Start Using Studio

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

Studio is a visual scripting tool that lets you build scripts to customize routing in CXone Mpower. It's available from within the CXone Mpower platform.

This page provides you with the information you need to know when you're first starting out with Studio.

First-Time Users

You don't need to download or install Studio. You can access it from within the CXone Mpower platform. Your CXone Mpower system must be enabled for Studio.

The home page of Studio is the Scripts page. This page shows all the scripts in your CXone Mpower system. From this page, you can open existing scripts or create new scripts. Scripts open in new tabs in your browser window.

Create Your First Script

The steps in this section show you how to create a script, add an action, close the script, and reopen it,  The Start UsingStudio section on this page has suggestions for help pages you can read to learn how to build a full script.

  1. In CXone Mpower, click the app selector and select Omnichannel Routing > Studio Three arrows joined at the base. One points straight up, one up and to the right, and one up and to the left. .
  2. On the Scripts page Icon of a page with < / > on it., click New Script and select a media typeClosed A medium, such as voice, email, and chat, through which a contact connects with an intended recipient.. For example, to create a phone script, choose Phone. The new script canvas opens in a separate tab and the browser's focus shifts to it.
  3. Click Actions A square, triangle, and circle layered on top of each other. on the left side of the page to slide open the Actions palette.

  4. Enter begin in the Search actions field.

    The Actions panel with the word begin in the Search field and the matching action, Begin, showing below.

  5. Drag and drop Begin from the search result onto the script canvas workspace. The icon that appears on the canvas is called an actionClosed Performs a process within a Studio script, such as collecting customer data, playing a message or music, or routing a contact to an agent.. Begin is the action that starts every script. Before you can save a new script, it must contain at least one action.

    The script canvas with the Actions palette opened and a single action, BEGIN, on the workspace. The script can now be saved.
  6. Click Edit Caption , enter a caption, then press Enter to save it. A caption is text that appears on the canvas under the action.
  7. Click Create to save the script.

  8. On the Create New Script window, enter a Name for the script and select the Location in CXone Mpower file storage where you want to save the script.

    The Create New Script page with the Location drop-down showing the Create New Folder option at the bototm.
  9. You can create a folder for your scripts by clicking Create New Folder at the bottom of the Location drop-down. Enter a name for the new folder in the field that appears at the top of the list in the drop-down.
  10. Click Create.
  11. Close the tab containing the script you just created and return to the tab in your browser that shows the Scripts page.

  12. On the Scripts page: 

    1. Refresh the page.
    2. Navigate to the location where you saved the script you created in the previous steps.
    3. Double-click the script to open it. The script opens in a new tab. If you need to return to a previous level in the file structure, click the breadcrumbs at the top left of the page.

    Changes to scripts are automatically saved locally in your browser. This prevents you from losing unsaved work if your browser closes unexpectedly. If this happens, the next time you open the script, Studio prompts you to open it with the unsaved changes.

Scripting with Studio

Studio has a graphical interface that lets you create basic scripts with minimal knowledge of scripting languages.

This section provides a high-level introduction to the basics of scripting in Studio. You can also follow this tutorial to create a basic script in Studio. The Fundamentals section of the online help provides more in-depth information.

Script Media Types

Studio scripts all have an assigned media type. The media type must correlate to the channelClosed A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on. in CXone Mpower that the script will work with. Media type is selected when you create a new script. The Studio script types are: 

A square with a line branching from it that goes to three other squares.

Generic

 Email Chat Phone Voicemail Work Item SMS Digital

Actions

The basic building blocks of Studio scripts are called actions. Actions are how you add specific functionality to your script. There are hundreds of actions in Studio. The Actions section of the online help contains detailed pages for most of the actions. You can access online help for an action directly from Studio by selecting the action and pressing F1 on your keyboard.

You can learn more about actions in general and how to use them in scripts on the Action Basics page. In the online help, action names appear in bold orange capital letters, like this: Play.

Branches and Conditions

Branches are used when an action has two or more possible outcomes. They help you create the workflow your organization requires. For example, you can offer contacts a choice or build script paths to handle errors.

When you connect actions in your script, you must assign a branch condition to the connection. The condition determines the circumstances under which the script follows that branch. For example, most actions have an Error branch condition. When you assign this condition to the branch, the script will follow it if it encounters an error when running. Some actions only have one condition, called Default. Other actions have two or more conditions.

In the online help, branches and branch conditions appear in bold green letters, as shown in this example: Default.

