The interoperation of rules, check points and actions in the ACD can be seen on the call flow diagram for the ACD. Note, that the service numbers (telephone numbers of the call center) determine what group of agents / workers will be the first destination for an incoming call.
The call flow illustrates what happens with a call, which is routed to the ACD. It starts at one of the start points and moves through the check points, at which rules may be defined and applied to modify the call flow. If no rule applies at a particular check point, then the execution of the call flow continues. After some actions (for example prompt lists), the execution of the call flow may also continue. Some actions (for example overflow to another ACD group), mean that the call flow is restarted in another ACD group. And finally after some other actions (for example recording a voice mail), the call is disconnected after the recording.
If the system reaches a check point at which the call flow stops (for example Overflow no Agents Logged into ACD), and no rule is defined to cover this, then the system will hangup. An overview of all available checkpoints can be found in the section Checkpoints.
The call flow can also be combined with an IVR module (Interactive Voice Response). This involves using the ACD module in an application in the Network IVR. Calls can be pre-qualified using this mechanism and then routed to the relevant ACD groups. The routing of calls using the Network IVR is described in the IVR chapter.
The following diagram depicts the call flow of the ACD.
Legend
Optional Check Points
Optional Check Points require that a rule be defined before they become active.
Check Point Dependent on Parameters
If the parameters in the ACD specify that a check point will be hit - for example the maximum queue size is exceeded - then a rule MUST be specified to deal with this.
If no rule is specified, then the ACD will:
- hangup the call with an SHUP result (System Hangup)
OR - return to the IVR with an SHUP result (System Hangup)
Call Flow