Mekashron is a powerful sales tool for your business and nowhere is this more apparent than in its facilities for automated campaigns.
In this chapter we will look specifically at using Voice Broadcasting campaigns.
The purpose of the Voice Broadcasting function is so that you can set recorded messages for outgoing calls. As your system automatically calls each number on the telemarketing list you provide, when a recipient picks up the phone they will hear a recorded message. We’ll see a detailed example of how this works later in the chapter.
At this stage, we assume that you have completed the following tasks:
- Successfully Installed Mekashron
- Set up or imported your Entities
- Created your Statuses.
- Reviewed the information on Creating Campaigns for Telemarketing, as much of the information covered in this chapter is also relevant for Voice Broadcasting Campaigns.
You will need to be logged into your Mekashron system as an administrator in order to set up Voice Broadcasting campaigns.
1 - Setup
To set up Mekashron for Voice Broadcasting:
From the main Mekashron menu, select Main -> Settings.
Figure 1.1 – Accessing Settings from the Main Menu
In the resulting dialog box choose the Telephone tab and within that the Voice Broadcasting tab.
Figure 1.2 – The Voice Broadcasting Settings Tab
The first option you will see on this tab is the Use Modem versus Use VOIP choice. You will notice in Mekashron Business that the Modem option is selected, and the VOIP option is grayed out. VOIP is only available in Mekashron Call Center, so if you require this functionality then please click on the link to upgrade your system to the Mekashron Call Center version.
Figure 1.3 – Modem and VOIP Options
The Voice Broadcasting Devices shown in the list are the modems that are connected to your system. Select the appropriate one.
If you have already set up this modem for use on the Telemarketing tab, then when you click on the Properties button you will see that Mekashron has retained the settings that you entered when you set up the modem for telemarketing. Please see the information on the Modem Properties Form in the Telemarketing Settings chapter for more information.
The other settings on this tab are:
- No Answer after – how many rings before the application will hang up.
- Response Time out – the number of seconds that the automated call will wait for the recipient of the call to press an option button on their phone before giving up.
- Load Voice Messages from – here you tell Mekashron the location of the folder which contains the voice messages for your automated calls. As you will learn as you continue with this chapter, when you set up a script for voice broadcasting you will record and save the dialog to play during an automated call. The folder you specify here is where those dialogs are recorded, and whence they will be loaded whenever they are required.
- Limit Calling Hours – if you wish to prevent Mekashron from making calls during a certain period, such as during the night, select this checkbox. Then you can specify the valid period during which it is OK for outgoing calls to be made.
2 - Voice Broadcasting and Statuses
Statuses are important Mekashron properties that you will use heavily when creating Voice Broadcasting campaigns.
For a background to statuses and information on how to manage statuses, please refer to the Create Status section in the Telemarketing chapter.
Prospect flow for Voice Broadcasting campaigns: When Mekashron makes automated calls to your prospects, the application can set the status of each prospect (Entity) depending on what they do during the call.
For example, you can have Mekashron play a recording to each prospect saying, “Please choose option 1 if you would like one of our operators to call you back with more information about product X, choose option 2 if you would like an operator to call you back and take your order, or option 3 if you do not wish to be contacted again”.
Depending on which option the prospect chooses, you can set the Status of their entity accordingly – making it extremely easy to locate which prospects you need a salesperson to call back, which prospects can be called back simply by an administrator to take their order, and which prospects need to be on your “do not call” list.
We’ll see a detailed example of how this works next.
3 - Create Voice Broadcasting Campaign
When you choose to create a Voice Broadcasting campaign, you again have the 3 tabs: Campaign, Script and Status.
Here is the Voice Broadcasting campaign screen:
Figure 3.1 – The Voice Broadcasting Campaign Screen
As you can see you can name a new Voice Broadcasting campaign, or else you can choose Attach to Campaign to modify an existing campaign.
The Schedule and Call Priority options are the same as for Telemarketing campaigns, but you do not have the advanced options, nor the ability to select specific users to assign the calls to (as these are automated calls).
The Status tab for Voice Broadcasting is the same as for Telemarketing, however the Script tab is where the major differences between the two types of campaigns can be seen:
Figure 3.2 – The Script Tab for Voice Broadcasting
Unlike the Telemarketing scripting function, where you either select a pre-recorded .wav file or physically write a script for the user to read from, the Voice Broadcasting scripting is more complex. The script has a built-in structure depending on the response from the person that the system is calling.
It is easiest to see how this works with a step-by-step example. In this example, we want to call a list of prospects and then categorize them for follow-up depending on whether they are interested in our Red Widgets or our Green Widgets.
