Elastix Call Center

Elastix Call Center Addon
(Brief description of setup and functionality)

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Call Center Addon(1)
§  This software is designed to make campaigns for incoming and
outgoing calls.

§  These calls allow interaction between operators (agents) and people
contacted (subscribers).

§  We use the term "campaign" to describe the execution of a set of
calls.

§  The module includes a predictive dialer that handles the automatic
call of "objective" numbers.

Call Center Addon(2)
§  It also includes two major components: a web based agent console
and a call management interface.

§  The current version includes support for the ECCP protocol.

§  This protocol makes the operation more efficient and can integrate
external applications.

§  The Elastix Call Center Addon is Open Source.

Model of Operation
§  The Call center addon is designed around Asterisk's queue
functionality.

§  This design assumes that each queue has at least one agent.

§  Each campaign uses one queue. An Agent can be part of more than
one queue.

§  In the present version there are two function modes: Outgoing
Campaign and Ingoing (Incoming) Campaigns.

Implemented features
§  Automatic call to a list of numbers
§  Execution of several simultaneous campaigns
§  Agent monitoring (on calls)
§  Predictive dialer
§  Attention Script storage
§  Entry form
§  Call Schedule
§  Ability to put a call on hold
§  Call activity reports

Known limitations
§  Is not possible to assign a specific agent to a call.

§  It doesn’t place a call in a queue without agents; It doesn't play
audio on unattended calls.

§  That’s why the module is designed to mediate calls that are handled
by human agents.

§  It is possible to implement this functionality in the future, as
"Campaign Without Agents".

Predictive Dialer (1)
§  Is the part of the call center that interacts directly with calls.

§  It is implemented as a resident service (daemon) written in PHP. It can
be started as a service with this command:

service elastixdialer stop|start

§  The dialer starts each call using the command Originate from
Asterisk.

§  The dialer is constantly reviewing all the calls, placed by it (Originate),
that have not received an event OriginateResponse.

§  If the dialer receives an answer (OriginateResponse -
example: join or link), it will write the information of that call in the
database.

§  The dialer asks regularly about the status of the queue to find out
how many registered agents are free.

§  The number of free agents regulates how many calls are initiated
simultaneously.

§  The dialer estimates the average length of call, to try to predict if
the calls are in progress to finish to place new calls proactively. This
feature is configurable.

§  The prediction model is a cumulative Erlang distribution.

§  The Web interface lets you start and stop the dialer

§  It also allows to activate and deactivate debugging on the dialer, even
if the dialer is running.

§  The default path of the dialer log file is: /opt/elastix/
dialer/dialerd.log

§  The predictive dialer is active by default after installing the module.

§  However it is possible to turn it off from the interface, on the
configuration menu at the module.

Module Administration
§  The module administration allows:

§  Create Agents

§  Adding queues

§  Create new outbound campaigns

§  Create new Inbound campaigns

§  Administration breaks

§  It also provides a configuration interface that lets you start, stop and
configure the predictive dialer, including activation of debugging.

Starting the Operation
Prior to the beginning of the call center operation we must follow these
basic settings:

1.  Install Elastix Call Center Addon

2.  Create a group with the configuration for Agents.

3.  Create Users for every agent in the system

4.  Creating Extensions for Agents

5.  Create Agents in the Call Center module.

6.  Create the queues required for operation.

Installing the Call Center (1)
The installation of the module is simple. We must go to the Addons
menu and click on INSTALL.

Installing the Call Center (2)
§  The installation will begin automatically
§  Once concluded, Elastix will enable a menu for the addon.

Creating a Group (1)
§  The creation of users and agents is important for the operation of
the call center.

§  For security reasons and control, we must restrict the access for
these users.

§  It is necessary to create a group with restricted access to the
interface. (just the agent console)

§  To create the group go to:

System → Users → Group: Create New Group

§  To configure the permissions for the new group we’ll go to::
§  System → Users → Group Permissions
§  Select the recently created group.
§  Click on show filter and filter by the resource: Agent Console.
§  Select and Save.

Creating a Users
§  Once we created the group with restricted access, we can create the
users for the agents. Go to:

§  System → Users → Create New User

§  We can create as many users as agents we need.

Creating a Extensions
§  We must create as many extensions as agents required in a
campaign.

§  It is enough to create SIP extensions.

§  To facilitate the call center operation, these extensions are used on a
Softphone (normally).

§  The call center addon will transfer all the calls of any campaign to the
agent extension.