An example of a script with several branches, many of which use different branch conditions.

Connectors

Connectors are how you link actions and create the flow of your script. On the canvas, connectors appear as thin lines that connect two actions. Connectors have arrows at one end that point in the direction of the script's flow. They may also have labels on them. The labels indicate the branch condition currently assigned to that branch. Branches without labels are the Default branch.

An example of the different types of connectors.

Audio Prompts

Audio prompts are a fundamental part of many scripts. These are audio files that the script plays to provide information to the contact or ask the contact to make a choice or input information using their phone. You can learn more about prompts in Studio, including using text-to-speech or recording your own audio prompts to use in scripts.

In the online help, audio prompts are sometimes referred to as sequences. This is because the prompts are created with a sequence of commands that define the components that make up each prompt and the order in which each component is played.

For example, you might want to start your IVRClosed Automated phone menu that allows callers to interact through voice commands, key inputs, or both, to obtain information, route an inbound voice call, or both. with a greeting prompt. You want it to play a recorded message that greets the contact, then a second recorded prompt that instructs the contact to choose an option but to pay attention because the menu options changed recently. Finally, you want it to play a text-to-speech (TTSClosed Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content.) prompt that lists all menu options. In the script, you create this single greeting prompt by adding a series of three separate sequences, one for each part of the single prompt.

Breaking a prompt into sequences is necessary if you combine pre-recorded audio and TTS prompts. Even if your prompts are all pre-recorded audio, breaking it into sequences instead of using a single, long recorded message makes the prompt easier to manage over time. If one part changes, you don't have to re-record the entire prompt. You only need to record a new version of the part that's different.

The Snippet Scripting Language

Snippet is the in-house scripting language used for all custom scripting needs in Studio. Custom scripting isn't required to create basic scripts, but it helps you fine-tune your scripts to achieve the workflow your organization needs. Some advanced features require custom scripting.

Custom Snippet code is added to scripts with the Snippet action. After adding the action to the script canvas, you can click the open editor icon A rectangle that looks like a software program window with a title bar across the top. to open the snippet editor window. This icon appears when your cursor moves over the action icon on the canvas. You can also select the action on the canvas and click Open Editor in the properties panel on the right side of the page.

A script with a SNIPPET action, showing the cursor over the open editor icon and the action properties with the Open Editor button.

You can learn about custom code snippets and how you can use them to customize your scripts. Additional reference information about scripting with Snippet in Studio is available in the technical reference guide section of the online help.

File Storage

Required permissions: ACD > Studio > File Browser View or ACD > Storage > Browse ACD Files > ViewView; additional permissions required for Create, Edit, or Delete

Your CXone Mpower system has its own file storage that you can access. Script files are stored here, as well as audio and prompt files that you've uploaded or created in Studio to used in your scripts. Any other files that you use in scripts must also be located in your CXone Mpower file storage. For example, actionsClosed Performs a process within a Studio script, such as collecting customer data, playing a message or music, or routing a contact to an agent. such as Readfile and Writefile read data from or to files. These files must be located in your file storage.

You can access all of these files through CXone Mpower if your user profile has the appropriate permissions. Some of the actions you can perform with files require additional permissions. To Studio-related files in CXone Mpower:

Script Changes are Automatically Saved

Script changes are automatically saved. This helps prevent losing your changes if your browser crashes or your computer reboots without warning. Auto-saves occur after each script change. If a script closes with unsaved changes, you're prompted to load the version of the script with the changes the next time you open that script. If you decline this option, the last saved version of the script opens.

Changes are saved locally in the browser you use. They're only saved on the computer where you make the change. If you open the script in a different browser or on a different computer, the last saved version of the script loads.

Studio User Interface

You can access Studio from the CXone Mpower platform Click the app selector icon of app selector and select Studio. The application loads showing the Scripts page, as shown in the following image.

The view of Studio when you launch the application.

The other options available in the Studio application and on the Scripts page are described in the following table.

Field Details
Scripts Page Click to load the Scripts page, where you can see all scripts available to you. Visibility of scripts may be limited by permissions, depending on how your organization has set up Studio.
Add Criteria This is an option on the Scripts page. It allows you to search for scripts. You can search by script name, the names of actions in the script, words in the captions of actions in the script, variable names or values, and the script's media typeClosed A medium, such as voice, email, and chat, through which a contact connects with an intended recipient..
Load This is an option on the Scripts page. It allows you to view a script or a trace file located on your computer. You can save a loaded script to CXone Mpower.
New Script This is an option on the Scripts page. Click it to create a new script of any supported media type.
Scripts

This is a section on the Scripts page. It shows you all scripts in CXone Mpower that you have permission to view. For each script you can see: 

  • The media type. This is the type of channelClosed A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on. the script works with.

