• Campaign Properties

<Campaigns Report   How to navigate to this page>   Typical display>

Manage the properties of an individual campaign entry.

When creating a new campaign, it is not necessary to set up a call class as this will be created automatically.  For a predictive campaign a queue (routing) device will be required.  There will also need to be an agent group that can be uniquely associated with each campaign.

This property page also displays the status of the campaign next to the campaign name.  This will show if the campaign is active but not dialling due to some condition (e.g. no agents, no accounts, etc.), or is inactive due to mis-configuration (e.g. no nuisance announcement or no answer machine announcement configured) or inactive through manual intervention.

General Tab

General attribute that define your outbound campaign.

•Name - the name of the campaign;
•Media Icon - an optional icon that will be displayed alongside this campaign in the Manager MIS displays;
•Presentation CLI - the CLIP to present to the destination (e.g. the telephone number for the call centre).  This should be left blank if the real CLI of the caller should be presented;
•Presentation Name - the display name presented to the destination of a call.  This may appear in preference to the Presentation CLI on some display phones;
•Dialling Mode - the contact method - Predictive, Progressive or Preview - to be used in this campaign;
•Filter - the name of any dialling filter that has been applied to this campaign;
•Dialling Order - the name of the dialler or data store field to be used to determine the order in which the non-filtered accounts should be dialled (this can either be Ascending or Descending by selecting the appropriate option).  Note that for campaigns with multiple lists the order is applied across all ACTIVE lists at the same time (i.e. the accounts will be interleaved).  This effectively overrides any list weighting settings.
•Agent Group - the agent group for the campaign - this may be either a pre-defined entry or can be created by entering the name for the new agent group.  Note that by deleting the agent group, the campaign will enter the Template state and become invisible to the dialler.  Also note that if this is a predictive campaign then the auto-answer ACD calls timeout for this group is automatically set to immediate;
•Skills Matching - the level of skills matching to apply.
- Ignore means that the any skill associated with an account is ignored.
- Flexible means that the skill associated with the account will be applied until the edge time expires, after which the account can be handled by an agent without that skill.
- Strict means that the skill associated with the account is applied indefinitely;
•Do not record - determines whether or not calls of this class are recorded through AuditLog;
•Skip call enabled - check this tick box to enable the skip call function in AdVisor when dealing with an OutBound initiated call from this campaign;
•Cancel not ready enabled - check this tick box to enable the cancel not ready function in AdVisor when dealing with an OutBound initiated call from this campaign;
•Outbound Barring Level - determines whether a barred number or account is linked to the current campaign, list or both.

 

If the Advanced button has been selected ...

•Application Control - do not set agents available for dialling again subsequent to failed non-predictive calls (only applicable when the campaign is dialling in preview or progressive mode).  It is recommended that this feature is not used in conjunction with cyclic dialling.  If it is then all telephone numbers for each account will be attempted before the application control feature is applied (i.e. if there are 2 numbers both of which fail then both numbers will be attempted by the dialler without pause before then waiting for the agent to go ready for the next account);
•Single Contact Dialling - allows the campaign to be configured such that calls are only launched one at a time if the campaign is dialling in either preview or progressive modes.  For predictive modes this setting is ignored.  This mode of dialling requires the campaign agents to explicitly signal that they wish to take another call by means of a specific rostrvm agent message request (API).  This particular agent request function is not available by default, and so this particular campaign option should not be enabled without reference to your system administrator;
•Check Before Dialling - business specific logic can be linked to the dialler to check whether an account should be dialled or not.  This allows you to access and include whatever data that you want in order to validate the account.  You should take great care with this check as it is an overhead for all normal (i.e. non-callback) accounts.
Setting the property causes the script macro DLR.PRECALLCHECK to be invoked prior to dialling each normal account, but not for callbacks.  This can be found in the rostrvm CONFIGURE database under rostrvm files.Scripts.outbound.tcl and can be changed as required using the rostrvm FileEditor application;
•Call Result Custom Handling - if set the script macro DLR.CALLRESULTS is invoked whenever the account call result is set;
•Agent Cancelled Call Custom Handling - if set the script macro DLR.PREVCANCRSN is invoked whenever a preview call is cancelled;
•Account Termination Custom Handling - if set the script macro DLR.ACCTTERM is invoked whenever the account is terminated;
•Allow agents to terminate their own callbacks - this allows agents to terminate their own callbacks with a reason of excluded.

