Outbound Monitoring
Updated at March 7th, 2025
Table of Contents
Overview
The Outbound Monitoring feature in the Supervisor application provides real-time insights into outbound call activities. It allows supervisors to monitor and manage outbound services, including system-initiated and user-initiated outbound calls. The feature ensures efficiency by offering tools to track call success rates, retry attempts, and agent availability, ultimately optimizing the contact centre’s outbound communication strategy.
Types of Outbound Services
Outbound services in the UCS system are categorized as follows:
System Outbound Services (No additional license required)
- Automated call generation for customer callbacks when they have requested one while waiting in a queue.
- Voicemail message handling for queued customers.
- Interview inquiries via automated callback surveys to assess service quality.
User Outbound Services (Requires additional license)
- Calls initiated from a preloaded customer database containing names and phone numbers.
- Outbound service connects calls to available agents once initiated.
Monitoring Outbound Services
Supervisors can monitor outbound services based on their authorization level:
- 'System Access' authorization is required to view all outbound services.
- Without this access, supervisors can only monitor outbound services related to their assigned routers.
Outbound service monitoring allows supervisors to:
- Track the status and activity of outbound calls.
- Start, suspend, or stop outbound services.
- Zoom into call details for further analysis or adjustments.
Real-Time Outbound Monitoring Panel
The lower panel contains real-time information on the current Outbound Service activity. The calls currently being handled by the Outbound Service are displayed, including the following details:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Telephone Number | The telephone number the Outbound Service is dialing. |
| Name / Description | The name/description as entered in the list of numbers to be called. |
| Router | The original Router that created the Outbound Service call. |
| Agent | The Agent currently used/reserved for the call. |
| Created | Time / Date of creation of the Outbound Service call. |
| Status | The status of the call (e.g., '-', ringing, connected, no answer, error). |
| Retries | The number of retry attempts made. |
| Scheduled | Time / Date of the next retry or the last successful call.* |
Call Details
Double-clicking on a job opens a detailed window displaying:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Telephone | The telephone number being dialed. |
| Personal ID | Any entered Personal ID. |
| Name | The name entered in the list of numbers to be called. |
| Description | The description entered in the list of numbers to be called. |
| Email Address | The email address of the contact. |
| Language | The language preference of the contact. |
| Status | Possible values: '-', Busy, No Answer, Connected, Error, No Agent. |
| Scheduled Date | Date of the next retry or last successful call.* |
| Scheduled Time | Time of the next retry or last successful call.* |
*Date and time are configured in the Administrator application. The system also defines the maximum number of retries; once reached, no further attempts are made unless the status is changed.
Additional Features
- The Export button allows exporting job content to an Excel file.
- Successful calls remain listed for one day in this overview.
- For Outbound Services using Power or Preview dialing mode, the option to exclude recording for the caller can be configured.
- Previous agent routing can be set on the server level for outbound calls.
- Caller identification for outbound campaign calls is supported, with call history available in the Professional Client contact history timeline.
- Agents can view and add notes when handling outbound calls.
- Declining the Minimum Skill Score is not applicable for calls made by the Outbound Services.
Outbound Dialing Modes
User Outbound Services support different dialing modes:
| Dialling Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Preview Dialling | The agent is called first and informed about the customer details before the system dials the customer. |
| Power Dialling | The customer is called first, and if they answer, a welcome prompt is played while connecting them to an available agent. |
| Predictive Dialling | Similar to power dialing but calls are placed in anticipation of agent availability. Risk of no available agent when the customer answers. |
System Outbound Services always use the Preview Dialling mode.
Key Metrics for Outbound Monitoring
The following table outlines the key performance indicators for outbound monitoring:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Status | Indicates if the outbound service is started, stopped, or resumed. |
| # Jobs | The total number of call entries in an outbound service. |
| # Call Attempts | Number of call attempts made, including retries. |
| # Successful Calls | Number of calls that reached a connected state. |
| Call Success Rate | Percentage of call attempts that resulted in a successful connection. |
| Nuisance Call Rate | Percentage of calls where a customer answered but no agent was available. |
| % Completed | Percentage of jobs that have reached a final status. |
| Estimated End Date | Estimated completion date based on system analytics. |
By effectively utilising outbound monitoring, supervisors can enhance call efficiency, reduce call drop rates, and improve customer engagement through strategic outbound call management.
