In interaction plans in Vonage Contact Center (VCC), announcements play asynchronously. This means that other applets are processed in the background while announcements play. This behavior helps avoid long periods of silence while VCC processes complex applets, such as Data Connector applets. It is also beneficial in interaction plans using Global Voice Assurance.
To take advantage of this behavior, you should use Announcement and Data Announcer applets early in your interaction plan. This will give time for other applets to process in the background. If appropriate, you can reorder interaction plans to play existing announcement applets earlier. Or, you can use a new Announcement or Data Announcer applet to fill the silence.
The following example doesn't make use of asynchronous announcements. After the caller presses 1, there will be a period of silence while the Data Connector applets are processed. When the Data Connector applets have been processed, the Data Announcer applet will play.
The next example contains a simple modification that reduces the duration of silence experienced. After the caller presses 1, one or both of the Data Connector applets will be processed in the background while the announcement in the applet plays. Processing may not be complete when the announcement finishes, but at least some of the processing is done while the caller listens to the announcement.
Call Recording and Menu Tone applets
Call Recording applets cannot be processed in the background until all announcements before them in the interaction plan have played. This ensures that required legal disclaimers relating to recording the call have played before recording starts. We recommend that you split, move, or add announcements after your Call Recording applet to limit any silence experienced later in the interaction plan.
Applets that require input from the customer, such as Menu Tone applets, are not processed during announcements. These applets cannot continue until the caller has provided necessary information.