 

Predictive Tab

Attributes associated with predictive dialling campaigns only.

•Agent Call Ratio - This box allows the supervisor to specify a ratio to be used in conjunction with the predictive algorithm (the permissible range is generally between 0.25 and 1.0);
•Tuning Mode - this controls how the predictive algorithm can be controlled in relation to the campaign nuisance rate.  The 3 options are mutually exclusive and at least 1 tuning option must be selected.
- Fully Automated Tuning
This tuning method seeks to maximise dialling efficiency and hence agent utilisation whilst at the same time conforming to the prescribed nuisance rate ceiling. In other words the predictive algorithm automatically adjusts the “Agent To Call” ratio either up or down in order to bring the actual nuisance rate in line with the configured ceiling value. The configured “Agent to Call” ratio merely acts as a starting point for the algorithm’s tuning processes and will subsequently be seen to vary as the system seeks to bring the nuisance rate in line with its ceiling value.
Despite the fact that the algorithm will adjust the ratio for you, it is still recommended that you choose a sensible initial ratio value. If there is doubt as to what constitutes “sensible”, then a conservative value should be chosen i.e. > 0.85.
The process of aligning the actual nuisance rate with the ceiling value is a gradual process and may take some time. Ofcom guidelines with respect to nuisance calls are concerned with rates measured over 24 hour periods (midnight to midnight).
Because of the nature of the automated tuning process and the fact that it is virtually impossible to avoid nuisance calls in certain circumstances, the actual nuisance rate will at times be seen to be in excess of the nuisance ceiling value. If this is deemed to be a problem then it is recommended that the ceiling nuisance rate be set to say 0.5% below that which is considered acceptable. Alternatively, having determined the “tuned” ratio value that delivers a reasonable level of agent utilisation along with an acceptable nuisance rate, then one could set the initial ratio to this value (plus a safety margin) and then switch to one of the other less automated tuning modes.
The actual dialling ratio can be reset to its initial value at any time by resetting it via the Agent Call ratio dialog field
- Automated Downward Tuning
This form of tuning is a less aggressive form of the Fully Automated version described above. It monitors the nuisance rate against the ceiling value, but only has the power to reduce it if it is found to be too high. In other words it can automatically make the algorithm less aggressive, but is not able to automatically increase the aggressiveness. The actual dialling ratio can be increased but it cannot be reduced.
This option is deemed by some users to be a safer option than the Fully Automated version, but has the disadvantage that if the initial ratio is set too conservatively then a manual intervention may be required if an increase in dialling aggressiveness is deemed necessary.
- Manual Tuning
This form of tuning provides the campaign Supervisor/Administrator with the ability to directly manage the aggressiveness of the campaign themselves. The OutBound system itself performs no tuning, and hence the actual dialling ratio is left at the initial configured value regardless of the current nuisance rate. If a change in the dialling activity is deemed necessary, it is the responsibility of the Supervisor to implement a change in the dialling ratio.  Obviously the Supervisor should take great care to choose a sensible ratio, as the OutBound system will not step in to curb any excessive nuisance calling in this mode of working;
•Nuisance Ceiling Percentage - allows you to set a ceiling value on the % of nuisance calls it will allow for this campaign.  In the UK this value must not exceed 3%;
•Announcements - click this button to invoke the announcement management applications;
•Nuisance Announcement - the announcement to play to the customer each time a nuisance call is generated;
•Automatic Answer Machine Detection - enables answer machine detection;
•Answer Machine Announcement - the announcement to play to the customer when an answer machine is detected;
•Routing Device - specifies the rostrvm routing device for the campaign.  This is either a pre-configured entry or can be created by clicking the Create button.  This routing device is unique to this campaign and all calls made by outbound on this campaign will be routed by this device to the campaign’s associated agent group.  Typically this is a rostrvm routing number on the CallDirector ACD;

 

If the Advanced button has been selected ...

