Whisper

This help page is for Desktop Studio. This information is also available for CXone Studio.

Plays a custom message to the contact, agent, or both during an interaction.

Whisper can play sequence messages that consist of custom, prerecorded WAV files, text-to-speechClosed Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content. prompts, or both. Whisper does not respond to DTMFClosed Signaling tones that are generated when a user presses or taps a key on their telephone keypad..

This action can play sequences for the contact, the agent, or both. However, it's recommended that you only use it to play messages for the contact or both the contact and the agent. If you want to play a message for the agent only, use the Sequence field in the Reqagent action instead.

Whisper temporarily unlinks the contact and the agent while the Whisper sequence plays. It relinks the calls after the sequence finishes. During the time when the agent and the contact are unlinked, neither can hear anything the other says. If you use Whisper to play a sequence only for the agent, the contact hears silence until the sequence finishes. This may cause some contacts to think the call has completely disconnected, especially if the sequence contains a long message.

A better option for playing a message to the agent only is to use the Sequence field in the Reqagent action. Reqagent sequences play before the contact and the agent are initially connected, while the contact is still in queue.

Dependencies

  • Whisper increases Handle Time because the sequence is played after the contact and the agent are linked.
  • Playing a sequence with the Reqagent action increases Inqueue Time because the message plays while the contact is still in queue.
  • For a better contact experience when you want to play a message for the agent only, use the Sequence field in the Reqagent action.
  • Whisper cannot respond to DTMFClosed Signaling tones that are generated when a user presses or taps a key on their telephone keypad., so you cannot add the ability to skip the message it plays.
  • After the contact and the agent are linked and in conversation, the script cannot play any audio except with the Whisper action.

Supported Script Types

The icon for the Phone script type - an old-style phone handset with curved lines indicating sound coming out of it.

Phone

Comparison of Similar Actions

The following actions have similar functions, but with some key differences: 

  • Music : Plays a music file that only the contact can hear. You can choose from a list of provided music files. You can specify a specific starting and stopping point in the file. Doesn't support playing custom audio files.
  • Play : Plays custom audio WAV files or text-to-speech (TTSClosed Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content.) prompts. The entire file is played. Only the contact can hear the audio.
  • Playlog: Plays custom audio WAV files that only the contact can hear. It allows you to select a specific starting and stopping point. Cannot play the music files that are built in to other actions, such as Music.
  • Reqagent: Plays custom audio WAV files or text-to-speech prompt that only the agent hears. The prompt plays before the agent and the contact are linked, so the prompt doesn't cause the contact to hear silence.
  • Whisper: Plays custom WAV files or text-to-speech prompts. You can set it to be audible by the contact only, the agent only, or both. The prompt plays after the agent and the contact are linked, so if the action plays for only the agent or the contact, the other party hears silence for the duration of the prompt.
  • Ziptone: Plays a tone for the agent after the contact and the agent are linked. The Reqagent action has a Ziptone property that plays a tone for the agent before the contact and agent are linked.

Input Properties

These properties define data that the action uses when executing.

Property

Description

Caption

Enter a short phrase that uniquely identifies this action in the script. The caption appears on the script canvas under the action icon. The default is the action name.

Sequence

Define the prompt that the action plays. A prompt can be a prerecorded WAV audio file or text-to-speechClosed Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content. (TTS).

If the prompt is an audio file, enter the file name enclosed in double quotes. For example, "greeting.wav". If the audio file is located in a different folder, include the path to the file. For example, if the script is in the root folder and the audio file is in a subfolder two levels down, enter "Subfolder\Subfolder2\Audio-file.wav". If the script is in a subfolder one level down from the root and the audio file is in a different subfolder on the same level, enter "\..\Subfolder\Audio-file.wav".

If the prompt is text-to-speech, enter the text you want the TTSClosed Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content. service to read. Each segment must be enclosed in double quotes and include a string reference character to identify the type of information it is. For example: 

"%Your account balance is" "silence.wav"  "${accountBalance}"

For more information about formatting prompts in this property, including the string reference prefix characters to use, see the Prompts page. You can also double-click the action on the canvas to open the sequence editor to create your prompt.

Phrase

Use this property to document the text that the prompt contains. The script doesn't use the text in this property. Because some prompts can be complex and contain multiple segments, it can be helpful to include the full text written without the formatting required by the Sequence property.

Target

Select who can hear the prompt this action plays. You can choose from Agent, Caller, or Both. When Caller is selected for an inbound call, or when it is linked using the Link action, the caller is the party that initiated the call. In a spawned script, the caller is the party that was called.

Result Branch Conditions

Result branch conditions allow you to create branches in your script to handle different outcomes when an action executes.

Condition

Description

Default

Path taken unless the script meets a condition that requires it to take one of the other branches. It is also taken if the action's other branches are not defined.