Creating Agents (1)
§  Creating an agent is different from the creation of users. The agents
are generated in the call center module.

§  An Operator / Agent, will need a user to login to Elastix. Once in the
interface, he will need an agent user to login the call center.

§  To create an agent go to:

§  Call Center → Agent Options → Agents

§  Make click on the link "New Agent"

Creating Agents (2)

§  The ECCP Password field is not required, the system will assign a
password for us when a new agent is created.

Creating Queues (1)
§  The process of creating a queue is similar to what we practiced
before.

§  The only difference is that, instead of placing extensions created in
Elastix, we will place the agents numbers that we want on that
queue.

§  There’s another difference related with the nomenclature, we must
put the prefix A before every agent number.

§  We will create the queue with the name ectetest and the number
101.

Creating Queues (2)

§  As we can see in the image, the field "static agents" has the information
of the agents created on the Call Center. We used the prefix "A" and the
number 0, after the agent.
§  We can place any ring strategy. Usually "fewestcalls".

Activating the Module
§  Prior the beginning of the operation we must check if the Call Center is
Active.
§  This can be done at the dashboard or from the configuration menu at
the call center module (Dialer Status)

Agent Console (1)
§  The Agent Console manages the interaction of the agent with the
system. Is web based.

§  The console receives events of a call through the ECCP. Is the same
for all the information of every call.

§  The agent will see this information in the console (telephone
number, contact information).

§  At the moment, the agent console works using the ECCP protocol.

Agent Console (2)

Campaign
Functions

Actions

Agent Console (3)
Actions

Hangup: Allows to end a call

Take Break: Allows an agent to take a break for a determine activity.
Breaks must be created previously by the administrator.

Transfer: Transfers the call to any existing extension on the dial plan.
This is a blind transfer.

VTiger CRM: Opens Vtiger in a new window on the browser. Vtiger
must be active.

End session: Ends the session for that agent, on the call center.

Agent Console (4)
Campaign functions

Call Information: Shows the information of the person that calls, if
we have this information on the database. If we don’t have the
information, then it will show the telephone number in the bottom.

Call Script: Shows the Script, created previously, to instruct the agent.

Call Form: This window will show the form created for a campaign.

Outgoing Campaings (1)
§  The system uses a list of telephone numbers to call.

§  When we activate the campaign, the system will dial this numbers,
verifying that there are free agents registered in the queue. As
many calls as free agents.

§  This method links the queue with the subscriber number. If the call
is successful, then it enters the queue and is assigned to the next
free agent.

§  The assignment depends on the ring strategy of the queue (linear,
wrandom...etc)

Outgoing Campaings (2)
§  The system registers the agent assigned to a call in a database.

§  This information will be used for reports and consult.

§  At the end of the call, the agent will be placed on stand by, and will
be available to receive a call.

§  This process continues till the last number on the list.

§  We can configure retry attempts, in this way the module will call all
the numbers with unsuccessful calls.

Incoming Campaings
§  We define a queue which includes the agents. The predictive dialer
is not used in this operation mode.

§  It is required to route the calls from subscribers to the campaign
queue.

§  The system registers the agent assigned to a call in a database. This
information will be used for reports and consult.

§  We can load a list of numbers of clients, with additional
information. The agent will see this information available on the
console.

Campaings Configuration
§  There is a menu available for each type of campaign:
§  Outgoing Calls

§  Ingoing Calls (Incoming calls)

§  Before we start a campaign is important to define:

a.  Forms
b.  Contact lists (optional for ingoing calls)
c.  Telephone number list (required for outgoing calls)
d.  Breaks
e.  And off course: Agents and queues

Campaign Configuration
Forms (1)
§  Forms are created at:

Call Center → Forms → Form Designer

§  Each form has the option to add several fields:

•  Text field

•  List field

•  Date field

•  Label field

Forms (2)

Forms (3)
§  At "Form Preview“ we will see a preview of the form

§  Form creation and management works fine on Mozilla Firefox. It is
possible that some fields may not be able to be configured from other
browsers.

Clients – Ingoing Calls (1)
§  Ingoing calls allow to load a contact list.

§  The module verifies the incoming number with the list and shows
the information of the contact to the agent (if it is available).

§  The supported information for this contact list is:

§  "telefono"(telephone),"cedula/ruc"(ID Number),"nombre"(first
name),"apellido”(last name)

§  It is useful to make the list on Excel or Calc in OpenOffice.
§  In the first column we can see the telephone number. The second
column will contain the ID number (cedula). The third and fourth
column contains the first and last name.