•Pacing Algorithm - allows you to specify the type of predictive algorithm to be utilised by this predictive campaign.
- Ratio Based – This algorithm seeks to maximise agent utilisation by ensuring that there are more calls in progress, at any one moment in time, than there are agents. The ratio in question defines the number of campaign agents relative to the number of calls in progress. Hence if there were 7 agents, and a ratio of 0.7 had been defined, then OutBound would seek to ensure that there were 10 active calls at all times. Alternatively if the ratio had been defined as 0.5, then OutBound would seek to ensure that there were 14 active calls at all times. The lower the ratio the more aggressive the dialling algorithm becomes. The philosophy behind this “perceived over-dialling” is that a proportion of all the aforementioned active calls will never be answered for one reason or another and hence it does not matter if the dialler is generating more calls than there are agents. Obviously the ideal solution is to balance the ratio so that enough calls are generated to keep the agents busy, but not so many that customers receive and answer calls that can not be handled because there are no free agents. (This latter situation is known as a nuisance call). The default ratio is set to 0.85, which is a reasonable start point. A ratio of 0.5 is very aggressive and is likely to cause many nuisance calls unless the dialling list quality is poor. A ratio of 1.0 is very tame, to the extent that it is not worth dialling the campaign predictively. User experience will in the end determine the most appropriate ratio setting.
- Wrap-Up Based – This algorithm is a variation on the previously described ratio based algorithm, in so far as it requires a ratio to be defined and indeed it uses the same logic. It is however supplemented with additional logic, which seeks to initiate calls before agents are ready to handle them. This approach is valid because the algorithm assumes that every call will take several seconds to be answered (if it is answered at all) and so it does not matter if the agents are still in a “wrap-up” period at the point the call is generated. Obviously the idea is that the calls will be answered at a point in time when the algorithm “predicts” that the agents will just be ending their period of wrap-up. This algorithm is generally regarded as being more aggressive than ratio-based alone, but by the same token it can deliver higher agent utilisation results. It works best where the wrap-up durations for all calls are relatively similar in length and are in excess of 20 seconds;
•Dial Window - the number of call attempts that need to occur on a campaign before OutBound starts to apply the configured predictive Agent to Call ratio.  Tuning of the predictive algorithm is also disabled during this initialisation phase.
Prior to this number of calls being launched the algorithm implements a ratio of 1.0 in order to avoid causing inappropriate nuisance calls as a result of a lack of variation in the numerous call attempt cycles.  The Dial Window functionality is applied whenever a campaign becomes Active or subsequent to a restart of the OutBound system.
As with all systems that depend on statistical analysis it is important to ensure that the samples of data being used for such an analysis are large enough to be significant. It is recommended that this value be set to 3x the number of campaign agents.  If it is deemed necessary to dial in line with the prescribed ratio before the Dial Window number of calls has been launched, then it is simply a matter of reducing the Dial Window to a much lower value. It has a minimum value of 1;
•Maximum Calls Per Cycle - some switch platforms stipulate a maximum number of predictive calls that can be initiated per second. This value allows the rostrvm system to be configured to avoid exceeding this limit.
The predictive algorithm cycles once every two seconds for each campaign. This value should normally be set to twice the value of the switch manufacturer’s calls per second limit in a single campaign environment. However it should be remembered that this dialog setting pertains to a particular campaign and so if you have more than one campaign in your configuration, then this value should be set in light of the total number of campaigns configured.  Ideally the default value should be set to the appropriate figure at the time of system installation and so it should not be necessary to adjust this value. The creation of new campaigns will require re-consideration of this value on all campaigns;
•Answer Machine Detection Maximum Time (milliseconds) - when answer machine detection has been set up, the AMD Max Time specifies the maximum length of time, in milliseconds, that rostrvm will use whilst attempting to determine if the call has been answered by an Answer Machine;
•Answer Machine Detection Maximum Silence (milliseconds) - when answer machine detection has been set up, the AMD Max Silence specifies the length of continuous silence, in milliseconds, that rostrvm will use to determine if the call has been answered by a human;
•Disable Account AMT - answer machine detection may be set up to work at an individual account level as well as at the campaign level.  If you leave this unchecked the system will look at the ANS_MACH_TREAT element within the dialler list to determine whether detection is disabled, the call is dropped, or the call may be routed to an agent or automatic message.

