Introduction

Outgoing calls placed through Customer Interaction Center can originate from a number of places. Because phone numbers can look different – some with area codes, some with letters, some with country codes, and so on – Customer Interaction Center uses a pattern matching process to format and dial phone numbers in a consistent manner, regardless of how a user dialed them.

The dial plan defines the input patterns that Customer Interaction Center uses to change phone numbers into a standardized format. It also defines the dialing actions to take for each pattern, as well as the locations and classification for each pattern.

Customer Interaction Center uses the information in the dial plan to perform the following tasks:

• Format the phone number into a standard package.

• Determine the call classification (local, long distance, toll, etc.).

• Determine if the user is allowed to make that type of call.

• Send the appropriate numbers (7, 10, or 11 digits).

• Determine which line or lines to use for the call.

• Determine what to display on the CIC client.

• Parse and store segments of the telephone number for statistical reports.

This process is illustrated in Figure 1, with a simple two-step diagram that shows the two basic stages of how CIC dials a phone number:

Figure 1. The simplified view of matching dialed number, converting the number, and processing in Dial Plan.

The first-generation dial plan comes with two basic phone number pattern tables: Input Conversion, which maps user input into standard phone number formats, and Dial Plan, which uses a predefined dial object. Dial Plan determines how to dial the number, what to display for the user, what the dialing permissions are and which outbound line to use to dial the number.