Smart IVR
Handle incoming calls both during and outside opening hours
Introduction
The Smart IVR app can automate incoming phone calls. It directs callers to the appropriate department based on their inputs. If the office is closed or agents are unavailable it can capture callback notes or redirect to WhatsApp.
Getting Started
Channel Requirements
Phone Ensure the phone channel is enabled.
WhatsApp This channel is optional. You can use it to deflect users to WhatsApp when there is no-one available.
Installation Process
Define opening hours
The app uses your opening hours to determine whether or not you are online. Via 'Settings - Opening hours' you can modify the availability of your bot.
Enable phone
To accept incoming calls, enable the phone channel via 'Settings - Channels'.
Update forward options in flows
Go to 'Build - Flows'. There you will see the pre-configured flow of the app.
The flow is preconfigured with three departments. Change the departments to reflect to your business needs. You may for example need to forward to a marketing department instead of a billing department.
By default the app will redirect to the 'Note' flow, prompting users to leave some details for you to get back to them. It's possible to change this to the 'Whatsapp' flow. Then they'll be asked to continue the conversation on Whatsapp, making it easier for you to re-engage.
Update intents to match the forwarding options
To make sure the Smart IVR correctly forwards to the departments, you need to set up a correct intent to match it. First remove the intent currently linked to one of the options.
Then, create a new intent via the intent picker and provide a label and a description.
You no longer need to add training phrases, as AI will use the description to check the intent of the user.
Using the Smart IVR
Roles
Operator
Analyst
Producer
Supervisor
App Workflow
When someone calls within opening hours, the Smart IVR will ask the user to whom they'd like to speak. It will then forward the call to the correct department.
If the IVR is unable to forward the call, e.g. when the user calls outside opening hours, or a department is unavailable, it will fall back to creating a callback note.
Callback Note
The handling of callback notes is done in the 'Note' flow in the flow editor.
Depending on your use case you can change or extend the questions asked but at least you need to consider wether you want the callback notes to be collected in the Notes section of the platform or to be sent as an email.
By default the Smart IVR will create a note. You can change the node to 'Send: email' instead when you want an email to be sent.
Notes that are generated by your Smart IVR are collected in the Notes section. There notes can be followed up by marking them as completed. Notes can also be integrated in your (back office) systems using the nodes API and note webhook.
Whatsapp
Choosing the Whatsapp flow will cause the Smart IVR to send your caller a Whatsapp message so your caller only needs to respond in order to get in touch.
The Whatsapp flow is by default configured to verify the phone number of the caller and then send them a Whatsapp message.
You can customize this via the 'Whatsapp' flow in the flow editor.
The message sent to the customer has to be created and verified as a template in 360Dialog.
FAQ
Languages
The app will determine the language of the user based on their phone number. The app falls back on the default language of the app in case the language cannot be determined (e.g. French or Dutch in Belgium).
It's possible to add an "Ask: Language" node to allow users to switch to their preferred language.
Opening hours
The opening hours are used to determine whether you are online or not. The IVR will only forward calls within opening hours.
Resources
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