 

Dialling Parameters Tab

Times and flags to alter the way in which your campaign is run.

•Destination Type - allows you to choose which account telephone number will be dialled on this campaign.  Whichever number is chosen it will be the same one for all customer records in the campaign.  If the Cycle All option is chosen instead then the dialler tries the subsequent numbers in order should the call to the first number fail, remain unanswered, be classified as an answer machine or cancelled as a result of an agent hanging up on an outbound ringing call;
•Use Session Configuration - allows for the default Destination Type to be overridden by any dialling destination that may have been specified using the campaign session specific redial rules.  If it is left disabled the default Destination type is always used and any session specific destinations are ignored;
•Dialling Prefix - specifies additional digits to be prefixed on to the telephone numbers as supplied in the dialling list.  This will typically be the digit 9, to ensure that an outside line is selected for all the dialler's calls.  Other digits could be supplied in order to apply least cost routing;
•Edge Time (minutes) - the length of time that a particular customer account will be held reserved for a specific agent, if the agent in question is not able to take the call when the account becomes due for dialling.  This mechanism therefore only comes into play in regard to customer account records that have been configured for a call-back at a specific time by a specific agent.  Consequently if an agent specific account becomes due for dialling but the agent in question is not able to take the call for the edge time duration after this point, then the call will be made available for any agent to handle.  Note an edge time of 0 means it will not be applied (i.e. it will remain with the specific agent always);
•Preview Time (seconds) - the length of time that a record can be viewed by an agent before the call is dialled (applies to preview calls only);
•No Answer Time (seconds) - the length of time that the dialler will wait after initiating a call before deciding that there will be no answer and hanging up.  This time is taken from when the call is alerting and hence does not include the call set-up time (which may be significant for some mobile networks);
•Blend Delay (seconds) - specifies how long a delay to implement between an agent making themselves available and OutBound launching another call on their behalf.  This option is only invoked when the campaign is configured for either Preview or Progressive dialling.  The intention behind this functionality is to allow some time for the agents to receive inbound calls that might be queuing on their agent group, before OutBound makes them busy again on another outbound call.

 

If the Advanced button has been selected ...

•Ignore Preferential Call Times - each account when it is imported can have a preferential time window specified. This is applied to non-callback accounts only and ensures it is dialled after a specified earliest time and before a specified latest time.  This check box disables all the preferential time handling for accounts in this campaign.

 

Shift Times Tab

Defines the shift times for your campaign which governs when it is automatically started and stopped.

•Default Shift Start - the time at which a previously suspended campaign will become active again.  If a campaign is manually set Inactive then this has no effect and the campaign will remain inactive; the above mechanism only applies to suspended campaigns;
•Default Shift End - the time at which a previously active campaign will become suspended;
•Daily Shift Times - this allows different shift times to be set for different days of the week using the shift start and end times for each day of the week;
•Don't Dial - this check box disables dialling on a specific day without the need to specify particular shift times.  Setting this option will cause active and waiting campaigns to become suspended. Inactive campaigns will remain inactive.

 

Note that shift times are applied within a 1 minute period after the start and stop times only.  Setting a start or end time to more than 1 minute in the past will have no effect until the following week.  So, if the start time is set for 8:00am the campaign will be started anywhere between 8:00am and 8:01am.  If you set the shift time start to 8:00am after 8:01am on the same day then this will have no effect (until the following week).  Similarly if you set the shift end time to 5:00pm after 5:01pm on the same day it will have no effect (until the following week).

 

Callbacks Tab

Parameters which define how your callbacks are managed.

