How to Schedule Call Backs in ContactNow
Objective
This guide will show you how to schedule call backs from the dialer in the ContactNow agent web interface.
Scheduled Call Back is a manual disposition outcome that can be seen during a live call, or after a call has ended. When this disposition is selected, the dialer will display a calendar that allows the agent to select a date and/or time to schedule an automated call back.
Important: Scheduled call backs are not compatible with Agent On Demand, because they are automated outbound calls.
Call backs may be scheduled, but they will only be presented to agents who are logged into the ContactNow dialer using a live phone connection through 16692454250 or a softphone.
Applies To
- ContactNow
- Scheduled Callbacks
Procedure
To be able to schedule call backs on inbound or outbound calls, these requirements must be met:
- Callbacks are outbound calls, so a call record containing the called party's phone number must be in place in an outbound call queue that has agents assigned to it.
- The Scheduled Call Back outcome will only appear if the Show System Outcomes option is set to Yes in Configuration > System Setup > Global Agent Options.
Scheduling Call Backs on Outbound Calls
Note: For manually-dialed outbound calls, follow the process for scheduling call backs on inbound calls.
During an active, automated outbound call, or for a terminated call before disposition:
- Click on the check mark icon
at the top of the dialer screen to see the available outcomes. - In the dialer, scroll down to the SYSTEM outcomes section, and click on Scheduled Call Back.
- Select the appropriate phone number to direct the scheduled call back to, as needed.
- In Assignee, you can select an agent who will be specifically assigned to make this callback.
- This option is only available if the service admin has set the Configuration > System Setup > Global Agent Options > Schedule Call Assignment to Yes.
- Unassigned call backs will be delegated to the first available agent in the outbound call queue when the scheduled call back time has been reached.
- Select the date and time to schedule the call back.
- Click Hang Up if the call is still active, or Disposition if the call has already ended.
- The dialer will schedule the call back, and will return to the default state set by the admin or agent.
If you decide not to schedule a call back and use a different outcome, click on Close at the top-left area of the dialer screen to return to the outcome selection.
Scheduling Call Backs on Inbound Calls
Scheduling call backs for inbound calls is a bit more complicated than for automated outbound calls.
To schedule a call back for a caller to an inbound queue, a call record containing the caller’s phone number must be in place in an outbound call queue which has agents assigned to it. This process also applies to manually dialed outbound calls.
The following sections are covered for inbound call scheduling:
Use a Current Call Record
For inbound calls, even if a customer record is already held in a dataset, the Schedule Call Back outcome will only appear as an option for the agent when that call record is opened.
To open a call record during the live call, or before disposition on a disconnected call:
- Select the call queue tab that the call is inbound to, if it is not already selected.
- Then select the Record Search tab.
- Identify the desired call record, and click Open. The customer name (if one is stored in the record) will appear below their phone number in the dialer.
- To see the calendar, click Scheduled Call Back near the bottom of the SYSTEM set of outcomes, and make your scheduling selections.
- Click Hang Up if the call is still active, or Disposition if the call has already ended.
- The dialer will schedule the call back, and will return to the default state set by the admin or agent.
Enable Agents to Create New Call Records
For new inbound callers with no record in the system, a new call record must be created before the Scheduled Call Back option can appear as a disposition option.
To allow agents to create new call records, two options must be configured by the service admin in the Inbound call queue those agents are assigned to. To do this:
- Navigate to the Settings tab in Configuration
> Agents, Teams & Queues > Queues > [inbound queue] > Edit 
- In the Customer Management section of Settings, select options for the following:
- Default Outbound Queue: Scheduled call backs will be assigned to this outbound call queue.
- Store New Records: This is the dataset which will be used to store new call records, and should be assigned to the Default Outbound Queue.
- Click Update to finalize the new settings. Agents who are logged in when the changes are made must log out of the web interface, and log back in to see those changes.
Create a New Call Record
Creating a new call record for the purpose of call back scheduling must be done before a call can be dispositioned as a Scheduled Call Back.
- In the agent web interface, select the queue tab that their call is inbound to, if it is not already selected.
- Select the Record Search tab.
- Click on New Record. This will open the New Record tab.
- Add customer information to the new record fields. The phone number can be moved or added to any of the three available phone number fields.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Save.
- The caller name will appear below their phone number in the dialer, if it has been added the new record.
- The Scheduled Call Back option will now appear as a selectable outcome.
- The agent can now follow the scheduled call back process already outlined at the top of this document.
Review or Reschedule Previously Scheduled Call Backs
All scheduled call backs can be reviewed and even changed before their scheduled time elapses.
- Log in to the ContactNow agent web portal
- Click on the Calls tab
- Find a specific call you’re looking for in either:
- Recent Calls: Calls that you, the agent, have made or taken. Or:
- Scheduled Calls: Call backs that are assigned to you specifically.
- Click on the call to expand the options.
- Then click on the Phone/Clock icon
to see the calendar.
- Review as needed.
- If the option has been allowed by the service administrator, you can re-assign the callback to a specific agent.
- If you need to re-schedule the call back, select a new date and/or time.
- Click Save. That’s all there is to it.
