Set Up Multi-Number Phone Contacts

You can assign up to 6 phone numbers to a Personal Connection (PC) dialing record. For example, you could have PC attempt to call the home number of each record three times before attempting to call the cell number. After two attempts on the cell phone, you could have PC send a Proactive SMS message to the cell phone and then try the home number a few more times before finally attempting the work number.

You can set up different allowable calling times for each individual phone number in the record, and you can have a default allowable calling time for each type of number in the calling list. It applies to all records that don't contain an individually specified allowable time range.

Create Custom Fields for Each Phone Type

Required permissions: ACD > Lists > Calling List Create

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Lists > Custom Data Definitions.

3. If you want to have associated caller ID, compliance, attempts, description, start time, or end time fields for your custom phone field, create those fields first. To do so: 

   1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

   2. Go to Lists > Custom Data Definitions.

   3. Click Create New.

   4. Enter a Field Name. Don't give a custom field the same name as a system field. If you plan to make the field visible to agents, make the name readable by adding spaces. If you're using this field as a script variable, you cannot use spaces. If you want the field to be both a script variable and visible to agents, you can use underscores to improve readability or create two mappings to the same field.

   5. Select a field Type according to these requirements: 

      Field	Requirements
      Caller ID	Value String Type
      Compliance	Boolean Type
      Attempts	Integer Type
      Description	Integer Type
      Start Time	Integer Type. This setting overrides the default value if you set one.
      End Time	Integer Type. This setting overrides the default value if you set one.

   6. If you want to set a default field value and your selected Type supports it, enter the Default value. The value you entered applies to all records that don't specify a value for that field.

   7. If your selected Type supports it and you want to prevent the system from assigning a default value to contacts without an assigned value for the field, select Value Required.

   8. Click Add.

   9. Repeat these steps for each field you want to associate with your custom phone field.

4. Click Create New.

5. Enter a Field Name and select the Phone or SMSPhone Type.

6. If you created an associated caller ID, compliance, attempts, description, start time, or end time field to apply to this field, select them in their respective fields.

7. If you want to set default allowable time ranges for calling or sending SMS messages to contacts, use the Constraints fields. You can create different windows for weekdays and weekends, and each can have multiple time ranges. Because these constraints set the default calling time ranges, the constraints you specify are overridden by values of Start Time and End Time, if you set up related fields.

8. Click Add.

9. Repeat these steps for each phone type you want to add to your records.

Upload a Calling List with Multiple Phone Columns

1. If you haven't already done so, create a calling list:

   Calling list files can't exceed 256 MB in size or 500,000 records. Smaller calling lists result in faster upload and fresher records. Each individual record in a calling list cannot exceed a length of 512 Unicode characters. Calling list uploads support Unicode UTF-8 encoding, which includes Chinese characters and all other languages. If you're creating or editing calling lists in Microsoft Excel, take care to preserve the UTF-8 encoding format.

   NiCE CXone strips the formatting from phone numbers in calling lists and stores the phone numbers in a universal format. This allows phone numbers to pass between calling lists and do not call (DNC) lists without conflict.

   1. Open a spreadsheet editor or a text editor.
   2. You can use the first row to label your columns. This helps with automatic field mapping when you upload the calling list. If you're using a text editor, decide whether to separate the values with commas or tabs.

   3. Create the columns for your list.

      For a Proactive Voice calling list, you must have a unique identifier column and a phone number column.