•Maximum Account Attempts - a limit on the number of attempts that are made for each account.  Connected calls and agent callbacks are included in the account attempts count, however the limit is only applied to agent callbacks if the Include Agent Callbacks in Maximum Attempts flag is set.  This means that the account attempted count may exceed the Maximum Account Attempts limit.  A value of 0 (default) means there is no limit (unlimited);
•Maximum Daily Account Attempts - a limit on the number of attempts that are made for each account per day.  By default agent callbacks are excluded from this limit unless the Include Agent Callbacks in Maximum Attempts flag is set.  If the limit is reached then the account will not be dialled again until the next day.  A value of 0 (default) means there is no limit (unlimited);
•Include Agent Callbacks In Maximum Attempts - by default the maximum account attempts set above only applies to system callbacks.  However, this can be changed to include agent scheduled callbacks as well by ticking this option;
•Callback Prioritisation - allows you to control the ratio of Unused (new) accounts that are dialled by the campaign relative to the number of System Callbacks (callbacks that have not been scheduled by agents) that are dialled.  By default each campaign is configured to dial equal numbers of these different types of call.  If the slider is moved fully to the right, 10 times more System Callbacks will be dialled than Unused accounts.  If the slider is moved fully to the left, 10 times more Unused accounts will be dialled than System Callbacks. If the slider is only moved half-way they will be dialled in equal numbers;
•Callbacks In Preview Mode - determines whether agent specific callbacks (including nuisance callbacks for predictive) are made in preview mode (ticked) or progressive mode for progressive and predictive campaigns;
•Agent Callback Options - allows you to specify which callback options will be made available to the agents using rostrvm AdVisor CallGuide on this campaign. The options are:
- Current Agent or Any Agent - specifies that the campaign agents will have a choice of whether to schedule callbacks for themselves or alternatively for anyone in the campaign;
- Current Agent Only - specifies that the campaign agents will only be able to schedule callbacks for themselves;
- Any Agent Only - specifies that the campaign agents will only be able to schedule callbacks for anyone in the campaign;
•Any Agent As Default - ensures that callbacks will by default be scheduled to any agent in the campaign.  This option is only available if the "Current Agent or Any Agent" option has itself been enabled;
•Disable Specific Agent - disables the ability to set an agent specific callback;
•Enable callback notes - tick box that if set allows the agent to update the callback notes field when setting a callback;
•Allow Diary Move - tick box that if set allows the agent to move a callback in the diary display to a different date and time;
•Allow Diary Make Call - tick box that if set allows the agent to dial a callback in the diary display immediately rather than waiting for the set date and time.

 

If the Advanced button has been selected ...

•Ignore System Callbacks - selecting this check box will cause the campaign to ignore callbacks that have been set automatically by the system.  Only callbacks that have been set by agents and unused accounts will be dialled on the campaign;
•Ignore Unused Accounts - selecting this check box will cause the campaign to ignore unused accounts.  Only callbacks will be dialled on the campaign;
•Ignore Agent Callbacks - selecting this check box will cause the campaign to ignore callbacks that have been set by agents.  Only callbacks that have been set automatically by the system and unused accounts will be dialled on the campaign;
•Agent Callbacks Can Expire - accounts may contain an expiry date and after that date the dialler will not attempt to call them.  However by default callbacks initiated by agents will remain active after the expiry date unless this box is ticked;
•Outcome Callbacks As Agent Callbacks - this means that any callbacks generated from an agent Business Outcome will be treated as an agent callback.  By default, such callbacks are treated as system callbacks;
•Disable 72 Hour Rule - a nuisance call should not be dialled predictively again (thus risking a second nuisance call to the same account or telephone number) within a 72 hour period. This is an OFCOM restriction for the UK.  However, should the campaign be targeted for telephone numbers outside the UK then these rules may not apply.  For this reason this function can be disabled by setting this campaign property.

 

Lists Tab

Defines the lists associated with this campaign.

•Assign Lists - allows lists to be assigned and removed from this campaign;
•List Name - the name of the list;
•Status - the status of the list (Active, Inactive, Passive, Exhausted);
•Weighting - the weighting applied to a list can be configured via the use of the Weighting slider shown against each list. The slider can be used to apply a weighting value in the range of 1 to 100. In order to change the weighting value applied to a list, drag the slider to the desired position, or click the slider and use the arrow keys;
Note 1: list weighting rules do not apply to any call backs that might be pending for a campaign list, callbacks due at a particular time will be dialled at that time irrespective of the weighting applied to the list.
Note 2: the list weighting option is hidden if only 1 list is assigned to a campaign, or the campaign has a Dialling Order set.
•Start Time - the start time for the list (when it is made active);
•End Time - the end time for the list (when it is made passive);
•Priority - this is the list priority that is applied for making passive lists active should there be no more accounts to dial in the active list(s).  The priority can be changed by dragging the list to the desired position.