In order to follow up with these prospects afterwards, we have created two statuses, “Red Widget callback” and “Green Widget callback”. We’ll now see how easy it is to automate Mekashron to do this for us, moving the prospects to the correct status.
1) In the Script tab, first double-click on the MAIN item in the scripting window (or select it and click the View/Edit button):
Figure 3.3 – The Script Dialog Box
2) The MAIN item in the script is the first thing that happens when a client or prospect picks up your automated call. Looking first at the options on the left hand side of the screen, from this window you can either open a pre-recorded .wav file to play, by clicking on the Open button:
Figure 3.4 – The Open Button
…or alternatively you can choose to record a new .wav file (assuming you are working on a PC which has a microphone installed) by clicking on the Record button:
Figure 3.5 – The Record Button
While you are recording, the Voice Message options look like this:
Figure 3.6 – The Voice Message Options During a Call
… and when you have finished recording you simply click the Stop button
Figure 3.7 – The Stop Button
… then you save your recording by clicking on the Save button:
Figure 3.8 – The Save Button
… which prompts you to save your new .wav file to your PC or elsewhere on your network.
3) Before exiting this screen, you can select a Status for this item:
Figure 3.9 – Setting a Status
(See the Create Status section in the Telemarketing chapter for more information on Statuses). You can also add a new status from this screen, if required, by clicking on the button to the right of the status dropdown.
Note that because we are currently in the MAIN portion of the script, the status that we select here is the one that will be assigned if the recipient of the call hangs up during the main message rather than continuing with the call. So we can select a status here that has an appropriate Move to Category option. For example we might decide that prospects who hang up at the start of the call simply don’t like automated calls, and we can assign them to a status which will move those entities to a category called Human Follow Up – we can later find all the entities in this category and assign them to a new Telemarketing campaign rather than future Voice Broadcast campaigns.
A very important consideration when selecting a status that will be assigned in the MAIN portion of the script is the Redial Settings of the status. If the status assigned during MAIN tells Mekashron to redial after x minutes, then that is exactly what Mekashron will do - repeatedly. If your prospect does not like receiving automated calls this is likely to result in an unhappy prospect! Therefore it is highly advisable to set a status during MAIN that includes the setting Do Not Redial. That way, if the user refuses to participate in the automated call, you can have them routed to a campaign where a human will call them. Of course you may decide that you want as many automated responses as possible even at the risk of making some prospects unhappy, in which case you may wish to have Mekashron redial the automated call every (for example) 30 minutes. Again this is done via the Redial Settings of the Status.
The other options on the right of the screen under Message Setup are less relevant at this point.
- DTMF tones set is an option that is not currently available in this release of Mekashron.
- On answer hang up call is not an option that you are likely to want to select in this first part of the script, unless you are just using the script to verify the telephone numbers and simply want Mekashron to make the call and then hang up as soon as the person on the other end picks up the call.
- Transfer call is an option that is only available for VOIP, for which you will require Mekashron Call Center version rather than Mekashron Business.
So now in our example we will click OK to save this part of the script and return to the scripting window.
4) Our scripting window still looks as before, with only a MAIN action in the script, but now we have a recording under this MAIN portion. This means that Mekashron can make an automated call, and when the person receiving the call picks up, Mekashron will play the voice recording we have selected. In order to continue, in the recording we will have asked the person we are calling to perform an action – for example we might have said, “Please press 1 on your telephone keypad to hear more about our Red Widgets, or press 2 to hear about Green Widgets”. So now we need to cater for both of those possibilities in our script.
5) So we will click on the Add Action button:
Figure 3.10 – The Add Action Button
This gives us a screen very similar to the one we saw when we edited the MAIN item in the script:
Figure 3.11 – The Script Window for a Sub-Action
… the one important difference is that now we are creating a Sub-Action rather than the MAIN Action, we have a new option at the top left of this screen, the Activation On: dropdown.
This is what enables us to identify what action the person on the call has taken, so that we can continue with the script accordingly.
First of all, we want to handle the possibility that the prospect has selected option 1 to hear about Red Widgets.
From the dropdown we select 1:
Figure 3.12 – The Activation On Dropdown
Then we either select or record a message telling our prospect all about Red Widgets and finishing with “To receive a call back from our operators please press 1 again, or if you are not interested just hang up”.
