List of remote agents

As per our requirements in an application,Is it possible to get the lists of remote agents who are online?

Yes, open Voicent Agent dialer, select Predictive > Show Agents Logged In…

To the Gateway, using web request we are able to post the calls for predictive dialing. In similar fashion do you have facility to make the request to gateway, and get a list of logged in Remote Agents, and their Statuses from the Gateway? These details from Gateway will help our CRM to pump more web request calls or reduce them, based on number of agents logged in, and based on their status as either busy on call or free at that point of time. Please let us know how to get the list of logged in agents and their statuses.

Yes. But unlike the call request URL, this interface is internal to the gateway and is subject to change. If you are developing using the MFC/Visual C++, then you can use the gateway library, which is part of the developer subscription.

But if you are using other programming environment, you will have to post and parse the returns in your program. The URL to get a list of agents is: chkphonenoHandler.jsp?action=who

We are able to see logged in RemoteAgents list through “chkphonenoHandler.jsp?action=who” webrequest call. We would like to know, whether there is any documentation available on these things to refer and learn ourself?

As we explained above, this interface and its return values are internal API so there is no published document. Though stable, these APIs are subject to change from time to time, especially when there is a major new release.

And, is there any way we can know if remote agent is in call or free (status) at the moment? I mean, is there any webrequest call for Agent Status like above?

Not from the above interface. If you want to get more detailed control and status of the agant, you should utilize the call back functions for RemoteAgent. The good news is that these are public API and there is document. For more details, please open Voicent Remote Agent program, select the Call menu > Help Topics, then take a look at Advanced Options.

By using the callback functions, your program can know when an agent picks up a call, hangs up the call, etc.

Posted in Predictive Dialer |

Testing with Asterisk PBX

Am testing your demo freeware program. Is it possible to communicate/integrate with Asterisk PBX

Yes. All you need to do is configure Voicent Agent Dialer as a set of Asterisk SIP extensions. Each extension will be served as a line for the predictive dialer.

It is usually not a good idea to transfer the call to an asterisk extension for predictive dialing. The reason is that when a predictive call is made, and there is a live human answer, you want the call to be transferred to an agent as soon as possible. It usually requires too much time if you transfer to an extension, have the Asterisk PBX ring the extension, and wait for the agent to pick up. The callee is going to hear silence and is likely to hangup the call.

Use Voicent Remote Agent program is a much better solution. The call will be transferred to an agent computer with screen popup, and the phone audio is immediately available for the agent to talk.

Posted in Predictive Dialer, voip |

VoiceXML for Predictive Dialing

On Voice XML: If we use voice xml files and post calls to the gateway, will it be able to use the predictive dialling functionality and transfer the call to an available agent if the call is connected and it is not an answering machine?

Yes. Actually, this is exactly what Voicent Agent Dialer does for starting a predictive call. The following is a simple VXML file you can use:


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<vxml version="1.0">
<form name="pd">
<transfer name="prid">
</transfer>
</form>
</vxml>

2. On Predictive Dialer: When we invoke the predictive dialler using the command line interface, will it be possible to specify an agent/list of agents to transfer the call to if the call gets through? We are looking at this as we need specific set of agents to handle specific set of calls only.

For Voicent Agent Dialer release 7, there is no place you can specify that target agent or agents for the call transfer. This feature is not there whether from command line or use the GUI interface.

For now, if you generate VoiceXML for predictive dialing, then you can specify the agent choice in the generated VXML file. All you need to do is specify the dest attribute in the transfer element. For example, if you want to transfer the call to agent John and agent Mary, where John and Mary are the login names, then you can specify the transfer element as:


<transfer name="prid" dest="agent:John, agent:Mary" >

Just FYI, this agent routing feature will be available in release 8, as part of an agent management tool we are currently working on.

We used the voicexml and able to post the calls to gateway and get them able to transfer to specific agent.

Need following details to know whether we should take care on sending numbers in bulk or with delay a few numbers to gateway. Suppose if we configure 10 SIP lines in the gateway and post 1000 calls to the gateway, will the gateway keep the calls in queue and call them one by one as and when the lines become free? Also, will it be able to call a url with the call status update once the call is finished as it does in the agent dialer when called through command line interface?

The gateway has a scheduler for outbound calls, so calls will be put in a queue if there is no free line. But it is also recommended not to send to much calls to the gateway if your application knows the call will be put in queue. For example, in Voicent Agent Dialer, it maintains x number of active calls with the gateway, once a call is finished, it sends another one.

The URL update when a call is finished is only available in Agent Dialer. But since you use your own voicexml, you could simply call the URL yourself when a call is finished.

Posted in Predictive Dialer |