Dialer Phone Statements

Dialer phone statements are phone statements that interact with the dialer in some way, like dialing a phone number, transferring a call, or performing different functions in a a conference call.

Valid Subtypes

  • Call
  • Change_Index
  • Close
  • Dial_Number
  • Get_Held_In
  • GetPark
  • Hand_Dial
  • Hang_Up
  • Join
  • JoinAll
  • Join_Interviewer
  • Join_Parked
  • JustCall
  • Leave
  • Make_Room
  • Make_Targeted/UnMake_Targeted
  • Park
  • Qualified
  • Save_Held_In
  • Send_User_Info_to_Dialer

CALL

The CALL subtype is used to transfer a call to a third party.  You must first have a parked call using the !PHONE,PARK command to use this statement.

The syntax for the PHONE,CALL question type is:

!PHONE,CALL,<label that holds the number to dial>

CHANGE_INDEX

The CHANGE_INDEX subtype will change the contents of the fone text which is used for the specified index file, and will re-index the record in the file.

The syntax for the PHONE,CHANGE_INDEX question type is:

!PHONE,CHANGE_INDEX,<index number>,<question label>

CLOSE

The CLOSE subtype closes the meetme room that is in progress for a third party call.  You would use the PHONE,CLOSE command if you are on with the respondent and a third party and you are terminating the call.  There are no parameters for this subtype.

DIAL_NUMBER

Shortform: !PHONE,DIAL

DIAL_NUMBER sends a number to the dialer to be called.

The DIAL_NUMBER subtype lets you use auto dialers or Get specific mode with a dialer (not used by predictive dialers, they use PHONE,GETNUMBER_AND_DIAL). It will allow dialing to numbers other than the one you have the phone record for. Provide a label or location specification where the phone number to call is stored.

The syntax for the PHONE_DIAL_NUMBER question type is:

!PHONE,DIAL_NUMBER,<label or location>

If you are calling a different number, you would most likely use this in conjunction with a PHONE,CHANGE_NUMBER to reset the phone number to the number you called in the phone record.

NOTE: This command reloads the phone number from the phone file, which means that any PHONE,PUT_PHONE_TEXT statements prior to the PHONE,DIAL_NUMBER will be lost.

GET_HELD_IN

Shortform: !PHONE,GETHELDIN

The PHONE,GET_HELD_IN subtype allows an interviewer to pickup an inbound call that you can then use the ANI to get or create the needed record.  There are no parameters for this subtype.

GETPARK

The GETPARK subtype is used in conjunction with call transfers and conference calls to be able to pick up the call that you just parked using a !PHONE,PARK command.

The syntax for the PHONE,GETPARK question type is:

!PHONE,GETPARK,<label of PHONE,PARK command>

HAND_DIAL

Shortform: !PHONE,HANDDIAL

HAND_DIAL is a feature that enables a number to be dialed by a human being pushing the keys on a physical telephone set or on the dial pad of a soft phone as opposed to entering them in the CATI window using the computer keyboard. Using this option, the interviewer is presented with a telephone number in the Survent CATI window and instructed to dial the number on either a separate physical phone or in the soft phone window (whichever they used to connect to the dialer). After dialing the number, the interviewer will hear the target phone ringing and then will be given total control of the call, whether it is answered or not.

NOTE: The phone number is still dialed through the Survox dialer so that sound recordings are still done along with audio monitoring.

Implementing this in Survent is very straightforward.  When doing targeted dialing, not “predictive dialing” the interviewer is always presented with a phone number to consider.  The number can be dialed or it can be returned to the phone number database for later use.

If the number is to be dialed now, it can be dialed by the computer by using a “PHONE, DIAL_NUMBER” statement that will tell the computer to dial the phone and connect the call immediately to the interviewer’s phone set.

If the user wishes to have the interviewer physically dial the number, instead of using “PHONE,DIAL_NUMBER” use “PHONE, HAND_DIAL”.  In this case, the number is presented on the screen and no further action is taken by the computer until the interviewer pushes the keys on the phone to dial the number displayed.

If the number dialed by the interviewer does not match the number displayed on the screen, no dialing will be done and a status code of “891” will be returned so the interviewer can be given another chance.