6) Similarly, we Add another Action in which we select “2” from the Activation On dropdown, and in this action we select or record a message about Green Widgets, and ask the prospect to select 2 again for a call back about Green Widgets. Now our Script looks like this in the main window:
Figure 3.13 – The Script Window with Two New Actions Nested Beneath the MAIN Action
7) Now we need to handle the second key press, i.e. if the prospect is interested in Red Widgets and has selected 1, 1 … or if he is interested in Green Widgets and has selected 2, 2.
First, highlight item 1 in the script…
Figure 3.14 – Adding Another Level of Nesting
8) Then click on the Add Action button
Figure 3.15 – The Script Window – Adding Another Level of Nesting
We select 1 from the Activation On dropdown.
Then we record the message we want to play if the user selects 1,1. For example: “Thank you for your interest in our Red Widgets. An operator will call you back in the next 30 minutes.”
And finally we set the Status to “Red Widget Callback”.
Figure 3.16 – Setting a Status in the Script Window
Then we set up a similar action for option 2,2:
Highlight item 2 in the script, click on the Add Action button, and set up this option in a similar way, this time setting the Status to “Green Widget Callback”.
9) Note that you can continue to add nested options as required. The item that is selected in the script window when you choose the Add Action button is the one underneath which the new action will be added. In the example screenshot below we have asked the client to select 1,1 or 2,2 and have handled both of these possibilities with specific recordings at each step:
Figure 3.17 – The Script Window Showing Two Levels of Nesting
Once you have sent a campaign, you can view its progress and status in your outbox. For more information, please see the Campaigns Manage chapter.
4 - Voice Broadcasting Statistics
In this section we will look at the statistical information that Mekashron gives you with regard to your voice broadcasting campaigns.
To access the statistics, from the Main Mekashron menu select Tools -> Statistics:
Figure 4.1 - Accessing Statistics from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can click on the Statistics button:
Figure 4.2 - The Statistics Button
In the Statistics Type box on the left expand the &Campaign group and then select Voice Broadcasting:
Figure 4.3 - The Statistics Type Box
Here is an example of some voice broadcasting statistics:
Figure 4.4 - Voice Broadcasting Campaign Statistics
As you can see, the statistics are shown in graphical form on the right of the screen. The graph and data change dynamically depending on your selections:
- Date - The From and To date and time for the period you wish to view:
Figure 4.5 - The Date Control
- Campaigns - In this selection list you simply select the campaigns you wish to view information for:
Figure 4.6 - The Campaigns Selection List
Once you are happy with the statistics view, you can print or save your output:
Figure 4.7 - Printing or Saving Your Statistics
If you select the BMP option, then when you click the Print Statistics button you will be able to save the statistical view as an image on your PC or network.
If you select the Printer option, then Mekashron will send the output to your printer.
5 - Voice Broadcasting Reports
In this section we will look at the reporting facilities that Mekashron gives you with regard to your voice broadcasting campaigns.
To access the reports, from the Main Mekashron menu select Tools -> Reports:
Figure 5.1 - Accessing Reports from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can click on the Reports button:
Figure 5.2 - The Reports Button
In the Report Type pane, expand the &Campaign option and then select Voice Broadcasting:
Figure 5.3 - The Report Type Pane
You are now presented with all of the options in the right hand pane for filtering your voice broadcasting report:
Figure 5.4 - The Voice Broadcasting Reporting Options
At the top right, select the business whose data you wish to report on:
Figure 5.5 - The Business Dropdown
Next, you can specify the date and time range of data you wish to include:
Figure 5.6 - The Date Control
In the Campaigns list, you can check all the campaigns you wish to include in this report:
Figure 5.7 - The Campaigns List
You can also filter your report by the status of the calls, in the Status checklist:
Figure 5.8 - The Statuses List
Once you have chosen your filtering options, you can customize the fields that will be shown on your report:
Figure 5.9 - The Visible Fields Control
Select those fields that you wish to include, and if desired use the arrow buttons:
Figure 5.10 - The Control for Moving the Visible Fields
… to move those fields into the order that you wish to have them displayed on the report.
When you are ready to create your report, select the output type you desire:
Figure 5.11 - Selecting the Output Type
… and then choose the page setup you want your report to have:
Figure 5.12 - Choosing the Orientation of the Report
… before clicking the Generate Report button:
Figure 5.13 - The Generate Report Button
Here is an example of a voice broadcasting report in Preview mode:
Figure 5.14 - A Voice Broadcasting Report in Preview Mode
6 - Summary
The Voice Broadcasting facility in Mekashron is a very powerful way of automating a key part of your telesales operation. As we have seen in this example, you can quickly and easily set up an automated script that will qualify your prospects prior to passing them on to your telesales team for follow up.