Cisco Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal 11.0(1)

Reusable functionality – CVP VoiceXML Server Elements encapsulate commonly found parts of a 
voice application, from capturing and validating a credit card to interfacing with a database. CVP 
VoiceXML Server Elements greatly reduce the complexity of voice applications by managing 
low-level details. 

Configurable Content – CVP VoiceXML Server Elements can be significantly configured by the 
developer to tailor their output specifically to address the needs of the voice application. Pre-built 
configurations utilizing proven dialog design techniques are provided to further speed the 
development of professional grade voice applications. 

CVP VoiceXML Server defines five different building block types, or elements, that are used to construct 
any voice application: voice elements, VoiceXML insert elements, decision elements, action elements, 
and flag elements. The CVP VoiceXML Server combines these elements with three additional concepts: 
hotlinks, hotevents, and application transfers, to represent a voice application. 

The building blocks that make up an application are referred to as elements. CVP VoiceXML Server 
defines elements as: 

Many elements in CVP VoiceXML Server share several characteristics such as the maintenance of 
element data and session data, the concept of an exit state, and customizability. 

Much like variables in programming, elements in a voice application share data with each other. Some 
elements capture data and require storage for this data. Other elements act upon the data or modify it. 
These variables are the mechanism for elements to communicate with each other. The data comes in two 
forms: element data and session data. 

Element data are variables that exist only within the element itself, can be accessed by other 
elements, but can only be changed by the element that created them. 

Session data are variables that can be created and changed by any element. 

Each element in an application's call flow can be considered a “black box” which accepts an input and 
performs an action. There may be multiple results to the actions taken by the element. In order to retain 
the modularity of the system, the consequences of these results are external to the element. Like a 
flowchart, each action result is linked to another element. The results are called exit states. Each element 
must have at least one exit state and frequently has many. The use of multiple exit states creates a 
“branched” call flow. 

A distinct component of a voice application call 
flow whose actions affect the experience of the 
caller.