      Learn more about other system fields you can map to

      Field	Details
      External ID	Required. An alphanumeric string that is the unique identification of the record.
      Score	A relative numeric value you can use to sort records a certain way. For example, if you want PC to dial one record before another, you could give the first record a Score of 1 and the second record a Score of 2 and sort the calling list by score.
      Customer Field 1 and 2	A numeric value you can use for any purpose. For example, it could be an alternate record ID or an amount due. These fields are not a method for creating custom fields in the agent application. To do that, configure the Custom Display fields in List Management PC skill parameters.
      Caller ID	The phone number you want to display as the caller ID for this contact. The number here replaces the default caller ID value set in the skill. This number can be a 10-digit number, NANP format, or E164+ phone numbers. You are required by law to display a valid phone number that contacts can use to reach you.
      Priority	A boolean value that indicates whether the record is a priority record.
      Compliance Required	A boolean value that indicates whether the record requires compliance handling.
      Time Zone	The time zone of the contact. You can use either the full name or the list of approved abbreviations for the time zone. AFT: Afghanistan Time AKST: Alaska Standard Time AST: Atlantic Standard Time ACST: Australian Central Standard Time AEST: Australian Eastern Standard Time AZOST: Azores Summer Time CVT: Cape Verde Time AMT: Caucasus Standard Time CST: Central Standard Time BTT: Bhutan Time BST: British Summer Time CET: Central European Time CEST: Central Summer European Time SBT: Soloman Islands Time BIT: Baker Island Time (Dateline) EAT: East Africa Time EAST: Easter Island Standard Time EEST: Eastern European Summer Time ESAST: E. South American Standard Time EST: Eastern Standard Time EET: Eastern European Time EGST: Egypt Standard Time YEKT: Yekaterinburg Time FJT: Fiji Time GMT: Greenwich Mean Time GNST: Greenland Standard Time GST: Gulf Standard Time HST: Hawaiian-Aleutian Standard Time IST: Indian Standard Time IRST: Iran Standard Time IST: Israel Standard Time KST: Korea Standard Time MYT: Malaysia Time MST: Mountain Standard Time MMT: Myanmar Standard Time NCAST: N. Central Asia Standard Time NPT: Nepal Standard Time NZST: New Zealand Standard Time NST: Newfoundland Standard Time KRAT: North Asia Standard Time IRKT: North Asia East Standard Time PST: Pacific Standard Time PSAST: Pacific SA Standard Time RST: Romance Standard Time MSK: Russian Standard Time SAEST: SA Eastern Standard Time SAPST: SA Pacific Standard Time SAWST: SA Western Standard Time SMST: Samoa Standard Time THA: SE Asia Standard Time SAST: South Africa Standard Time SLT: Sri Lanka Standard Time TIST: Taipei Standard Time TAST: Tasmania Standard Time TST: Tokyo Standard Time PHOT: Tonga Standard Time VLAT: Vladivostok Standard Time AWST: W. Australia Standard Time ECT: W. Central Africa Standard Time WET: W. Europe Standard Time PKT: West Asia Standard Time WPST: West Pacific Standard Time YAKT: Yakutsk Standard Time
      Preview Required	A Boolean value that indicates whether the record requires preview handling. This setting will be ignored when Deliver Numbers Serially is enabled in the PC skill or when the record is being delivered as a callback.
      Agent	Requests a specific agent to speak with the contact. The value is the agent ID.
      Override Finalization	A boolean value overriding the system finalization reason. Use it to upload a record that was previously finalized and continue dialing it. If you map this column and set a contact record to False and any previous final outcomes exist for the record on this skill, PC rejects the record. If you don't map an Override Finalization column, you can override finalized records by re-uploading them as long as the record was finalized more than two hours ago. If you upload a record that was finalized less than two hours previously, PC rejects the record. Overriding finalized records can corrupt reporting. If you want to place additional calls as a follow-up to a previous interaction, you should upload the record to a new skill and manage it as a new interaction effort.
      Call Request Date/Time	The date and time when PC begins delivering a scheduled callback to a skill or agent. The field contains both the date, time, and time zone in the following format: MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS [-H:MM|Z].
      Call Request Stale Minutes	The number of minutes after the Call Request Date/Time that PC continues to try to deliver a call request before retiring it. After the stale time expires, PC finalizes the record and no longer attempts it.
      Expiration Date	The date and time when the contact record expires. PC ceases all attempts to reach the contact after the specified date and time. This is an optional field that overrides the expiration date configured for the skill and the Batch Expiration Date configured for this calling list.
      Start Time	The number of minutes after midnight PC begins dialing the record. For example, if you want PC to begin attempting the record at 8:00 AM in a record's respective time zone, set the value in the calling list to the value of 480. If you map this field to a calling list, PC ignores the default start time for any applicable records.
      End Time	The number of minutes after midnight the dialer stops dialing the record. For example, if you want PC to stop attempting the record at 12:00 PM in a record's respective time zone, set the value in the calling list to 720. If you map this field to a calling list, PC ignores the default end time for any applicable records.

   4. Enter the data for each record in its own row.

   5. Save the file in one of the approved formats shown in the following images.

      •  XL or XLS.

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      • Comma-delimited TXT or CSV

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      • Tab-delimited TXT or CSV

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2. In your calling list, add columns for each of the custom phone fields and each of their associated custom fields you created.

3. Upload the calling list.

   If you're re-uploading a calling list after making critical updates, stop the associated ACD skill. Restart the ACD skill when you're done uploading calling lists.

   1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

   2. Go to Lists > Calling.

   3. Click Select File.

   4. Read the compliance agreement and click Accept to continue.

   5. Enter a List Name. Select the Upload New radio button if you want to select a new list from your computer, or Select Existing if you want to modify a list you already uploaded.

      If uploading, click Choose File. If modifying, type the File Name or click Browse. Find and select the calling list you want to upload or use. Configure any optional fields as needed.