OpenOffice

§  The field cedula/ruc, is a required field for this functionality. If the
file doesn’t have information in that column, we will receive an
error.

§  We can put an identifier number on every cell if we don't know
the ID of every contact.

§  The previous example shows a random number for each contact.
§  The file has to be saved as csv:
•  If the file is made in OpenOffice, you should save it as "Text CSV
(.csv)"
•  If the file is made in Excel, you should save it as "Windows Comma
Separated (.csv)"

§  Once we create the file with the list of contact, we must upload it
in the "Clients" menu:

§  Call Center → Ingoing Calls → Clients

Phone list – Outgoing Calls (1)

§  The most important information in an outgoing call is the
telephone number list.

§  This information will be required in the creation of a campaign,
however it is important to do it right.

§  It is useful to make the list on Excel or Calc in OpenOffice.

§  The file must be created as csv

Phone list – Outgoing Calls (2)

1.  If the file is made in OpenOffice, you should save it as "Text
CSV (.csv)"
2.  If the file is made in Excel, you should save it as "Windows
Comma Separated (.csv)"

OpenOffice

Break Configuration (1)

§  Breaks allow to put an agent on standby as not available.

§  In this state, the dialer will not assign calls to the agent.

§  This situation applies to both type of campaigns: Ingoing and
Outgoing.

§  To create breaks go to: Call Center → Breaks; we must click on
“Create new break”.

Break Configuration (2)

§  Breaks can be "Active" or "Inactive".

§  The break must be active, to be selected, otherwise it won’t be
available for the agent.

On Campaign
Ingoing Calls (1)

§  First, we must select a queue.

§  The module will transfer all the incoming calls to the queue and
the queue will distribute them to the agents configured.

§  There can be several queues and we can activate several
ingoing campaigns.

§  A queue can be selected on more than one active campaigns.

On Campaign
Ingoing Calls (2)
Call Center → Ingoing Calls → Queues

On Campaign
Ingoing Calls (3)

§  After we select the queue, it is recommended to load the list of
clients to the database.

§  Now we will create a campaign for an Incoming Call Campaign.

§  Go to: Call Center → Ingoing Calls → Ingoing Campaigns

§  Once there we must create a new campaign, select the form to
use and write a Script for the agent.

On Campaign
Ingoing Calls (5)

§  Once we’ve created the campaign, it will begin its operation and
it will assign calls to all login agents.

§  We will review the agent login process later.

On Campaign
Outgoing Calls (1)

§  Go to: Call Center → Outgoing Calls → Campaigns.

§  Once there we can create a new campaign.

§  The module allows to have several campaigns working at the same
time. We will only have the limitation of the telephone lines
available for all the calls.

§  Just like ingoing calls, a queue can be assigned to more than one
campaign. However if we have a queue on an ingoing campaign, we
won’t be allowed to use it in an outgoing campaign.

On Campaign
Outgoing Calls (2)

On Campaign
Outgoing Calls (3)

§  Once we create the campaign, the dialer will begin its operation
and it will assign calls to all the logged in agents.

On Campaign
Outgoing Calls (4)

§  The module has a feature that allows us to enter numbers that
must not be called.

§  This functionality allows to enter a specific number.

§  It also allows us to load a list of numbers from a .csv file

On Campaign
Outgoing Calls (5)
Call Center → Outgoing Calls → Do not call list

Agent login (1)
An agent must login to Elastix first with his user and password

Agent login (2)
When the agent logs in, he/she will only have access to the console

§  Once there he must choose the agent number and the extension and
make click on "Enter".

§  The module will call to the extension, the agent has to answer and dial
the password and the key # to login to the call center.

Agent login (3)
Once in the call center, the agent is ready to receive calls.

Agent Interaction (1)
If the agent selects a break, he/she will not be able to receive calls.

Incoming call (The console doesn't show information about the client
because is not in the database)

The agent can review the Script prepared for the campaign. Click on the
Tab "Call Script"

The form can be fill on the TAB “Call Form”

The agent can hangup the call or transfer it to another number in the
internal dial plan.

Reports (1)
Reports included are:

§  Calls Detail §  Graphic Calls per hour

§  Calls per hour §  Agent Information

§  Calls per Agent §  Agents Monitoring

§  Hold Time §  Trunks used per hour

§  Login Logout §  Agents connection time

§  Ingoing Calls Success §  Incoming calls monitoring

Elastix Call Center

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