Configuring the Call Flow

In Call Flow, administrators can:

Create parameters, services, and actions and modify their properties.
Configure access points.

Parameters

Parameters in CONDUCTOR are passed to FLOW for use in the FLOW script. (They are stored in FLOW as variables). You can assign parameters directly to services. One parameter can be assigned to multiple services.

Parameter Inheritance

You can reduce the number of parameters you need to manually assign to each service by configuring services to inherit parameters from other services at runtime. By setting up a hierarchical 'tree' of services, using a 'parent-child' relationship, at runtime a child service will inherit the values of all the parameters assigned to its parent service which, in turn, will inherit the values of all the parameters assigned to its parent service.

Service Common
Service A is a parent of Service B and a child of Service Common	parameter inheritance is in this direction	parameter checking is in this direction	Service 9 is a parent of Service 8 and a child of Service Common
Service B is parent of Service C and a child of Service A			Services 8 through to 1. Service 8 is a parent of Service 7 and a child of Service 9
Service C is a child (of Service B) only			Service 0 is a child (of Service 1) only

FLOW uses CONDUCTOR’s 'Get Value/Get Values' action cells to retrieve parameter values at runtime, starting at the service directly associated with the current access point. If the parameter in the script is not assigned to that service, FLOW will check the service hierarchy in the direction child > parent, and use the first value of that parameter it encounters. This is illustrated below where, for the right 'branch' of the tree, FLOW checks for assigned parameters starting at Service 0, the current access point connection.

Service Common has one assigned parameter 'Ad hoc Message', the value of which is inherited at runtime by its children, Service A and Service 9
Service A	parameter inheritance is in this direction	parameter checking is in this direction	Service 9 has one assigned parameter, 'Chatbot Limit'. The service inherits the value of parameter 'Ad hoc Message' at runtime
Service B			Services 8 through to 1.
Service C			Service 0 has one assigned parameter, 'Language Prompts'. The service inherits the value of a number of parameters at runtime, including 'Ad hoc Message', 'Chatbot Limit', and any other parameters which are assigned to services 8 through to 1. Service 0 is connected to the current access point.

Example: if Service 8 is connected to the current access point and has parameters assigned, one of which is 'Chatbot Limit', FLOW will start searching from Service 8, find 'Chatbot Limit' in Service 8 and use that value, as it will reach Service 8 earlier than Service 9 which also has 'Chatbot Limit' assigned, the value of which could be different from that assigned to Service 8. If Service 8 did not have 'Chatbot Limit' assigned, it would inherit Service 9's value of the parameter at runtime.

A maximum of ten parent services in a single branch are permitted. In this example, the ten parent services on the right branch are Services 1 to 9 and Service Common. (Service 0 is a child-only service). If you exceed this number, FLOW will follow the Not Found exit route. This route is also followed if a parameter is not found at any point in the hierarchy.

Refer to Create Services for details on how to assign a service as a parent of another service.

Parameters in the Cockpit

You can change parameter values in the Cockpit while the service is running. When you update the value of a parameter in the main Cockpit panel, the value applies to that service only. You can also update the value of multiple parameters at once, for one or more services.

Note: you can not view inherited parameters in the Cockpit.

Data Types

You configure parameters and actions with data types which dictate the behaviour of the parameters and actions in the FLOW script. The data types are described in the table below.

Data Type	Icon	Description	Range/Limitations
Integer		A whole number.	2147483647 to -2147483647
String		A sequence of characters. This can be text, numbers, or both. Typically, but not exclusively, used for prompts and announcements.	Limited to 2,048 characters. The exception is name inputs, which are also strings, and are generally limited to 255 characters.
Boolean		A flag that is used to indicate either True or False.	True and False
Float		A floating point value or decimal fraction. That is, a number with a decimal point, such as '123.45'.	Limited to 16 decimal places.
Enumeration		A set of named values such as days of the week.	These have the same limitations as their sub-type, so an enumeration of strings has the string limitations. There is currently no limit on the number of enumeration options allowed.
Percentage Split		A means of routing to two or more destinations based on a percentage weighting.	N/A
Menu		A means of assigning a menu to a service.	N/A
Queue		A means of assigning a queue to a service.	N/A
Announcement		A means of assigning an announcement to a service.	N/A
Time Schedule		A means of assigning a time schedule to a service.	N/A
Service		A means of assigning a service to another service.	N/A
Media Group		A means of assigning a media group to a service.	N/A

Services

A service connects one or more access points to one or more parameters.

Before you begin to define a service, if the service is expected to play audio prompts, ensure that you have created or uploaded these as described in Create Voice Media and/or Upload Media.

Actions

In CONDUCTOR you can define the actions performed by FLOW action cells. Actions are used in menus and time schedules. You configure actions with data types which have an associated 'value' that you specify when you build the menu or time schedule.

Using Actions

Some examples of the use of actions are shown in the table below.

Action Name	Configured with Action Type (data type)...	Type of action taken	Action Value
German Language	String	On selection of the German language option in an IVR menu, changes the language to German	de-DE (country code for Germany)
Welcome Prompt	String	Plays a prompt	Welcome to Monumental Travel
Out of Hours SMS	String	Sends an SMS	Please call back during opening hours
Route to Terminal 1	Integer	Implements the action associated with the IVR menu option the caller selects	1 (used by FLOW to make a routing decision)
New Claims Menu	Menu	Presents sub-menus for queue routing	Valid Car Insurance Claims (menu name)
Route to Valid Claim Queue	Queue	Implements the action associated with the queue	Valid Queue Claims (queue name)