      Learn more about fields in this step

      Field	Details
      List Expiration Date	The date the calling list is removed from NiCE CXone. This setting doesn't affect the expiration of the individual records in the list. To set the expiration date for the records in the list, use the Batch expiration date field in the next step of the upload wizard.
      Skill	If you want to assign the calling list to a specific ACD skill Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge., select one from the Skill drop-down. You cannot upload the list to a Proactive SMS skill if there is no message template assigned to the skill.
      Start Skill When Completed	The Skill you selected starts automatically when NiCE CXone finishes processing the calling list.

   6. Click Next.
   7. If you used the first row of your calling list to label the columns, select Use First Row as Column Names next to Header. Review the automatic mapping done by PC, map any unmapped fields, and configure time zone handling and an expiration date.
      Learn more about fields in this task

      Field	Details
      No time zone found?	The action NiCE CXone takes if it can't use calling list data to map a time zone to the record. NiCE CXone checks the record first for a time zone, then a zip code, then a city and state, and finally the area code of the primary phone number. If NiCE CXone can't match a time zone to the record, it takes the action you specify here:  Reject: Removes the record from eligibility for dialing. Select time zone: Attaches a default time zone to the record. Use the drop-down to select the default time zone. If you live outside of North America, or if you believe the automatic time zone mapping won't work for your calling list, designate the appropriate time zone for each record on your list. See Time Zone for a list of time zone abbreviations and full names.
      Batch expiration date	The default expiration date for all records in this batch. Once the contact expires, PC no longer attempts to reach that contact. You can specify expiration dates for individual records in the calling list by including an expiration date column in the calling list itself and then mapping the column to the Expiration Date field. The expiration occurs at the beginning of the date you select (12:00 AM).

   8. If it's not already done for you, map your phone numbers and email addresses in Map Destinations. Add and remove destinations as needed.

      If you map a phone field to a specific ACD skill, it appears under the cadence options for that skill. If you don't want to include a specific phone number in the Maximum Attempts or cadence calling order, don't map those phone number to fields. Once you map the field, you can't remove it from the cadence settings.

   9.  When the file uploads, PC displays the progress and the number of records that loaded successfully and unsuccessfully. If the calling list contains invalid records, use the following steps to fix the errors.

      1. Click Download Link in the warning box that appears.

      2. Open the file to view the problems with the upload. In this example, the record in row 6 doesn't have a phone number:

         
      3. Fix the problem in the calling list and save it.
      4. Upload the updated file.

Set the Dialing Order for Multiple Phone Numbers

Required permissions: ACD > Skills Edit

Each Personal Connection (PC) record belongs to a single contact and contains all information for that contact, including all phone numbers associated with the contact. Attempt cadence is the order in which PC calls the single contact's varying telephone numbers, texts the contact's cell phone, or a combination of both. For example, you might set up a cadence so PC attempts calling the contact's phone numbers in the following order: home, home, work, cell, home, home, home, cell SMS, work, work, cell, spouse cell.

PC keeps a record of each attempt along with the outcome. Once a call results in contact with the correct party, PC makes no further attempts on the record. If the outcome is interception or wrong party reached, the system finalizes only the telephone number that generated that outcome and attempts the rest until it reaches the maximum record attempts.

1. If you haven't already done so, set up a calling list for the ACD skill Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge. on which you want to set the cadence.

2. Click the app selector and select ACD.

3. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

4. Click the outbound phone skill in which you want to set the cadence.
5. Click Parameters. Locate the Cadence Settings option and click Configure or Edit.

6. To add a new attempt set to the cadence:

   1. Click Add Cadence.
   2. Select a phone number from the Calling Order drop-down. These correspond with the phone number fields you mapped when you uploaded the calling list for this ACD skill.

   3. Set the value in Attempts to reflect the number of attempts you want the dialer to make on that number before moving on to the next number in the cadence. If you set up preview dialing, PC counts it as an attempt when an agent rejects a record.

   4. If the phone number is meant for Proactive SMS messaging, select the Final Outcome. If you set it to SMS Retry, you can configure more SMS attempts later in the cadence.

   5. Repeat the previous step until you have the attempts configured the way you want them. Set the values in the Order column to reflect the order in which you want the number types attempted. The lower the number, the sooner the dialer attempts the number.
7. Repeat the previous step until you have the attempts configured the way you want them. Set the values in the Order column to reflect the order in which you want the number types attempted. The lower the number, the sooner the dialer attempts the number.
8. If you want to add time constraints for dialing or SMS messaging to a phone type, do the following:
   1. Click the + time constraints link by the first entry.
   2. On the Weekdays number bar, click and drag over the period of time when dialing or SMS messaging is allowed on weekdays. You can create multiple allowed time periods, if you want. Repeat the process for the Weekend number bar.
   3. Click save time constraints.
   4. Create time constraints as needed for other cadence entries.

9. Click Done.