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phonenumb.gif Overview of automatic call routing

CIC supports multiple ways to route calls directly to any user, workgroup, or station extension (queue) based on Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) numbers from the Central Office (CO). Typically, companies buy or lease a block of phone numbers, which are directed to the (fewer number of) inbound lines or channels. You can map each phone number to an individual user, a specific station (for example, phone or fax), or a workgroup (for example, Sales). Before you attempt to create these phone number map tables, you must have the list of phone numbers the CO has reserved for your company.

The Interaction Administrator interface provides convenient ways to create DNIS map tables to route calls to CIC queues without modifying handlers. The way you choose to build the table depends on:

  • The number of lines on which you have DNIS service

  • Whether you have a block of contiguous phone numbers or a list of non-contiguous numbers

  • Whether the queues all have the same number of digits in the extensions

  • Whether the destination extensions are fixed or if they are likely to change

Regardless of the implementation, you can easily build DNIS number routing tables using the DID/DNIS configuration pages in Interaction Administrator. This interface enables you to set up direct dialing (similar to the old Direct Inward Dialing (DID) service from the CO) and route calls automatically to specific agents without having to modify handlers. Later, if incoming phone numbers change, you can easily edit these numbers in the DID/DNIS page and the change is effective immediately; no handler publishing is required.

If you have a block of contiguous DNIS phone numbers and all the queue extensions have the same number of digits, you can specify the exchange prefix for those numbers and Interaction Administrator will automatically create a list of DNIS maps by combining the prefix with each extension selected in the list of CIC users. If the extensions have a variable number of digits, you can create the map table by replacing the last N number of digits in the DNIS phone number with that number of extension digits.

You can choose the best method for building the DNIS table map from the three buttons provided on the DID/DNIS Route property page. To get there, on the DID/DNIS configuration page, click the Add button to add one or more DNIS maps for routing calls. On the DID/DNIS Route page that appears, select one of the following radio buttons.

Simple Mapping DNIS Numbers

Simple mapping is for situations where you need to add one DNIS route to the table at a time. Specifically, this approach is useful if you have only a few DNIS numbers to support, and/or these numbers use different exchange prefixes. As the following DID/DNIS Route screen illustrates, to create a simple map:

  1. Select the Simple Mapping option on the DID/DNIS Route page.

  2. Type the DNIS (externally dialed) phone number in the Simple Mapping field. If you know only the prefix or first four digits, type them in the box and click Grab Extension to complete the number after you select the destination.

  3. In the Destination list, select a destination queue.

  4. Optionally, type a brief description of the purpose of this mapping in the Description field. This description text appears in the DID/DNIS table and can be useful documentation for administrators.

  5. Verify the route in the explanation field at the bottom and click OK.

Substitute Prefix DNIS Mapping

In situations where the company has a block of DNIS numbers that begin with the same three or four digit prefix, and the dialed number's suffix matches the four or three digit extension for each CIC queue, you can quickly define a large block of DNIS maps in the table.

For example, suppose a company has reserved a block of phone numbers from 750-5200 through 750-5600. Further, suppose that the agent extensions in the company range from 201 through 599. To set up a DNIS map for each agent, you could add an entry on the DID/DNIS Route page and:

  1. On the DID/DNIS tab, click Add. The DID/DNIS Route dialog box appears.

  2. Click Substitute Prefix and enter the DNIS number prefix (for example, 7505) in the adjacent field.

  3. In the Destination list, sort by the Extension column.

  4. Then multi-select the list of CIC user/workgroup/station extensions (for example, 201 through ### where ### is the highest defined extension number), and click OK. This creates a table of DNIS maps where the prefix (7505) is prepended to the front of every selected CIC extension.

  5. Optionally type a brief description of the purpose of this mapping in the Description field. This description text appears with each entry (the ones created with this operation) on the DID/DNIS tab. This text can be useful documentation for administrators.

  6. Verify the routes in the explanation field at the bottom and click OK if the mapped numbers are correct.

Once the map is saved, when an external caller dials 750-5201, that call will be routed directly to the CIC queue with extension 201. This process has the same effect as creating a large number of simple mapping entries, but it is more efficient to create a large block this way.

Replace N Digits DNIS Mapping

This method of building a DNIS map table provides a convenient way to add multiple entries based on a common template. The template consists of a phone number using the DNIS numbers prefix digits (the first three or four digits) followed by any other digits that make a complete phone number but that can be substituted with a one to four digit extension. This method can accommodate one to four digit extensions in the same list at the same time because the N digits replaced are the number of digits in the extension. It replaces the last N digits of the DNIS template with that number of digits in the extension.

For example, if a company has the DNIS numbers 750-8000 through 750-9000, any extension from 1 through 999 could be used in a map to a DNIS number in the range 750-8001 through 750-8999. If a company's sales queue has extension 1, then 750-8001 would map to the sales queue. If the Automated Fax IVR has extension 11, then 750-8011 would map to that queue. If a particular employee has extension 111, then 750-8111 would automatically map to that employee.

To use the digit replacement mode for building a DNIS map table for CIC extensions

  1.  Click the Add button on the DID/DNIS tab. The DID/DNIS Route dialog box appears. To build the table described in the above example, continue with the following steps.

  2. Select the Replace N Digits option.

  3. Enter the DNIS number template (for example, 750-8000) in the adjacent field. The first X number of digits in the number template must match the first number in the range of DNIS numbers the company uses.

  4. In the Destination list, you can optionally sort by the Extension column.

  5. Then multi-select the list of CIC user/workgroup/station extensions (for example, 1 through ### where ### is the highest defined extension number). This creates a table of DNIS maps where the N number of digits in each extension replaces the last N number of digits in the template. The replaced digits are shown below in parenthesis in the map window at the bottom.

  6. Optionally type a brief description of the purpose of this mapping in the Description field. This description text appears with each entry (the ones created with this operation) on the DID/DNIS tab. This text can be useful documentation for administrators.

  7. Verify the routes in the explanation field at the bottom and click OK if the map is correct.

Once the routes are saved, the DNIS mapping will be available for the next call to CIC.

Defer Substitution

The Substitute Prefix and Replace N Digits methods of building a DNIS map table offer another level of flexibility for advanced applications; it is normally not needed. If you select the Defer substitution until DID/DNIS received check box, CIC does not automatically use the predefined routes in the map table built with one of these two methods. Instead, the handler that routes the call gets the DNIS number and then sequentially compares it with each number in the map table until it finds a match. The handler then assigns the call to the matching queue, regardless of the user, workgroup, or station name currently assigned to that queue. This causes slower processing on the call routing.

 

Related topics

Configure DID/DNIS

DID/DNIS Routing