atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Inter-Tel Telephones & Systems Caller entered data

We are exploring the world of APIs. We want to have a caller enter their account number and then send either a pop up message with the information, or have the account open in our OEM software, when the call is connected to an Agent.

My first question is how do we get entered data? Do any of you have experience with this? I'd love to hear how you tackled the project.

I know that Mitel offers the SDK which uses Callviewer. I'm waiting on information from Xarios as to how they pull information and create pop ups.

We also want to match the account number with the caller ID. This is information just for our own reporting purposes. We have Customer Service Manager running on a MAS server. The prior version, Contact Center Suite, kept Access databases. The new version is SQL. I can see the tables (duplicates of the individual databases in CCS), but I do not know the location of the database itself. Does anyone out there know the answer to that one?

I've explored some of that area. I don't think there is anything native inside the Inter-Tel system that would do what you are looking to do. Generically, the first question would be handled by an IVR (interactive voice-response) setup. Typically a standalone server that a call routes through on the way inbound to collect data.

Obviously the voice-mail system (be it VPU or EM) is powerful enough to do some sort of this, but I don't know of anyway to hook into it to add programming such as this. Googling some, it looks like the Inter-Tel custom solution group had some IVR setups that they had done, but no real details on what they used. Typically it is an external box.

I have at some point in the past hooked an Asterisk system up via a trunk from an Inter-Tel and passed calls from one to the other, and done some basic programming with Asterisk to do whatever needed. I didn't ever get to the point of passing the call back. But the Asterisk system can prompt, receive digits, and has a programming API (the AGI) that can run whatever programming language you'd like.

As to the collecting info, the architecture of such a thing is that there is a logging server setup to pull OAI data from the system and store it in logs (database) for reports. Agent apps on the desktops would also attach to the logging system and when an event notification is required, the logging system would push it out to the agent app over its network connection. The Agent app would do the popup and present whatever other data is required.

Personally, I found most of the screen popup software pretty lacking, and if I ever really needed that functionality, I figured I would have to end up writing it all myself from scratch. I had some basics done up (long ago, in another place, I don't have anything left now) but never went further with it.

I installed the Inter-Tel IVR years ago that collected a caller's account number and then screen popped based on that number. The agents just used the TAPI client. Callviewer can do pop ups as can Xarios but getting the account number and not the caller ID would be the tricky part.
You can import the account number\caller ID pairs into CSM\CCS pretty easily. If you're familiar w\ the Reporter app you've seen the 'Field 2', Field 3' call info objects before. If you import a csv i n the format of:
Field 1 (caller ID number), Field 2 (caller ID name), Field 3 (account number)
then when you run reports on that customer the account number would show up wherever you place the 'Field 3' value. You import via the DB Manager app.

I was told by support a while back engenius can build custom apps like your looking for and will have the support you would want to have long term. I had called on basically what you are looking for using software a collection agency uses without dragging and dropping into the UCExpress and doing a pop matching CID to the database or dialing a code on a letter to pull a file before it is answered so the agent has all the info before answering. I know this isn't the solution but a place to start for sure
Randy