 

From here you can:

•Assign Lists - click the Assign Lists button to allows a list to be assigned to this campaign;
•Unassign List - click the x button to the right of the entry to remove this list from this campaign;
•Import List - click the Import List button to navigate to the Import List/Data page.

 

Notes:

1.A list can be assigned to multiple campaigns.  Although there is no limit to the number of campaigns to which a list can be assigned it is recommended that this be kept to a minimum as it affects system performance (database access query time is increased).  For larger systems (>50 agents) sharing lists across multiple campaigns is not recommended (contact Rostrvm Solutions Ltd for advise on better alternative configurations).
2.If list filtering or ordering is to be (or has been) applied then multiple lists assigned to a single campaign must have the same data store.  A campaign filter cannot be applied if the lists on the campaign use different data stores.

 

SMS Tab

Details to define how oubound SMS messages are handled.

•Edit Message Templates - click this button to navigate to the Templates report from which SMS templates can be created or modified;
•Introductory Template - the SMS to be sent when the account is attempted for the first time;
•Termination Template - the SMS to be sent when the account is terminated;
•Account To Send From - the email account from which the SMS messages are sent.

 

Email Tab

Details to define how oubound SMS messages are handled.

•Edit Message Templates - click this button to invoke the Templates report from which Email templates can be created or modified;
•Introductory Template - the email to be sent when the account is attempted for the first time;
•Termination Template - the email to be sent when the account is terminated;
•Account To Send From - the email account from which the SMS messages are sent.

 

Message Scheduling Tab

Details to define how oubound SMS messages are handled.

•Send Time For Messages - if Immediately is ticked the system attempts to transmit messages as soon as possible, and any specified date and time are ignored. If the flag is unticked the Send Time and Send Date can be specified when the messages should be sent;
•Message Expiry Time (hours) - the time before a message is considered to have expired.  0 means that the message never expires.

 

Redial Rules Tab

Allows the setting of rules to determine how no contact calls are treated (e.g. should they be terminated or re-tried later).

Skip Call Reasons Tab

This tab defines which skip call reason codes are available to the agent when an account is being previewed and the agent decides not to dial it.  Skip Call reasons are business outcome with a category of Call Skipped.

•Available - a full list of Call Skipped business outcomes that have not already been selected as a skip call reason;
•Selected - a list of Call Skipped business outcomes that have been selected as skip call reasons to be displayed for selection by the agent.

 

From here you can:

•Add a specific number of skip call reasons to the list of Selected codes by highlighting the required entry or entries from the Available window and clicking the -> button.  To add all the skip call reasons click the >> button.
•Remove a specific number of skip call reasons from the list of Selected codes by highlighting the required entry or entries from the Selected window and clicking the <- button.  To remove all the skip call reasons click the << button.
•New Skip Call Reason - click this button to create a new skip call reason code to be added to the available list so that it can then be selected as a skip call reason.  This presents the Business Outcomes dialog in a sperate tab.

 

Visibility Tab

Allows the setting of individual users and user groups that are allowed to view this campaign in the MIS displays.

•User Groups - set which user groups can view this campaign;
•Users - set which users can view this campaign.

 

Use the arrow keys to move an item between Available and Selected.

Operations

From here you can:

•Redial Rules - invokes the redial rules management page;
•Dialling Filter - invokes the dialling filter management page;
•Save - to save the changes to any updated properties;
•Delete - to delete the campaign.  Campaigns should be deleted when they are no longer needed for an extended period of time. Deletion of a campaign frees up resources (e.g. a call class) that can then be used on a new campaign. Having stated this however it can often be more convenient in this scenario to simply rename and reconfigure the old campaign in line with the new campaign’s requirements.  To rename a campaign, navigate to the campaign properties and edit the campaign name field. Only campaigns that are Inactive or Template may be renamed;
•Start, Stop, Suspend - the campaign by selecting one of the available options from the drop-down menu by clicking on the campaign status at the top of the display.  Note that a campaign cannot be manually started if the Don't Dial option on the Shifts tab is ticked for today (i.e. the campaign is set ACTIVE and then is immediately SUSPENDED again).  Similarly, if the campaign is started or stopped within 1 minute of the configured shift times then it may also be changed back immediately.