[This is pre-release documentation and subject to change in future releases. This topic's current status is: Milestone-Ready]

Topic Last Modified: 2010-07-18

When you create an Interactive workflow you can choose a welcome message for the workflow, the music to play when users are on hold, and the days and hours that the workflow is available.

Interactive workflows support up to two levels of questions, with each question having up to four possible answers. The IVR asks the caller a question that has up to four possible answers, and depending on the caller’s response, routes the caller to a queue or asks a second question. The second question can also have four possible answers. Depending on the answer to the second-level question, the caller is routed to the appropriate queue. For details about IVR design, see Design Call Flows By Using Interactive Voice Response.

You can use Wave (.wav) or Windows Media Audio (.wma) files for settings such as messages or the music that is played when users are on hold. For details about supported audio file formats, see Response Group Audio File Requirements.

Note:
You must be assigned the CsAdministrator role or the CsResponseGroupAdministrator role to create and configure workflows.

To create an Interactive workflow

  1. Open Communications Server Control Panel.

  2. Click Response Groups, and then click the Workflow tab.

  3. On the Workflow page, click New.

    The Response Group Configuration Tool Web page opens.

    Note:
    You can also open the Response Group Configuration Tool Web page directly from a Web browser by connecting to https://<FQDN of the Front End or Standard Edition Server>/RgsConfig.
  4. Under Create a New Workflow, next to Interactive, click Create.

  5. If you are not ready for users to start calling the workflow, clear the Activate the workflow check box.

  6. To allow federated users to call the group, select the Enable for federation check box.

  7. To hide the identity of agents during calls, select the Enable agent anonymity check box.

    Note:
    Anonymous calls cannot start with instant messaging (IM) or video, although the agent or the caller can add IM and video after the call is established. An anonymous agent can also put calls on hold, transfer calls (both blind and consultative transfers), and park and retrieve calls. Anonymous calls do not support conferencing, application sharing and desktop sharing, file transfer, whiteboarding and data collaboration, and call recording.
  8. In the Enter the address of the group that will receive the calls box, type the address of the group that you want to answer calls to the workflow.

  9. In the Display name box, type the name that clients, such as Communicator "14", are to display.

    Note:
    Do not include the "<" or ">" characters in the display name. Do not enter a display name of "RGS Presence Watcher" or "Announcement Service," because these names are reserved names.
  10. In the Telephone number field, type the line URI for the response group (for example, +14255550165).

  11. In the Display number field, type the number as you want it to appear for the response group (for example, +1 (425) 5550165).

  12. (Optional) In the Description box, type a description for the workflow that you want to appear on the contact card in Communicator "14".

  13. Under Step 2 Select a Language, click the language to use for speech recognition and text-to-speech.

    Note:
    Although all the language packs are displayed in this list, only the U.S. English language pack is installed by default. If you want to use another language, install the language pack before you configure the workflow.
  14. If you want to configure a welcome message, under Step 3 Configure a Welcome Message, select the Play a welcome message check box, and then do one of the following:

    • To enter the welcome message as text that is converted to speech for callers, click Use text-to-speech, and then type the welcome message in the text box.

      Note:
      If you choose to play a welcome message, you must enter something in the Use text-to-speech box even if you select a recording.
      Note:
      Do not include HTML tags in the text you enter. If you include HTML tags, you will receive an error message.
    • To use a Wave or Windows Media Audio file recording for the welcome message, click Select a recording. If you want to upload a new audio file, click the a recording link. In the new browser window, click Browse, select the audio file that you want to use, and then click Open. Click Upload to load the audio file, and then type the welcome message in the text box.

      Note:
      All user-provided audio files must meet certain requirements. For details about supported file formats, see Response Group Audio File Requirements.
  15. Under Step 4 Specify Your Business Hours, in the Your time zone box, click the time zone of the workflow.

    Note:
    The time zone is the time zone where the callers and agents of the workflow reside. It is used to calculate the open and close hours. For example, if the workflow is configured to use the North American Eastern Time zone and the workflow is scheduled to open at 7:00 A.M. and close at 11:00 P.M., the open and close times are assumed to be 7:00 Eastern Time and 11:00 Eastern Time respectively. (You must enter the times in 24-hour format.)
  16. Select the type of business hours schedule you want to use by doing one of the following:

    • To use a predefined schedule of business hours, click Use a preset schedule, and then select the schedule you want to use from the drop-down list.

      Note:
      When you select a predefined schedule, the Day, Open, and Close fields are automatically filled with the days and hours that the response group is available. You define preset schedules by using the New-CSRgsHoursOfBusiness cmdlet. For more information, see the RGSCmdlets.chm or inline help for Communications Server Management Shell.
    • To use a custom schedule that applies only to this workflow, click Use a custom schedule.

  17. If you are creating a custom schedule for this workflow, click the check boxes for the days of the week that the response group is available.

  18. If you are creating a custom schedule, in the Open and Close fields, type the hours when the response group available.

    Note:
    The Open and Close hours must be in 24-hour format. For example, if your office works a 9-to-5 work day and closes at noon for lunch, the business hours are specified as Open 9:00, Close 12:00, Open 13:00, and Close 17:00.
  19. If you want to play a message when the office is not open, select the Play a message when the response group is outside of business hours check box, and then specify the message to play by doing one of the following:

    • To enter the message as text that is converted to speech for the caller, click Use text-to-speech, and then type the message in the text box.

