Glossary

ACD

(Automatic Call Distributor) A phone system that answers calls, retrieves information from a database, determines call handling, and routes calls to agents. Calls route based on agent availability and skills, trunk line used, caller input, volume of calls, time of day, agent groups, and other variables.

ANI

(Automatic Number Identification) Code that identifies a caller's phone number. All phone calls contain the numbers of the dialing phone. Also known as Caller ID.

ANSI

(American National Standards Institute) A non-governmental organization that collaborates with private and public sectors to develop and publish voluntary standards for use in the United States. 

CO

Central Office.

Contact Center

An integrated system of people, processes, and technology that organizations use for customer interactions.

Contact Center Management

The process of managing contact center operations, including workforce, reporting, and forecasting.

Container

An icon in Interaction Administrator that users can select to manage configuration settings (such as those settings that control the configuration of Interaction Director).

CSV

(Comma Separated Values) Fields in a text file, separated by a comma.

Customer Interaction Center (CIC)

(Customer Interaction Center) A Windows NT-based interaction processing engine from Genesys. CIC and its customization tools can automate the processing of virtually any type of communications event including telephone calls, faxes, email messages, digital and alphanumeric pages, and web hits.

Datagram

Data packet that contains its own address information to allow the data to route to its destination independently.

Default Response

Valid routing response that it is not based on real-time data. In Interaction Director, define a default response for each provisioned number.

Destination Site

Server to which an Interaction Director routes calls.

DNIS

(Dialed Network Identification Service) Allows a computer telephone system with attached 800 or 900 lines to see the number dialed for an incoming call.

Enterprise Group (EG)

A collection of workgroup queues from one or more CIC locations to which Interaction Director routes calls. The target destination of a routed call is always an Enterprise Group. Enterprise Groups pool the resources of agents in multiple locations to manage calls, chats, and email messages efficiently. 

Handlers

A collection of steps organized and linked to form a logical flow of actions and decisions. Handlers are similar in structure to a detailed flowchart. Handlers can start other handler subroutines. A handler contains only one initiator step that identifies the type of event that starts the handler. Handlers respond to events in CIC. Handlers are in a proprietary format that Interaction Processor interprets. Every CIC server releases with hundreds of fast, professionally written handlers. These handlers play voice prompts, detect the entry of touchtone digits, send faxes, consult databases, and perform myriad other actions. Handlers define how the CIC server processes interactions. You create and modify handlers using Interaction Designer.

IDir-IA

(Interaction Director - Interaction Administrator) This plug-in module adds Director-related configuration containers to Interaction Administrator. IDir-IA describes Interaction Administrator's user interface after configuring it to support Interaction Director.

Integrated Services Digital Network User Part (ISUP)

A subprotocol of SS7. This protocol layer implements signaling functions that support voice, data, text, and video in an ISDN network to allow call switching on circuits that carry voice or data traffic.

Interface

An interface (in IDir-IA) defines hardware and protocols that Director uses to communicate with a carrier.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

A leading publisher of telecommunication technology, regulatory, and standards information.

Interaction Administrator

A PureConnect program that manages server, system, and user configurations.

Interaction Designer

PureConnect's graphical handler generator. Non-programmers use Interaction Designer to create handlers that control call-processing behaviors in CIC. Interaction Designer creates, edits, debugs, and manages handlers and subroutines.

ISDN

(Integrated Service Digital Network) International standard for transmitting voice, data, and video over the same physical line simultaneously.

Transmission circuits that are digital from end to end, and allow voice and data to travel over the same physical line simultaneously.

IVR

(Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone system that retrieves and stores responses from a telephone keypad or verbal feedback. In CIC, the IVR logic is handler-based.

Local Site

The server on which an external call first arrived.

Message Transfer Part (MTP)

A subprotocol of SS7 that provides low level physical; data link; and network services, signaling transfer points; congestion priority; distribution; and routing.

Monitored Site

A CIC server that Director Server manages.

Natural Microsystems

Manufacturer of SS7 telephony boards used with Interaction Director.

Period

The time during which ACD statistics accumulate. You configure period duration in Interaction Administrator. The default period setting is 30 minutes. Statistics accumulated during the period update once every minute.

Post-call Routing

The process of routing a call after it connects to a location. Post-call routing occurs when a call connects to a CIC server and routes to another CIC server using a tie line or alternate telephone number. Director performs post-call routing based on current skill availability and call object attributes.