The sequence of operations is:

  1. Obtain the next phone number from the phone number database with a statement “PHONE,GET_NUMBER”.
  2. Ask the interviewer if this number is to be dialed.
  3. If not, go back to step 1.
  4. If it is to be dialed, do “PHONE, HAND_DIAL.” There are no options on this statement.
  5. The interviewer will hear a prompt and will then dial the number displayed on the screen.
  6. If the number does not match, then a flag will be returned so the interviewer can be given another chance to dial the number correctly. Go back to step 4.
  7. The interviewer hears the phone ringing, or a busy signal, or a SIT tone and responds accordingly.

NOTE: The prompt mentioned is the file “cfmc/handdial.wav,” which is located in the sound files directory on the Asterisk machine, in the sub-directory ‘cfmc’.

HANG_UP

Shortform: !PHONE,HANGUP

The HANG_UP subtype with no other options on it causes the current Survent to send a message to the dialer to hang up the phone call. This is often used before a block where you let the interviewer edit the open ends or other “wrap up” type functions.

The syntax for the PHONE,HANG_UP question type is:

!PHONE,HANG_UP,<label or location> or <DONT_HANGUP>

If you include a second parameter on the command, then the PHONE,HANG_UP will perform other functions. If you are using a PRO-T-S dialer and the second parameter is a label or location, then Survent will send the contents of the label/location to the dialer on a ‘USER_INFO’ message. If you are using a SER dialer, then the contents of the label/location will be sent to the dialer on a PM command.

In addition, you can use the DON’T_HANGUP parameter with the PHONE,HANG_UP statement. This will keep an interviewer on the phone when another interview is started at that number. This suppresses the “HANGUP” and “IVR status” messages to the dialer until the next phone record is sent to this interview. This is only in effect until the interviewer gets another phone number.

JOIN

The JOIN subtype is used in conjunction with call transfers and conference calls to join the current call you are on with an already started conference.  There are no parameters with this subtype.

JOINALL

The JOINALL subtype is used in conjunction with call transfers and conference calls to join all participants that are parked into a conference.   There are no parameters with this subtype.

JOIN_INTERVIEWER

The JOIN_INTERVIEWER subtype is used in conjunction with call transfers and conference calls to join the interviewer into the conference.  There are no parameters with this subtype.

JOIN_PARKED

The JOIN_PARKED subtype is used in conjunction with call transfers and conference calls to join a previously parked call into a conference room.  You can park and join as many calls as needed.

The syntax for the PHONE,JOIN_PARKED question type is

!PHONE,JOIN_PARKED,<label of parked call>

JUSTCALL

The JUSTCALL subtype dials a number and doesn’t care if the study is loaded on the dialer.  This would be an option for redialing a number in the middle of a survey.  It dials the number as if you were in targeted-preview mode.

The syntax for the PHONE,JUSTCALL question type is:

!PHONE,JUSTCALL,<number>

LEAVE

The LEAVE subtype is used in conjunction with call transfers and conference calls to allow the interviewer to exit the call without disconnecting the other parties. There are no parameters with this subtype.

MAKE_ROOM

The MAKE_ROOM subtype allows you to create a specific room for conference calls.  This is optional since a required room will be created when needed.  There are no parameters with this subtype.

MAKE_TARGETED/UNMAKE_TARGETED

The MAKE_TARGETED subtype marks the current number as a Target call with a t in column 21.

The UNMAKE_TARGETED subtype marks the current number as a Non-Target call, clearing the t from column 21.

There are no parameters for either subtype.

PARK

The PARK subtype is used in conjunction with call transfers and conference calls to allow the interviewer to park the call they are currently on and dial another number and then connect back to the respondent.  There are no parameters for this subtype.

QUALIFIED

This is documented in the source as setting the Qualified flag to yes. There are no parameters for this subtype.

SAVE_HELD_IN

The SAVE_HELD_IN subtype is used for blended IVR and allows you to put an inbound IVR call on hold until an interviewer is available to answer the call.  There are no parameters for this subtype.

SEND_USER_INFO_TO_DIALER

The SEND_USER_INFO_TO_DIALER sends the specified information to the dialer, however, it is returned as an error in the logs.  You could use this to add something to the logs showing that a specific agent just did something.

The syntax for the PHONE,SEND_USER_INFO_TO_DIALER question type is:

!PHONE,SEND_USER_INFO_TO_DIALER,<information>
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