Automated call to validate information via caller input

[Wayne Ficklin]

We'd like to automate a solution where we contact phone numbers and have them validate the address we have on file for that phone line.  Ideally, we'd feed a list of numbers and addresses to the system, the system would

• call the number
• tell the user the address that is on record for this phone number
• ask the user to press 1 if that is correct or 2 if that is incorrect
• record whether 1 or 2 was pressed in reference to a particular number (and its address)

Ideally, this happens within the Cisco UC ecosystem.  Communications Manager, UCCX, and Unity Connection in particular.

Is this sort of thing possible?

[Elliot Dierksen]

I would say this should be possible using UCCX. If you have premium licensing, this would be best implemented using the outbound dialer function. That said, I don't know how good your response rate would be in this era of annoying robo-calls.

[Jonathan Schulenberg]

You may also want to consider Webex Connect (the IMI Mobile acquisition) for this. It appears that CCX will stick around for a while longer but I’d be hesitant to deploy a new greenfield instance & build a workflow on top of it at this point.

In addition to Elliot’s comment about answer rate, which is very valid and another reason to use Webex Connect - it supports SMS as a channel, be sure to discuss this with your lawyer. Many jurisdictions have laws regulating outbound auto dialer calls. For example, the United States has the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) at the federal level.

[Wayne Ficklin]

So, assume we make it part of our process where they have to call in (assuming this can be persuaded of them), what's the mechanism whereby I'm able to present them the "telephone-number,location" spreadsheet and store their response information?

[Jonathan Schulenberg]

Regardless of dial-in or out-dial you would need to store data on an external platform; Webex Connect or CCX are merely the IVR engine handling the voice contact. The traditional choice for CCX was an ODBC connection to SQL. Webex Connect / Webex Contact Center are going to want RESTful APIs instead, although you could certainly use middleware to translate between a modern API call and something else, e.g. SQL. Cloverhound just posted a blog article showing an example of this with WxCC: Webex Contact Center + Sheet DB Integration