  • The script name.

  • The date and time the script was last modified.

  • Whether the script is locked Icon of a padlock that's locked. for editing by a Studio user or unlocked Icon of an unlocked padlock.. Unlocked scripts are available for editing by any user the appropriate permissions.

  • The script's status. Scripts are either Active or Inactive. Active scripts are available for any user with Edit permission to work with. Inactive scripts have been deactivated by a Studio user with the appropriate permission. Scripts cannot be deleted, so scripts may be deactivated when they're no longer needed.

Each script has a more options Icon of three dots in a row. menu, which allows you to: 

Development Workflows Page

Allows you to manage your organization's script development workflow life cycle. This option is only visible if you have the appropriate permission.
Prompts Page Allows you to view, upload, or play prerecorded audio prompt files to CXone Mpower.
Grammars Page Allows you to view or upload grammar files for use in your organization's ASRClosed Allows contacts to respond to recorded voice prompts by speaking, pressing keys on their phone, or a combination of both. system.

When you view a script, you see the canvas workspace and the tools available to help you create your script.

The Studio canvas window, where you create scripts. Contains the list of actions, and other options for your script.

Field

Description
Script Name, Type, and Options (1)

This area shows you:

  • The icon for the media type of the script.
  • The name of the script.
  • An arrow you can click for script options. You can choose to Duplicate, Export, or Deactivate the script. You can also view the Version History of the script.
  • An icon that indicates the lock status of the script: 
    • A padlock.: The script is locked for editing, either by you or another user. If it's locked by you, the drop-down has the View only Script (Unlock) option. If it's locked by another user, it shows the name of the user who locked the script. If you have the Lock Override permission, it also includes the Lock Override option to override the other user's lock.
    • An eye.: The script is unlocked (in read-only mode). The menu gives you the option to Edit Script (Lock).
Trace (2)

Click to start a script trace, which allows you to capture and view data when the script runs. There are two trace options:

  • Start with Trace: Allows you to run the script without a contact.

  • Capture Live Contacts: Allows you to capture data from the script the next time it runs with a live contact.

Save and Create (3)

Save the script.

When you create a new script, this button is called Create. Click it to choose a location and name the script before saving for the first time. The Create option only becomes available after you add the first actionClosed Performs a process within a Studio script, such as collecting customer data, playing a message or music, or routing a contact to an agent. to the script. After you create the script, the button changes to Save.

Palettes and canvas options (3)

This menu contains three options:
Actions palettes (4)

Click A square, triangle, and circle arranged together. or Icon of an application window with < > symbols on it. to open and close the palette. The palettes slide out from the left. They contain all the actions you can use in scripts. 

The Actions palette A square, triangle, and circle arranged together. contains all standard actions. The actions are organized in categories. Click a category name to view the actions it contains. To add an action to the script, click and drag it to the canvas.

The API Actions palette Icon of an application window with < > symbols on it. contains actions that allow you to use CXone Mpower APIs in your script, The actions are organized alphabetically. Each action shows the verb that goes with it.

Both actions palettes have a search bar. Enter the name of an action. As you type, actions matching the characters you've entered so far appear in the search results on the Actions palette. Click and drag the action you want to the canvas.

On both actions palettes, you can click the question mark next to an action to load the help page for that action. However, most of the API actions do not have help pages because the APIs they use are fully documented in the CXone Mpower developer portal Icon of a square with an arrow pointing out of the upper right corner.. You can learn more about how to find documentation about the API actions on the API actions help page.

Canvas Workspace (5)

The workspace where you create and edit scripts. The canvas contains blocks called actions. Actions are linked with connector lines and have properties you can configure.

Navigate around the canvas by: 

  • Using the scroll bars on the bottom and right sides of the canvas pane.
  • Clicking the hand An icon shaped like a hand. Use this icon to move the canvas. tool, then clicking and dragging the canvas. You can toggle the Hand tool by pressing and holding the space bar on your keyboard.
  • Using the canvas preview tool.
Lists of actions and variables (6)

View lists of either actions or variables in the script.

When the Actions tab is selected, the options and information described in this table under numbers 7-10 is visible.

