:00 P.M. Specify a valid time between 0000 and 2400.

Figure 9-8 shows the customizer window for the Create Generated Prompt step.

Table 9-3 describes the properties of the Create Generated Prompt customizer window.

To use the Create Generated Prompt customizer window to generate prompt phrases, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Step 2   From the Generator drop-down menu, choose the generator type for the prompt.

Step 3   In the Constructor Type drop-down menu, choose the constructor type for the prompt.

When you choose the constructor type, the constructors automatically appear in the Argument column of the Argument list box.

Step 4   To define a value for an item in the Argument Information list box, select and then double-click the item.

The Define Character dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-9 .)

Step 5   In the Enter Variable Expression field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 6   Click OK.

The Define Character dialog box closes, and the name of the argument and its value appear in the Argument Information list box of the Create Generated Prompt customizer window.

Step 7   Repeat Steps 3 to 5 as needed to define each argument in the Argument Information list box.

You must define all arguments listed with some value or define them as null; you cannot leave them blank.

Step 8   To specify a different language for the playback of the generated prompt, take one of the following actions:

The Define Language dialog box closes.

Step 9   Click OK.

The Create Generated Prompt customizer window closes, and the name of the generated prompt appears next to the Create Generated Prompt step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

The Create Generated Prompt step supports the following 12 generator types:

The following sections describe these supported generator types.

Number

The Number generator type supports the following constructors:

The three parameters are:

---

Note    If the language associated with the call does not behave differently based on gender, this parameter is ignored.

---

---

Note    If the number is played in full format, the maximum number supported is +/- 999,999,999,999.

---

Character

The Character generator type supports the following constructors:

The two parameters are:

Spelling

The Spelling generator type supports the following constructors:

The three parameters are:

---

Note    Punctuation default behavior in the Spelling generator is different from Play-all default behavior in the Character generator.

---

Date

The Date generator type supports the following constructors:

The five parameters are:

---

Note    Any number given is played, so it is the responsibility of the caller to ensure that the specified year is valid.

---

Time

The Time generator type supports the following constructors:

The three parameters are:

Ordinal

The Ordinal generator type supports the following constructors:

The two parameters are:

---

Note    If the language associated with the call does not behave differently based on gender, then this parameter is ignored.

---

Currency

The Currency generator type supports the following constructors:

The six parameters are:

---

Note    If the number specified exceeds the maximum value allowed for the subdivisions, the excess is added properly to the number of currency unit. For example, specifying "5 dollars and 233" cents results in "7 dollars and 33 cents".

---

Country

The Country generator type supports only one constructor: (Language language). The parameter "language" is a Language object from which to get the language to be played back. (For example, en_US is played back as "United States English".)

Language

The Language generator type supports only one constructor: (Language language). The parameter "language" is a Language object from which to get the country to be played back. (For example, en_US is played back as "United States English".)

Telephone Number

The Telephone Number generator type supports only one constructor: (String number). The parameter "number" is a String object specifying the telephone number to be played out as a sequence of digits.

The character is replaced with 250 ms of silence if the string contains any of the following characters: "-(). Otherwise, the string is automatically formatted.

Automatic formatting of the string inserts 250 ms of silence between sections of digits. These sections follow the following rule: "XXX-XXX-XXX-XXXX" unless there are exactly five digits in the string, in which case the string is considered to be a single section of five digits.

An "x" character is played back as "Extension". DTMF digits ("ABCD0123456789#*") are played back normally.

A string of the form "*xx" where x is a Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) digit ("0123456789") is played back as "star xx" (for example,"*69" is played back as "star sixty-nine").

Credit Card Number

The Credit Card Number generator type supports only one constructor: (String number). The parameter "number" is a String object specifying the credit card number to be played out as a sequence of digits.

If the specified credit card number includes "-", then it is played as is, replacing the "-" character with 250 ms of silence; otherwise the number is automatically separated into sections of four digits and played back with 250 ms of silence inserted between sections.

Credit Card Expiration Date

The Credit Card Expiration Date generator type supports the following constructors:

The parameters are identical to the following Generated Date constructors:

Create Language Prompt

Use the Create Language Prompt step to input a set of prompts corresponding to different languages.

You can use the Create Language Prompt step to adapt concatenating prompts to the sentence structures of different languages.

For example, a normal grammar sequence for an English sentence is Subject + Verb + Object. For a Japanese sentence, it is Subject + Object + Verb.

The selection of the prompt is based on the standard search for a matching language. For example, assuming a language context of {L[fr_FR}, L[en_GB]}, the search returns the first prompt defined for the following languages: L[fr_FR], L[fr], L[en_GB], L[en], and finally L[ ].

Figure 9-10 shows the customizer window for the Create Language Prompt step.

Table 9-4 describes the properties of the Create Language Prompt customizer window.

To use the Create Language Prompt customizer window to input a set of prompts corresponding to different languages, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Step 2   Click Add.

The Add Prompt dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-11 .)

Step 3   From the Language drop-down menu, choose the variable that holds the value for the language, or click the Expression Editor (...) button and to enter any valid expression.

Step 4   In the Prompt field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 5   Click OK.

The Add Prompt dialog box closes, and the name of the prompt and its language appear in the Prompts display list of the Create Language Prompt customizer window.

(To modify an existing prompt, select the prompt in the Prompts list box, and then click Modify. The Modify Prompt dialog box appears, which contains the same property as the Add Prompt dialog box and is configured in the same way.)

Step 6   Click OK.

The Create Language Prompt customizer window closes, and the name of the language prompt appears next to the Create Language Prompt step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.

Create TTS Prompt

Use the Text to Speech (TTS) Prompt step to play back the text from a string or document expression as speech, using one of the installed TTS servers.

By default, the language of the TTS Prompt is determined by the language in which the prompt is going to be played back. You have the option of overriding this default and specifying another language. However, you should keep this field up to date with the language of the text passed in to ensure proper interpretation of the text.

Note   If the script cannot find the Override Language (or the language defined for the contact if Override Language is undefined) from the initialized TTS server list, this TTS request will be denied.

Figure 9-12 shows the customizer window for the Create TTS Prompt step.

Table 9-5 describes the properties of the TTS Prompt customizer window.

To use the Create TTS Prompt customizer window to play back text as speech, perform the following procedure:

Procedure

Step 2   In the Text Input field, enter a value directly or take one of the following actions:

Step 3   From the Voice Gender drop-down menu, choose the variable that indicates the gender of the voice to be used.

Step 4   To specify a different language for the playback of the TTS prompt, take one of the following actions:

The Define Language dialog box appears. (See Figure 9-5 .)

The Define Language dialog box closes.

Step 5   Click OK.

The Create TTS Prompt customizer window closes, and the name of the TTS prompt appears next to the Create TTS Prompt step icon in the Design pane of the CRA Editor.