Simulating Automatic Call Distribution

[Guest davclark]

I have VG 6.0.3310 (Dialogic D4/PCI) currently answering calls, playing a recording and then transferring to the desk phone on a single CO line. We are planning to add a line which will give us the capability to have a customer waiting on hold and listening to all kinds of great information while we finish up with the one we're working with. So I'd like to set up a system to simulate automatic call distribution basically. My thoughts are that it could work like this:

 

Call 1 comes in, voiceguide picks up and gives the recorded schpeil about visiting our website etc, then transfers to the desk phone. (exactly what we are currently doing)

 

Call 2 comes in on the second line while the agent is still working with call 1. Voice guide picks up and gives the same initial recorded schpeil, then goes into an endless loop with another recording because it checked the desk extension and found it engaged. During the recorded loop, VG is checking the desk phone every 10 seconds or so to see if the line is open. Once the line is open, the call is transferred to the desk.

 

I'm pretty new at this and so I just want to know if this is within VG's capability before I spend time and money (I'll need to upgrade my VG). Is there another approach to what I am describing that would accomplish the same thing?

 

Also, when I set up the original system, I was having trouble with monitored transfers. I was not able to get VG to accurately detect the cadence break - the system would drop the call assuming the extension was answered when it wasn't. I spent a lot of time trying to resolve this (see Monitored Transfer Problem, Dialogic D4/pci thread from May 2007), but I ended up just using announced transfers instead. I am thinking this is going to be a problem I will have to solve.

 

Thanks for any comments,

Dave

[SupportTeam]

Both announced transfer and monitored transfer allow you to play a sound file to caller while attempting the transfer, so if the monitored transfer does not perform satisfactorily then you can use announced transfer instead. This would of course require for agent to explicitly accept incoming calls by pressing key on telephone keypad, but this may be better then having to say "Hello" twice which is what they would probably need or to do answering analog monitored transfers.