Cisco Cisco IP Contact Center Release 4.6.1 Design Guide

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Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2 SRND
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Chapter 5      Cisco Unified Outbound Option
Functional Description
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Enable Dialer call throttling to prevent overloading the Unified CM server. See 
.
The Unified CM routing and dial plans are used for outbound calls. This allows calls to be placed using 
gateways that are deployed to leverage toll-bypass and lower local calling rates.
Functional Description
The Unified Outbound Option Dialer is a software-only process that is co-located on the Unified CM 
PG. The dialer process has communication sessions with Unified CM, Outbound Campaign Manager, 
CTI Server, and MR PIM. The Dialer process communicates with the Outbound Campaign Manager to 
retrieve outbound customer contact records and to report outbound call disposition (including live 
answer, answering machine, RNA, and busy). The Dialer process communicates with Unified CM to 
place outbound customer calls and agent reservation calls from the dialer ports and thus has an impact 
on the Unified CM cluster. The Dialer process communicates with the CTI Server to monitor skill group 
activity and to perform third-party call control for agent phones. The Dialer process communicates with 
the MR PIM to submit route requests to select an available agent. 
The Unified Outbound Option Dialer can dial customers on behalf of all agents located on its peripheral. 
The Dialer is configured with routing scripts that enable it to run in full blended mode (an agent can 
handle inbound and outbound calls alternately), in scheduled modes (e.g. 8:00am to 12:00pm in inbound 
mode and 12:01pm to 5:00pm in outbound mode), or completely in outbound mode.  If blended mode is 
enabled, the Dialer competes with inbound calls for agents. The Dialer does not reserve more agents than 
are configured in the administrative script Outbound Percent variable.  If all agents are busy, then the 
Dialer does not attempt to reserve any additional agents.
Multiple dialers are used to achieve high availability. See 
.
The Unified Outbound Option supports Call Progress Analysis configuration on a campaign basis.  
When this feature is enabled, the dialer analyzes the media stream to determine the nature of the call 
(such as voice, answering machine, modem, or fax detection).
Campaigns are run as agent-based campaigns or IVR based campaigns. An IVR is generally configured 
in an agent-based campaign to allow for handling of overflow calls when all agents are busy.  Including 
an IVR in an agent based campaign permits compliance with the FTC/FCC telemarketing regulations.  
If an IVR is not configured, over-dialed calls are cancelled, unless you configure overflow agents.  
Overflow agents are agents that are available to receive outbound calls but are not considered when 
calculating the number of lines to dial per agent. In a transfer to IVR based campaign, all of the calls are 
transferred to an IVR application after the outbound call is answered. 
Outbound Dialing Modes
The Unified Outbound Option initiates calls using any of several modes, depending on the skill group:
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Predictive Mode—Dynamically calculates the number of lines to dial per agent
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Progressive Mode—Uses a fixed number of lines per agent set by administrator
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Preview Mode—Agent manually accepts, rejects or skips customer calls (through enabled desktop 
buttons). Dials one line per agent.
  •
Direct Preview Mode—Allows the agent to hear the call ring-out from the desktop; Similar to having 
the call placed by the agent directly. Dials one line per agent.