      Note:
      Do not include HTML tags in the text you enter. If you include HTML tags, you will receive an error message.
    • To use an audio file recording for the message, click Select a recording. If you want to upload a new audio file, click the a recording link. In the new browser window, click Browse, select the file that you want to use, and then click Open. Click Upload to load the audio file, and then type the message in the text box.

      Note:
      All user-provided audio files must meet certain requirements. For details about supported file formats, see Response Group Audio File Requirements.
  20. Specify how to handle calls after the message is played (if a message is configured):

    • To disconnect the call, click Disconnect Call.

    • To forward the call to voice mail, click Forward to voice mail, and then type the voice mail address. The format for the voice mail address is username@domainname (for example, bob@contoso.com).

    • To forward the call to another user, click Forward to SIP URI, and then type a user address. The format for the user address is username@domainname.

    • To forward the call to another telephone number, click Forward to telephone number, and then type the telephone number. The format for the telephone number is number@domainname (for example, +14255550121@contoso.com). The domain name is used to route the caller to the correct destination.

  21. Under Step 5 Specify Your Holidays, click the check boxes for one or more sets of holidays that define the days when the response group is closed for business.

    Note:
    You need to define holidays and holiday sets before you configure the workflow. Use the New-CsRgsHoliday and New-CsRgsHolidaySet cmdlets to define holidays and holiday sets. For more information, see the RGSCmdlets.chm or inline help for Communications Server Management Shell.
  22. If you want to play a message on holidays, select the Play a message during holidays check box, and then specify the message to play by doing one of the following:

    • To enter the message as text that is converted to speech for the caller, click Use text-to-speech, and then type the message in the text box.

      Note:
      Do not include HTML tags in the text you enter. If you include HTML tags, you will receive an error message.
    • To use an audio file recording for the message, click Select a recording. If you want to upload a new audio file, click the a recording link. In the new browser window, click Browse, select the file that you want to use, and then click Open. Click Upload to load the audio file, and then type the message in the text box.

      Note:
      All user-provided audio files must meet certain requirements. For details about supported audio file formats, see Response Group Audio File Requirements.
  23. Specify how to handle calls after the message is played (if a message is configured):

    • To disconnect the call, click Disconnect Call.

    • To forward the call to voice mail, click Forward to voice mail, and then type the voice mail address. The format for the voice mail address is username@domainname (for example, bob@contoso.com).

    • To forward the call to another user, click Forward to SIP URI, and then type a user address. The format for the user address is username@domainname.

    • To forward the call to another telephone number, click Forward to telephone number, and then type the telephone number. The format for the telephone number is number@domainname (for example, +14255550121@contoso.com). The domain name is used to route the caller to the correct destination.

  24. Under Step 6 Configure Music on Hold, choose what you want callers to listen to while waiting for an agent by doing one of the following:

    • To use the default music on-hold recording, click Use default.

    • To use an audio file recording for the on-hold music, click Select a music file. If you want to upload a new audio file, click the a music file link. In the new browser window, click Browse, select the file that you want to use, and then click Open. Click Upload to load the audio file.

      Note:
      All user-provided audio files must meet certain requirements. For details about supported file formats, see Response Group Audio File Requirements.
  25. Under Step 7 Configure Interactive Voice Response, under the The user will hear the following text or recorded message heading, specify the question to ask callers as follows:

    • To enter the question in text format, click Use text-to-speech, and type the question in the text box.

      Note:
      Do not include HTML tags in the text you enter. If you include HTML tags, you will receive an error message.
      Note:
      The "#" symbol is translated by the text-to-speech engine as the word "number". If you need to refer to the # key, you should use the key name, rather than the symbol, in your prompt. For example, To talk to sales, press the pound key.
    • To use a prerecorded audio file that contains the question, click Select a recording, and then click the a recording link to upload the file. In the new browser window, click Browse, select the audio file, and then click Open. Click Upload to load the file, and then type the question in the text box (this enables the question, and the caller’s response, to be forwarded to the responding agent).

      Note:
      All user-provided audio files must meet certain requirements. For details about supported file formats, see Response Group Audio File Requirements.
  26. Under Response 1, specify the first possible answer to the question by doing the following:

    Important:
    Do not use double quotes (") in any voice responses. Double quotes cause the IVR to work incorrectly.
    Note:
    You can choose to allow callers to answer using speech, keypad input, or both.
    • If you want to allow the caller to respond using speech, enter the answer in Enter a voice response.

    • If you want to allow the caller to respond by pressing a key on the keypad, in the Digit box, click the keypad digit.

  27. Specify whether to route the caller to a queue, or to ask another question as follows:

    • To route the caller to a queue, click Send to a queue, and in the Select a queue field, click the queue that you want to use.

    • To ask another question, click Ask another question, and then click Use text-to-speech and type the question, or click Select a recording. Use the response groupings in this section to specify up to four possible responses to the additional question and the queue to use for each response. To specify a third or fourth possible response, click the check box next to the Response 3 or Response 4 headings.

  28. Specify up to three more possible answers to the original question by repeating steps 26 and 27 to specify the possible responses and the action to take for each response. To specify a third or fourth possible answer, click the check box next to the Response 3 or Response 4 headings.

  29. Click Deploy.