When the Variables tab is selected, the following options are available: 

  • Expand all Icon of three horizonal stacked lines next to a down arrow.: Click to expand all variables in the list. This reveals the action or actions where each variable is used.

  • Collapse all Icon of three stacked horizonal lines next to a right pointing arrow.: Click to collapse the variables list. This hides the actions where each variable is used.

  • Reload variables Icon of a circular arrow pointing at its own tail.: Click to refresh the list of variables. This will load any new variables you've added to your script.

  • Redacted Icon of an eye with a slash going through it.:  Displays the number of redacted variables. Click to add variables to the redaction list. Redacting variables eliminates their values from traces and logs.

  • List of variables in the script: Displays a list of all variables contained by the actions in the script. Click the arrow Icon of an arrow pointing down. next to a variable name to expand it and show the actions where the variable is used. Click an action to view that action's properties. The properties display in the properties pane, but you can click the Variables tab to return to the variables list.

Search in the script (7)

Search for actions in the script. The search results show you all actions matching the characters you enter, along with the action ID of each one.

Click an entry in the search results to highlight the corresponding action on the script canvas. The selected action's properties appear in the Properties section on the right side of the page. You may need to scroll the canvas to locate the action. The canvas doesn't snap to the selected action.

The search bar is only visible when no actions are selected on the canvas and the Actions tab is selected in the properties panel.
Sort actions list (8)

Click Sort By An arrow pointing down next to three stacked horizontal lines. to the right of the search bar and choose the sort order for the list of actions in your script. You can sort by action ID or name and in ascending or descending order.

The sort option is only visible when no actions are selected on the canvas and the Actions tab is selected in the properties panel.
Errors and Warnings (9)

View current errors and warnings in the script. The circle on the button displays the current number of errors or warnings. Errors prevent you from saving the script, but warnings do not.

Click to view the current errors or warnings. Click the button again to hide the list of issues.

The Errors and Warnings options are only visible when no actions are selected on the canvas and the Actions tab is selected in the properties panel.

List of actions in the script (10)

Shows a list of the actions currently on the script canvas. By default the actions are listed in the order they were added to the script. Next to the name of each action is its action ID. Studio assigns these IDs as each action is added to the script. If an action is deleted and later added back, it will have a new action ID if other actions have already been added.

When you click an action in the list, Studio highlights the corresponding action on the canvas. You may need to scroll the script to locate the action. The canvas doesn't snap to the selected action.

The list of actions is only visible if no actions are selected on the canvas and the Actions tab is selected in the properties panel. If an action is selected, this space displays the Properties section. The Properties section shows all properties of the selected action, along with their current configuration.

Canvas Preview (11) Shows you the entire canvas. Click the rectangle in the preview field and move it around to navigate around your script. The canvas workspace shows you the part of the script currently surrounded by the preview rectangle on the canvas preview.
Undo, Redo, and Hand Tools (12)

Click A bent arrow pointing left. to undo recent changes.

Click A bent arrow pointing right. to redo recently-undone changes. This option is only available immediately after undoing a change.

Click The outline of a hand. to change the cursor to the hand tool. This allows you to grab the canvas to move it. Click the icon again to change the cursor back to a selection arrow.

Canvas Viewing Tools (13) Click An icon of a tri-fold brochure. to pin and unpin the canvas preview.

Click An icon of two diagonal arrows pointing away from each other. to open the script in full screen mode. Click again to exit full screen mode.

Click An icon of two arrows pointing away from each other, each facing a vertical line. to make the script shrink or expand to fit to the current size of the your browser window.

Use the zoom options The zoom options, a minus, a plus, and a field to type a zoom percentage. to zoom your view of the canvas in or out.

Studio scripts cannot be deleted. However, you can deactivate them. Deactivating a script removes it from the Scripts page, unless you choose to filter the list to view All or Deativated scripts.

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts with Studio:

Action

Shortcut
Copy (select actions on canvas first) Ctrl+ C
Cut (select actions on canvas first) Ctrl+ X
Delete an Action Delete
Fit to Screen Ctrl+0
Full Screen Mode Ctrl+Shift+F
Multi-Select (select more than one action) Ctrl (press and hold while selecting each action)
Pan (Hand) Spacebar
Paste (cut or copied actions onto canvas) Ctrl+V
Redo Ctrl+Y
Undo Ctrl+Z
Zoom In Ctrl + +
Zoom Out Ctrl+ -

Start Using Studio