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Service and Communications > Communications > Managing Oracle Contact On Demand > Handling Phone Calls

Handling Phone Calls

When you become available for work, you can start taking phone calls from customers. Depending on your company’s routing, you will receive calls based on your skill set, workgroup, or other criteria.

You can determine the period during which the Communication Homepage Inbox displays the current and completed calls in your personal profile. For more information, see Updating Your Personal Details.

In addition, the application searches for matching records for the phone call and displays the matching record. If no existing records—or multiple records—match the incoming phone call, the Call Detail window appears. For more information on this sequence, see About Oracle Contact On Demand.

If you change your status to Unavailable, you can still be assigned emails. No other communications such as phone calls, voicemails can be assigned to you. You can make yourself unavailable while you do other work, such as completing or cleaning up existing messages. Making yourself unavailable prevents you from missing calls unnecessarily, for example, while you are doing other tasks. An alternative solution that prevents you from missing incoming calls is to run two browser sessions with the same user credentials: one with the Communications toolbar open, and the second with the Communications toolbar closed. Use the first browser for incoming calls, and the second browser for all other activities.

To take a phone call

• When a new communication is assigned to you, answer the phone.

  If Oracle Contact On Demand is configured to display screen pops, it displays the matching record based on a search for the following data (in this specific order):

  • Service Request
  • Campaign
  • Contact
  • Lead
  • Account

    NOTE: Additional configuration tasks for Oracle Contact On Demand must be completed if you want the application to search for data entered by the caller in response to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) prompt; that is, a service request number, contact home phone number, or campaign ID.

    If you are not configured for screen pops, you can click the blinking Inbound Call alert in the Communication Toolbar to navigate directly to the Call Detail page.

    When you accept the call, the call controls become active.

    TIP: If a screen pop for an incoming call displays while you are editing a record, any unsaved data for this record is lost. A good practice is to run two browser sessions with the same user credentials: one with the Communications toolbar open, and the second with the Communications toolbar closed. Use the first browser for incoming calls, and the second browser for all other activities.

To hang up

• Hang up the receiver, or click Hangup in the Voice Controls section in the Action bar.

  After the call ends, the Wrap Up form appears for you to track information about the call. Your Administrator may set a time-based wrap up, allowing you to complete work after the call. For more information on wrapping up activities, see Wrapping Up Communication Activities.

To place a call on hold

• In the Voice Controls section in the Action bar, click Hold at any point during the call.

  Placing a call on hold allows you to park the call and pause voice communication with the caller. You can see the status of the call (that is, On Hold) in the Action bar.

To resume voice communication

• Click the Hold button.

To transfer a call

1. In the Voice Controls section in the Action bar, click Transfer.
2. In the drop-down window, select the option you want.
3. In the Transfer window, do one of the following, according to your previous selection:

   For this option	Follow these steps
   Agent	1. Select an agent. TIP:  To find the agent in the list, use the Search for an Agent field. NOTE: A call transfer to an agent does not require that the agent be signed in to the application or be available for calls. 2. Click one of the buttons: Blind Transfer. Transfers the call to another agent, disconnecting you from the call. Announced Transfer. Transfers the call, allowing you to announce the call to the agent who answers. The customer does not hear the announcement. Conference. Transfers the call, keeping you and the customer on the line while another person joins the call. TIP:  You can double-click the agent name to transfer the call as a blind transfer. 3. If the agent does not answer, you can click Abandon Transfer in the Voice Controls section at any time. This puts the customer on hold and returns the control to you. To reconnect with the caller, click the Hold button.
   Group	Select the Skill Group from your company list of groups and click Transfer, or double-click the group name. A call transfer to a skill group does not require that any agents be signed in. TIP:  To find the group in the list, use the Search for a Group field.
   Phone	4. Enter the telephone number in the available field. This might be a telephone within the company or outside of the company. 5. Click Conference, Announced Transfer, or Blind Transfer to complete the transfer.
   Voicemail	Sends the call to the agent’s voicemail.

4. Enter information in the Wrap Up form.

NOTE: When you transfer a call, the call between you and the caller ends, prompting the Wrap Up form to appear.

To reconnect with the caller

• Click the Abandon Transfer button and then click the Hold button.

NOTE: This option is available for announced transfers or conference transfers.