Pre-Call Routing

The process of routing a call before the call connects to a location. In pre-call mode, Interaction Director receives a call event from a supported pre-call network interface; usually a telecommunications carrier. Interaction Director checks statistical data collected from managed CIC servers, and "directs" the carrier to send the call to a specific destination point. Thus, the call routes before answering it.

Queue Object

An object that encapsulates the runtime properties of specific Line Groups and Queues within a Monitored Server. Queue objects allow Director to collect the statistics for determining call routing. You define Queue objects using the Queues container in IDir-IA, the plug-in module that adds Director-related configuration containers to Interaction Administrator. 

PSTN

(Public Switched Telephone Network) Public telephone network that telephones, ACDs, and PBXs connect to.

Queue, Workgroup

Interchangeable terms for places where Interaction Director can send calls.

Remote Site

A site apart from the local site.

Requesting Site

The server where a route or reroute request originates.

Screen Pop

Display of information about a caller when an agent receives a call.

Server Parameter

An item of information maintained in Interaction Administrator's Server Parameters container. A parameter stores information that multiple processes can use, such as handlers or CIC subsystems. For example, you stored the path to wave files on a CIC server in a server parameter. If the wave files moves to a different folder, you update the server parameter instead of all the processes that use that information. Parameters can have a server-level scope or a system-wide scope, but their names and configuration are otherwise identical. Server parameters are available only on a specific CIC Server and system parameters are available on all CIC Servers on a network.

Shift

The range of time in a 24-hour period during which a group of employees works. You configure a shift for each workgroup in Interaction Administrator. The default shift settings are 00:00 - 08:00, 08:00 - 16:00, and 16:00 to 24:00. Statistics that accumulate during the shift update once every minute.

Signaling

The process by which a dialed number routes through telephone networks to connect two stations. The term describes transmission of electrical impulses (signals) between a telephone company's Central Office (CO) and a customer site. Examples of CO signals to the customer are dial tone and audible alerts, such as rings. Signals sent to the CO from a customer's telephone include off-hook, network control signaling (dialing), and on-hook (disconnected). Connection-oriented services (such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode) use more modern forms of signaling to request a connection. Connection-oriented services start when a user sends a setup request. The request passes across a network and, if the destination agrees to allow the connection, the call connects.

Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP)

A subprotocol of SS7 that supports higher protocol layers by providing data transfer services in connectionless and connection-oriented environments.

Signaling System 7 Protocol (SS7)

Signaling System Number 7 protocol establishes connections within and between networks. SS7 is also known as Common Channel Signaling 7 (CCS7). SS7 includes subprotocols that integrate various services (such as ISDN or voice traffic) so that the services can route within the same switching system. Telephone networks use SS7 protocol to control call setup and routing, caller ID, toll-free rerouting of 800 numbers, and wireless roaming. SS7 signaling uses a separate network connection. Signals don't transmit on the circuit carrying the voice traffic, which increases the overall efficiency of the telephone network since the system handles call control data separately from the call itself. Director uses SS7 for pre-call routing. Director listens for SS7 signals from the public network to receive notification of incoming calls. When Director receives notification, Director views the current state of all call centers, and then sends a notification back to the PSTN indicating where to route the call. Thus, the call routes before an agent picks it up.

SIT Tones

Special Information Tones precede machine-generated announcements to distinguish recorded voices from a live speaker.

Site

Any CIC server or pair of servers connected through switchover, which is a redundancy facility that passes control to a similarly configured server in the event of a hardware fault.

Skills-Based Routing

The process of routing an incoming call to the person whose expertise best fits the needs of the caller.

Status

An agent availability indicator that affects the processing of calls directed to an agent. By default, any status condition other than "Available," "Available, Forward," or "Available No ACD" sends incoming calls to voice mail. You maintain status codes in Interaction Administrator's "Status Messages" container.

Telephony User Part (TUP)

Provides signaling functions that control international and national calls. Integrated Services Digital Network User Part (ISUP) replaces TUP, typically.

Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP)

A subprotocol of SS7 that implements signaling to communicate with network databases. TCAP provides transaction-based information exchange, typically used to route 800-number calls, to support wireless roaming, automated credit card calling, and other advanced services.

Tree View

An expandable list of icons in Interaction Administrator's in the left-side pane. Click items in the Tree View to display a list of configuration entries in the List View on the right side of the screen.

TSV

(Tab separated values) Individual fields in a text file, separated by tabs. Each line ends using a return.

User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

A communications protocol that sends datagram messages from one computer to an application running in another computer. Since UDP is connectionless, the protocol does not guarantee error-free delivery. Programs that use UDP process any errors and check for reliable delivery.