¶ Advanced IVR and Menus
IVR systems are commonly used by businesses and organizations to handle high call volumes, provide basic information, or automate routine tasks such as bill payments, appointment scheduling, and order tracking. By using an IVR system, companies can provide their customers with self-service options and reduce the need for live agent assistance, which can help to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the customer experience.
When a caller dials a phone number that is equipped with an IVR system, they will hear a greeting message that typically asks them to choose from a series of menu options by pressing a number on their phone's keypad or speaking a command. Depending on the nature of the call, the caller may be prompted to provide additional information or input before being directed to a specific department or agent.
¶
SmartPBX Callflows
Navigate to Admin Portal → SmartPBX → Callflows
- Select SmartPBX
- Select and Navigate to Callflows
¶
Create a new Callflow
A callflow connects a phone number to one or more PBX actions such as menus, greetings, routes, groups or other callflows.
Callflows are the instructions QVOICE uses to process a call. A callflow includes a list of numbers or regex patterns used by Kazoo to determine what callflow is used when a call comes in for an account.
- Select Add new Callflow
- Set Callflow Name
- By enabling the “List this callflow in Mian Number” the callflow will be available for selection in SmartPBX Incoming Call Handling UI
- Click Save
- Click on “Click to add a number”
- Specify an extension that can be used to reach this callflow, or bind a phone number from “spare numbers”
- Note: multiple numbers and extensions can be bound to a single callflow
- Click Save
- Specify an extension that can be used to reach this callflow, or bind a phone number from “spare numbers”
- Drag a Menu widget over the Callflow box
- Click on Add a new Menu to create a new menu
- Alternatively one can specify an existing menu from the drop down list
- A Menu will play a pre-recorded or text to speech message to the customer and ask the customer to select an option
- eg: Please press 1 for sales or 2 for support
¶ Crate a new Menu in a Callflow
Menus also known as IVRs, allow you to create branches in the callflow based on the caller's input.
- Create menu
- Specify Menu Name
- Specify or create a greeting that menu will play to a customer
- Click Save
|
|
¶ Menu Actions
Once the greeting is played, the Menu routes the customer to different Menu Actions based on callers digit input.
- Drag an Play Media Action over the Menu Box
- The Menu Option will allow you to specify the Callers Input that should trigger this action
- In this example we will set 1 as a trigger to play a media
- Drag another action over the Menu Box
- This will allow you to specify another input digit trigger (eg: 2)
- Then configure the next action
- Proceed to drag further widget actions over the Menu Box in order to build out a full IVR
- Note: Additional Menu widget can be dragged over the existing Menu box in order to create a multi-level-ivr
|
|
¶ Menu Caller Input Options
The DTMF entered is matched against the Menu option triggers and that branch is taken.
Additionally, you can branch based on a timeout (no DTMF entered) by using "timeout" in the Menu options:
- Digits 1 to 128
- Default Action
- Timeout
- if no digit is pressed, the action associated with timeout will be executed
- Note: If no timeout Menu options is specified, the menu is retried (until retries are exceeded).
|
|
¶ Short Code Dialing
PBX (Private Branch Exchange) short dialing refers to a feature in a private telephone system that allows users within an organization to dial shorter internal numbers to reach their colleagues or specific extensions. Instead of dialing the full external phone number, users can use abbreviated or short dialing codes to quickly connect with someone within the same PBX system.
For example, instead of dialing the full external number like "1-423-555-1234," an employee might only need to dial a short code like "1234" to reach a colleague's extension within the organization.
This feature is convenient for internal communication within a company or organization, as it streamlines the dialing process and makes it faster and more efficient for employees to connect with each other. It can be particularly useful in large organizations where employees frequently need to communicate with colleagues in different departments or offices.
¶
Short Code Configuration Summary
- Navigate to SmartPBX portal
- Create a Device with type SIPURI
- Name it with a descriptive name such as: Device to 14235551234,
- Configure the SIPURI device to point to a sip:<phone_number>@<sbc ip address>
- Navigate to Callflow in SmartPBX portal
- Create a custom callflow with short code extension eg: 1234
- Specify extension 1234
- Bind to a Device “Device to 14235551234
At this point any user will be able to dial short code 1234 and that code will dial SIPURI Device to phone number 14235551234
¶ Locations
Locations feature allow Admin to group users into different Locations. Each location has its own attributes such as:
- Location Caller ID Name and Number
- E911 Address
- One or more default SIP Trunk, or No sip trunk at all for on net only calling
- Location Restriction using IP source address